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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8898-8.txt b/8898-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aecec58 --- /dev/null +++ b/8898-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10382 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe +by Sabine Baring-Gould +#2 in our series by Sabine Baring-Gould + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe + +Author: Sabine Baring-Gould + +Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8898] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 21, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES AND CAVE DWELLINGS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +CLIFF CASTLES AND CAVE DWELLINGS OF EUROPE + +BY + +S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. + +[Illustration: CLIFF-CASTLE, BRENGUES. In this castle the Bishop of +Cahors took refuge from the English, to whom he refused to submit, and +in it he died in 1367. It was however captured by the English in 1377.] + + + "The house i' the rock + . . . no life to ours." + CYMBELINE III. 3. + + + + +PREFACE + +When in 1850 appeared the Report of the Secretary of War for the United +States, containing Mr. J. H. Simpson's account of the Cliff Dwellings +in Colorado, great surprise was awakened in America, and since then +these remains have been investigated by many explorers, of whom I need +only name Holmes' "Report of the Ancient Ruins in South-West Colorado +during the Summers of 1875 and 1876," and Jackson's "Ruins of South- +West Colorado in 1875 and 1877." Powell, Newberry, &c., have also +described them. A summary is in "Prehistoric America," by the Marquis +de Nadaillac, 1885, and the latest contribution to the subject are +articles in _Scribner's Magazine_ by E. S. Curtis, 1906 and 1909. + +The Pueblos Indians dwell for the most part at a short distance from +the Rio Grande; the Zuñi, however, one of their best known tribes, are +settled far from that river, near the sources of the Gila. In the +Pueblos country are tremendous cañons of red sandstone, and in their +sides are the habitations of human beings perched on every ledge in +inaccessible positions. Major Powell, United States Geologist, +expressed his amazement at seeing nothing for whole days but +perpendicular cliffs everywhere riddled with human dwellings resembling +the cells of a honeycomb. The apparently inaccessible heights were +scaled by means of long poles with lateral teeth disposed like the +rungs of a ladder, and inserted at intervals in notches let into the +face of the perpendicular rock. The most curious of these dwellings, +compared to which the most Alpine chalet is of easy access, have ceased +to be occupied, but the Maqui, in North-West Arizona, still inhabit +villages of stone built on sandstone tables, standing isolated in the +midst of a sandy ocean almost destitute of vegetation. + +The cause of the abandonment of the cliff dwellings has been the +diminished rainfall, that rendering the land barren has sent its +population elsewhere. The rivers, the very streams, are dried up, and +only parched water-courses show where they once flowed. + +"The early inhabitants of the region under notice were wonderfully +skilful in turning the result of the natural weathering of the rocks to +account. To construct a cave-dwelling, the entrance to the cave or the +front of the open gallery was walled up with adobes, leaving only a +small opening serving for both door and window. The cliff houses take +the form and dimensions of the platform or ledge from which they rise. +The masonry is well laid, and it is wonderful with what skill the walls +are joined to the cliff, and with what care the aspect of the +neighbouring rocks has been imitated in the external architecture." +[Footnote: Nadaillac, "Prehistoric America," Lond. 1885, p. 205.] + +In Asia also these rock-dwellings abound. The limestone cliffs of +Palestine are riddled with them. They are found also in Armenia and in +Afghanistan. At Bamian, in the latter, "the rocks are perforated in +every direction. A whole people could put up in the 'Twelve Thousand +Galleries' which occupy the slopes of the valley for a distance of +eight miles. Isolated bluffs are pierced with so many chambers that +they look like honeycombs." [Footnote: Reclus, "Asia," iii. p. 245.] + +That Troglodytes have inhabited rocks in Africa has been known since +the time of Pliny. + +But it has hardly been realised to what an extent similar cliff +dwellings have existed and do still exist in Europe. + +In 1894, in my book, "The Deserts of Southern France," I drew attention +to rock habitations in Dordogne and Lot, but I had to crush all my +information on this subject into a single chapter. The subject, +however, is too interesting and too greatly ramified to be thus +compressed. It is one, moreover, that throws sidelights on manners and +modes of life in the past that cannot fail to be of interest. The +description given above of cliff dwellings in Oregon might be employed, +without changing a word, for those in Europe. + +To the best of my knowledge, the theme of European Troglodytes has +remained hitherto undealt with, though occasional mention has been made +of those on the Loire. It has been taken for granted that cave-dwellers +belonged to a remote past in civilised Europe; but they are only now +being expelled in Nottinghamshire and Shropshire, by the interference +of sanitary officers. + +Elsewhere, the race is by no means extinct. In France more people live +underground than most suppose. And they show no inclination to leave +their dwellings. Just one month ago from the date of writing this page, +I sketched the new front that a man had erected to his paternal cave at +Villiers in Loir et Cher. The habitation was wholly subterranean, but +then it consisted of one room alone. The freshly completed face was cut +in freestone, with door and window, and above were sculptured the aces +of hearts, spades, and diamonds, an anchor, a cogwheel and a fish. +Separated from this mansion was a second, divided from it by a buttress +of untrimmed rock, and this other also was newly fronted, occupied by a +neat and pleasant-spoken woman who was vastly proud of her cavern +residence. "Mais c'est tout ce qu'on peut désirer. Enfin on s'y trouve +très bien." + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I + +PREHISTORIC CAVE-DWELLERS + +Formation of chalk--Of dolomitic limestone--Where did the first men +live--Their Eden in the chalk lands--Migration elsewhere--Pit +dwellings--Civilisation stationary--Troglodytes--Antiquity of man--Les +Eyzies--Hôtel du Paradis--The first colonists of the Vézère Valley-- +Their artistic accomplishments--Painting and sculpture--Rock dwellings +in Champagne--Of a later period--Civilisation does not progress +uniformly--The earth--Book of the Revelation of the past--La Laugerie +Basse--Blandas--Conduché--Grotte de Han--The race of Troglodytes not +extinct + + +CHAPTER II + +MODERN TROGLODYTES + +Troglodytes of the Etang de Berre--The underground town of Og, King of +Bashan--Trôo--Sanitation--Ancient mode of disposing of refuse--The +talking well--Les Roches--Chateau de Bandan--Chapel of S. Gervais--La +Grotte des Vierges--Rochambeau--Le Roi des Halles--La Roche Corbon-- +Human refuse at Ezy--Saumur--Are there still pagans among them?-- +Bourré--Courtineau--The basket-makers of Villaines--Grioteaux--Sauliac +--Cuzorn--Brantôme--La Roche Beaucourt--The Swabian Alb--Sibyllen loch-- +Vrena Beutlers Höhle--Schillingsloch--Schlössberg Höhle--Rock village +in Sicily--In the Crimea--In Egypt--In volcanic breccia--Balmes de +Montbrun--Grottoes de Boissière--Grottoes de Jonas--The rock Ceyssac-- +The sandstone cave-dwellings of Corrèze--Their internal arrangement-- +Cluseaux--Cave-dwellings in England--In Nottinghamshire--In +Staffordshire--In Cornwall--In Scotland--The savage in man--Reversion +to savagery--The Gubbins--A stone-cutter--Daniel Gumb--A gentleman of +Sens--Toller of Clun Downs + + +CHAPTER III + +SOUTERRAINS + +Prussian invasion of Bohemia--Adersbach and Wickelsdorf labyrinths-- +Refuges of the Israelites--Gauls suffocated in caves by Cæsar-- +Armenians by Corbulo--Story of Julius Sabinus--Saracen invasion--The +devastation of Aquitaine by Pepin--Rock refuges in Quercy--The +Northmen--Persecution of the Albigenses--The cave of Lombrive--The +English domination of Guyenne--Two kinds of refuges--Saint Macaire-- +Alban--Refuge of Château Robin--Exploration--Methods of defence-- +Souterrain of Fayrolle--Of Saint Gauderic--Of Fauroux--Of Olmie-- +Aubeterre--Refuges under castles--Enormous number of souterrains in +France--Victor Hugo's account of those in Brittany--Refuges resorted to +in the time of the European War--Those in Picardy--Gapennes--Some +comparatively modern--Condition of the peasantry during the Hundred +Years' War--Tyranny of the nobles--Their barbarities--Refuges in +Ireland--In England--The Dene Holes--at Chislehurst--At Tilbury--Their +origin--Fogous in Cornwall--Refuges in Haddingtonshire--In Egg-- +Slaughter of the Macdonalds--Refuges in the Isle of Rathlin--Massacre +by John Norris--Refuges in Crete--Christians suffocated in one by the +Turks--Lamorciere in Algeria. . . . . . + + +CHAPTER IV + +CLIFF REFUGES + +Distinction between souterrain and cliff refuges--How these latter were +reached--Gazelles--Peuch Saint Sour--Story of S. Sour--The Roc d'Aucor +--Exploration--How formerly reached--Boundoulaou--Riou Ferrand--Cliff +refuge near Brengues--Les Mées--Fadarelles--Puy Labrousse--Soulier-de- +Chasteaux--Refuges in Auvergne--Meschers--In Ariège--The Albigenses-- +Caves in Derbyshire--Reynard's cave--Cotton's cave--John Cann's cave-- +Elford's cave on Sheep's Tor.... 103-116 + + +CHAPTER V + +CLIFF CASTLES. THE ROUTIERS + +The seigneural castle--Protection sought against the foes without and +against the peasant in revolt--Instance of the Château Les Eyzies-- +Independence of the petty nobles--Condition of the country in France-- +In Germany--Weakness of the Emperor--The Raubritter--Italy--The nobles +brought into the towns--Their towers--Division of the subject-- +Difference between the English manor-house and the foreign feudal +castle--The English in France--The Hundred Years' War--Hopeless +condition of the people--The Free Companies--How recruited--Crusade +against the Albigenses--Barons no better than Routiers--Death of +chivalry--Routiers were rarely Englishmen--Had no scruples as to whom +they served--Disregarded treaties--The captains were Gascons or French +--The nobles of the south on the English side--Nests in the rock-- +Depopulation and devastation--Insolence of the Companies--Bigaroque-- +Roc de Tayac--Corn--Roquefort--Brengues--The Bishop of Cahors dies +there--Château du Diable at Cabrerets--Défilé des Anglais--Peyrousse-- +Les Roches du Tailleur--Trosky--The scolding women--The English not +forgotten in Guyenne . . . . . 117-141 + + +CHAPTER VI + +CLIFF CASTLES--_Continued_ + +The difference between feudal castles and those of the Routiers-- +Illustration of the character of the nobles--Two Counts of Perigord-- +The nobles in Auvergne--"Les grands Jours"--La Roche Saint Christophe-- +Surprised and destroyed--Reoccupied by the Huguenots--Final +destruction--La Roche Gageac--Its history--Jean Tarde--Ravages of the +Huguenots--Gluges--La Roche Lambert--Habichstein--Bürgstein--The spy-- +Kronmetz--Covolo--Puxerloch--The shadowless man--Nottingham Castle-- +Arrest of Mortimer--Outmost castles--La Grotte de Jioux--Clovis +crosses the Vienne--Le Gué du Loir--Antoine de Bourbon--Calvin at +Saint Saturnin--His cave--La Roche Corail--Cave in which the "Institute +of the Christian Religion" was written--Effects produced by this work +--Preparation of men's minds for reform--Havoc wrought to art by the +Calvinists--La Rochebrune--A cave-colander--Necessity for outlook +stations--Frontier fortifications + + +CHAPTER VII + +SUBTERRANEAN CHURCHES + +Basilicas and catacumbal churches--Preference of the people for the +latter--The cult of martyrs encouraged this--Crypts--Elevation of +relics--Church of SS. John and Paul on the Coelian Hill--Temples were +originally sepulchres--Basilican churches converted into mausoleums-- +Dedications--Altars of wood changed for altars of stone--At first the +bodies of martyrs were not dismembered--But dismemberment was made +necessary by the transformation--The Martyrium of Poitiers--S. Emilion +--Carvings--Crypt--Aubeterre--A Huguenot stronghold--Orders issued by +Jeanne d'Albret--Her extended powers--The monolithic church--Menaced by +ruin--Rocamadour--Lirac--Mimet--Caudon--Natural caves used as +churches--Gurat--Lanmeur--Story of S. Melor--Dolmen Chapel of the +Seven Sleepers--Another at Cangas-de-Ones--Confolens--Subterranean +churches in Egypt--In Crete--The sacred caves in Palestine--Revival of +cave sanctuaries by the Crusaders--Springs of water in crypts + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ROCK HERMITAGES + +Tibetian recluses--Christian hermits in Syria and Egypt--The Essenes +and Therapeutæ--Description by Philo of the latter--Buddhist and +Manichæean influence--Difference in motive--Likeness superficial-- +Possible necessity for the adoption of asceticism--Instance of +extravagant asceticism in Syria--Extravagances in Ireland--In England +--Early European solitaries--The Beatus Höhle--Grotto of S. Cybard-- +Decadence--Hermits in Languedoc--In Germany--A grocer hermit-- +Hermitage at S. Maurice--The Wild Kirchlein--The cave of S. Verena at +Soleure--That of Magdalen at Freiburg--Oberstein--Hermitage at Brive-- +La Sainte Beaume--Sougé--Villiers--Montserrat--Subiaco--La Vernia-- +Warkworth--Knaresborough--Robin Hood's stable--Roche--Anchor Church-- +Royston cave--Its carvings--Kindly remembrance of the hermit--The +hermit a loss + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROCK MONASTERIES + +The hermits self-excommunicate--Liability to create a schism--S. Paul-- +S. Mary of Egypt--S. Anthony--Enormous number of solitaries compels +organisation into monasteries--Causes inducing flight to the desert--S. +Athanasius at Trèves--Writes the "Life of S. Anthony"--Impulse given to +flight from the world in the West--S. Martin--Desires to imitate the +Lives of the Fathers of the Desert--At Poitiers--Founds Ligugé--Rock +cells--Later history and ruin--Martin becomes Bishop of Tours--Founds +Marmoutier--History and ruin--Martin and the masqueraders--Present +state--Baptistry--The Seven Sleepers--Brice elected bishop--Obliged to +fly the see--Return and penance--Cave of S. Leobard--Abbey of Brantôme +--Underground church--Other caves--"Papists' Holes" at Nottingham--Rock +monastery of Meteora--Der el Adra--Inkermann + + +CHAPTER X + +CAVE ORACLES + +Polignac--Greek oracles--Charonion--Cave of the Nymphs--Exhalations-- +Delos--Care of Trophonios--Experiences of Pausanius--Cave at Acharaca +--Sibylline oracles--Destruction--Forged oracles--Oracles among the +Jews--Story of Hallbjörn--Sounds issuing from caves--Echo--Æolian cave +of Terni--Purgatory of S. Patrick--The Knight Owain--Visit by Sir +William Lisle--By a monk of Eymstadt--Prohibited by Alexander VI.-- +Prohibition rescinded by Pius III.--Destroyed in 1622--Revival of +pilgrimages--Description by Gough--Friar Conrad--Lazarus Aigner-- +Roderic, King of the Goths--Sortes Sacræ--Condemned by the Church-- +Nevertheless practised--Instances from Gregory of Tours--Incubation in +pagan shrines--The cave of Cybele--Temples of Isis and Esculapius-- +Churches founded by Constantino dedicated to S. Michael--Incubation +practiced in them--Instances--Churches of S. Cosmas and Damian-- +Practice at Caerleon--Superstition hard to kill--Grotto of Lourdes + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ROBBERS' DENS + +Humphrey Kynaston--His adventurous life--Cave at Ness Cliff--Chinamen-- +David at Adullam--Bandit caves in Palestine--Lombrive--Surtshellir-- +Feruiden's cave--Gargas--La Crouzafce--The haunts of Grettir-- +Dunterton--Precautions against burglary--Story of K. F. Masch--His +capture--The Leichtweishohle--Adersbach retreats--Babinsky--His capture + + +CHAPTER XII + +BOOK SEPULCHRES + +Difference between the tombs of the Israelites and those of the +Egyptians--The reason for this--Jewish catacombs at Rome--Christian +catacombs--Puticoli--Numerous catacombs--Those of Syracuse--Those of +Paris--Crypts became vaults for kings and nobles--Desecration--That of +Louis XI.--The instinct of immortality--Cave burials--In the Petit +Morin--Scandinavian burials--Death regarded as suspended animation-- +Hervor at the cairn of Angantyr--The cairn-breaking of Gest--The barrow +of Gunnar--Sigrun visits her husband in his cairn--The story of Asmund +and Asvid--The same ideas in Christian times--Mamertinus and +Corcodemus--"De Miraculis Mortuorum"--Ancestor worship--Persistence of +usages derived from a remote antiquity--Neglect of thought of the dead +--Double nature of man--The spiritual world--A walking postman-- +Conclusion + + +INDEX + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +CLIFF CASTLE, BRENGUES +CAVE DWELLERS AT DUCLAIR +SAULIAC (_Photo by_ GIBMA) +GRIOTEAUX +LA ROCHEBRUNE +SKETCH PLAN OF ROCK STABLE, COMMARQUES +PLAN OF ROCK HOLES IN NOTTINGHAM PARK +DRAKELOW +AUBETERRE +PLAN OF THE REFUGE OF CHÂTEAU ROBIN +THE CHÂTEAU OF FAYROLLES +CLUSEAU DE FAUROUX +LA ROCHE GAGEAC +LE PEUCH S. SOUR +CAVES OF MESCHERS +CAVE REFUGE AT SOULIER DE CHASTEAU +LE DÉFILÉ DES ANGLAIS, LOT (_Photo by_ BAUDEL, S. CÉRÉ) +CHÂTEAU DES ANGLAIS, BRENGUES +CHÂTEAU DU DIABLE, CABRERETS (EXTERIOR) +CHÂTEAU DU DIABLE, CABRERETS (INTERIOR) (_Photo by_ BAUDEL, S. +CÉRÉ) +CORN, LOT (_Photo by_ BAUDEL, S. CÉRÉ) +CHÂTEAU DES ANGLAIS, AUTOIRE (_Photo by_ BAUDEL, S. CÉRÉ) +COVOLO +LA ROCHE DU TAILLEUR +KRONMETZ +THE PUXERLOCH, STYRIA +HABICHSTEIN, BOHEMIA +ROCK MONASTERY, NOTTINGHAM PARK +ROCK MONASTERY, NOTTINGHAM PARK +LA ROCHE CORAIL +LA ROCHE CORAIL THE FIRST HALL +GUÉ DE LOIR +LES ROCHES +PLAN OF MARTYRIUM +MONOLITHIC CHURCH OF S. EMILION +AUBETERRE, CHARENTE, INTERIOR OP MONOLITHIC CHURCH (_Photo by_ +DELAGE) +ROCAMADOUR (_Photo by_ BAUDEL, S. CÉRÉ) +AUBETERRE, CHARENTE (_Photo by_ DELAGE) +SUBTERRANEAN CHURCH, AUBETERRE (_Photo by_DELAGE) +DOLMEN CHAPEL OF THE SEVEN SLEEPERS +PLAN OF DOLMEN CHAPEL NEAR PLOUARET +PLAN OF CHAPEL OF S. AMADOU +SCULPTURE IN ROYSTON CAVE (_Photo by_ R.H. CLARK, ROYSTON) +SCULPTURE IN ROYSTON CAVE (_Photo by_ R.H. CLARK, ROYSTON) +ROYSTON CAVE (_Photo by_ R. H. CLARK, ROYSTON) +CHATEAU DE RIGNAC +LE TROU BOUROU +ROCK BAPTISTERY OF ST. MARTIN +TRIUMPH OF CHRIST OVER DEATH (_Photo by_ LACROIX) +CAVES OF LIGUGÉ +NESS CLIFF +KYNASTON'S CAVE + + + + +CLIFF CASTLES AND CAVE DWELLINGS OF EUROPE + + +CHAPTER I + +PREHISTORIC CAVE-DWELLERS + + +In a vastly remote past, and for a vastly extended period, the mighty +deep rolled over the surface of a world inform and void, depositing a +sediment of its used up living tenants, the microscopic cases of +foraminiferæ, sponges, sea-urchins, husks, and the cast limbs of +crustaceans. The descending shells of the diatoms like a subaqueous +snow gradually buried the larger dejections. This went on till the +sediment had attained a thickness of over one thousand feet. Then the +earth beneath, heaved and tossed in sleep, cast off its white +featherbed, projected it on high to become the chalk formation that +occupies so distinct and extended a position in the geological +structure of the globe. The chalk may be traced from the North of +Ireland to the Crimea, a distance of about 11,140 geographical miles, +and, in an opposite direction, from the South of Sweden to Bordeaux, a +distance of 840 geographical miles. + +It extends as a broad belt across France, like the sash of a Republican +mayor. You may travel from Calais to Vendôme, to Tours, Poitiers, +Angoulême, to the Gironde, and you are on chalk the whole way. It +stretches through Central Europe, and is seen in North Africa. From the +Crimea it reaches into Syria, and may be traced as far as the shores of +the sea of Aral in Central Asia. + +The chalk is not throughout alike in texture; hard beds alternate with +others that are soft--beds with flints like plum-cake, and beds +without, like white Spanish bread. + +We are accustomed in England to chalk in rolling downs, except where +bitten into by the sea, but elsewhere it is riven, and presents cliffs, +and these cliffs are not at all like that of Shakespeare at Dover, but +overhang, where hard beds alternate with others that are friable. These +latter are corroded by the weather, and leave the more compact +projecting like the roofs of penthouses. They are furrowed +horizontally, licked smooth by the wind and rain. Not only so, but the +chalk cliffs are riddled with caves, that are ancient water-courses. +The rain falling on the surface is drunk by the thirsty soil, and it +sinks till, finding where the chalk is tender, it forms a channel and +flows as a subterranean rill, spouts forth on the face of the crags, +till sinking still lower, it finds an exit at the bottom of the cliff, +when it leaves its ancient conduit high and dry. + +But before the chalk was tossed aloft there had been an earlier +upheaval from the depths of the ocean, that of the Jurassic limestone. +This was built up by coral insects working indefatigably through long +ages, piling up their structures, as the sea-bottom slowly sank, +straining ever higher, till at length their building was crushed +together and projected on high, to form elevated plateaux, as the +Causses of Quercy, and Alpine ranges, as the Dolomites of Brixen. But +in the uplifting of this deposit, as it was inelastic, the strain split +it in every direction, and down the rifts thus formed danced the +torrents from higher granitic and schistous ranges, forming the gorges +of the Tarn, the Ardêche, the Herault, the Gaves, and the Timée, in +France. + +It has been a puzzle to decide which appeared first, the egg out of +which the fowl was hatched, or the hen which laid the egg; and it is an +equal puzzle to the anthropologist to say whether man was first brought +into existence as a babe or in maturity. In both cases he would be +helpless. The babe would need its mother, and the man be paralysed into +incapacity through lack of experience. But without stopping to debate +this question, we may conclude that naked, shivering and homeless +humanity would have to be pupil to the beasts to learn where to shelter +his head. Where did man first appear? Where was the Garden of Eden? +Indisputably on the chalk. There he found all his first demands +supplied. The walls of cretaceous rock furnished him with shelter under +its ledges of overhanging beds, flints out of which to fashion his +tools, and nodules of pyrites wherewith to kindle a fire. Providence +through aeons had built up the chalk to be man's first home. + +Incontestably, the great centres of population in the primeval ages +were the chalklands, and next to them those of limestone. The chalk +first, for it furnished man with flints, and the limestone next when he +had learned to barter. + +He could have lived nowhere else, till, after the lapse of ages, he had +developed invention and adaptability. Besant and Rice, in "Ready-money +Mortiboy," speak of Divine Discontent as the motive power impelling man +to progress. Not till the chalk and the limestone shelters were +stocked, and could hold no more, would men be driven to invent for +themselves other dwellings. The first men being sent into the world +without a natural coat of fur or feathers, would settle into caves or +under overhanging roofs of rock, and with flint picked out of it, +chipped and pointed, secure the flesh of the beast for food and its +hide for clothing. Having accomplished this, man would sit down +complacently for long ages. Indeed, there are certain branches of the +human family that have progressed no further and display no ambition to +advance. + +Only when the districts of chalk and limestone were overstocked would +the overflow be constrained to look elsewhere for shelter. Then some +daring innovators, driven from the favoured land, would construct +habitations by grubbing into the soil, and covering them with a roof of +turf. The ancient Germans, according to Tacitus, lived in underground +cabins, heaped over with dung to keep them warm during the long winter. +With the invention of the earthenware stove, the German Bauer has been +enabled to rise above the surface; but he cherishes the manure round +his house, so to speak, about his feet, as affectionately as when it +warmed his head. + +For a long time it was supposed that our British ancestors lived in pit +dwellings, and whole clusters of them were recorded and mapped on the +Yorkshire Wolds, and a British metropolis of them, Caer Penselcoit, was +reported in Somersetshire. Habitations sunk deep in the rock, with only +a roof above ground. But the spade has cracked these archæological +theories like filberts, and has proved that the pits in the wolds were +sunk after iron ore, or those in Somerset were burrowings for the +extraction of chert. [Footnote: Atkinson, "Forty Years in a Moorland +Parish." Lond. 1891, p. 161, _et seq._ Some pits are, however, not +so dubious. At Hurstbourne, in Hants, pit habitations have been +explored; others, in Kent and Oxfordshire, undoubtedly once dwelt in. +In one of the Kentish pits 900 flakes and cores of flint were found. +The Chysoyster huts in Cornwall and the "Picts houses" in Scotland were +built up of stones, underground.] But the original paleolithic man did +not get beyond the cavern or the rock-shelter. This latter was a +retreat beneath an overhanging stratum of hard rock, screened against +the weather by a curtain of skins. And why should he wish to change so +long as these were available? We, from our advanced position, sitting +in padded arm-chairs, before a coal fire, can see that there was room +for improvement; but he could not. The rock-dwelling was commodious, +dry, warm in winter and cool in summer, and it cost him no trouble to +fashion it, or keep it in repair. He had not the prophetic eye to look +forward to the arm-chair and the coal fire. Indeed, at all periods, +down to the present day, those who desire to lead the simple life, and +those who have been reared in these nature-formed dwelling-places, feel +no ambition to occupy stone-built houses. In North Devon the cottages +are reared of cob, kneaded clay, and thatched. A squire on his estate +pulled down those he possessed and built in their place brick houses +with slated roofs. The cottagers bitterly resented the change, their +old mud-hovels were so much warmer. And in like manner the primeval man +would not exchange his _abris_ for a structural dwelling unless +constrained so to do. + +The ancients knew that the first homes of mankind were grottoes. They +wrote of Troglodytes in Africa and of cave-dwellers in Liguria. In +Arabia Petræa, a highly civilized people converted their simple rock- +dwellings into sumptuous palaces. + +I might fill pages with quotations to the purpose from the classic +authors, but the reader would skip them all. It is not my intention to +give a detailed account of the prehistoric cave-dwellers. They have +been written about repeatedly. In 1882, Dr. Buckland published the +results of his exploration of the Kirkdale Cave in Yorkshire in +_Reliquiæ Diluvianæ_, and sought to establish that the remains +there found pertained to the men who were swept away by Noah's flood. +The publication of Sir Charles Lyall's "The Geological Evidences of the +Antiquity of Man," in 1863, was a shock to all such as clung to the +traditional view that these deposits were due to a cosmic deluge, and +that man was created 4004 B.C. + +At first the announcements proving the antiquity of man were received +with orthodox incredulity, because, although the strata, in which the +remains were found, are the most modern of all earth's formations, +still the testimony so completely contravened traditional beliefs, that +the most conclusive evidence was required for its proof. Such evidence +has been found, and is so strong, and so cumulative in character as to +be now generally accepted as conclusive. + +Evidence substantiating the thesis of Lyall had been accumulating, and +the researches of Lartet and Christy in the Vézère valley, published in +1865-75, as _Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ_, conclusively proved that man in +Perigord had been a naked savage, contemporary with the mammoth, the +reindeer and the cave-bear, that he had not learned to domesticate +animals, to sow fields, to make pots, and that he was entirely ignorant +of the use of the metals. + +Since then, in the valley of the Vézère, Les Eyzies in the Department +of Dordogne, has become a classic spot. I have already described it in +another work, [Footnote: "The Deserts of Southern France." Lond., +Methuen, 1894.] but I must here say a few more words concerning it. On +reaching the valley of the Vézère by the train from Perigueux, one is +swung down from the plateau into a trough between steep scarps of +chalk-rock that rise from 150 to 300 feet above the placid river. These +scarps have been ploughed by the weather in long horizontal furrows, so +that they lean over as though desirous of contemplating their dirty +faces in the limpid water. Out of their clefts spring evergreen oaks, +juniper, box and sloe-bushes. Moss and lichen stain the white walls +that are streaked by black tricklings from above, and are accordingly +not beautiful--their faces are like that of a pale, dirty, and weeping +child with a cold in its head, who does not use a pocket-handkerchief. +Jackdaws haunt the upper ledges and smaller caves that gape on all +sides chattering like boys escaped from school, and anon a raven starts +forth and hoarsely calls for silence. At the foot of the stooping +crags, bowing to each other across the stream, lie masses that have +broken from above, and atop and behind these is to be seen a string of +cottages built into the rock, taking advantage of the overarching +stratum of hard chalk; and cutting into it are russet, tiled roofs, +where the cottagers have sought to expand beyond the natural shelter: +they are in an intermediate position. Just as I have seen a caddis-worm +emancipating itself from its cage, half in as a worm, half out as a +fly. + +Nature would seem to have specially favoured this little nook of +France, which must have been the Eden of primeval man on Gallic soil. +There he found ready-made habitations, a river abounding in fish, a +forest teeming with game; constrained periodically to descend from the +waterless plateaux, at such points as favoured a descent, to slake +their thirst at the stream, and there was the nude hunter lurking in +the scrub or behind a stone, with bow or spear awaiting his prey--his +dinner and his jacket. + +What beasts did he slay? The wild horse, with huge head, was driven by +him over the edge of the precipice, and when it fell with broken limbs +or spine, was cut up with flint knives and greedily devoured. The +reindeer was also hunted, and the cumbersome mammoth enabled a whole +tribe to gorge itself. + +The grottoes perforating the cliff, like bubbles in Gruyère cheese, +have been occupied consecutively to the present day. Opposite to Les +Eyzies, hanging like a net or skein of black thread to the face of the +precipice, is a hotel, part gallery, part cave--l'Auberge du Paradis; +and a notice in large capitals invites the visitor to a "Course aux +Canards." + +When I was last there, reaching the tavern by a ladder erected in a +grotto, I learned that an American couple on their honeymoon had +recently slept in the guest-chamber scooped out of the living rock. The +kitchen itself is a cavern, and in it are shelves, staged against the +rock, offering Chartreuse, green and yellow, Benedictine, and Crème de +Menthe. The proprietor also possesses a gramophone, and its strident +notes we may well suppose imitate the tones of the first inhabitants of +this den. Of the Roc de Tayac, in and against which this paradisaical +hotel is plastered, I shall have more to say in another chapter. + +The first men who settled in this favoured valley under shelters open +to the blaze of the sun, in a soft and pleasant climate, where the air +when not in proximity to men, is scented with mint, marjoram and +juniper, where with little trouble a salmon might be harpooned, must +have multiplied enormously--for every overhanging rock, every cavern, +even every fallen block of stone, has been utilised as a habitation. +Where a block has fallen, the prehistoric men scratched the earth away +from beneath it, and couched in the trench. The ground by the river +when turned up is black with the charcoal from their fires. A very +little research will reward the visitor with a pocketful of flint +knives and scrapers. And this is what is found not only on the main +artery, but on all the lateral veins of water--wherever the cretaceous +rocks project and invite to take shelter under them. Since the +researches of Lartet and Christy, it has been known as an established +fact that these savages were indued with rare artistic skill. Their +delineations with a flint point on ivory and bone, of the mammoth, +reindeer, and horse, are so masterly that these men stand forth as the +spiritual ancestors of Landseer and Rosa Bonheur. And what is also +remarkable is that the race which succeeded, that which discovered the +use of metal, was devoid of the artistic sense, and their attempts at +delineation are like the scribbling of an infant. + +Of late years fresh discoveries have been made, revealing the fact that +the Paleolithic men were able to paint as well as to engrave. In Les +Combarelles and at Font-de-Gaume, far in the depths, where no light +reaches, the walls have been found turned into a veritable picture- +gallery. In the latter are twenty-four paintings; in the former forty- +two. + +Doctor Capitan and the Abbé Breuil were the first to discover the +paintings in Les Combarelles. In an account read before the Academy of +Sciences, they say: "Most frequently, the animals whose contours are +indicated by a black outline, have all the surface thus circumscribed, +entirely covered with red ochre. In some cases certain parts, such as +the head of the urochs, seems to have been painted over with black and +red together, so as to produce a brown tint. In other cases the head of +the beast is black, and the rest of the body brown. This is veritable +fresco painting, and the colour was usually applied after the outline +had been graven in the stone. At other times some shading is added by +hatching supplied after the outline had been drawn. Finally, the +contours are occasionally thrown into prominence by scraping away the +surface of the rock around, so as to give to the figures the appearance +of being in low relief." + +These wall paintings are by no means unique. They have been found as +well at Pair-sur-Pair in Gironde, and in the grotto of Altamira at +Santillana del Mar, in the north of Spain. + +Still more recently an additional revelation as to the artistic skill +of primeval man has been made; in a cave hitherto unexplored has been +discovered actual sculpture with rounded forms, of extinct beasts. + +These discoveries appeared incredible, first, because it was not +considered possible that paintings of such a vastly remote antiquity +could remain fresh and distinguishable, and secondly, because it was +not thought that paintings and sculpture could be executed in the +depths of a rayless cavern, and artificial light have left no traces in +a deposit of soot on the roof. + +But it must be remembered that these subterranean passages have been +sealed up from time immemorial, and subjected to no invasion by man or +beast, or to any change of air or temperature. And secondly, that the +artists obtained light from melted fat in stone bowls on the floor, in +which was a wick of pith; and such lamps would hardly discolour ceiling +or walls. Of the genuineness of these paintings and sculptures there +can be no question, from the fact that some are partly glazed over and +some half obliterated by stalagmitic deposits. + +Another discovery made in the Mas d'Azil in Arriege, is of painted +pebbles and fan-shells that had served as paint-pots. [Footnote: Piette +(E.), _Les Galets colorrés du Mas d'Azil._ Paris, 1896.] The +pebbles had been decorated with spots, stripes, zig-zags, crosses, and +various rude figures; and these were associated with paleolithic tools. +In the chalk of Champagne, where there are no cliffs, whole villages of +underground habitations have been discovered, but none of these go back +to the earliest age of all; they belong to various epochs; but the +first to excavate them was the Neolithic man, he who raised the rude +stone monuments elsewhere. He had learned to domesticate the ox and the +sheep, had made of the dog the friend of man. His wife span and he +delved; he dug the clay, and she formed it with her fingers into +vessels, on which to this day her finger-prints may be found. + +These caves are hollowed out in a thick bed of cretaceous rock. The +habitations are divided into two unequal parts by a wall cut in the +living chalk. To penetrate into the innermost portion of the cave, one +has to descend by steps cut in the stone, and these steps bear +indications of long usage. The entrance is hewn out of a massive screen +of rock, left for the purpose, and on each side of the doorway the +edges show the rebate which served to receive a wooden door-frame. Two +small holes on the right and left were used for fixing bars across to +hold the door fast. A good many of these caves are provided with a +ventilating shaft, and some skilful contrivances were had recourse to +for keeping out water. Inside are shelves, recesses cut in the chalk, +for lamps, and to serve as cupboards. But probably these are due to +later occupants. The Baron de Baye, who explored these caves, picked up +worked flints, showing that their primitive occupants had been men of +the prehistoric age, and other caves associated with them that were +sepulchral were indisputably of the Neolithic age. [Footnote: De Baye +(J.), _L'Archéologie préhistorique._ Paris, 1888.] + +Mankind progresses not smoothly, as by a sliding carpet ascent, but by +rugged steps broken by gaps. He halts long on one stage before taking +the next. Often he remains stationary, unable to form resolution to +step forward; sometimes even has turned round and retrograded. + +The stream of civilisation flows on like a river, it is rapid in mid- +current, slow at the sides, and has its backwaters. At best, +civilisation advances by spirals. The native of New Guinea still +employs stone tools; whilst an Englishman can get a nest of matches for +twopence, an Indian laboriously kindles a fire with a couple of sticks. +The prehistoric hunter of Solutré devoured the horse. In the time of +Horace so did the Concanni of Spain. In the reign of Hakon, Athelstan's +foster son, horseflesh formed the sacrificial meal of the Norseman. At +the present day, as Mr. Lloyd George assures us, the haggard, ill-paid +German mechanic breaks his long fast on black bread with rare meals of +horseflesh. + +At La Laugerie Basse, on the right bank of the Vézère, is a vast +accumulation of fallen rocks, encumbering the ground for at least +thirty-five feet in height under the overhanging cornice. The fallen +matter consists of the disintegration of the projecting lip. Against +the cliff, under the shelter of the rock, as already said, are cottages +with lean-to roofs, internally with the back and with at least half the +ceiling composed of the rock. In one of these Lartet and Christy began +to sink a pit, beside the owner's bed, and the work was carried on to +conclusion by the late Dr. Massenat. The well was driven down through +successive stages of Man; deposits from the sous dropped and trampled +into the earth floor by the children of the cottagers till the virgin +soil was reached; and there, lying on his side, with his hands to his +head for protection, and with a block of fallen rock crushing his +thigh, lay the first prehistoric occupant of this shelter. + +On the Causse de Larzac is Navacelles, in Gard; you walk over the arid +plain with nothing in sight; and all at once are brought to a +standstill. You find yourself at the edge of a crater 965 feet deep, +the sides in most places precipitous, and the bottom is reached only by +a zig-zag path. In the face of one of the cliffs is the grotto of +Blandas, that has been occupied since remote ages. A methodical +exploration has revealed a spearhead of silex, a bronze axe, bone +bracelets, a coin of the Hundred Years' War, and lastly a little pin- +cushion of cloth in the shape of a heart, ornamented with metal +crosses, the relic of some refugee in the Reign of Terror, hiding to +escape the guillotine. + +At Conduché, where the Célé slides into the Lot, high up in the yellow +and grey limestone precipice is a cave, now accessible only by a +ladder. Hither ascended a _cantonnier_ when the new road was made +up the valley, and here he found chipped flints of primeval man, a +polished celt, a scrap of Samian ware, and in a niche at the side +sealed up with stalactite, a tiny earthenware pitcher 2-1/2 inches +high, a leaden spindle-whorl, some shells, and a toy sheep-bell. Here a +little shepherdess during the stormy times, when the Routiers ravaged +the country, had her refuge while she watched her flock of goats, and +here made her doll's house. + +The stalactite cavern of Han in the Ardennes is visited yearly by +crowds. You may see highly coloured illustrations of its interior +illumined by Bengal lights in all the Belgian and many of the French +railway stations. What is now a peepshow was in past ages a habitation +and a home. In it the soil in successive layers has revealed objects +belonging to successive periods in the history of mankind. Its floor +has been in fact a Book of the Revelation of the Past, whose seals have +been opened, and it has disclosed page by page the history of humanity, +from the present, read backwards to the beginning. + +At the bottom of all the deposits were discovered the remains of the +very earliest inhabitants, with their hearths about which they sat in +nudity and split bones to extract the marrow, trimmed flints, worked +horn, necklaces of pierced wolf and bears' teeth; then potsherds formed +by hand long before the invention of the wheel; higher up were the arms +and utensils of the bronze age, and the weights of nets. Above these +came the remains of the iron age and wheel-turned crocks. A still +higher stratum surrendered a weight of a scale stamped with an effigy +of the crusading king, S. Louis (1226-1270), and finally francs bearing +the profile of a king, the reverse in every moral characteristic of +Louis the Saint--that of Leopold of Congo notoriety. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MODERN TROGLODYTES + + +Herodotus, speaking of the Ligurians, says that they spent the night in +the open air, rarely in huts, but that they usually inhabited caverns. +Every traveller who goes to the Riviera, the old Ligurian shore, knows, +but knows only by a passing glance, the Etang de Berre, that inland +sea, blue as a sapphire, waveless, girt about by white hills, and +perhaps he wonders that Toulon should have been selected as a naval +port, when there was this one, deeper, and excavated by Nature to serve +as a harbour. The rocks of S. Chamas that look down on this peaceful +sheet of water, rarely traversed by a sail, are riddled with caves, +still inhabited, as they were when Herodotus wrote 450 years before the +Christian era. + +The following account of an underground town in Palestine is from the +pen of Consul Wetzstein, and describes one in the Hauran. "I visited +old Edrei--the subterranean labyrinthic residence of King Og--on the +east side of the Zanite hills. Two sons of the sheikh of the village-- +one fourteen and the other sixteen years of age--accompanied me. We +took with us a box of matches and two candles. After we had gone down +the slope for some time, we came to a dozen rooms which, at present, +are used as goat stalls and storerooms for straw. The passage became +gradually smaller, until at last we were compelled to lie down flat and +creep along. This extremely difficult and uncomfortable progress lasted +for about eight minutes, when we were obliged to jump down a steep +well, several feet in depth. Here I noticed that the younger of my two +attendants had remained behind, being afraid to follow us; but probably +it was more from fear of the unknown European than of the dark and +winding passages before us. + +"We now found ourselves in a broad street, which had dwellings on both +sides, whose height and width left nothing to be desired. The +temperature was mild, the air free from unpleasant odours, and I felt +not the smallest difficulty in breathing. Further along there were +several cross-streets, and my guide called my attention to a hole in +the ceiling for air, like three others which I afterwards saw, now +closed from above. Soon after we came to a market-place, where, for a +long distance, on both sides of the pretty broad street, were numerous +shops in the walls, exactly in the style of the shops seen in Syrian +cities. After a while we turned into a side street, where a great hall, +whose roof was supported by four pillars, attracted my attention. The +roof, or ceiling, was formed of a single slab of jasper, perfectly +smooth and of immense size, in which I was unable to perceive the +slightest crack. + +"The rooms, for the most part, had no supports. The doors were often +made of a single square stone, and here and there I also noticed fallen +columns. After we had passed several cross-alleys or streets, and +before we had reached the middle of the subterranean city, my +attendant's light went out. As he was lighting again by mine, it +occurred to me that possibly both our lights might be extinguished, and +I asked the boy if he had any matches. 'No,' he replied, 'my brother +has them.' 'Could you find your way back if the lights were put out?' +'Impossible,' he replied. For a moment I began to be alarmed at this +underworld, and urged an immediate return. Without much difficulty we +got back to the marketplace and from hence the youngster knew the way +well enough. Thus, after a sojourn of more than an hour and a half in +this labyrinth, I again greeted the light of day." [Footnote: +_Reisebericht in Hauran_, ii., pp. 47-48.] + +I have quoted this somewhat lengthy account because, as we shall see in +the sequel, the subterranean dwellings and above all refuges in Europe, +bear to this town of King Og of Bashan a marked resemblance. + +Within four hours of Paris by Chartres and Sargé is the town of +Montoire with a clean inn, Le Cheval Rouge, and next station down the +Loir is Trôo. The Loir, male, is the river, not La Loire of the +feminine gender. Le Loir is a river that rises in the north-east, +traverses the fertile upland plain of Beauce, and falls into and is +lost in La Loire at Angers. It is a river rarely visited by English +tourists, but it does not deserve to be overlooked. It has cut for +itself a furrow in the chalk tufa, and the hospitable cliffs on each +side offer a home to any vagrant who cares to scratch for himself a +hole in the friable face, wherein to shelter his head. + +Trôo bears a certain resemblance to the city of Og. Originally it was +all underground, but in process of time it effervesced, bubbled out of +its holes, and is now but half troglodyte. The heights that form the +Northern declivity of the valley of the Loir come to an abrupt end +here, and have been sawn through by a small stream creating a natural +fosse, isolating the hill of Trôo that is attached to the plateau only +on the North. The hill rises steeply from the river to a crest occupied +by a Romanesque church recently scoured to the whiteness of flour, and +beside it is a mighty tumulus, planted with trees. + +Formerly on this same height stood a castle, but this has been so +completely broken down that nothing remains of it but a few +substructures and its well. + +Trôo was at one time a walled town, and as it was the key to the valley +of the Loir, was hotly contested between the English and French during +three hundred years, and later, between Catholics and Huguenots. The +place was besieged by Mercader, the captain under Richard Coeur-de +Lion, who had flayed alive the slayer of his master under the walls of +Caylus, although Richard had promised him immunity. Here Mercader met +his death, and was buried under a mound that is still shown. + +But what makes Trôo especially interesting is that the whole height is +like a sponge, perforated with passages giving access to halls, some of +which are circular, and into store-chambers; and most of the houses are +wholly or in part underground. The caves that are inhabited are staged +one above another, some reached by stairs that are little better than +ladders, and the subterranean passages leading from them form a +labyrinth within the bowels of the hill, and run in superposed storeys. +In one that I entered was an oven, with a well at its side. A little +further, in a large hall, a circular hole in the floor unfenced gave +access by rope or ladder to a lower range of galleries. Any one +exploring by the feeble light of a single candle, without a guide, +might be precipitated down this abyss without knowing that there was a +gaping opening before him. A long ascending passage, with niches in the +sides for lamps, leads to where the fibres of the roots of the trees on +the mound above have penetrated and are hanging down. It is said that +the gallery led on to the castle, but since this latter has been ruined +it has been blocked. In the holes whence flints have dropped spiders +harbour, that feed on ghostly moths which flit in the pitch darkness, +and when caught between the fingers resolve themselves into a trace of +silver dust. But on what did these spectral moths feed? A pallid boy of +sixteen who guided me about the town told me that he had been born in a +cave; that he slept in one every night, and worked underground all day. +His large brown eyes could see objects in the dark where all was of +inky blackness to me. It is astonishing with what unconcern mites of +children romp and ramble through these corridors, where there is danger +not only on account of pitfalls, but also of the roof falling in. Where +I went, guided by a child of ten, every now and then I was warned-- +"Prenez garde, c'est écroulé." + +The town--it was a town once, but now contains 783 inhabitants only--is +partly built at the foot of the bluff, but very few houses are without +excavated chambers, store-places or stables. The café looks ordinary +enough, but enter, and you find yourself in a dungeon. There is but one +street--La Grande Rue--and that has space and landscape on one side, +and houses built against and into the rock on the other. A notice at +the entrance to the street warns that no heavy traffic, not much above +the weight of a perambulator, is permitted to pass along it, for the +roadway runs over the tops of houses. A waggon might crash through into +the chamber of a bedridden beldame, and a motor be precipitated +downwards to salt the soup of a wife stirring it for her husband's +supper. At Trôo chimneys bristle everywhere, making the hill resemble a +pin-cushion or a piece of larded veal. There are in the depth of the +hill wells, and to these mothers fearlessly despatch their children to +fill a pitcher, as often as not without a light. + +Many of the cave-dwellings have but a ledge a few feet wide, and +perhaps only a dozen or twenty feet long before their doors, and at the +extreme edge one may see the children standing, unaffected with +giddiness, like a row of swallows, contemplating the visitor. I cannot +say how it may be with the lower houses, but those high up are +pronouncedly odoriferous; for the inhabitants have no means of +disposing of their garbage save by exposing it on their little shelves +to be dried up by the sun, or washed down by the rain over the windows +and doors of their neighbours beneath. + +I wonder how a sanitary officer would tackle the problem of sweetening +Trôo. If he attempted to envelop it in a cobweb of socketed drainpipes +he would get into a tangle with the chimneys; to carry them underground +would not be feasible, as he would have to run them through kitchens, +bedrooms and salles-à-manger. But even did he make this cobweb, he +could not flush his pipes, as the water is at the bottom of the hill. +The ancient Gauls and Britons had a practical and ingenious method of +disposing of their refuse. They dug shafts in the chalk, shaped like +bottles, and all the rubbish they desired to get rid of was consigned +to these, till they were full, when they planted a tree on the top and +opened another. Great numbers of these _puticuli_ have been found +in France. They have been likewise unearthed on the chalk downs of +England. They were used as well for the graves of slaves. Now the good +citizens of Trôo cannot employ the pitfalls in their caves for this +purpose, or the wells would be contaminated. As it is, those wells are +supplied from the rain-water falling on the hill of Trôo and filtering +down, ingeniously avoiding the passages and halls. There are, however, +some dripping caverns incrusted with stalagmitic deposit. But conceive +of the sponge of Trôo acting as a filter through two thousand years and +never renovated. Not the most impressive teetotal orator would make me +a water drinker were I a citizen of Trôo. + +At the summit of the hill is _Le Puit qui parle_, the Talking +Well. It is 140 feet deep, and is shaped like a bottle. If any one +speaks near the mouth, it soon after repeats in an extraordinary +articulate manner the last two syllables uttered, a veritable "Jocosa +Imago." Drop in a pin, and after eight seconds its click is heard as it +touches the water. A stone produces a veritable detonation. + +There is another Troglodyte town, also formerly walled, Les Roches, +above Montoire. It is occupied by six hundred souls, and most of the +houses are dug out of the rock. There is hardly space for the road to +run between the Loir and the crags, and the church has to curl itself +like a dog going to sleep to fit the area allowed it. This rock forms +perpendicular bluffs of chalk tufa, and masses of fallen stone lie at +their feet. Some rocks overhang, and the whole of this cliff and the +fallen blocks have been drilled with openings and converted into +habitations for man and for beast. Doors and windows have been cut in +the stone, which has been hollowed out as maggots clear out the kernel +of a nut. Rooms, kitchens, cellars, stables have been thus contrived. +The chimneys run up the rocks, and through them; and on the plateau +above open as wells, but are surrounded by a breastwork of bricks to +protect them against the rain, which might form a rill that would +decant playfully down the opening in a waterfall. In winter, when all +hearths are lighted, the smoke issuing from all these little structures +has the effect of a series of steaming saucepans. + +A little way up the river outside the walls is the Château de Boydan, +half scooped out of the cliff, with pretty sixteenth century mullioned +and transomed windows. At right angles to the rock a wing was thrown +out to contain the state apartments with their fireplaces and chimneys. +But unfortunately it was tacking on of new cloth to the old garment, +and the face of the rock slid down carrying with it the side walls and +windows, and has left the gable containing the handsome stone chimney- +pieces and the chimneys as an isolated fragment. Just beyond, excavated +in the bluff, is the chapel of S. Gervais, consisting of two portions, +an outer and an inner chamber. But the cliff face had been cut for the +windows too thin, and the whole slid away at the same time probably as +the disaster happened to the castle, and has exposed the interior of +this monolithic church. There are remains of frescoes on the wall +painted with considerable spirit; a king on horseback blowing a horn, +and behind him a huntsman armed with a boar-spear. Benches cut in the +rock surround the sanctuary. Externally a niche contains a rude image +of the saint. + +Still nearer to Montoire, on the left bank of the Loir is Lavardin; +high up on the side of the hill, completely screened by a dense wood, +is a hamlet of Troglodytes. The principal excavation served originally +as a hermitage, and is called La Grotte des Vierges. There is a range +of rock-dwellings in connection with it, some inhabited and some +abandoned. The Grotte des Vierges is entered by steps descending into +the principal chamber that is lighted by a window and is furnished with +a fireplace. At one of the angles is a circular pit, six feet deep, +with a groove at top for the reception of a cover. This was a silo for +grain. From the first chamber entrance is obtained to a second much +larger, that has in it a fireplace as well, and a staircase leading +into a little oratory in which is an altar. The same staircase +communicates with a lower chamber, probably intended as a cellar, for +though the hermit might be frugal in meat there was no ban on the +drink. The rock-dwelling nearest to the Grotte des Vierges on the left +hand was of considerable proportions and pretence. It consisted of +large halls, and was in several stages. The windows are broken away, +the floors are gone, and it is reduced to a wreck. Below this series of +cave-dwellings is the Fountain of Anduée of crystal water, supposed to +be endowed with miraculous properties. The whole hill is moreover +pierced with galleries and store-chambers, and served as a refuge in +time of war, in which the villagers of Lavardin concealed their goods. +The noble ruin of the castle shows that it was once of great majesty. +It was battered down by the Huguenots, who for the purpose dragged a +cannon to the top of the church tower. + +Nearer to Vendôme is the Château of Rochambeau. The present mansion +that has replaced the ancient castle is a very insignificant and +tasteless structure. All the interest it possesses consists in its +dependencies that are rock-hewn. The bass-court is reached through a +long and lofty gallery bored athwart the rock, and issuing from it we +find ourselves in a sort of open well, probably originally natural but +appropriated and adapted by man to his needs. This vast depression, the +walls of which are seventy-five feet high, is circular, and measures +eighty feet in diameter. Round it are cellars and chambers for domestic +purposes. Others are accessible from the gallery that leads to the +court. One of them, the Cave-Noire, possesses a chimney bored upwards +through the rock to the level of the surface. Another peculiarity of +this cavern is that along one side, throughout its length, 120 feet, +are rings cut in the rock showing tokens of having been fretted by +usage. They are at the height of four feet above the soil, and are on +an average four feet ten inches apart. A second range is three feet or +four feet higher up. In an adjoining cavern are similar ranges of +rings. A third is cut almost at the level of the soil. Precisely the +same arrangement is to be found at Varennes hard by in artificial caves +still employed as stables, and some as dwellings for families. + +In the park is shown the cave in which the Duke of Beaufort, the Roi +des Halles, was concealed when he escaped from the prison of Vincennes. +François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort, was a grandson of Henri Quatre, +a man of inordinate conceit and of very limited intelligence. During +the regency that began in 1643, he obtained the confidence of Anne of +Austria, but his vanity rendered him insupportable, and he went out of +his way to insult the regent, so that she sent him to Vincennes. +Voltaire passes a severe judgment on him. He says of the Duke: "He was +the idol of the people, and the instrument employed by able men for +stirring them up into revolt; he was the object of the raillery of the +Court, and of the Fronde as well. He was always spoken of as the Roi +des Halles, the Market-King." One day he asked the President Bellevue +whether he did not think that he--Beaufort--would change the face of +affairs if he boxed the ears of the Duke of Elbeuf. "I do not think +such an act would change anything but the face of the Duke of Elbeuf," +gravely replied the magistrate. + +There are in the Quartier S. Lubin at Vendôme chambers still occupied +in the face of the cliff, high up and reached by structural galleries. + +At Lisle, on the river above Vendôme, are many caves, one of which was +the hospital or Maladerie. + +Above Tours and Marmoutier, on the road to Vouvray, is La Roche Corbon. +The cliff is pierced with windows and doors, and niches for a pigeonry. +This, till comparatively recently, was a truly Troglodyte village. But +well-to-do inhabitants of Tours have taken a fancy to the site and have +reared pretentious villas that mask the face of the cliff, and with the +advent of these rich people the humble cave-dwellers have "flitted." +One singular feature remains, however, unspoiled. A mass of the +cretaceous tufa has slipped bodily down to the foot of the crag, +against which it leans in an inclined position. This was eviscerated +and converted into two cottages, but the cottagers have been ejected, +and it is now a villa residence. An acquaintance at Tours has rented it +for his family as a summer seat. + +Some fifty or sixty years ago La Roche Corbon was "a village sculptured +up the broken face of the rocks, with considerable skill, and what with +creeping vines, snatches of hanging gardens, an attempt here and there +at a division of tenements, by way of slight partitions cut from the +surface, wreaths of blue smoke issuing out of apertures and curling up +the front, and the old feudal tower, called Lanterne de la Roche +Corbon, crowning the summit, the superincumbent pinnacle of excavated +rock on which it stands looking as if it were ready to fall and crush +the whole population beneath, this lithographed village has altogether +a curiously picturesque look." But at Beaumont-la-Ronce, north of +Tours, may be seen a whole street of cave habitations still occupied, +wreathed with vines and traveller's joy. + +In the department of Maine et Loire, and in a portion of Vienne, whole +villages are underground. + +There is often very valuable vineyard land that has to be walled round +and every portion economised. What is done is this: the owner digs a +quarry in the surface; this forms a sort of pit accessible on one side, +the stone taken from this being employed to fence round his property. +Then, for his own dwelling, he cuts out chambers in the rock under his +vineyard, looking through windows and a door into the quarry hole. For +a chimney he bores upwards, and then builds round the opening a square +block of masonry, out of which the smoke escapes. + +A whole village, or rather hamlet, may therefore consist of--as far as +one can see--nothing but a series of chimneys standing on the ground +among the vines. Those who desire to discover the inhabitants must +descend into the quarries to these rabbit warrens. + +In some villages the people live half above ground and half below. At +St. Leger, near Loudun, is a fine mediaeval castle, with a fosse round +it cut out of the rock: and this fosse is alive with people who have +grubbed out houses for themselves in the rock through which the moat +(which is dry) has been excavated. + +A very singular settlement is that of Ezy in the valley of the Eure, at +the extreme limit of the department of that name. About a kilometre +from the village, along the side of the railway, are numerous +subterranean habitations in three storeys, with platforms before them +which are horizontal. These were the dwellings of the owners of the +vines which at one time covered the hill overhead. But these vineyards +failed, and the dwellings were abandoned. However, after their +abandonment, it was customary at times for the villagers to resort to +them for drinking and dancing bouts. This tradition continues still in +force, and on Easter Tuesday these cave dwellings are visited, and +there is merrymaking in them. Between the caves at one time some little +taverns had been erected, but these also fell into ruin some forty or +fifty years ago. + +Since then a range of these caverns has become the refuge of a special +population of social and moral outcasts. There they live in the utmost +misery. The population consists of about eighty persons, male and +female and children. + +The history of the adults will hardly bear looking into. None of these +people have any fixed occupation, and it is difficult to discover how +they subsist. In fact, the life of every one of them is a problem. One +might have supposed that they maintained a precarious existence by +thieving or by begging, as they are far below the ordinary tramp; for +with the exception of perhaps two or three of them, these cave-dwellers +possess absolutely nothing, and know no trade whatever. They sleep on +dry leaves kept together by four pieces of wood, and their sole +covering consists of scraps of packing cloth. Sometimes they have not +even the framework for their beds, which they manufacture for the most +part out of old broken chairs discarded from the churches. A visitor +says: "In one of the caverns I entered there was but one of these +squalid and rude beds to accommodate five persons, of whom one was a +girl of seventeen, and two were boys of fourteen and fifteen. Their +kitchen battery consists exclusively of old metal cases of preserved +fruit or meats that they have picked up from the ashpits. The majority, +but by no means all, have got hold, somehow, of some old stoves or the +scraps of a stove that they have put together as best they could. They +have a well in common at the bottom of the hill, whence they draw water +in such utensils as they possess, and which they let down into the +water on a wooden crook. Every one has his crook as his own property, +and preserves it near him in the cavern. The majority of these +underground people have no clothes to speak of. Girls of fifteen and +big boys go about absolutely without any linen. The rest--perhaps three +or four--have only a few linen rags upon them. In the stifling +atmosphere of these cave-dwellings it is by no means rare to see big +children almost, if not absolutely, naked. I saw a great girl with a +wild shock of uncombed hair, wearing nothing but a very scanty shift. + +"These cave-dwellers live with utter improvidence, although deprived of +sufficient food. Three or four couples there have some four or five +children to each. + +"These families have for the most part formed in the cave-dwellings. A +young mother whom I saw there with four children, the only one dressed +with an approach to decency, when interrogated by me told me that she +had been brought there by her mother at the age of eight. That was +twenty-four years ago. She was fair, with tawny hair, and of the +Normandy type. She had been born in a village of the neighbourhood, and +her mother took refuge in the caverns, apparently in consequence of the +loss of her husband. + +"I heard of an individual who had been on the parish on account of his +incurable laziness, till the mayor losing all patience with him, had +him transported to these cave-dwellings and left there. There he +settled down, picked up a wife, and had a family. + +"These people live quite outside the law, and are quit of all taxes and +obligations. As to their marriages they are preceded and followed by no +formalities. No attempt is made on the part of the authorities to get +the children to school. One gentleman resident in the neighbourhood, a +M. Frederic Passy, did take pains to ameliorate their condition. He +collected the children and laboured to infuse into their hearts and +heads some sort of moral principle. But his efforts were ineffectual, +and left not a trace behind. They recollect him and his son well +enough, but confuse the one with the other. And two of those who were +under instruction for a while, when I questioned them about it, allowed +that they had submitted to be bored by them for the sake of profiting +by their charity. + +"I interrogated an old but still robust woman, who had lived in the +caverns for three years. She had been consigned to them by her own +children, who had sought by this means to rid themselves of the +responsibility of maintaining her. + +"The elements of this population belong accordingly to all sorts. I +noticed only one woman of an olive tint and with very black hair, who +may have come from a distance. But I was told she was a recent +accession to the colony, and I might be sure of this, as her clothing +was still fairly sound and clean. As she is still young and can work, +her case is curious; one wonders what can have induced her to go there. + +"I saw there also a couple without children; the man had the slouch and +hang-dog look of an habitual criminal. + +"I may give an instance which will show the degradation to which this +population has fallen. An old beggar I visited, who has lived in a +cavern belonging to his brother for forty-seven years, and who has had +a wife, allowed a billiard ball to be rammed into his mouth for two +sous (a penny) by some young fellows who were making sport of him. He +was nearly killed by it, for they had the greatest difficulty in +extracting the billiard ball." [Footnote: Zaborowski, "Aux Caves +d'Ezy," in _Revue Monsuelle de l'école d'Anthropologie_, Paris, +1897, i. p. 27, _et seq_.] + +At Duclair also, on the Seine, are rock dwellings precisely like those +on the Loire, and still inhabited. + +Along the banks of the Loire from Tours to Saumur are numerous cave +habitations still in occupation. Bell, in his "Wayside Pictures," says +of those at Saumur: "Close to the town are residences, literally +sculptured in the face of the naked rock. They are cut in the stone, +which is the tufa, or soft gravel stone, and easily admits of any +workmanship demanded by taste or necessity. There is no little care +displayed in the formation of these strange habitations, some of which +have scraps of gardens or miniature terraces before them; hanging from +the doorways are green creeping things, with other graceful adjuncts, +which help to give a touch of beauty to their aspect. In some cases, +where the shelving of the rock will admit of it, there are chimneys, in +nearly all windows; and it not unfrequently happens, especially higher +up the road near Tours, where art has condescended to embellish the +façades still more elaborately, that these house-caves present an +appearance of elegance which is almost impossible to reconcile with the +absolute penury of their inhabitants. The interiors, too, although +generally speaking naked enough, are sometimes tolerably well +furnished, having an air of comfort in them which, certainly, no one +could dream of discovering in such places. + +"These habitations are, of course, held only by the poor and outcast, +yet, in spite of circumstances, they live merrily from hand to mouth +how they can, and by means, perhaps, not always of the most legitimate +description. I have a strong suspicion that the denizens of these rocks +are not a whit better than they should be; that their intimate +neighbourhood is not the safest promenade after dark: and that, being +regarded and treated as Pariahs, they are born and baptized in the +resentments which are contingent upon such a condition of existence. +You might as well attempt to chase an eagle to his eyrie among the +clouds, as to make your way to some of these perilous chambers, which +are cut in the blank face of the rock, and can be reached only by a +sinuous track which requires the fibres of a goat to clamber. There are +often long lines of these sculptured houses piled in successive tiers +above each other; sometimes with a view to architectural regularity, +but in almost all cases they are equally hazardous to the unpractised +foot of a stranger. + +"Stroll down the spacious quay of Saumur in the dusk of the evening, +when the flickering tapers of the temperate town are going out one by +one. Roars of merriment greet you as you approach the cavernous city of +the suburb. There the entertainments of the inhabitants are only about +to begin. You see moving lights in the distance twinkling along the +grey surface of the rock, and flitting amongst the trees that lie +between its base and the margin of the river. Some bacchanalian orgie +is going forward." [Footnote: Bell (R.), "Wayside Pictures," Lond. +1850, pp. 292-3.] + +[Illustration: CAVE DWELLERS AT DUCLAIR. These are typical of countless +others on the Seine, the Loir, the Loire, and its tributaries, as also +on the Dronne and Dordogne.] + +There was a curious statement made in a work by E. Bosc and L. Bonnemère +in 1882, [Footnote: _Hist. des Gaulois sous Vercingetorix_. Paris, +1882.] reproduced by M. Louis Bousrez in 1894, [Footnote: _Les monu- +ments Mégalithiques de la Touraine_. Tours, 1894.] which, if true, +would show that a lingering paganism is to be found among these people. +It is to this effect: "What is unknown to most is that at the present +day there exist adepts of the worship (of the Celts) as practised before +the Roman invasion, with the sole exception of human sacrifices, which +they have been forcibly obliged to renounce. They are to be found on the +two banks of the Loire, on the confines of the departments of Allier and +Saone-et-Loire, where they are still tolerably numerous, especially in +the latter department. They are designated in the country as _Les +Blancs_, because that in their ceremonies they cover their heads with +a white hood, and their priests are vested like the Druids in a long +robe of the same colour. + +"They surround their proceedings with profound mystery; their +gatherings take place at night in the heart of large forests, about an +old oak, and as they are dispersed through the country over a great +extent of land, they have to start for the assembly from different +points at close of day so as to be able to reach home again before +daybreak. They have four meetings in the year, but one, the most +solemn, is held near the town of La Clayette under the presidence of +the high priest. Those who come from the greatest distance do not reach +their homes till the second night, and their absence during the +intervening day alone reveals to the neighbours that they have attended +an assembly of the Whites. Their priests are known, and are vulgarly +designated as the bishops or archbishops of the Whites; they are +actually druids and archdruids.... We have been able to verify these +interesting facts brought to our notice by M. Parent, and our personal +investigations into the matter enable us to affirm the exactitude of +what has been advanced." + +If there be any truth in this strange story, we are much more disposed +to consider the Whites as relics of a Manichæan or Albigensian sect +than as a survival of Druidism. More probable still is it that they are +or were a political confederation. But I suspect that the account is +due to a heated imagination. + +At Bourré (Loir et Cher) are extensive quarries in the face of the +hill. Here the chalk is hard and of beautiful texture. The stone has +been derived hence for the erection of several of the castles in the +Touraine, as also for buildings in the towns of Tours, Blois, +Montrichard, &c. Most of the habitations of the villagers, who are +nearly all quarrymen, are excavated in the rock, occupy old disused +workings, or have been specially dug out to suit the convenience and +dispositions of the occupants. In some of these old underground +quarries, that are not open to the light of day, dances and revelries +take place, when they are brilliantly illuminated. At Sainte Maure, on +the road from Tours to Chatelherault, in a deep cleft of the +_Cande_ that is covered with the _falun_, an extensive deposit of +marine and freshwater shells, marking the beach of an old estuary of the +sea, is the village of Courtineau, wholly made up of Troglodyte habita- +tions, and with its chapel also excavated in the rock. + +[ILLUSTRATION: SAULIAC. A village in the valley of the Célé Lot, built +partly into the rocks, with chambers excavated out of the cliff.] + +At Villaines (Indre et Loire) the cliffs are pierced with caves that +are inhabited by basket-makers, and the watercourses below are planted +with willow, or else have cut osiers lying in them soaking to preserve +their suppleness. In the caves, on the roads, in every house, one sees +little else but baskets in process of making or cut osiers lying handy +for use. The women split and peel the green rods, men and children with +nimble fingers plait the white canes. All the basket-makers are +themselves plaited into one co-operative association. From time +immemorial Villaines had made baskets, the osier of the valley being of +excellent quality. But the products could not be disposed of +satisfactorily; they were bought by regraders, who beat down the prices +of the wares, and the workmen had no means of seeking out the markets, +in which to sell with full advantage to themselves. In 1845 an old +curé, whose name is remembered with affection, the Abbé Chicogne, +conceived the idea of creating a co-operative society; and aided by the +Count de Villemois, he grouped the workers, and drew up the statutes of +the Association, that remain in force to the present day. All the +products are brought together into a common store, and sold for the +benefit of the associates. No member is permitted to dispose of a +single piece of his workmanship to a purchaser; he may not sell in +gross any more than he may in detail. The cave-houses are comfortably +and neatly furnished, and their appearance and that of their +inhabitants proclaims well-being, content and cheerfulness. + +On the Beune, a tributary of the Vézère, is the hamlet of Grioteaux, +planted on a terrace in a cave, the rock overhangs the houses. Above +the cluster, inaccessible without a ladder, in the face of the cliff, +is a chamber hewn out of the rock, and joist holes proclaiming that at +one time a wooden gallery preceded it. This cavern, that is wholly +artificial, served in times of trouble as a place in which the +community concealed their valuables. + +The river Célé that flows into the Lot passes under noble cliffs of +fawn and orange-tinted limestone, and the road here is called Le Défilé +des Anglais, as the whole valley during the Hundred Years' War was in +the possession of the Companies that pretended to fight for the +Leopards. And it was down this defile that the cutthroats rode on their +plundering expeditions. In this valley is the village of Sauliac, in an +amphitheatre of rocks, where road and river describe a semicircle. The +cliff runs up to a height of 300 feet. Houses are perched on every +available ledge, grappling the rock, where not simply consisting of +faced caverns. In the midst of this cirque stands the castle, buried in +stately oaks. It was not built till 1460, when the long agony of the +war was over, and nothing remained of the English save their empty +nests in the rock, and their hated name. + +A modern chapel, very white and not congruous with its surroundings, is +perched above the road on a terrace under Le Roc Percé, so named from a +natural cavern, very round, drilled through it, as though wrought by a +giant's boring tool. + +At Cuzorn, on the line from Perigueux to Agen, are very fine rocks in a +meander of the Lemance, starting out of woods, and these contain +caverns that have been, and some still are, inhabited. In this region +are many quarries, not open to the sky, but forming halls and galleries +under the hill, and some of these have been taken possession of and +turned into habitations. + +At Brantôme on the Dronne a good many of the houses are against the +rock, the caves built up in front with the usual window and door to +each. More have their workshops in grottoes, in them blacksmiths have +their forges, carpenters their planing benches, tinkers, tailors, +cobblers carry on their business in comparative obscurity. The superior +stratum of rock is of so hard and tenacious a quality that it holds +together with very few piers to support it. When a citizen wants to +enlarge his premises, he merely digs deeper into the hill; he has no +ground-rent to pay. Some caves open a hundred feet wide without a +support. + +[Illustration: GRIOTEAUX. A hamlet under overhanging rocks and with +chambers excavated in the rock. Above is a cave used as a place of +refuge, and notches that indicate where was a gallery reached by a rope +or ladder.] + +[Illustration: LA ROCHEBRUNE. The upper chamber with eight holes in the +floor, six for stabbing at those who had invaded the lower chamber, and +two providing the means of escape.] + +Any one motoring or going by rail from Angoulême to Périgueux should +halt half-way at La Roche Beaucourt, where the rock l'Argentine +contains a nest of cave-dwellings, with silos in the floors and +cupboards in the walls. + +That the savage is not extinct in these out-of-the-way parts may be +judged from this--that at Hautefaye near by, the peasants in 1870 laid +hold of M. de Moneis, who objected to the prosecution of the war with +the Prussians after Sedan, cruelly maltreated him, and threw him alive +on a bonfire in which he expired among the flames. + +The whole south-east angle of the Isle of Sicily is full of underground +cities, of which that of the Val d'Ispica is the most famous. These +excavations are vulgarly called Ddieri, but they are not in most cases +tombs, but dwelling-places for the living, as is shown by the handmills +for oil and corn that are found in them. + +The Val d'Ispica is a narrow valley situated between Modica and +Spaicaforno; and throughout its entire length of about eight miles, the +rock walls are pierced on both sides with countless grottoes, all +artificial, and showing the marks of tools on their walls. They are +scooped in the calcareous rock. Some consist of as many as ten or +twelve chambers in succession, and are seldom more than 20 feet deep by +6 feet high, and they are of the same breadth. At the bottom of the +valley flows a little stream that supplied the inhabitants with water, +and irrigates wild fig-trees and pink-flowered oleanders. On a higher +level grow broad-leaved acanthi and wild artichokes, and thick festoons +of cactus hang down from the top of the rock and shade the entrances to +the grottoes. A portion of the rock wall on the right bank of the +stream has fallen, and exposed to sight the internal arrangement of the +dwellings. But previous to this, ascent could only have been made by +ladders or by notches in the rock for the insertion of toes and +fingers, as among the cliff-dwellers in Arizona. There are ranges of +these habitations on several stages, and steps cut in the rock allowed +communication between them; but above all is a ledge or gallery open +to the sky and commanding a magnificent prospect. This could be +reached only by a ladder, and probably formed the rendezvous of the +women of the Troglodyte town in an evening to enjoy the cool air, and +exercise their tongues. It may also have served as the last refuge of +the inmates of the caverns, who, after escaping to it could withdraw +the ladder. + +One dwelling of three storeys, with flights of steps in good +preservation, is called the Castle by the peasants. Parthey, a German +traveller, who investigated these dwellings, reckoned their number to +be over 1500. He saw nowhere any trace of ornament about them. Doors +and windows were mere rough holes cut through the limestone. Rings hewn +in the stone which are found in the chambers probably served some +purpose of domestic economy. Fragments of Samian ware and carved marble +have been found in them, but are probably later than the construction +of these habitations. Some contain graves, and these also may be later, +but actually we know from history nothing about them. Rock tombs may +have been utilised as dwellings or abandoned dwellings as tombs. To the +present day some of them are still occupied, mainly by shepherds and +poor peasants. The range in the Crimea from Cape Kersonese to the Bay +of Ratla is formed of layers of limestone alternating with clay and +argilaceous schist, a disposition of the strata that tends greatly to +accelerate the disintegration of the cliffs. The clay gradually washed +out by springs or eaten away by the weather forms great caverns in the +sides, and these are liable to fall in when deprived of support. They +have, however, been utilised as habitations. The Rock of Inkermann, the +ancient Celamita, runs east of the town beyond the marshy valley of the +Chernaya; it has been converted into a vast quarry which menaces with +destruction the old Troglodyte town that occupied the cliffs. The +galleries of this underground town form a rabbit warren in which it is +dangerous to penetrate without a guide or a clue. Some of the chambers +are large enough to contain five hundred people. + +The rocks of Djonfont-kaleharri are also honeycombed, with still +inhabited caves; some are completely cavernous, but others have the +openings walled up so as to form a screen. Beneath an overhanging rock +is a domed church used by this Troglodyte community. + +If we cross the Mediterranean to Egypt, we see there whole villages of +cave-dwellers. The district between Mansa-Sura and Cyrene is full of +grottoes in the very heart of the mountains, into which whole families +get by means of ropes, and many are born, live and die in these dens, +without ever going out of them. + +The volcanic breccia as well as chalk and limestone has been utilised +for the habitation of man. There is a very interesting collection of +cave-dwellings all artificial, the Balmes du Montbrun, a volcanic +crater of the Coiron, near S. Jean le Centenier in the Vivarais. The +crater is 300 feet in diameter and 480 feet deep; and man has burrowed +into the sides of porous lava or pumice to form a series of +habitations, a chapel, and one that is traditionally said to have +served as a prison. This rock settlement was occupied till the close of +the eighteenth century. + +The Grottoes de Boissière are twelve in number, on the side of the Puy +de Châteauneuf, commanding the road from Saint Nectaire to Marols, Puy +de Dôme. They are excavated in the volcanic tufa, and are all much of +the same dimensions; one, however, measures 28 feet by 12 feet, and is +7 feet high. Below the grottoes the slope of the hill is parcelled out +into small fields or gardens by means of walls of stones laid one on +another without mortar, showing that the inhabitants of these caves +lived there permanently and cultivated the ground below their +dwellings. [Footnote: There are others, Les Grottes de Rajah, in the +same mass of rock, with near them an isolated rock carved about and +supposed to have been an idol.] More curious still are the Grottoes de +Jonas on the Couze, also in Puy de Dôme, near Cheix. They are in stages +one range above another to the height of from 90 to 120 feet. The face +of the mountain is precipitous, and is of a porous tufa full of holes. +As many as sixty of these artificial caves remain; but there were at +one time many more, that have been destroyed by the fall of the very +friable volcanic rock. It is impossible to determine the period at +which these caves were excavated; they were probably prehistoric to +begin with, but were tenanted during the Middle Ages when--if not +later--the tracks leading to them were cut in the tufa and stairs to +connect the several stages. Then paths were bordered by walls as a +protection, and fragments of the parapet remain. Probably it was during +the English occupation of Guienne which extended into Auvergne, that a +castle and a chapel were sculptured out of the living rock. At the same +time a remarkable spiral staircase was contrived in like manner. +Numerous relics of all periods--flint tools, bronze weapons, +statuettes, and coins--have been found among the rubbish thrown out +from these dens. [Footnote: G. Tournier, _Les Mégalithes et les +Grottes des environs de S. Nectaire_. Paris, 1910.] + +On the Borne, in Haute Loire, dug out of the volcanic rock are several +cave-dwellings. The caves at Conteaux are fourteen in number, the +largest is divided into three compartments; each is 45 feet deep and 11 +feet wide, but the usual dimension is from 28 to 36 feet. In all, the +vault is rather over 6 feet high. An opening in the roof of one gave +vent to smoke. + +The rock of Ceyssac is curious. Formerly a barrier of volcanic tufa +stretched across the valley of the Borne; this barrier had been ejected +from the volcano of La Denise. The river, arrested in its onward +course, was ponded back and formed a lake that overflowed the dam in +two places, leaving between them a fang of harder rock. When the water +had spilled for a considerable time over the left-hand lip, and had +worn this down to a depth of about 70 feet, it all at once abandoned +this mode of outlet and concentrated its efforts on the right-hand +portion of the dam where it found the tufa less compact. It eventually +sawed its way completely through till it reached its present level, +leaving the prong of rock in the middle rising precipitously out of the +valley with the river gliding peacefully below it, but attached to the +mountain side by the neck it had abandoned. The fang was laid hold of, +burrowed into, and converted into a village of Troglodytes. In it are +cave-dwellings in five superposed storeys, stables with their mangers, +with rings for tying up cattle, a vast hall, that is circular, and +chambers with lockers and seats graven out of the sides of the walls. +There is also a subterranean chapel, with the entrance blocked by a +wall that contains an early Romanesque doorway. The Polignacs seized on +the spike of rock and built on the summit a castle that could be +reached only by a flight of steps cut in the face of the rock. By +degrees the inhabitants have migrated from their caves to the neck of +land connecting the prong with the hill, and have built themselves +houses thereon. They have even abandoned their monolithic church and +erected in its place an unsightly modern building. + +There are other cave-dwellings in the volcanic rocks of the Cevennes +and Auvergne, but the above account must suffice. + +I will now say something about the Troglodyte dwellings in the +sandstone in Corrèze, in the neighbourhood of Brive, caves that have +been inhabited from the time of the man who was contemporary with the +mammoth, to this day. Some have, however, been abandoned comparatively +recently. + +They do not run deep into the rock; usually they face the south or +south-west, and are sometimes in a series at the same level; sometimes +they form several storeys, which communicated with each other by +ladders that passed through holes cut in the floor of the upper storey, +or else by a narrow cornice, wide enough for one to walk on. Sometimes +this cornice has been abraded by the weather, and fallen away; in which +case these cave-dwellings can be reached only by a ladder. There are +caves in which notches cut in the rock show where beams had been +inserted, and struts to maintain them, so as to form a wooden balcony +for communication between the chambers, or between the dwellings of +neighbours. + +The doorways into these habitations are usually cut so as to admit a +wooden frame to which a door might be attached; and there are deep +holes bored in the rock, very much as in our old churches and towers, +for the cross-piece of timber that effectually fastened the door. + +The grottoes are cut square, the ceilings are always sensibly +horizontal, and the walls always vertical. But where a natural hollow +has been artificially deepened, there the opening is usually irregular. +Moreover, in such case, the gaping mouth of the cave was in part walled +up. The traces of the tool employed are everywhere observable, they +indicate that the rock was cut by a pick having a triangular point. +Small square holes in the sides, and long horizontal grooves indicate +the position of shelves. Square hollows of considerable size served as +cupboards, and oblong rectangular recesses, 18 inches above the floor, +and from 3 feet 9 inches to 4 feet 6 inches high and a foot deep were +benches. Bedplaces were also cut in the rock. + +There are also indications of a floor having been carried across in +some of the loftier caves, and there are openings in the roofs through +which ascent was made to the series of chambers on the upper storey. +Holes pierced in the ceiling served for the suspension of articles +liable to be injured by proximity to a damp rock. A string was attached +to the middle of a short stick, that was thrust into the hole. The +string was then pulled and it was fast. Another plan was that of boring +holes at an angle into the rock at the side. Into these holes rods were +thrust and what was required to be kept dry was suspended from them. + +[Illustration: Sketch Plan of Rock Stable, Commarques.] + +Some of the grottoes served at once for man and beast and fowl. Not +only are there chambers for the former, but also mangers for cattle, +and silos to contain the fodder; and there are nooks for pigeons in an +adjoining cave. In many cases there are cisterns; in one is a well. The +cisterns had to be filled laboriously. They are provided with bungholes +for the purpose of occasional cleaning out. The walls are scored with +concave grooves slanting downwards, uniting and leading into small +basins. The moisture condensing on the sides trickled into these +runnels and supplied the basins with drinking water. The mangers have +holes bored in the stone through which passed the halters. There are +indications that the cattle were hauled up by means of a windlass. + +That these were not places of refuge in times of danger, but were +permanent habitations, would appear from the fact that those of +Lamouroux contain mural paintings, and that in them, in addition to +stables, there is a pigeonry. In one or two instances the piers that +support the roof have sculptured capitals, of the twelfth or thirteenth +century. In the cave-dwelling still tenanted at Siourat is cut the +date, I.D. 1585, surmounted by a cross. [Footnote: Lalande (Ph.), +_Les Grottes artificielles des environs de Brive_. In _Mémoires +de la Soc. de Spéliologie_. Paris, 1897.] + +I have given the plan of the caves of Lamouroux in my "Deserts of +Southern France." + +How general rock habitations were at one time in Perigord may be judged +by the prevalence of the place-name _Cluseau_, which always meant +a cave that was dwelt in, with the opening walled up, window and door +inserted; _roffi_ is applied to any ordinary grotto, whether +inhabited or not. + +It would be quite impossible for me to give a list of the cave- +dwellings in France still inhabited, or occupied till comparatively +recent times, they are so numerous and are to be found in every +department where is the chalk or the limestone, sandstone or volcanic +tufa. + +They are to be met with not only in those parts of France from which +the above specimens have been taken and described, but also in Var, +Bouches du Rhone, Aveyron, Gard, Lozère, Cantal, Charente, Vienne, &c. + +There is a good deal of sameness in the appearance of those still +inhabited--a walled face, a mask, with window and door, and above a +chimney of brick rising out of the rock. + +[Illustration: Plan of the Rock Holes in Nottingham Park. Total length +of excavation on South Front 110 yards.] + +In England, Nottingham drew its ancient British name of Tigguocobauc +(House of Caves) from its troglodyte habitations; at Mansfield in that +county such caves exist, and were associated with a class of +inhabitants somewhat nomadic, who obtained their living by making +besoms from the heather of the adjoining forest and moorland. They +established a colony on the roadside waste, and sank wells in the rock +for water. Nottingham enjoyed possibly the largest brewing and malting +business in the country, and those trades were nearly wholly carried on +in chambers and cellars and kilns cut out of the living rock. Mr. W. +Stevenson, author of "Bygone Nottinghamshire," writes to me: "Last week +I was with an antiquarian friend exploring an ancient passage in the +castle rock, originally made as a sally-port to the castle, but at some +later period when bricks came on the scene, converted or enlarged into +a set of malt offices with malt kilns complete. Their original use and +locality have been lost for a century, and their recovery is just being +brought about. Their situation, high over the adjoining meadow, and +their presence in the very heart of the rock that rises abrupt to the +height of 133 feet is truly romantic. The foot of the range of cliffs, +with a south aspect, was a favoured site. Here we find communities of +monks dwelling for centuries, hermits spotted about, and a great part +of the town-dwellers, tanners, dyers, and other trades where water was +largely required. A peculiarity of these houses was their fresh-water +supply. The denizens sank holes in their living apartments with steps +cut in the rock until they got down to the water level, where they had +little pools of fresh water. The system was known as _Scoop- +wells_, and must have been very ancient. Those who lived on higher +levels burrowed into the sides of sunken roads, and the track-lines of +ancient military defences. In deeds of transfer of property it was +customary to describe tenements as _below_ or _above_ ground. +Old writers have said that they doubted if the erections above ground +would fill the space excavated below ground; and to-day, when erecting +new buildings, it is necessary to drill down into the rock a yard or +more to ascertain that the foundations are not to be laid above the +crowns of hidden vaults, chapels, or unknown habitations." + +Thoroton, in his history of Nottinghamshire, 1797, gives an +illustration of rock-dwellings at Sneynton, adjoining Nottingham, but +they have recently been cleared away for railway extension. + +The sanitary authorities have done their best to sweep the tenants out +of the Nottingham cave habitations, but in Staffordshire at Kinver +there are still troglodytes. + +Holy Austin's Rock is a mass of red sandstone, a spur of the bluff of +Kinver Edge, that is crowned by the earthworks of what is supposed to +have been a camp of Penda. But it has been broken through by wind and +rain and perhaps sea, and now stands out unattached. It is honeycombed +with habitations. I have been into several. They are neat and dry, and +the occupants are loud in praise of them, as warm in winter and cool in +summer. They are in two stages. At Drakelow also there are several, +also occupied, somewhat disfigured by hideous chimneys recently erected +in yellow and red bricks. One chimney is peculiarly quaint as being +twisted, like a writhing worm, to accommodate itself to the shape of +the overhanging rock. Another series of these habitations is now +abandoned, but was occupied till a comparatively recent period, and +other houses have their stables and storerooms excavated out of the +rock. + +Although Derbyshire abounds with caverns, some natural, some the work +of miners, from Roman times, they do not appear to have been inhabited, +at least since prehistoric times, except as occasional refuges. But +there is a rock hermitage at Dale Abbey that has been lived in till +recently, and when Mr. St. John Hope was excavating the Abbey ruins, +one of his workmen informed him that he had been born and bred in it. + +A writer in _The Cornish Magazine_ gives the following account of +some Cornish cave-dwellers. + +"People in the habit of frequenting the shore of Whitsand Bay, between +Lore and Dowderry, are familiar with the sight of a couple of women +moving about among the rocks exposed at low tide. They are shell-fish +gatherers, who live in a small cave a little to the west of Seaton. The +illustration shows almost the extent of this cleft in the shady cliff, +and any one who examines the place must wonder how two human beings can +exist there. Along one side is a strip of sand, and from that the floor +slopes upwards at an angle of about sixty degrees. Whether by years of +practice the women have attained such perfection in the art of +balancing their bodies that they go to sleep on the slanting rock +without fear of falling, or whether they rest on the sand (wet when I +saw it from a late storm), I was not informed; but it is evident that +they know no comfort at any time. When I came suddenly upon the cave +one morning in October, the smouldering ashes of a drift-wood fire, a +kettle, a teapot, and two cups were dotted about just inside. Further +up the floor their 'cupboards'--a couple of iron boilers--were +standing, and in a niche near the fire was a pipe--short, dark, and +odorous. The women who have made this their dwelling are Irish widows, +'born in Ireland and married in Ireland,' as one of them said. They are +between fifty and sixty years of age, and for the last thirty years +have managed to gain a subsistence by gathering limpets week after week +and taking them to Plymouth. When the sea is rough they obtain few or +no fish, but under favourable circumstances the two sometimes get +fourteen shillings a week between them. In fine weather, when from Rame +Head to Looe Island the sea lies calm and glistening under a summer +sky, this smoke-blackened cave is an uninviting hovel; and in the +winter, especially when there is a gale from the south-east, the women +must be almost blown out of the hollow or frozen to death. On such +occasions they are forced to leave the cave, and then they go to a +disused pigsty near by. In talking with them while they dexterously +chipped limpets from the weed-mantled rocks, I mildly remarked that +workhouses were now very comfortable. Immediately the younger woman +stood erect, and with something akin to pride and determination, +exclaimed in a voice more than tinctured by the Irish patois, 'Never, +sir, will us go to the workhouse while us can get as much as an crust +in twenty-four hours.' Hitherto I had seen her only in a stooping +attitude, and I was surprised to see how tall a woman she was, and what +strength of character was indicated by her features. As she stood there +amongst the sea-weed, with feet and legs bare, and her hair confined by +a handkerchief, beating the palm of one hand with the knuckles of the +other to emphasise her words, it dawned upon me that I had named the +thing against which these two women had fought grimly for more than a +quarter of a century." [Footnote: _The Cornish Magazine_, i. +(1878), pp. 394-5.] + +[Illustration: DRAKELOW IN KINVER, SHROPSHIRE] + +[Illustration: AUBETERRE. One of the subterranean excavations at +Aubeterre on the Dronne, serving as stables, storehouses, etc. At the +side on the right may be seen an oven for bread, scooped out of the +rock.] + +Sir Arthur Mitchell describes some troglodytes in Scotland.[Footnote: +"The Past in the Present," Edin. 1880, pp. 73-7.] "In August 1866, +along with two friends, I visited the great cave at the south side of +Wick Bay. It was nine at night, and getting dark when we reached it. It +is situated in a cliff, and its mouth is close to the sea. Very high +tides, especially with north-east winds, reach the entrance and force +the occupants to seek safety in the back part of the cave, which is at +a somewhat higher level than its mouth. + +"We found twenty-four inmates--men, women, and children--belonging to +four families, the heads of which were all there. They had retired to +rest for the night a short time before our arrival, but their fires +were still smouldering. They received us civilly, perhaps with more +than mere civility, after a judicious distribution of pence and +tobacco. To our great relief, the dogs, which were numerous and +vicious, seemed to understand that we were welcome. + +"The beds on which we found these people lying consisted of straw, +grass and bracken, spread upon the rock or shingle, and each was +supplied with one or two dirty, ragged blankets or pieces of matting. +Two of the beds were near the peat-fires, which were still burning, but +the others were further back in the cave where they were better +sheltered. + +"On the bed nearest the entrance lay a man and his wife, both +absolutely naked, and two little children in the same state. On the +next bed lay another couple, an infant, and one or two elder children. +Then came a bed with a bundle of children, whom I did not count. A +youngish man and his wife, not quite naked, and some children, occupied +the fourth bed, while the fifth from the mouth of the cave was in +possession of the remaining couple and two of their children, one of +whom was on the spot of its birth. Far back in the cave--upstairs in +the garret, as they facetiously called it--were three or four biggish +boys, who were undressed, but had not lain down. One of them, moving +about with a flickering light in his hand, contributed greatly to the +weirdness of the scene. Beside the child spoken of, we were told of +another birth in the cave, and we heard also of a recent death there, +that of a little child from typhus. The Procurator-Fiscal saw this dead +child lying naked on a large flat stone. Its father lay beside it in +the delirium of typhus, when death paid this visit to an abode with no +door to knock at. + +"Both men and women, naked to their waists, sat up in their lairs and +talked to us, and showed no sense of shame. One of the men summoned the +candle-boy from the garret, in order that we might see better, and his +wife trimmed the dying fire, and then, after lighting her pipe, +proceeded to suckle her child. + +"In the afternoon of the next day, with another friend, I paid a second +visit to this cave, when we found eighteen inmates, most of whom were +at an early supper, consisting of porridge and treacle, apparently well +cooked and clean. One of the women was busy baking. She mixed the +oatmeal and water in a tin dish, spread the cake out on a flat stone +which served her for a table, and placing the cake against another +stone, toasted it at the open fire of turf and wood. This was one of +three fires, all situated about the centre of the wider part or mouth +of the cave, each with a group about it of women and ragged children. + +"There was no table, or chair, or stool to be seen, stones being so +arranged as to serve all these purposes. There was no sort of building +about the entrance of the cave to give shelter from the winds, which +must often blow fiercely into it. Yet this cave is occupied both in +summer and winter by a varying number of families, one or two of them +being almost constant tenants. + +"I believe I am correct in saying that there is no parallel +illustration of modern cave life in Scotland. The nearest approach to +it, perhaps, is the cave on the opposite or north side of the same bay. +Both of these caves I have had frequent opportunities of visiting, and +I have always found them peopled. Only occasional use is made of the +other caves on the Caithness and Sutherland coasts. Of these, perhaps +the cave of Ham, in Dunnet parish, is the most frequented. It is the +nearness to a large town which gives to the Wick caves their steady +tenants. The neighbouring population is large enough to afford room for +trading, begging, and stealing--all the year round. + +"The occupants of the Wick caves are the people commonly known by the +name of Tinkers. They are so called chiefly because they work in tinned +iron. The men cut, shape, hammer, while the women do the soldering. + +"The Tinkers of the Wick caves are a mixed breed. There is no Gipsy +blood in them. Some of them claim a West Island origin. Others say they +are true Caithness men, and others again look for their ancestors among +the Southern Scotch. They were not strongly built, nor had they a look +of vigorous bodily health. Their heads and faces were usually bad in +form. Broken noses and scars were a common disfigurement, and a +revelation at the same time of the brutality of their lives. One girl +might have been painted for a rustic beauty of the Norse type, and +there was a boy among them with an excellent head. It is possible that +one or both of these may yet leave their parents, from dissatisfaction +with the life they lead." + +These cave-dwellers of Wick were the offscourings of society, such as +might be found in any town slum. "Virtue and chastity exist feebly +among them, and honour and truth more feebly still; they neither read +nor write; they go to no church, and have scarcely any sort of +religious belief or worship. They know little or nothing of their +history beyond what can be referred to personal recollection." + +These, like the slum dwellers of a town, are recruited from outside, +they do not constitute a race; they are the dregs of a race--persons +who have dropped out of the line of march. + +An amusing story was told by Mr. Grant Allen. A missionary society had +captured, converted, and educated a black man. He was such a promising +pupil, and looked so respectable in black clothes and a white tie, that +he was advanced to the ministry, and in due course consecrated bishop, +and sent out shovel-hat, lawn sleeves, rochet, and all complete, to the +Gold Coast, to found a church there among the natives. + +Now Bishop Black got on for a little while decorously; but one day the +old wild blood in him boiled up--away went shovel-hat and boots, he +peeled off his gaiters and knee-breeches, tore his lawn sleeves to +rags, and dashed off a howling savage, stark naked, to take to himself +a dozen wives, and to go head-hunting. What was born in the bone would +come out in the flesh. + +Probably there is an underlying vein of the savage in all of us, but it +is kept in control by the restraints of habit accumulated through +generations of civilisation. Yet there it is. A quiet, well-conducted +dog will sometimes disappear for a few days and nights. It has gone off +on a spree, to poach on its own account. Then, when it has had its +fling, it returns, and is meek, docile, and orderly as before. + +There is something of this in man. He becomes impatient of the trammels +of ordinary life, its routine and matter-of-fact, and a hunger comes +over him for a complete change, to shake off the bonds of +conventionality, escape the drudgery of work, and live a free, wild +life. Among many this takes the form of going to the Colonies or to +Wild Africa or Western Canada, to shoot game, to camp out, and be a +savage for a while. Among the artisan class it takes another form--the +great army of tramps is recruited thus. The struggle to maintain a +family, the dry uninteresting toil, drives the man into a fit of +impatience, and he leaves his work, his wife and bairns, and becomes a +wanderer; idle, moving on from place to place, never starving, never +very comfortable--in dirt and idleness, and often in drink--but with no +ties, and going here, there, and everywhere as he lists. + +Not many years ago there was a man who lived by the Devil's Dyke, on +the South Downs of Sussex, in a shelter under a hedge, picking up +coppers from visitors to the Dyke, dressed like Ally Sloper, but living +in a manner more squalid and under a worse shelter than would be +endured by most savages in the darkest parts of Africa. What his +history was no one knew. + +It is now somewhat longer since a medical man, in an excess of +impatience against civilisation, constructed for himself a hovel out of +hurdles thatched with reeds, in South Devon. He lived in it, solitary, +speaking to no one. Occasionally he bought a sheep and killed it, and +ate it as the appetite prompted, and before it was done the meat had +become putrid. At length the police interfered, the stench became +intolerable in the neighbourhood, as the hovel was by the roadside. The +doctor was ordered to remove, and he went no one seems to know whither. + +In Charles the First's time there were men living in the caves and dens +of the ravines about Lydford in South Devon. They had a king over them +named Richard Rowle, and they went by the name of the Gubbins. William +Browne, a poet of the time, wrote in 1644:-- + + "The town's enclosed with desert moors, + But where no bear nor lion roars, + And naught can live but hogs; + For all o'erturned by Noah's flood, + Of fourscore miles scarce one foot's good, + And hills are wholly bogs. + + And near hereto's the Gubbins' cave; + A people that no knowledge have + Of law, of God, or men; + Whom Caesar never yet subdued, + Who've lawless liv'd; of manners rude; + All savage in their den. + + By whom, if any pass that way, + He dares not the least time to stay, + For presently they howl; + Upon which signal they do muster + Their naked forces in a cluster + Led forth by Roger Rowle." + +I extract the following from the _Daily Express_ of May 10, 1910: +-- + +"It was stated at an inquest held on Richard Manford at Market Drayton +yesterday, that he was over eighty years of age, and had for the +greater part of his life dwelt in a cave near Hawkstone. He was found +dying by the roadside." + +Elsewhere [Footnote: "An Old English Home," Methuen, 1898.] I have +given an account of the North Devon savages, to whom Mr. Greenwood +first drew attention. Till a very few years ago there lived on the +Cornish moors a quarryman--he may be living still for aught I have +heard to the contrary---in a solitary hut piled up of granite. He would +allow no one to approach, threatening visitors with a gun. His old +mother lived with him. By some means the rumour got about that she was +dead, but as the man said nothing, it was not till this rumour became +persistent that the authorities took cognisance of it, and visited the +hovel. They found that the old woman's bed had been a hole scooped out +of the bank that formed part of the wall; that she had been dead some +considerable time, and that her face was eaten away by rats. Daniel +Gumb was a stone-cutter who lived near the Cheese Wring on the Cornish +moors in the eighteenth century. He inhabited a cave composed of masses +of granite. It is an artificial cell about twelve feet deep and not +quite that breadth. The roof consists of one flat stone of many tons +weight. On the right hand of the entrance is cut "D. Gumb," with a date +1783 (or 5). On the upper part of the covering stone channels are cut +to carry off the rain. Here he dwelt for several years with his wife +and children, several of whom were born and died there. + +How instinctively the man of the present day will revert to primitive +usages and to the ground as his natural refuge may be illustrated by a +couple of instances. Mr. Hamerton, in "A Painter's Camp," says that +near Sens on a height is a little pleasure-house and the remnant of a +forgotten chapel dedicated to S. Bondus. This belonged of late years to +a gentleman of Sens who was passionately attached to the spot. "Near my +tent there is a hole in the chalk leading to the very bowels of the +earth. A long passage, connecting cells far apart, winds till it +arrives under the house, and it is said that the late owner intended to +cut other passages and cells, but wherefore no man knows. One thing is +certain, he loved the place, and spent money there for the love of it. +Night and day he came up here from his little city on the plain, sat in +his pleasant octagon room, and descended into his winding subterranean +passages, and hermit-like visited the hollow cells." On his death he +bequeathed it to the Archbishop of Sens. [Footnote: "A Painter's Camp," +Lond. 1862, Bk. iii. c. 1.] + +Another instance is from our own country. Mr. L.P. Jacks' very +remarkable book, "Mad Shepherds," gives an account of one Toller of +Clun Downs, who went deranged, took to the moors and lived for a +considerable time, stealing sheep and poultry. "Beyond the furthest +outpost of the Perryman farm lie extensive wolds rising rapidly into +desolate regions where sheep can scarcely find pasture. In this region +Toller concealed himself. About two miles beyond the old quarry, on a +slaty hillside, he found a deep pit; and here he built himself a hut. +He made the walls out of stones of a ruined sheepfold; he roofed them +with a sheet of corrugated iron, stolen from the outbuildings of a +neighbouring farm, and covered the iron with sods; he built a fireplace +with a flue, but no chimney; he caused water from a spring to flow into +a hollow beside the door. Then he collected slates, loose stones and +casks; and by heaping these against the walls of the hut, he gave the +whole structure the appearance of a mound of rubbish. Human eyes rarely +came within sight of the spot; but even a keen observer of casual +objects would not have suspected that the mound represented any sort of +human dwelling. It was a masterpiece of protective imitation.... His +implements were all of flint, neatly bound in their handles with strips +of hide. There was an axe for slaughter, a dagger for cutting meat, a +hammer for breaking bones, a saw and scrapers of various size--the +plunder of some barrow on Clun Downs." There Toller lived for several +months, and there he died, his hiding-place being known to one other +shepherd, and to him alone; and there after his death he was buried. +"My 'usband dug his grave wi' his own hands," said the widow of this +shepherd, "close beside the hut, and buried him next day. He put the +axe and slings just as he told him, wi' the stones and all the bits of +flint things as he found 'em in the hut." [Footnote: "Mad Shepherds, +and other Human Studies," Lond. 1910, p. 137 _et seq_.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SOUTERRAINS + + +In the year 1866 the Prussian Army of the Elbe broke into Bohemia, when +it was found that the inhabitants of a certain district had vanished +along with their cattle and goods, leaving behind empty houses and +stables. It had been the same during the Thirty Years' War, and again +in the Seven Years' War, when the invaders found not a living soul, and +contented themselves with destroying the crops and burning the villages +and farms. Even the Government officials had disappeared. Whither had +they gone? Into the rock labyrinths of Adersbach and Wickelsdorf, each +accessible only through a single gap closed by a door. The mountain of +what the Germans call Quadersandstein is four miles long by two broad, +and was at one time an elevated plateau, but is now torn into gullies, +forming a tangled skein of ravines, wherein a visitor without a guide +might easily lose himself. The existence of this labyrinth was unknown +save to the peasants till the year 1824, when a forest fire revealed +it, but for some time it remained unexplored. [Footnote: It had indeed +been mentioned by Dr. Kausch in his _Nachrichten über Böhmen_, +1794; but he lamented its inaccessibility.] + +As Adersbach and Wickelsdorf lie on the frontier of Bohemia and +Silesia, the existence of this region of cliffs and natural refuges had +been kept secret by the natives, who looked upon it as a secure hiding- +place for themselves and their chattels when the storm of war swept +over the Riesen Gebirge. But the fatal fire of 1824 betrayed their +secret to the world, and after a little hesitation, thinking to make +profit out of it as a show-place, paths were cut through it, and it was +advertised in 1847. When, in 1866, the Prussians passed by, they +incurred neither the risk nor the trouble of hunting out the refugees +from their place of concealment. + +The rocks run up to 200 feet, the loftiest being 280 feet. They assume +the most fantastic shapes. The passage through the fissures is so +narrow that in some places it can be threaded by one man alone at a +time, the others following in single file. A rivulet, clear as crystal, +traverses the network of gullies, and in one place forms a tiny +cascade. One nook is called the Southern Siberia, because in it the +snow lies unmelted throughout the summer. + +At intervals the rocks fall back and form open spaces, and at one +describe an amphitheatre upon a vista of rolling forest. + +But if this "petrified forest," as it has been called, served as a +refuge for the peasants in troublous times, it has also been employed +by brigands as their fastness whence to ravage the country and render +the roads perilous. But of their exploits I shall have more to say in +the chapter on robber-dens. + +Caverns, as well as chasms, have always served this same purpose. + +There is something remarkably human and significant in the prophecy of +Isaiah relative to the coming of the Judge of all the earth: "They +shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, +for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." And in the +Book of Revelation: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and +the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every +bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the +rocks of the mountains." + +As the first men found their refuges and homes in caves and rock +shelters, so the last men, with the instinct implanted in them from the +first and never eradicated, will fly to the earth as a hiding-place, +just as a frightened child flies to the lap of its mother. + +When Ahab persecuted the prophets, Obadiah hid them by fifties in a +cave. After the battle of Bethhoron the five kings of the Amorites hid +themselves in the cave of Makkedah. When the Midianites oppressed +Israel, the latter "made them the dens which are in the mountains, and +caves and strongholds." From the Philistines "the people did hide +themselves in caves and in thickets and in high places, and in pits." +Twice did Elijah take refuge in a cave. + +What took place in Palestine, took place in every part of the world +wherever there are limestone and chalk and volcanic breccia and +sandstone. It would seem as though a merciful Providence had not only +provided the first shelters for man against the inclemency of the +weather, but had also furnished him with places of secure refuge +against the violence of his fellow-man. As sure as the rabbit runs to +its hole on the sight of the sportsman, so did the oppressed and +timorous when the slayer and the marauder appeared. + +In the South of France, where caves abound, the unhappy Gauls fled from +Cæsar and concealed themselves in them. He bade his lieutenant Crassus +wall up the entrances. When the Armenians fled before Corbulo--"fuere +qui se speluncis et carissima secum abderent"--he filled the mouths of +the caverns with faggots and burned them out. [Footnote: Tacit., +"Annals," xvi. 23.] + +When Civilis rose in insurrection against Vespasian, he was joined by a +young native, Julius Sabinus from Langres, who boasted that, in the +great war with the Gauls, his great-grandmother had taken the fancy of +Julius Caesar, and that to him he owed his name. + +After the death of Nero, the Druids had come forth from the retreats +where they had remained concealed since their proscription by Claudius, +and proclaimed that "the Roman Empire was at an end, and that the +Gallic Empire was come to its birth." Insurgents rose on every side, +and Julius Sabinus assumed the title of Caesar. War broke out; +confusion, hesitation, and actual desertion extended through the +Colonies, and reached the legions. Several towns submitted to the +insurgents. Some legions yielding to persuasion, bribery, or +discontent, killed their officers and went over to the rebels. The +gravity of the situation was perceived in Rome, and Petilius Cerealis +was despatched to crush the revolt. The struggle that ensued was fierce +but brief, and Civilis was constrained to surrender. Vespasian being +disinclined to drive men or matters to an extremity, pardoned him; but +no mercy was to be extended to Julius Sabinus. After the ruin of his +cause, Sabinus took refuge underground in one of those retreats +excavated in the chalk beneath his villa, and two of his freedmen were +alone privy to the secret. The further to conceal him, they set fire to +his house, and gave out that he had poisoned himself and that his dead +body had been consumed in the flames. His young wife, named Eponia, was +in frantic despair at the news; but one of the freedmen informed her of +the place of his retreat, and advised her to assume the habit and +exhibit the desolation of widowhood, so as to confirm the report they +had disseminated. "Well did she play her part," says Plutarch, "in this +tragedy of woe." She visited her husband in his cave at night, and left +him at daybreak, but at last refused to leave him at all. At the end of +seven months, hearing talk of the clemency of Vespasian, she set out +for Rome taking her husband with her, disguised as a slave, with shaven +head and a dress that rendered him unrecognisable. But friends who were +in her confidence dissuaded her from prosecuting the journey. The +imperial clemency was not a quality to be calculated upon with +confidence. They accordingly returned to their subterranean abode. +There they lived for nine years, during which, "as a lioness in her +den," says Plutarch, "Eponia gave birth to two young whelps, and +suckled them at her own breast." At length they were discovered, and +Sabinus and his wife were brought before Vespasian. + +"Caesar," said Eponia, showing him her children, "I conceived and +suckled them in a tomb, that there might be more of us to entreat thy +mercy." But the Emperor was not disposed to be clement to one who +pretended to inherit the sacred Julian blood, and he ordered Sabinus to +be led to the block. Eponia asked that she might die with her husband, +saying: "Caesar, do me this grace, for I have lived more happily +underground and in darkness than thou hast done in the splendour of thy +palace." + +Vespasian fulfilled her desire by sending her also to execution; and +Plutarch, their contemporary, expressed the general feeling in Rome, +when he adds: "In all the long reign of this Emperor there was no deed +done so cruel, and so piteous to look upon; and he was afterwards +punished for it, for in a brief time all his posterity was cut off." + +In 731 the Saracens, masters of the peninsula, poured over the +Pyrenees, and entered the Septimania. They had come not to conquer and +pillage, but to conquer and occupy. They had brought with them +accordingly their wives and children. They took Narbonne, Carcassone +and Nimes, besieged Toulouse, and almost totally destroyed Bordeaux. +Thrusting up further, they reached Burgundy on one side and Poitou on +the other. Autun was sacked, and the church of S. Hilary in Poitiers +given to the flames. The Christians, wherever met with, were hewn down +with their curved scimitars; they passed on like a swarm of locusts +leaving desolation in their wake. Those of the natives who escaped did +so by taking advantage of the subterranean refuges either natural or +artificial that abounded. And that they did so is shown by the relics +of Merovingian times that have been found in them. + +The Mussulmans were routed at Poitiers by Charles Martel. Three hundred +thousand Saracens, say the old chroniclers, with their usual +exaggeration, fell before the swords of the Christians. The rest fled +under the walls of Narbonne. + +Between 752 and 759 Pepin the Short resolved on the conquest of +Septimania, _i.e._ Lower Languedoc. The Goths there had risen +against the Arabs and appealed for his aid. Nimes, Agde, Beziers, +Carcassonne opened their gates, but Narbonne resisted for seven years. +When it surrendered in 759, the Empire of the Franks for the first time +touched the Eastern Pyrenees. Pepin now picked a quarrel with Waifre, +Duke of Aquitaine, and crossing the Loire made of the unhappy country a +hunting-ground for the Franks. He delivered the land over to a +systematic devastation. From the Loire to the Garonne the houses were +burnt, and the trees cut down. "The churches, the monasteries, and +secular buildings were reduced to ashes. Vineyards and fields were +ravaged, and the inhabitants put to the edge of the sword. Only a few +strong places escaped the fury of the soldiers.... The city of Cahors +fell into the power of the conqueror and was reduced to the same +pitiable condition into which it had been brought by the Saracens. The +inhabitants of Quercy who survived owed this to the subterranean +retreats which they had made and to the caverns in the rocks that had +served them as refuges during the incursion of the infidels. The +principal caves are situated on the Banks of the Lot at Cami, Luzech, +Vers, Bouzier, S. Cirq, La Toulsanie, Larnagol, Calvignac, S. Jean de +Laur, Cajarc and Laroque-Toirac, to above Capdenac; on the banks of the +Célé, at Roquefort, Espagnac, Brengues, S. Sulpice, Marcillac, Liauzun, +Sauliac, Cabrerets; on the banks of the Dordogne at Belcastel, La Cave, +Le Bon Sairon, Mayronne, Blansaguet, Montvalent, Gluges, Saint Denis, +&c., and between the rivers, Autoire, Gramat, S. Cirq d'Alzou, +Rocamadour, S. Martin de Vers, Crass Guillot, to Vers among the high +cliffs athwart which runs the Roman aqueduct, which in certain places, +behind its high walls, could shelter a great number of the inhabitants. +These caverns are still called Gouffios, Gouffieros, or Waiffers, from +the name of Duke Waifre. [Footnote: Lacoste's derivation is absurd; +Gouffieros comes from Gouffre, a chasm.] They were closed by a wall, of +which there are remains at Canis, at Brengues, and at S. Jean de Laur, +on the rock that commands the abyss of Lantoui. This last cavern is the +most remarkable of all, as it is at but a little distance from the +castle of Cénevières, which was one of the principal strongholds of the +Duke of Aquitaine in Quercy." [Footnote: Lacoste, _Histoire de +Quercy_, Cahors, 1883, i. pp. 267-8.] + +The wretched country had to suffer next from the expedition of the +Northmen, who pushed up every river, destroying, pillaging, and showing +no mercy to man or beast. The most redoutable of these pirates was +Hastings, who ravaged the banks of the Loire between 843 and 850, +sacked Bordeaux and Saintes and menaced Tarbes. In 866 he was again in +the Loire, and penetrated as far as Clermont Ferrand. There seemed to +be no other means of appeasing him than by granting him the country of +Chartres. But this did not content his turbulent spirit, and at the age +of nearly seventy he abandoned his county to resume his piracies. + +An Icelandic Saga relating the adventures of a Viking, Orvar Odd in +Aquitaine, describes how he saw some of the natives taking refuge in an +underground retreat, and how he pursued and killed them all. [Footnote: +_Fornmanna Sögwr_, Copenhagen, 1829, ii. p. 229.] + +In the persecution of the Albigenses at the instigation of Pope +Innocent III. the unfortunate heretics fled to the caves, but were +hunted, or smoked out and massacred by the Papal emissaries. +Nevertheless, a good many escaped, and in 1325, when John XXII. was +reigning in Avignon, he ordered a fresh _battu_ of heretics. A +great number fled to the cave of Lombrive near Ussat in Ariège. It +consists of an immense hall, and runs to the length of nearly four +miles. In 1328 the papal troops, to save themselves the trouble or risk +of penetrating into these recesses after their prey, built up the +entrance, and left from four to five hundred Albigenses along with +their bishops to perish therein of starvation. Of late years the bones +have been collected, removed, and buried. From 1152, the Bordelois, +Saintonge, Agenois, Perigord, and the Limousin were nominally under the +English crown. But the people did not bear their subjection with +patience, and often rose in revolt, and their revolts were put down +with ferocity. As to the Barons and Seigneurs of Guyenne, they took +which side suited their momentary convenience, and shifted their +allegiance as seemed most profitable to them. But the worst season was +after the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360, when a vast part of France, from +the Loire to the Pyrenees was made over to the English. The Hundred +Years' War was the consequence, of which more shall be said in the +fifth chapter. Froissart describes the condition of the country: +"Matters were so woven together there and the lords and knights were so +divided, that the strong trampled down the weak, and neither law nor +reason was measured out to any man. Towns and castles were intermixed +inextricably; some were English, others French, and they attacked one +another and ransomed and pillaged one another incessantly." + +Under these circumstances it may well be understood that if Nature +herself had not of her own accord furnished the miserable, harassed +people with refuges, they would themselves have contrived some. As we +shall see they did this, as well as make use of the natural provision +supplied for their safety. + +Of refuges there are two kinds, those patiently and laboriously +excavated under the surface of the soil, and those either natural or +contrived high up in the face of inaccessible cliffs. + +Each shall be dealt with; they are different in character. The town of +Saint Macaire on the Garonne is walled about. But the walls did not +give to the citizens all the security they desired; the ramparts might +be battered down, escaladed, or the gates burst open. Accordingly they +excavated, beneath the town, a complete labyrinth of passages, +chambers, halls, and store-rooms into which they might either retreat +themselves or where they might secure their valuables in the event of +the town being sacked. + +At Alban in Tarn there are retreats of like nature under the houses, +refuges at one time of the persecuted Albigenses, at another of the +inhabitants secreting themselves and their goods from the Routiers. At +Molières in Lot they are beneath the church, and the approximate date +can be fixed when these were excavated, as Molières was founded in +1260. + +Bourg-sur-Garonne is likewise honeycombed with such retreats, so is +Aubeterre, of which more hereafter. The network of underground +galleries and chambers is now closed, because the soft chalk rock has +fallen in in several places. At Ingrandes-sur-Vienne there are three +groups of these refuges, extending to a considerable distance. At +Chateau Robin in the Touraine is a chalk cliff that rises above the +road to the height of sixty feet and is crowned by a tumulus. In its +face are two sets of caves, one superposed over the other. This upper +cave or shelter is the most ancient, and dates from prehistoric times, +but has been utilised much later. The lower cave is exposed by the +widening of the road which has obliterated the original face of the +cliff and the original entrance, having made three openings by cutting +into a chamber to which formerly there was but a single entrance. The +plan of the excavation was made by M. Antoine and communicated to the +"Bulletin de la Société Archéologique de Touraine," in 1858, but I will +give a description from the pen of a later visitor. + +"The upper rock-shelter has been dug out or enlarged with a pick. The +stone is a tender tufa, containing a quantity of little cores of black +silex, giving it a spotty appearance. It was quite impossible to cut +the stone so as to give a smooth surface. + +"The most mysterious portion, however, of the whole is certainly the +lower range of vaults, a subject of terror to the inhabitants of the +neighbourhood, who believe them to be the abode of the devil. Some +persons have visited them, but very few have explored them. Having +calculated on the assistance of a poacher of some repute as a fearless +fellow, he pointblank refused to accompany me when I proposed an +expedition into the cave. I applied to a man of more resolution, a +landowner at Arzay-le-Rideau, who readily volunteered his assistance; +but when we arrived on the spot, contented himself with showing me the +entrance, but declined to adventure himself within, though he assured +me he had visited the interior some five-and-twenty or thirty years +ago. + +"These excavations have now several openings upon the road; the two +principal are accessible enough, if one is suitably dressed, for beyond +the entrance one has to crawl on hands and knees, and this is but the +initiation of other discomforts. + +"The entrances are, so to speak, in the ditch of the road to Azay. The +most practicable of them, and that by which M. Antoine and I +penetrated, is the easternmost of the three, and is marked A on the +plan, and it gives access to a small triangular chamber C; but the +entrance is so low that one can only enter on one's knees or in a +doubled position. Further on it is loftier. On advancing to the end one +leaves on the right a sort of staircase B cut in the rock, but very +worn, which formerly ascended spirally to the upper cave, but is now +without issue. + +[Illustration: Plan of the Refuge of Château Robin (Indre et Loire).] + +"At the bottom of the chamber C a very narrow passage turns at a right +angle and gives access to a large hall E that is sustained by a pillar +F. This pillar is three feet square and the vaulted chamber may be 15 +to 18 feet square and 5 feet high. On the left a great pier G allows of +two passages I I which lead to the other openings that gape upon the +road, and turning to the right give access to the further depths of the +underground retreat. A passage H is, however, the most direct means of +communication between the cavern E and the larger hall J to which also +access is obtained through the openings I I separated by the pillar S. + +"The cavern J, the largest of all, is 25 feet long by 15 feet wide at +the one end and 24 feet at the other. It is supported by the pillar K, +shaped to suit the widening of the hall. At the bottom of this chamber +is a staircase L descending from the floor and without any breastwork +to protect it, and therefore dangerous, as it goes down 6 feet, and is +but about a foot and a half wide. This staircase is 12 feet long, and +the passage M that is a continuation of it is hardly more than 4 feet +high at the entrance, and is nearly 20 feet long, so that one has to +creep along it, bent double, assisted by one's hands. + +"In this position it is absolutely impossible for one to turn round, so +narrow is the passage. At this point a difficulty that is not +anticipated arrests many a visitor. Water rises through the stones that +form the floor and contributes to reduce the height of the gallery. If +one elects to continue, there is no choice but to take a bath that +reaches to one's middle. At a distance of nearly 7 feet comes a right +angle, and the passage goes on for 6 feet, then turns to the left by an +obtuse angle and pursues its course for 12 feet, then again turns to +the right by another obtuse angle, and for 15 feet more one is still +half under water, till N is reached, after which the level of the floor +rises, as does also the ceiling; one is able to stand erect alongside +of another person. In face of one, the wall is cut perpendicularly and +seems abruptly to close the passage. However, at a few inches above the +soil is a little opening D, formed like the mouth of an oven, and +giving indications of a space beyond. In diameter it is about 1 foot 6 +inches; by crawling through this hole, an achievement difficult to +accomplish, as one cannot even use the elbows to work one's way +forward, the explorer descends into a semicircular hall P whose vault +is arched and is supported by two oval pillars, 7 feet high. The hall +is 24 feet deep and 18 feet wide at the entrance, and is rounded at the +further extremity. The soil in this chamber is encumbered with stones +and rubbish thrown in from an opening at R, which seems to communicate +with other subterranean excavations." Nothing was found in these +chambers and passages that could give an approximate date, but in the +upper "abris" was some Gaulish pottery. The water that had half filled +the lower passage is due to the river having been dammed up for a mill, +and so having raised the level considerably. Originally the passage was +certainly dry. + +Although this _souterrain réfuge_ is curious, yet it does not +present some of the peculiarities noticeable in others--that is to say, +elaborate preparations for defence, by contriving pitfalls for the +enemy and means of assailing him in flank and rear. + +The usual artifice for protection was this. The entrance from without +led by a gallery or vestibule to an inner doorway that opened into the +actual refuge. The passage to this interior doorway was made to descend +at a rapid incline, and as it descended it became lower, so that an +enemy entering would probably advance at a run, and doubled, and would +pitch head foremost into a well, from 20 to 30 feet deep, bottle- +shaped, sunk in the floor immediately before the closed and barred +door, and which was gaping to receive him. Such a well-mouth would +usually have a plank crossing it, but in time of danger this plank +would be removed. To make doubly sure of precipitating the assailant +into it, a side-chamber was contrived with slots commanding the +doorway, through which slots pikes, spears and swords could be thrust. + +Beside these contrivances there were also lateral recesses in which the +defenders might lurk in ambush, to rush forth to hew at the enemy, or +at least to extinguish his torch. Almost invariably these hypogees have +two exits or entrances, so that those within could escape by one should +the enemy force the other, or endeavour to smoke them out. Moreover, to +keep up a circulation of air, and to obviate the contingency of being +smoked out, these underground retreats are almost invariably supplied +with ventilating shafts. The marks made by the implements employed in +hewing the rock are always distinctly recognisable. Moreover within, +sunk in the floor, are silos for the storage of grain, the soil often +somewhat higher about their orifices than elsewhere, and sometimes +provided with covers. Niches for lamps may be seen, also cupboards for +provisions, in which have been found collections of acorns, walnuts, +hazel-nuts and chestnuts carbonized by age. + +[Illustration: Sections. + +Château of Fayrolle (Dordogne). + +A. Entrance. +B. Continuation, unexplored. +C. Shaft. +DD. Doorways. +E. Modern entrance. +FF. Store chambers. +G. Large chamber. +H. Slot for stabbing assailants. +K. Ventilating shaft.] + + +A typical _souterrain réfuge_ is that of the Château de Fayrolle, +not far from Riberac on the Dordogne. + +It was accidentally discovered when the proprietor was levelling for +terraces and gardens. A glance at the plan will save a description. + +A refuge at S. Gauderic has been explored. The region is one of +lacustrine deposits called the Sandstone of Carcassonne; it is friable, +argilaceous marl. The opening into the hypogee is in the middle of a +field, and there are no indications around of the deposition of the +material extracted in the formation of the retreat, so as to betray its +presence. The visitor descends by a dozen steps into a long corridor, +sinuous, and inclining downwards, about 1 foot 8 inches wide, and 4 +feet 6 inches high. The passage exhibits rebates in several places, +into which door-frames had been fitted, as well as square holes into +which the beams were run that fastened the doors. It leads past several +side-chambers into which the defenders might retire, so as to burst +forth suddenly and unexpectedly on the foe, smite him and extinguish +any torch he bore. The corridor leads to a rectangular hall 22 feet +long and 7 feet high, vaulted and ventilated by three circular +airholes, 6 inches in diameter. There are numerous silos in the floor, +and fragments of coarse grey pottery turned on the wheel have been +found there. [Footnote: _Révue de l'Art Chretienne_, Paris, 1868, +p. 498 _et seq_.] + +M. L. Druyn, in his _La Guyenne Militaire_, Bordeaux, 1865, gives +the following account of a refuge he explored. "Ascending the valley +that separates the castle of Roquefort from the church of Lugasson, +after having passed the village of Fauroux, one reaches, on the left +side of the road, a splendid quarry of hard stone, but a few paces +further on, upon the same side, the stone becomes soft. Here on the +right, in a little coppice beside the road, is found a place of refuge +of which I give the plan as accurately as it was possible for me to +take it where one had to crawl on hands and knees, and sometimes +wriggle forward lying on one's stomach, over earth that was damp and +rubble fallen from above, and in corridors completely filled by one +human body. + +"The entrance is at A on a level with the soil outside against the +rock, but this cannot have been the original place of admission. It is +a round hole and very narrow. The real entrance was at K, where one can +distinguish a circular opening like the orifice of a silo, but which is +now in the open and is choked with stones; or else at the end of the +gallery H B. The chamber Y containing silos for preservation of grain +must have been the furthest extremity. It is 6 feet 3 inches high, and +the floor is higher above the mouth of the silos than elsewhere. The +cavern is hewn out of the rock. All the chambers are circular. They are +vaulted for the most part in the form of low cupolas. The domes of some +are so low that one cannot stand upright in them. The corridors are +still lower than the chambers, and one can only get along them by +creeping. The extremities of the corridors and the entrances to the +chambers had doors originally. One can see the notches for the +reception of the closing beams. I saw no trace of hinges. The passages +are all arched over in semicircle." + +[Illustration: Cluseau de Fauroux.] + +Lacoste, speaking of the Saracen invasion and devastation of Quercy, +says that "in Lower Quercy, where caverns are not common as they are in +Upper Quercy, the inhabitants dug _souterrains_ with a labour that +only love of life could prompt. Three of vast extent have been +discovered at Fontanes, Mondoumerc, and Olmie. That of Mondoumerc is +cut in the tufa, and is about 20 feet deep. It consists of an infinity +of cells, or small chambers, united by a corridor. But the vastest and +most remarkable for its extent and the labour devoted on it, is that of +Olmie. The chambers are scooped out of a very hard sandstone. In some +of them are little wells or reservoirs that were filled with water as a +precaution against thirst, if refugees were obliged to remain long in +this asylum. The passages, with their turns, constitute a veritable +labyrinth whence it would be hard to find one's way out without the +assistance of a guide." + +The entrance to these hiding-places was either under a ledger stone in +a church, or through a cellar, or half-way down a well, or in a +thicket. + +It must be remembered that it was the duty of every feudal seigneur to +provide for the safety of his vassels, and the security of their goods. +Consequently a great number of such _souterrains_ are under +castles or in the grounds of a feudal lord. The rock on which his +towers stood was often drilled through and through with galleries, +chambers, and store places, for this purpose. On the alarm being given +of the approach of an army marching through the land, of a raid by a +marauding neighbour, or the hovering of a band of brigands over the +spot, within a few hours all this underground world was filled with +ploughs, looms, bedding, garments, household stuff of every +description, and rang with the bleating of sheep, the lowing of oxen, +the neighing of horses, and the whimpering of women and children. At +Vendôme, the rock on which stands the castle is riddled with passages +and halls, access to which is obtained not from the castle, but from +the town. At Lavardin by Montoire it is the same. At Paulin in Tarn is +a noble castle standing on a rock 300 feet high, and in this rock are +storerooms, halls, a kitchen, a winding staircase. At Montvalon- +Tauriac, in the same department, under the castle are refuges and +granaries. At Murat in Cantal is the castle of Anterroche, and the +rocks about it are traversed with galleries leading to chambers +containing silos. At Salles-la-Source in Aveyron, in a cleft of the +plateau, is the castle of the Count of Armagnac, and here also there is +the same provision. At S. Sulpice in Tarn are the remains of a castle +built in 1247, with its chapel over crypts and galleries carved out of +the living stone. At Contigne, in Maine-et-Loire, is the manor of +Gâtines, underneath which are _souterrains_ that extend for a +mile, with store-chambers and chapels, hewn out of the tufa. I might +mention a hundred more. But all these pertain to a period before the +feudal system had sunk into one of oppression, and when the vassals had +confidence in their seigneur. In process of time the conditions +altered, and then they contrived their own private hiding-places from +their lords and masters. + +The stories everywhere prevalent where there are castles, that there +are under them passages connecting them with a church, a river, or +another castle, are probably due to the fact of there having been these +subterranean retreats intended for the use of the vassals. But when +these latter ceased to look to their lords to protect them, and cast +about instead to shelter themselves from their lords, the original +purport of these _souterrains_ was forgotten and misinterpreted. + +One has but to look through the brief notices of towns and villages in +Joanne's Departmental Geographies to see what a number of these refuges +are already known to exist in France. And he records, be it remembered, +only the most interesting. There are thousands more that have either +not yet been discovered or remain unexplored. Some are revealed by +accident; a peasant is ploughing, when his oxen are suddenly engulfed, +and he finds that they have broken through the roof of one of these +hiding-places. A gentleman is building his chateau, when in sinking his +foundations he finds the rock like a petrified sponge--but not like a +sponge in this, that the galleries are artificial. A _paysan_ lets +himself down his well to clean it out, as the water is foul. He finds +that in the side of the shaft is the opening of a passage; he enters, +follows it, and finds a labyrinth of galleries. + +As an instance of the abundance of the _souterrains_ in France, I +will take the department of Vienne and give in a note below a list of +the communes where they are known to be, from _De Longuemar, +Géographie du dep. de la Vienne_, Poitiers, 1882, and also from +several editions of Joanne's Geography. [Footnote: Natural grottoes +that may have served as refuges are not included. Availles, Bellefonds, +Béthines, Béruges, Bonnes, Bussières, Château Gamier, Champniers, +Curzay, Civeaux, Gouex, Ingrandes, S. Julien Lars, Jazneuil, Leugny- +sur-Creuse, Loudun, Lautiers, Lusignan, Marnay, Mairé-le-Gautier, S. +Martin-Lars, S. Martin-la-Rivière, Maslou Montmorillon, Mazerolles, +Mondion, Maulay, Montreuil-Bonnin, Naintré, Prinçai, Romagne, S. Remy- +sur-Creuse, Saulgé, Nouvaille, Persac, S. Savin, Sossais, Thuré, Usson, +Varennes, Le Vigean, Vénièrs, Vellèches, Verrières, Venneuil-sur-Biard. +Several of these are under churches, others under castles. At some of +these places are three or more distinct _souterrains._] + +Victor Hugo, in his _Quatrevingt Treise_, speaking of the war in +La Vendée, says: "It is difficult to picture to oneself what these +Breton forests really were. They were towns. Nothing could be more +secret, more silent, and more savage. There were wells round and small, +masked by coverings of stones or by branches. The interiors at first +vertical, then carried horizontally, spread out underground like +tunnels, and ended in dark chambers." These excavations, he states, had +been there from time immemorial. He continues: "One of the wildest +glades of the wood at Misdon, perforated by galleries and cells, out of +which came and went a mysterious society, was called 'The Great City.' +The gloomy Breton forests were servants and accomplices of rebellion. +The subsoil of every forest was a sort of sponge, pierced and traversed +in all directions by a secret highway of mines, cells and galleries. +Each of these blind cells could shelter five or six men. Usually the +cover, made of moss and branches, was so artistically fashioned that, +although impossible on the outside to distinguish it from the +surrounding turf, it was very easy to open and close from the inside. +In several of these forests and woods there were not only subterranean +villages grouped about the burrow of the chief, but also actual hamlets +of low huts hidden under the trees. These underground belligerents were +kept perfectly informed of what was going on. Nothing could be more +rapid, nothing more mysterious, than their means of communication. +Sometimes they raised the cover of their hiding-places and listened to +hear if there was fighting in the distance." He mentions the ability of +the ambushed men to spring up, as it were, under the feet of the armies +sent against them. And to show the numbers of the concealed forces, he +continues: "There are in existence lists which enable one to understand +the powerful organisation of that vast peasant rebellion. In Isle-et- +Villaine, in the forest of Pertre, not a human trace was to be found, +yet there were collected 6000 men under Focard. In the forest of +Meullac, in Morhiban, not a soul was to be seen, yet it held 8000 men. +These deceptive copses were filled with fighters, lurking in an +underground labyrinth." + +On March 26, 1807, Napoleon demanded a fresh conscription of 80,000 +men. This was the third levy that had been called for since the +Prussian War began. The three conscriptions supplied no less than +240,000 men in seven months, and the call for the third produced +consternation throughout France. The number of young men who reached +the age of eighteen annually in half a year, more than the entire +annual generation, had been swept off to lay their bones in the East of +Europe. Great numbers of young fellows fled to the woods, caves, and +secret refuges, and concealed themselves; and the gendarmes were +employed in hunting them out, but not often with success unless aided +by a traitor. Again in 1812, when Napoleon meditated an invasion of +Russia, fresh calls were made on the male population. Every male +capable of bearing arms was forced to assume them, and again, as in +1807, the young men disappeared as rabbits underground. It is quite +possible that the peasants, who have found these refuges so convenient +in the past, should know more about them and where they are situated +than they pretend, thinking that at some future time, another +revolution or another German invasion, the knowledge may prove +serviceable. + +And now let us turn to Picardy, perhaps the one of the ancient +provinces of France most undermined. On the night of February 13, 1834, +after heavy rains, a portion of the wall of the apse of the parish +church of Gapennes, half-way between Aussy-le-Château and S. Ricquier, +collapsed, and in the morning the inhabitants of the commune were +stupefied to see the desolation of the holy place. Not only was a large +breach gaping in the sanctuary, but all the walls of the chancel were +fissured, and the pavement of the nave was upheaved in places and in +others rent. + +At first it was supposed that this was the result of an earthquake, but +after a while the true cause was discovered. The church had been +erected over a vast network of subterranean passages and chambers, and +the roofs of some of these had given way. This led to an exploration, +and the plan of this subterranean refuge--for such it had been--was +traced as far as possible. + +But Gapennes is not the only place where such retreats exist throughout +the province. Something like a hundred have been found, and more are +every now and then coming to light. Indeed, it may safely be said that +there is scarcely a village between Arras and Amiens and between Roye +and the sea, betwixt the courses of the Somme and Authie, that was not +provided with these underground refuges. The character of all is very +much the same. They consist of passages communicating with square or +circular chambers that served as stores. They have been described at +length by M. Bouthers in _Mémoires de la Société d'Archéologie du +département de la Somme_, Amiens, 1834, t. i. + +To what date, or period rather, do they belong? + +Some doubtless are of extreme antiquity, but the majority are +comparatively modern. It is a significant fact that the entrance to +perhaps the majority is in the sacristy of the parish church, and in +that at Gapennes care was taken not to undermine the tower of the +church. M. de Carpentin, who explored and reported on the excavation at +Gapennes, remarks on the care taken to so distribute the chalk brought +up from these passages and vaults that no heaps were anywhere visible. + +"The motive that can have induced the undertaking of such an extensive +work can only have been that necessity drove the inhabitants to create +for themselves a refuge in time of war." In it he found two pieces of +common pottery, a lock and a hinge of iron, some straw and leather +soles of women's shoes. He adds: "At the entrance of several of the +chambers the stone is worked to receive doors, and here portions of +decayed wood were found. And many of the chambers had their walls +blackened by smoke as of lamps." + +At Naours in Somme, the underground galleries have been explored +thoroughly; there are several circular chambers for stores, and corn +has been found in them, also fourteen gold coins of Charles VI or Louis +XIV. In all there are 201 galleries and 300 chambers and the labyrinth +extends to the distance of 6000 feet. At Santerre, which possesses +three of these refuges, that portion of its territory was called +_Territorium Sanctæ Libertatis_. + +The north-east of France, Picardy and Artois, were always exposed to +attack from pirates by sea, Northmen and Saxon, and from invaders over +the border. But none of these can have exceeded in barbarity that of +1635 to 1641, when Spanish armies--the first under John de Werth and +Piccolomini, 40,000 in number, and made up of Germans, Hungarians, +Croats as well as Spaniards--poured over the provinces committing the +most frightful atrocities. And precisely to this period some of the +refuges may be referred. + +A MS. account of this invasion, by a priest of Hiermont, named Claude +Goddé, leaves this in no manner of doubt. He says: "The Spaniards +committed great outrages in Picardy, as they did later in 1658. These +wars compelled the inhabitants of Hiermont in 1647 to construct the +quarry which we now see. This quarry or cavern, which is a great +masterpiece, was first undertaken by five or six of the inhabitants "-- +he gave their names. "They first of all dug out the entrance in 1647, +but owing to its having given way several times, had to be repaired, +and was not completed till 1648. The other inhabitants, seeing its +great utility, wanted also to have their chambers, but they were not +admitted unless they contributed to the cost of the undertaking, and to +this they willingly agreed. This quarry was of great service to the +inhabitants in the Wars of Louis XIV. against England, Holland, and the +Empire during the years 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711, which were the days +of Marlborough. It was accordingly made by the inhabitants of Hiermont, +to hide themselves, their cattle, their grain and their furniture, to +preserve them from pillage by the soldiers, whether of the enemy or +French. Each family had its own chamber." + +In a procès of 1638, one of those interrogated, a nun named Martha +Tondu, stated that at Reneval and the neighbouring villages "the +peasants are on the look out, and if alarmed, retire and conceal their +cattle in ditches and quarries, without abandoning their houses or +neglecting their agricultural work." + +Some, accordingly, of these subterranean refuges are of comparatively +late date; but this does not apply to all. At every period of danger, +instinctively the peasants would take advantage of the nature of the +chalk to form in it suitable hiding-places, and although some of the +finds in these labyrinths are of recent date, others go back to the +Gallo-Roman period. In the Arras and Cambrai Chronicle of Balderic +(1051), we are told that in the fifth century in those parts a +persecution of the Christians occurred, on the invasion of the +barbarians, and that the priests celebrated the Divine Mysteries in +secret hiding-places. "Many," he adds, "were suffocated in caves and in +subterranean passages." + +There is, in fact, evidence both from archaeology and from history that +these refuges were taken advantage of, and doubtless extended from a +remote antiquity down to the eighteenth century. + +It was not against the foreign foe only that the peasants excavated +their underground retreats. Froissart paints the chivalry of his time +in the brightest colours, and only here and there by a few touches lets +us see what dark shadows set them off. Who paid for the gay +accoutrements of the knights? Who were the real victims of the +incessant wars? From whom came the ransom of King John and of the +nobles taken at Creçy and Poitiers? From the peasant. The prisoners +allowed to return on parole came to their territories to collect the +sums demanded for their release, and the peasant had to find them. He +had his cattle, his plough and tumbril. They were taken from him; no +more corn was left him than enough to sow his field. He knew how he +would be exploited, and he hid his precious grain that was to make +bread for his wife and children. The seigneur endeavoured to extort +from him the secret as to where it was concealed. He exposed the man's +bare feet before the fire; he loaded him with chains. But the peasant +bore fire and iron rather than reveal the hiding-place. Here is +Michelet's account of the seigneur in the first half of the fifteenth +century. "The seigneur only revisited his lands at the head of his +soldiery to extort money by violence. He came down on them as a storm +of hail. All hid at his approach. Throughout his lands alarm resounded +--it was a _sauve-qui-peut_. The seigneur is no longer a true +seigneur; he is a rude captain, a barbarian, hardly even a Christian. +_Écorcheur_ is the true name for such, ruining what was already +ruined, snatching the shirt off the back of him who had one; if he had +but his skin, of that he was flayed. It would be a mistake to suppose +that it was only the captains of the _écorcheurs_--the bastards, +the seigneurs without a seigneurie, who showed themselves so ferocious. +The grandees, the princes in these hideous wars, had acquired a strange +taste for blood. What can one say when one sees Jean de Ligny, of the +house of Luxembourg, exercise his nephew, the Count of Saint-Pol, a +child of fifteen, in massacring those who fled? They treated their +kinsfolk in the same manner as their enemies. For safety--better be a +foe than a relation. The Count d'Harcourt kept his father prisoner all +his life. The Countess of Foix poisoned her sister; the Sire de Gial +his wife. The Duke of Brittany made his brother die of starvation, and +that publicly; passers-by heard with a shudder the lamentable voice +pleading piteously for a little bread. One evening, the 10th of +January, the Count Adolphus of Gueldres dragged his old father out of +bed, drew him on foot, unshod, through the snow for five leagues to +cast him finally into a moat. It was the same in all the great families +of the period--in those of the Low Countries, in those of Bar, Verdun, +Armagnac, &c. The English had gone, but France was exterminating +herself. The terrible miseries of the time find expression, feeble as +yet, in the 'Complaint of the poor Commoner; and of the poor +Labourers.' It comprises a mixture of lamentations and threats; the +starving wretches warn the Church, the King, the Burgesses, the +Merchants, the Seigneurs above all, that 'fire is drawing nigh to their +hostels.' They appeal to the king for help. But what could Charles VII. +do? How impose respect and obedience on so many daring men? Where could +he find the means to repress these flayers of the country, these +terrible little kings of castles? They were his own captains. It was +with their aid that he made war against the English." [Footnote: +_Mist, de France,_ v. p. 184 _et seq._] + +Thus, the subterranean refuges that had served at one time as hiding- +places against Saracens, Normans, English, became places of retreat for +the wretched people against their own masters. They no longer carried +their goods into the _souterrains_ under the castles, but into +refuges contrived by themselves in the depths of forests, known only to +themselves; hidden, above all, from their seigneurs. + +The peasantry might have said then, what was said long after by +Voltaire: "Il faut être dans ce monde enclume ou marteau; j'étais né +enclume." Voltaire, however, speedily became a hammer, and after 1789 +the Tiers État also became a hammer, and the Noblesse the anvil. + +In Iceland there were underground retreats, as we learn from the same +Saga that tells us of those in Aquitaine. Orvar Odd found a king's +daughter concealed in one. So, also, a very large one in Ireland is +spoken of in the Landnama Bok. In England we have, both in Essex and in +Kent, subterranean passages and chambers very similar to those +described in Picardy and in Aquitaine. These also are excavated in the +chalk. They are the so-called Dene Holes, of which there are many in +Darenth Wood and near Chislehurst, and they have given occasion to a +lively controversy. Some have supposed them to be retreats of the +Druids, some that they were places of refuge during the invasions of +the Saxons first, and then of the Danes, and others again contend that +they were merely quarries for the excavation of chalk to burn into +lime. + +Here is an account of the Dene Hole at Chislehurst by Mr. W. J. +Nichols. [Footnote: Nichols (W. J.), "The Chislehurst Caves," +_Journal of the Archaeological Association_, Dec. 1903.] "At the +foot of the hill is a gap, which is the present entrance to the caves. +A guide meets us here, who, unlocking a door, and switching on the +electric light, introduces the visitor to a gallery or tunnel, about +150 feet long, 10 feet to 12 feet high, and with a width of 12 feet to +15 feet, narrowing to about 7 feet at the roof. This, and the galleries +so far explored, have been cut through the chalk bed, at a depth of +about 6 feet below the Thanet sand which covers it. At the end of the +gallery, extending both right and left, are passages of like character. +These again open into others so numerous that the visitor is fairly +bewildered, and loses all idea of the direction in which he is +travelling. The effect of the coloured electric lamps on the old chalk +walling is remarkably beautiful. Proceeding on our way we get beyond +the range of the electric lamps. Here candles or hand-lamps are +lighted; and we pass, in Cimmerian gloom, through a succession of +galleries of various dimensions, some of which, being only 4 feet wide +and 5 feet high, are possibly of earlier construction than those +already described. There is one gallery of the last-mentioned height +and width 63 feet long, with several sharp turns which formerly +terminated in a chamber about 12 feet high and 10 feet wide, and a like +length, and near it is a seat cut into an angle of the walling. At no +great distance from this chamber and near a Dene-hole shaft is a short +gallery, at the end of which is a shaft originally level with the +flooring, but now bricked round and further protected by an iron cover. +On removing the cover and lowering a lamp, a well of excellent +workmanship is discovered. Owing to the quantity of material thrown +down from time to time by explorers, its present depth is no more than +43 feet. Further progress is made, and presently we notice a streak of +daylight some distance ahead; here we find that we have reached the +foot of a shaft 85 feet deep, which, though now partly covered in, had +its mouth in what is at the present time the garden of a modern villa." + +There are numerous other Dene Holes or Danes' Pits at East Tilbury, +Crayford, and Little Thurrock. As to the theory that they were places +of Druidical worship, we may dismiss it as not deserving serious +consideration. + +At East Tilbury the entrance to the Danes' pit is from above, by narrow +passages that widen and communicate with several apartments, all of +regular forms. One of these pits consists of a shaft descending to +chambers arranged like a sixfoiled flower. The shaft is 3 feet in +diameter and 85 feet deep. This may be likened to one at Doué-la- +Fontaine (Maine et Loire), where a descent is made under a private +house into an area from which radiate on all sides chambers, some of +which contain tombs. + +That these Dene Holes were used as hiding-places when the sails of the +Danish Vikings appeared on the horizon is probable enough, but +originally they were chalk quarries--some very ancient--for British +coins have been found in them. The existence of old lime-kilns near the +Chislehurst caves places their origin beyond a doubt. Chalk was largely +exported in early times from the Thames to Zealand, whence it was +passed through the Low Countries and used in dressing the fields. +Altars to Nethalennia, the patroness of the chalk quarries, have been +found in the sand on the coast of Zealand; some bear votive +inscriptions from dealers in British chalk, and Pliny, writing of the +finer quality of chalk (_argentaria_) employed by silversmiths, +obtained from pits sunk like wells, with narrow mouths, to the depth of +a hundred feet, whence they branch out like the adits of mines, adds, +"Hoc maxime Britannia utitur." [Footnote: Roach Smith, _Collectanea +Antiqua_, vi. p. 243, "British Archæological Assoc. Journal," N.S., +ix.-x. (1903 and 1904).] + +In Cornwall, moreover, there are what are locally called _fogous_. +These are either excavated in the rock with passages leading to the sea +or to houses, or else they are built of stone slabs standing erect, +parallel and covered with other slabs leading to chambers similarly +constructed, and all buried under turf or sand. Of the former +description there is a very interesting example at Porthcothan in S. +Ervan; of the latter the most remarkable is at Trelowaren. The former +may have been excavated by smugglers. An interesting account of the +excavation of two caves at Archerfield, in Haddingtonshire, is given in +the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for 1909. +Both caves are natural, but one had been walled up in front, with a +doorway and window and with oven; both had paved hearths in the centre, +and there was evidence that they had been tenanted some time after the +Roman occupation of Britain, as among the fragments of pottery found +was some Samian ware. It would appear that both had been inhabited +simultaneously, but not consecutively, for a lengthy period, and no +doubt can exist that they were mere rock refuges. In a note to the +article we read: "On the coast of Island Magee (Ireland) there is a +cave, south of the Gobbins, which has been frequently used as a place +of refuge. So late as 1798 it was inhabited by outlaws, who constructed +a kind of fortification at the entrance, the remains of which still +exist." [Footnote: Cree (J. R.), "Excavation of Two Caves," in +"Proceedings of the Soc. of Arch. of Scotland," Edin., 1909, vol. +xliii.] + +A cave in the Isle of Egg, one of the Hebrides, has a very narrow +entrance, through which one can creep only upon hands and knees, but it +rises steeply within and soon becomes lofty, and runs into the bowels +of the rock for 225 feet. The stony, pebbly bottom of this cavern was +for long strewn with the bones of men, women and children, the relics +of the ancient inhabitants of, the island, two hundred in number, of +whose destruction the following account is given. "The Macdonalds, of +the Isle of Egg, a people dependent on Clanranald, had done some injury +to the Lord of Macleod. The tradition of the isle says that it was by a +personal attack on the chieftain, in which his back was broken; but +that of the two other isles bears that the injury was offered by two or +three of the Macleods, who, landing upon Egg and behaving insolently +towards the islanders, were bound hand and foot, and turned adrift in a +boat, which the winds safely conducted to Skye. To avenge the offence +given, Macleod sailed with such a body of men as rendered resistance +hopeless. The natives, fearing his vengeance, concealed themselves in +the cavern; and, after strict search, the Macleods went on board their +galleys after doing what mischief they could, concluding the +inhabitants had left the isle. But next morning they espied from their +vessels a man upon the island, and immediately landing again, they +traced his retreat by means of a light snow on the ground to the +cavern. Macleod then summoned the subterranean garrison, and demanded +that the inhabitants who had offended him should be delivered up. This +was peremptorily refused. The chieftain thereupon caused his people to +divert the course of a rill of water, which, falling over the mouth of +the cave, would have prevented his purposed vengeance. He then kindled +at the entrance of the cavern a large fire, and maintained it until all +within were destroyed by suffocation." [Footnote: Lockhart's "Life of +Sir Walter Scott," Edin., 1844, p.285.] + +A no less horrible deed was committed during the campaign of Essex +against the Irish rebels in 1575. This shall be given in the words of +Froude. [Footnote: "Hist. of England," 1870, x. p. 527 _et seq._] + +"On the coast of Antrim, not far from the Giant's Causeway, lies the +singular island of Rathlin. It is formed of basaltic rock, encircled +with precipices, and is accessible only at a single spot. It contains +an area of about 4000 acres, of which a thousand are sheltered and +capable of cultivation, the rest being heather and rock. The approach +is at all times dangerous; the tide sets fiercely through the strait +which divides the island from the mainland, and when the wind is from +the west, the Atlantic swell renders it impossible to land. The +situation and the difficulty of access had thus long marked Rathlin as +a place of refuge for Scotch or Irish fugitives, and besides its +natural strength it was respected as a sanctuary, having been the abode +at one time of Saint Columba. A mass of broken masonry on a cliff +overhanging the sea is a remnant of the castle, in which Robert Bruce +watched the leap of the legendary spider. To this island, when Essex +entered Antrim, Macconnell and the other Scots had sent their wives and +children, their aged, and their sick, for safety. On his way through +Carrickfergus, when returning from Dublin, the Earl ascertained that +they had not yet been brought back to their homes. The officer in +command of the English garrison was John Norris, Lord Norris's second +son. Three small frigates were in the harbour. The sea was smooth; +there was a light and favourable air from the east; and Essex directed +Norris to take a company of soldiers with him, cross over, and kill +whatever he could find. The run up the Antrim coast was rapidly and +quietly accomplished. Before an alarm could be given the English had +landed, close to the ruins of the church that bears Saint Columba's +name. Bruce's castle was then standing, and was occupied by a +detachment of Scots, who were in charge of the women. But Norris had +brought cannon with him. The weak defences were speedily destroyed, and +after a fierce assault, in which several of the garrison were killed, +the chief who was in command offered to surrender if he and his people +were allowed to return to Scotland. The conditions were rejected; the +Scots yielded at discretion, and every living creature in the place, +except the chief and his family, who were probably reserved for ransom, +were immediately put to the sword. Two hundred were killed in the +castle. It was then discovered that several hundred more, chiefly +mothers and their little ones, were hidden in the caves about the +shore. There was no remorse--not even the faintest perception that the +occasion called for it. They were hunted out as if they had been seals +or otters, and all destroyed. Surleyboy and the other chiefs, Essex +coolly wrote, 'stood upon the mainland of Glynnes and saw the taking of +the island, and was likely to have run mad for sorrow, tearing and +tormenting himself, and saying that he had there lost all that ever he +had.' According to Essex's own account, six hundred were thus +massacred. He described the incident as one of the exploits with which +he was most satisfied; and Queen Elizabeth in answer to his letters +bade him tell John Norris, 'the executioner of his well-designed +enterprise, that she would not be unmindful of his services.'" The +neighbourhood of Gortyna in Crete has a mountain labyrinth, and during +the revolt of the Cretans against the Turks in 1822-28, the Christian +inhabitants of the adjacent villages, for months together, lived in +these caves, sallying forth by day to till their farms or gather in +their crops, when it was safe so to do. None could approach within +range of the muskets pointed from the loopholes at the entrance without +being immediately shot down; nor could either fire or smoke suffocate +or dislodge the inmates, as the caves have many openings. + +Less happy were the Christian refugees in the cave of Melidoni. In +1822, when Hussein Bey marched against the neighbouring village, the +inhabitants, to the number of three hundred, fled to the cave, taking +their valuables with them. Hussein ordered a quantity of combustibles +to be piled at the entrance and set on fire. The poor wretches within +were all smothered. The Turks waited a few days, and then entered and +rifled the bodies. A week later, three natives of the village crept +into the cavern to see what had become of their relatives. It is said +that they were so overcome by the horror of what they witnessed, that +two of them died within a few days. Years after, the Archbishop of +Crete blessed the cavern, and the bones of the victims of Turkish +barbarity were collected and buried in the outer hall, which has in its +centre a lofty stalagmite reaching to the summit, and the walls on all +sides are draped with stalactites. + +We must not pass over without a word the treatment of the Arabs in +Algeria by the French troops, when General Lamorcière suffocated the +unfortunate refugees in the caves whither they had fled, in the same +way as Caesar's general had suffocated the Gauls. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CLIFF REFUGES + + +I have divided Refuges into two classes--those that have been burrowed +under the soil, and those that open in the face of a cliff. +Occasionally they run one into another, and yet they materially differ. +The first have their entrances elaborately concealed, whereas the +latter are bare to the face of day, and no concealment is possible or +attempted. Those who had recourse to the first trusted in being able, +should the entrance be discovered or betrayed, to defend themselves by +various devices, whereas those who resorted to the latter relied on +their inaccessibility. + +Where a cliff stood up precipitous or overhanging, and in its face +gaped caverns, those who sought refuge in time of danger naturally +looked to them, and contrived means of reaching them, therein to +ensconce their goods and secure their persons. They might have to +contemplate the devastation of their fields, and their farms burning, +from their eyries, but they knew that their persons were safe. There +were various ways by which these caves could be reached; one was by +cutting notches in the face of the cliff for fingers and toes, so that +it could be climbed to from below, but not accessible to an enemy +exposed to the thrust of pikes, and to stones being cast down upon him. +Or else the notches were cut laterally from an accessible ledge, but if +so, then this mode of approach was carefully guarded. A second method +was by ladders, but as some of these caves are so high up that no +single ladder could reach their mouths, a succession was contrived +notched below and above into the rock where ledges either existed +naturally or were contrived artificially, so as to enable the climber +to step from one ladder to the next. In the event of danger the ladders +could be withdrawn. A third method was by a windlass, rope and basket, +and this was employed where the ascent by finger and toe notches was +peculiarly perilous, for the conveyance of goods or of children and old +people. But cattle had also to be saved from the depredators, and in +some of the cliff refuges are stables for horses and cowstalls, with +mangers and silos; places also where the windlass was fixed and there +the sharp edge of the rock has been smoothed to an easy slope to +facilitate the landing of the beasts, that were hauled up by bands +placed under their bellies. Provision was also made for the baking of +bread and the storage of water, this latter in the same way as already +described in the account of the contrivances for permanent rock- +dwellings. These cliff refuges can have been had recourse to only on +emergencies, on account of their inaccessibility. + +At Cazelles in the commune of Sireuil (Dordogne) is a cliff 1200 feet +long, and about 150 feet high. It has been worn into a deep furrow some +twenty or thirty feet from the top, horizontal and running its entire +length. The whole cliff overhangs its base. The entire groove has been +occupied as a refuge, and there have been excavations in the back of +the groove for additional chambers. In front, moreover, there must have +been a balcony of wood, sustained by beams and props. In three places +the edge of the terrace has been cut through for the convenience of +hauling up cattle and farm produce. At the time when this was in use +there was a hamlet at the foot of the cliff, as is shown by the furrows +cut in the rock into which the tile roofing was let, and notches for +the reception of the roof timbers. + +No trace of a stair remains; in fact no stair could have been cut in +the face of a rock that overhangs as does this. Another very remarkable +cliff-refuge is Le Peuch Saint Sour on the Vézère. It is not mentioned +in any chronicle as having been a resort of the English in the Hundred +Years' War, and we may accordingly conclude that it was a refuge for +the inhabitants of the hamlet at its feet. + +[Illustration: LA ROCHE GAGEAC. A town and castles on the Dordogne, +never captured by the English, but afterwards sacked and ruined by the +Huguenots.] + +[Illustration: LE PEUCH S. SOUR. A series of refuges in the face of the +cliff. Originally a place of retreat of S. Sour, a hermit.] + + +S. Sorus or Sour was a hermit, born about the year 500; he set off with +two companions, Amandus and Cyprian, to find a desert place where he +might take up his abode. I will quote from the Latin life. "All at once +in their wanderings they arrived at a place in the midst of vast +forests, and dens of wild beasts, a place so barren and abrupt, of +access so difficult, that surely no one had ever hitherto ventured to +reach it either to dwell there, or for pleasure, even to visit it for +curiosity. A rock very lofty furnished him above with a shelter that +sufficed; out of the flanks of the rock issued a spring and watered the +little valley that was on the other side surrounded by the Vézère." + +I think that it was in the Peuch S. Sour that the hermit settled, +though afterwards through the favour of King Gontram he moved to lands +granted him at Terrasson. And now for a story. Here he resolved to live +alone, and here he parted with his companions. But before they +separated, "Let us have a love feast together," said he. But he had +with him only a bit of fat bacon. He divided it into three parts, and +gave a share to each of his companions. Now it was Lent, and one of +them was scandalized at the idea of eating bacon in Lent, so he put the +bit of meat into his bosom, where it was at once transformed into a +serpent, which enwrapped him in its coils. Terrified, he screamed to +Sour to deliver him, which the hermit did, and the monster was at once +resolved into a bit of bacon. "Eat it," said the hermit, "and remember +that Charity is above all rules." + +The description of the place so well accords with the Peuch that bears +his name, that I cannot doubt but that Sour occupied for some years the +cave high up in the cliff, and only to be reached by crawling to it +sideways, holding on to the rock by fingers and toes. But afterwards it +was greatly enlarged to serve as a place of retreat by the peasants of +the hamlet below. It consists of three groups of chambers cut in the +rock, one reached by a very long, forty-round ladder, when a chamber is +entered which has a hole in the roof through which, by another ladder, +one can mount to a whole series of chambers communicating one with +another. The face of some of these was originally walled up. A second +group is now inaccessible. A third is reached by climbing along the +face of the cliff, with fingers and toes placed in niches cut in the +cleft to receive them. + +[Illustration: Beginning of a Gallery.] + +[Illustration: The Pick employed.] + +A recess at the foot of the crag, arched above, contains three +perpendicular grooves. This was the beginning of another artificial +cave, never completed, begun maybe in 1453 and suddenly abandoned, as +the glad tidings rang through the land that the English had abandoned +Aquitaine and that the Companies were disbanded. + +At the Roc d'Aucor, in the valley of the Vers (Lot), a gaping cave is +visible far above where any ladder could reach and inaccessible by +climbing from the top of the crag, as that overhangs like a wave about +to break. Nevertheless, athwart the opening are, and have been from +time immemorial, two stout beams let into the rock horizontally. Dimly +visible in the depth of the cavern is some tall white figure, and the +peasants declare that it is that of a man--a statue in marble, keeping +guard over a golden calf. + +In 1894, M. Martel and three friends, taking with them Armand, the +trusty help in descending _avens_, pot-holes, and exploring the +course of subterranean rivers, resolved on an attempt at the +exploration of this mysterious cavern. + +The mouth is 90 feet from the ground, and its floor is about 95 feet +from the summit of the cliff, [Footnote: Martel (A.), Le Réfuge du Roc +d'Aucor, Brive, 1895.] which is crowned by the _oppidurn_ of +Murcens, the best preserved of all Gaulish strongholds in France, and +was held by the English in 1370. The only possible way to obtain access +to the interior would be from above, as the plumb-line let down from +the summit fell 44 feet wide from the base of the cliff. Accordingly a +rope ladder was attached to a tree on the top, and Armand descended +furnished with a plumb-line, the end of which was attached to a cord. +"Having descended 77 feet, he swung free in the air at the level of the +transverse poles. Then he endeavoured to throw the lead-weight beyond +one of the poles. He succeeded only after the seventh or eighth +attempt, and was well pleased when the weight running over it swung +down to our feet, as the position of the poles and the slope of the +floor of the fissure did not allow it to rest in the cavern. 'Pull the +cord,' shouted Armand. 'What for?' 'You will soon see. Pull'--and +speedily the string drew after it one of our stout ropes. 'Now do you +understand?' asked Armand. 'I have fastened my rope ladder to the cord +that goes over the pole. Four or five of you pull and draw me in +towards that pole, and so we shall get the better of the situation. +When I have fixed the ladder to the pole you may all mount by the grand +stair.'" + +By good fortune that beam held firm, and first Armand got into the cave +and then the others mounted from below. What made the entrance +treacherous was that the floor at the orifice sloped rapidly downwards +and outwards. + +When within, it was seen that the posts were still solid and firmly +planted in notches cut in the rock on both sides. In line with them +were two rows of similar notches for the reception of beams extending +inwards for about twenty feet, as though at one time there had been +rafters to divide the cave into two storeys, but of such rafters none +remained. The back of the cave was occupied by a gleaming white +stalagmitic column that certainly from below bore some resemblance to a +human figure, but the floor of the cavern was so deep in birds' nests, +and droppings of bats, leaves and branches, that it was not possible at +the time to explore it. This, however, was done by M. Martel in 1905, +but nothing of archaeological interest was found. However, he noticed a +sort of ascending chimney that extended too far to be illumined to its +extremity by the magnesium wire, and he conjectured that it extended to +the surface of the rock above, where was the original entrance, now +choked with earth and stone. + +But an investigation by M. A. Viré has solved the mystery of how access +was obtained to this refuge. The beams visible from below are, as +already said, two in number. The upper and largest is square, and +measures seven by eight inches. The lower is nearly round and is four +inches in diameter, and shows distinct traces of having been fretted by +a rope having passed over it. It must have been used for the drawing up +of food or other objects likely to excite the cupidity of robbers and +_routiers_. The number of notches for beams of a floor in the +sides of the cave is remarkable, but no floor can have been erected +there, otherwise it would not have rotted away, whilst the two cross- +beams at the entrance remain sound. The chimney supposed by Martel to +communicate with the surface does not do so. Spade work at the foot of +the rock revealed the manner in which the cavern had been reached. A +tradition existed in the Vers valley that at one time there had been a +tower at the foot of the rock, and old men remembered the removal of +some of its ruins for the construction of a mill. By digging, the +foundations of the tower were disclosed. It had been square and +measured 44 feet on each side. It had stood about 60 feet high, and had +been topped with a lean-to tiled roof resting against the uppermost +beam in the cave and thereby masking it. [Footnote: "Le Roc d'Aucour," +in _Bulletin de la Soc. des Antiquaires de Quercy_, Cahors, 1901, +t. xxvi.] + +A somewhat similar cave is that of Boundoulaou in the Causse de Larzac +(Lozère). Although this has an opening in the face of the precipice, +which is partly walled up, it can be entered from another and more +accessible cave. At a considerably lower level flows a stream that at +one time issued from it, but has worked its way downwards, and now +gushes forth many feet below. However, apparently in times of heavy +rain, the overflow did burst forth from the upper cavern, for in it +were found the skeletons of a whole family that had perished on one +such occasion. + +At nearly 180 feet up the face of a sheer perpendicular cliff near +Milau is the cave of Riou Ferrand, 45 feet below the brow of the +precipice. The mouth of the grotto is partly blocked by a well- +constructed wall. It has been entered from above and explored. It +yields delicately fine pottery and a spindle-whorl, so that a woman +must have taken refuge here, and here sat spinning and looking down +from this dizzy height on the ruffians ravaging the valley below and +setting fire to her house. Bones of sheep and pigs in the cave showed +that it had been tenanted for some time, and tiles of distinctly Roman +character indicated the period of its occupation. The only possible +means of entering this cavern is, and was, by a rope or a ladder from +above. [Footnote: Martel, _Les Abimes_, Paris, 1894.] + +I was in the valley of the Célé in 1892 with my friend M. Raymond Pons, +a daring explorer of _avens_ and caves. There was one cavern in a +precipice on the left bank near Brengues that showed tokens of having +been a refuge, from having a pole across the entrance. M. Pons obtained +a stout rope, and the assistance of half-a-dozen peasants, and was let +down over the brink, and by swinging succeeded in obtaining a foothold +within. He there found evident traces of former occupation. But how was +it entered and left in ancient times? From below it was quite +inaccessible, and from above only by the means he employed--a rope. + +At Les Mées in the Basses-Alpes is a very similar cave, with two beams +across fastened at the ends into the rock, which is a conglomerate, at +the height of 350 feet, and quite inaccessible. They are mentioned by +the historian Bartel in 1636 as inexplicable by him, and by the +residents in the place. + +A not less perplexing rock shelter is that of Fadarelles in the Gorges +of the Tarn. + +Of this M. Martel writes: "In a superb cliff of dolomitic limestone of +the _cirque_ of the Beaumes Chauds, M. l'Abbé Solanet was good +enough to conduct me beneath the Baume des Fadarelles, a chasm +inaccessible, at the height of something like 1770 feet in the face of +the precipice, something like the openings of Boundoulaou, but much +narrower. + +"In it one can see three coarse beams or rather trunks of trees from +which the boughs have been cut away, each about 12 feet long. As this +opening might well have been that of discharge of a stream, now choked, +for the Baumes Chauds and its adjoining fissures, one is led at first +to suppose that water had brought down these logs that had fallen into +some pot-hole. But this hypothesis is untenable, for it can be seen +that these poles have been artificially pointed at each end, and that +they have been made firm by cross pieces of metal, either bronze or +iron. This may be the remains of a roof or a floor destined to +supplement the insufficiency of the overhanging rock--and of the size +of the fissure, so as to convert it into some sort of shelter. To study +the matter, a ladder of nearly 50 feet would be needed (to be let down +from above). In the absence of all tradition, these beams of Les +Fadarelles remain a mystery. As the face of the cliff is absolutely +smooth above the opening, below and on both sides, completely devoid of +anything like a ledge by which access could be obtained to it, the +question presents itself to one for the third time, as at Boundoulaou +and at Riou Ferrand, were these cliff-dwellers in the Causses like +those in the Cañon of Colorado, or has the demolition of ledges by +weather on these limestone cliffs proceeded with great rapidity?" + +Two apparently inaccessible caves, that have been the habitation of man +as a temporary refuge, and that have been explored by M. Philibert +Lalande, show that there was a way in which some, though by no means +all, were reached. The grottoes of Puy Labrousse near Brive, comprising +five or six chambers, have isolated from the rest one that opens in the +face of a sheer precipice at a considerable height above the valley. It +can be entered only from behind, by a very small oval opening, preceded +by a gallery very narrow, and masked at the entrance by enormous rocks, +and which could be barricaded by stout beams, hollows for the reception +of which are visible. + +The other is at Soulier-de-Chasteaux on the Couze, an affluent of the +Vézère. Here are two caverns excavated by the hand of man. The most +curious is on the right bank near the top of a Jurassic cliff that is +absolutely precipitous, and this also can be entered _a retro_. A +narrow path leads to an opening very small, excavated in the vault of +the cavern, through which a man could squeeze himself so as to descend +into it by means of a ladder. The gaping mouth of this grotto, which is +from 15 to 18 feet square, is in part closed by a breastwork of stone. + +Below this cave is a very large shelter cut out square-headed in the +cliff, but not deep; and this is used by the peasants of Soulier as a +place for stacking their hay. Square hollows wrought in the rock show +that formerly some building was accommodated to it, and the roof ran +back under it. In Auvergne are many _souterrains_ that have served +as places of concealment in times of war. The Puy de Clierson occupies +the centre of an area of four volcanoes. It is shaped like a bell, the +slopes are covered with brushwood, and a ring of broken rocks forms the +precipitous wall of the circular and flattish cap. The hill is composed +of trachyte, and the upper portion is perforated in all directions by +galleries and vaults that served formerly as a quarry for the +extraction of stone of which the Romans formed their sarcophagi, in +consequence of its powers of absorption of the moisture exuding from +the bodies laid in their stone chests. The same may be said of Le Grand +Sarcoui, shaped like a kettle turned bottom upwards. In some of the +galleries are unfinished sarcophagi. But although originally quarries, +they were used as refuges in later times. At Corent, on the Allier near +Veyre-Mouton, are refuges in caves, so also at Blot-l'Eglise near +Menat, which served the purpose during the troubles of the League. + +Meschers is a village in Charante Inférieure, lying in the lap of a +chalk hill that extends to a bluff above the Gironde. This cliff is +honeycombed with caves, excavated perhaps originally as quarries, but +several certainly served as habitations; the several chambers or +dwellings are reached by a ledge running along the face of the cliff, +but the chambers of each particular cave-house have doors of +intercommunication cut through this rock. The Grottes de Meschers are +said to have been used by the Huguenots at a time when it was perilous +to assemble in a house for preaching or psalm-singing. But it is also +quite possible that they served as refuges as well to the Catholics, +when the Calvinists had the upper hand; as, indeed, they had for long. +Their attempts at proselytising was not with velvet gloves, but with +fire-brand, sword, and the hangman's rope. In that horrible period, +exceeding far in barbarity that of the _routiers_ in the Hundred +Years' War, it is hard to decide on which side the worst atrocities +were committed. + +[Illustration: CAVES OF MESCHERS. In these caves overlooking the +Atlantic, the Huguenot refugees congregated to hear their preachers. +During the Revolution and Reign of Terror they were occupied by priests +and Royalists.] + +[Illustration: CAVE REFUGE AT SOULIER DE CHASTEAU, CARREZE. This refuge +is accessible by a secret way opening on to the plateau above. Below +are indications of buildings having been constructed against, and in +part into the rock.] + +Later still, in the Reign of Terror, the grottoes may have harboured +priests and nobles hiding for their lives. But now they shelter none +but the peaceful dreamer, who sits there at eventide looking out over +the yellow waters of the Gironde, ever agitated by the tide, at the +setting sun that sends shafts of fire into these recesses--and sets him +wishing that the light would reveal the details of tragic stories +connected with these caves. + +In the department of Ariège are a vast number of natural caverns, many +of which have served as places of retreat for the Albigenses. Between +Tarascon and Cabannes are some that were defended by crenellated walls, +and are supposed to date from the Wars of Religion, but probably go +back beyond the time of the English occupation. It is also said that +the Huguenots met in them for their assemblies. In the country they go +by the name of _gleizetos_, or _petites eglises_. They are found on +the left bank of the Ariège. In the fourth century the Priscillianist +heretics expelled from Spain settled in the mountains on the north slope +of the Pyrenees, and propagated their doctrines throughout the country +and among the population more than half pagan, and this explains the +spread of Albigensian Manichaeism later. In 407 the Vandals, Suevi and +Alani, during three years in succession swept the country, committing +frightful ravages, as they passed on their way into Spain; and no doubt +can be entertained that at this time the numerous grottoes were used by +the natives as refuges. In 412 there was another influx of barbarians, +this time Visigoths; their king Walla made Toulouse his capital, and +gave over two-thirds of the land to his followers. After the battle of +Voulon, in 507, Clovis took possession of Toulouse. In 715 the Saracens +poured through the gaps in the Pyrenees, occupied the basin of the +Ariège, and destroyed the city of Couserans. In 731 more arrived in a +veritable invasion of multitudes, and ravaged all the south of France. +Again the caves served their end as places of hiding. The south of +France, rich and dissolute, was steeped in heresy. This heresy was a +compound of Priscillianism, the dualism of Manes, Oriental and Gnostic +fancies, Gothic Arianism, and indigenous superstition, all fused +together in what was known as Albigensianism, and which was hardly +Christian even in name. The terrible and remorseless extermination of +these unfortunate people, who knew no better, by order of Innocent III. +and John XXIII., presents one of the most horrible passages in history. +The country reeked with the smoke of pyres at which the heretics were +burnt, and was drenched with their blood. In 1244 their last stronghold, +the Montsegur, was taken, when two hundred of them were burnt alive. +Only some few who had concealed themselves in the dens and caves of the +earth survived this terrible time. The last heard of them is in 1328, +when some of the proscribed took refuge in the grottoes of Lombrive, +when 500 or 600 were walled in and starved to death, as already related. + +In Derbyshire are numerous caves--at Castleton, Bradwell Eyam, Matlock, +and Buxton--but they are all natural, except such as are old mine- +workings. + +Poole's Hole, the Buxton cavern, may be traced underground for the +distance of something like half a mile. It is now lighted with gas, its +inner ways have been made smooth, and it is even possible for invalids +in bath-chairs to enter. But it was at one time the haunt of an outlaw +named Poole, in the reign of Henry IV., who made it his home, and here +accumulated his stores. But it was inhabited long before his time, and +proves to have been a prehistoric dwelling-place, and was later +occupied by the Romans. + +Reynard's Cave is high up on the Derbyshire side of Dove Dale, and the +way to it is steep and dangerous. It is approached through a natural +archway in a sheer cliff of limestone, about 20 feet wide and twice as +high, beyond which a difficult pathway gives access to the cave itself. +Near it is a smaller cavity, called Reynard's Kitchen. This cavern has +undoubtedly served as a shelter, it is said, to persecuted Royalists. +Here it was that the Dean of Clogher, Mr. Langton, lost his life a +century ago. He foolishly tried to ride his horse up the steep side of +the Dale to the cave, and carry a young lady, Miss La Roche, behind +him. The horse lost its foothold among the loose stones, and the rash +equestrian fell. The Dean died two days afterwards, but the young lady +recovered, saved by her hair having caught in the thorns of a bramble +bush. High up, among the rocks on the Staffordshire side in a most +secluded spot, is a cleft called Cotton's Cave, which extends something +like 40 feet within the rock. Here it was that Charles Cotton, the +careless, impecunious poet, the friend of Isaac Walton, was wont to +conceal himself from his creditors. On the top of Lovers' Leap, a sheer +precipice, is what was once a garden where the two anglers sat and +smoked their pipes. Close by is an ancient watch-tower, from which was +seen Cotton's wife's beacon-fire lit to announce to him that the coast +was clear of duns, and to light him home in the black nights of winter. + +Thor's Cave is in a lofty rock on the Manifold River. The cliff rises +to an altitude of four or five hundred feet, terminating in a bold and +lofty peak; and the cave is situated about half-way up the face of the +precipice. The cave is arched at the entrance, a black yawning mouth in +the white face of the limestone. It is a natural phenomenon, but +appears to have been enlarged by cave-dwellers. It has been explored by +a local antiquary, and has yielded evidence of having been inhabited +from prehistoric times. + +The name of Thor's Cavern carries us back to the time when the Norsemen +occupied Deira and Derbyshire, and Jordas Cave in Yorkshire does the +same--for the name signifies an Earth-Giant. + +In the crevices of Bottor Rock in Hennock, Devon, John Cann, a +Royalist, found refuge. He had made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the +Roundheads at Bovey Tracey, and here he lay concealed, and provisions +were secretly conveyed to him. Here also he hid his treasure. A path is +pointed out, trodden by him at night as he paced to and fro. He was at +last tracked by bloodhounds to his hiding-place, seized, carried to +Exeter and hanged. His treasure has never been recovered, and his +spirit still walks the rocks. + +At Sheep's Tor, where is now the reservoir of the Plymouth waterworks, +may be seen by the side of the sheet of water the ruins of the ancient +mansion of the Elfords. The Tor of granite towers above the village. +Among the rocks near the summit is a cave in which an old Squire Elford +was concealed when the Parliamentary troopers were in search of him. +Polwheel in his "Devon" mentions it. "Here, I am informed, Elford used +to hide himself from the search of Cromwell's party, to whom he was +obnoxious. Hence he could command the whole country, and having some +talent for painting, he amused himself with that art on the walls of +his cavern, which I have been told by an elderly gentleman who had +visited the place was very fresh in his time." None of the paintings +now remain on the sides of the rock. + +The cave is formed by two slabs of granite resting against each other. +It is only about 6 feet long, 4 wide, and 5 feet high, and is entered +by a very narrow opening. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CLIFF CASTLES. THE ROUTIERS + + +From a very early period in the Middle Ages--in fact from the +dissolution of the Carlovingian dynasty--we find communities +everywhere grouped about a centre, and that centre the residence of the +feudal chief to whom the members of the community owed allegiance and +paid certain dues, in exchange for which he undertook to protect his +vassals from robbery and outrage. By the Edict of Mersen, in 847, every +freeman was suffered to choose his own lord, whether the King or one of +his vassals, and no vassal of the King was required to follow him in +war, unless against a foreign enemy. Consequently the subjects were +able to make merchandise of their obedience. In civil broils the King +was disarmed, helpless; and as he was incapable of defending the weak +against their oppressors, the feeble banded themselves under any lord +who could assure them of protection. The sole token that the great +nobles showed of vassalage to the Crown was that they dated their +charters by the year of the Sovereign's reign. + +As the security of the community depended on the security of the +seigneur, it behoved that his residence should be made inexpugnable. To +this end, where possible, a projecting tongue of land or an isolated +hill was selected and rendered secure by cutting through any neck that +connected it with other high ground, or by carving the sides into +precipices. Like a race of eagles, these lords dwelt on the top of the +rocks, and their vassals crouched at their feet. + +But although the dues paid to a seigneur were fixed by custom, it not +infrequently happened that the receipts were inadequate to his wants. +He had to maintain armed men to guard his castle and his tenants, and +these armed men had to be paid and kept in good humour. The lord +accordingly was disposed to increase the burdens laid on his serfs, and +that to such an extent as to drive them into revolt. He on his part was +not unaware of the fact that he held a wolf by the ears, and his +impregnable position was chosen not solely as a defence against foreign +enemies, but also against his rebellious vassals. + +The village of Les Eyzies is dominated by the ruins of a castle of the +tenth or eleventh century, that was restored in the fifteenth, when a +graceful turret was added. The keep is planted on a precipitous rock, +and rises to the overhanging roof of chalk that is pierced with rafter- +holes for the reception of roof beams, and with openings only to be +reached by ladders leading to caves that served as storehouses. At the +junction of the Beune with the Vézère, a little further down is a rock +standing by itself, shaped like a gigantic fungus. This is called the +Roche de la Peine, as from the top of it the Sieur de Beynac, who was +also lord of Les Eyzies, precipitated malefactors. But under that +designation he was disposed to reckon all such as in any way offended +him. In 1594 the Sieur, to punish two of his peasant vassals who had +committed a trifling offence, killed one, and dragged the other over +stones, attached to the tail of his horse. This act of barbarity roused +public indignation, and a deputation waited on the seneschal of +Perigord to demand retribution. But having received no satisfaction +from this officer, in 1595, the peasants took the matter into their own +hands, revolted and besieged the castle. As they failed to take it, +they turned on the property of the seigneur, tore up his vines, cut +down his woods, and burnt his granges. + +The incessant wars that swept France, its dismemberment into duchies +and counties and seigneuries, practically independent, and above all +the English domination in Guyenne for three hundred years, enabled the +petty nobles to shake off the very semblance of submission to their +liege lords, and to prosecute their private feuds without hindrance. +After Poitiers, 1356, and the captivity of King John, anarchy reigned +in the land; bands of plunderers ranged to and fro, threatening persons +and ravaging lands; and the magistrates could not, or would not, +exercise their authority. Local quarrels among rival landowners, the +turbulent and brutal passions of the castle-holders, filled the land +with violence and spread universal misery, from which there seemed to +be no escape, as against the wrongdoers there was no redress. After the +Treaty of Bretigny in 1360, Aquitaine ceased to be a French fief, and +was exalted in the interests of the King of England into an independent +sovereignty, together with the provinces of Poitou, the Saintonge, +Aunis, Agenois, Perigord, Limousin, Quercy, Bigorre, Angoumois and +Rouergue, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the people, who +remonstrated against being handed over to a foreign lord. Charles V. +and Charles VII. sought on every available occasion to escape from its +obligations, and the towns were in periodic revolt. William de Nangis +says of the condition of the country under Charles V.: "There was not +in Anjou, in Touraine, in Beauce, in Orleans, and up to the very +approaches of Paris, any corner of the country that was free from +plunderers. They were so numerous everywhere, either in little castles +occupied by them, or in villages and the countryside, that peasants and +tradesmen could not travel except at great expense and in mighty peril. +The very guards told off to protect the cultivators of the soil and the +travellers on the highways, most shamefully took part in harassing and +despoiling them. It was the same in Burgundy and the neighbouring +countries. Some knights who called themselves friends of the King, +whose names I am not minded to set down here, kept brigands in their +service, who were every whit as bad. What is more strange is that, when +these ruffians went into the cities, Paris, or anywhere else, everybody +knew them and pointed them out, but none durst lay hands on them." + +The condition of Germany was but little superior to that of France. The +central authority, if that can be called central which was always +shifting its position, was unequal to restrain the violent. Its +pretensions were in inverse proportion to its efficiency. The Emperor +was too far off to see to the policing of the Empire, too weak to +enforce order; and his long absences in Italy left the German lords and +lordlings to pursue their own courses unrestrained. When the Emperor +Frederick Barbarossa visited the Baron van Kingen in his castle near +Constance, the freiherr received him seated, because, as he said, he +held his lands in fee of none but the sun. Although he was willing to +receive the Emperor as a guest, he refused to acknowledge him as his +lord. If this was the temper of the petty nobility in a green tree, +what must it have been in the dry. After that the great houses of +Saxony and Swabia had been crushed out by the policy of the Papacy, it +was to the interest of the electors to keep the Emperor weak; and the +fact that the Imperial Crown was elective enabled the electors to sell +their votes for extended privileges. At last, against the raids of the +petty nobles, whom the Emperor could not control, the cities leagued +together, took the matter in hand, attacked the fortresses, levelled +them and gave to the inmates short shrift, a halter and a tree. In +Italy the towns proceeded in a less summary manner. Surrounded as they +were on all sides by a serried rank of castles, where the nobles held +undisputed sway over their serfs and controlled the arteries of trade, +the cities were compelled to proceed against them; but instead of +sending them to the gallows, they contented themselves with forcing +them to take up their residence within the town walls. But though the +feudal lordship of these nobles had been destroyed, their opulence, +their lands, the prestige of their names remained untouched, and in +place of disturbing the roads they filled the streets with riot. They +reared in the towns those wonderful towers that we still see at +Bologna, San Gemigniano, Savona, &c. "From the eighth to the thirteenth +century," says Ruskin, "there was little change in the form;--four- +square, rising high and without tapering into the air, storey above +storey, they stood like giants beside the piles of the basilicas and +the Lombardic churches... their ruins still frown along the crests of +every promontory of the Apennines, and are seen from far away in the +great Lombard plain, from distances of half a day's journey, dark +against the amber sky of the horizon." [Footnote: Lectures on +Architecture, 1853.] + +I propose dividing my subject of cliff castles into four heads:-- + +1. Those that were seigneural strongholds. +2. Those that with castle and town occupied a rock. +3. The fastnesses of the _routiers_, the Companies in the Hundred +Years' War. +4. Outpost stations guarding fords, roads into a town, and passes into +a country. + +And I shall begin with No. 3--The Castles of the _routiers_. + +The face of a country is like that of a woman. It tells the story of +its past. The many-windowed English mansion sleeping among turfy lawns +to the plash of a fountain, and the cawing of rooks in the beechwood, +tell of a tranquil past life-record broken only by transient unrest; +whereas the towers on the Continent with their _meurtrières_ and +frowning machicolations, bristling on every hill, frequent as church +spires, now gutted and ruinous, proclaim a protracted reign of +oppression and then a sudden upheaval in resentment and a firebrand +applied to them all. The old English mansion has its cellars, but never +an _oubliette_, its porch-door always open to welcome a neighbour +and to relieve the indigent. It was not insulated by a dyke, and its +doors clenched with a portcullis. The spoils of the chase were not a +drove of "lifted" cattle taken from a peasant left stark upon his +threshold, but foxes' masks and the antlers of deer. The pigeons coo +about the English gables and the peacock dreams in the sun on the +balustrade of the terrace, as in past centuries, but the castle of the +French noble and the burg of the German ritter are given over to the +bats and owls, and are quarries whence the peasants pick out the +heraldic carvings for the construction of their pig-styes. + +Nowhere did tears so stain and furrow the face of the land as in that +portion of France that was ceded to England. De Quincey says: "Within +fifty years in three pitched battles that resounded to the ends of the +earth, the chivalry of France had been exterminated. Her oriflamme had +been dragged through the dust. The Eldest Son of Baptism had been +prostrated. The daughter of France had been surrendered on coercion as +a bride to her English conqueror. The child of that marriage, so +ignominious to the land, was King of France by the consent of +Christendom; that child's uncle domineered as regent of France; and +that child's armies were in military possession of the land. But were +they undisputed masters? No!--under a perfect conquest there would have +been repose; whereas the presence of the English armies did but furnish +a plea, making strong in patriotism, for gathering everywhere of +lawless marauders, of soldiers that had deserted their banners, and of +robbers by profession. This was the woe of France more even than the +military dishonour." [Footnote: Essay on Charles Lamb.] + +The Hundred Years' War, that has left ineffaceable traces in the south +of France, began in 1336 before the conclusion of the Treaty of +Bretigny, which was in 1360, and it lasted till 1443--over a century, +though not without interruption; and it desolated the fields of +Perigord, Quercy, and to a less degree Rouergue and the Limousin, and +wrought havoc to the gates of Paris. + +The close of the fourteenth century saw no hope anywhere, only +gathering storms. In France, to the prudent Charles V. succeeded the +mad fool Charles VI. In England the strong King Edward III. was +followed by the incompetent Richard II. In Germany the Emperor Charles +IV., a statesman, had as his successor the drunken sot Wenceslas. In +England the Wars of the Roses were looming in the future. Agincourt +proved more disastrous to England than to France. There was hopeless +turmoil everywhere. As Luther said when a somewhat similar condition +existed in Germany--"God, tiring of the game, has thrown the cards on +the table." In France the free Companies ran riot unrestrained. About +them one word. + +The engagement of mercenaries in the war between England and France had +begun early. As Michelet says: "The population of the North saw appear +among them mercenary soldiers, the _routiers_, for the most part +in the service of England. Some came from Brabant, some from Aquitaine; +the Basque Marcader was one of the principal lieutenants of Richard +Coeur-de-Lion. The mountaineers of the South, who to-day descend into +France and Spain to gain a little money by huxtering, did so in the +Middle Ages, but then, their sole industry was war. They maltreated +priests as they did peasants, dressed their wives in consecrated +vestments, beat the clergy, and made them sing mass in mockery. It was +also one of their amusements to defile and break the images of Christ, +to smash the legs and arms, treating Him worse than did the Jews. These +_routiers_ were dear to the princes precisely on account of their +impiety, which rendered them insensible to ecclesiastical censures." +[Footnote: _Histoire de France_, ii. p. 362. The first to +introduce them was Henry Courtmantel when he rebelled against his +father. On his death in 1163 they disbanded, and then reunited under +elected captains, and pillaged the country.] + +From 1204 to 1222 was the period of the Crusade against the Albigenses. +Pope Innocent III. poured over that beautiful land in the south of +France--beautiful as the Garden of God--a horde of ruffians, made up of +the riffraff of Europe, summoned to murder, pillage and outrage, with +the promise of Heaven as their reward. After committing atrocities such +as people Hell, these scoundrels, despising the religion they had been +summoned to defend, with every spark of humanity extinguished in their +breasts, looked about for fresh mischief, and found it, by enrolling +themselves under the banner of England; their tiger cubs grew up with +the lust of blood and rapine that had possessed their fathers. +Generation after generation of these fiends in human form ranged over +the soil of France committing intolerable havoc. A carpenter of Le Puy +formed an association for the extermination of these bands. Philip +Augustus encouraged him, furnished troops, and in one day slaughtered +ten thousand of them. But so long as the English claim on so large a +portion of the soil of France was maintained, the bands were +incessantly recruited. The French King hired them as well as the King +of England. So, later, did the Popes, when they quitted Avignon, and by +their aid recovered the patrimony of S. Peter. + +The barons and seigneurs in the South were no better than the +_routiers_. They transferred their allegiance from the Leopards to +the Lilies, or _vice versâ_, as suited their caprices. The Sieur +de Pons went over to the side of France because he quarrelled with his +wife, who was ardent on the English side. The local nobility helped the +_routiers_, and the _routiers_ assisted them in their private +feuds. + +The knights of the fourteenth century were no longer the protectors of +the weak, the redressers of wrongs, loyal to their liege lords, +observers of their oaths. They had reversed the laws of chivalry. Their +main function was the oppression of the weak. They forswore themselves +without scruple. The Sire d'Aubrecicourt plundered and slaughtered at +random _pour meriter de sa dame_, Isabella de Juliers, niece of +the Queen of England, "for he was young and outrageously in love." The +brother of the King of Navarre plundered like the rest. When the nobles +sold safe-conducts to the merchants who victualled the towns, they +excepted such articles as might suit themselves--silks, harness, plate. +A prince of the blood sent as hostage to England returned to France in +defiance of treaties, and if King John surrendered himself, it was +because of the ease and pleasures he enjoyed in London, and to be rid +of cares. The name given to the Companies in the South was Raobadous +(Ribauds)--the very name has come to us under the form of +_ribald_, as indicative of all that is brutal, profane, and +unseemly. + +Among the commanders very few were English. There was the Welshman +Griffith, whom Froissart calls Ruffin, who ravaged the country between +the Seine and the Loire. Sir Robert Knollys, or Knolles, led a band of +English and Navarrese, "conquering every town and castle he came to. He +had followed this trade for some time, and by it gained upwards of +100,000 crowns. He kept a great many soldiers in his pay; and being +very liberal, was cheerfully obeyed." So says Froissart. Sir Robert +Cheney was another; so was Sir John Amery. Sir John Hawkwood was taken +into the service of Pope Gregory XI., and sent to ravage in Italy. +Bacon, a notorious brigand, may or may not have been English. The name +is common in lower Brittany. "This robber," says Froissart, "was always +mounted on handsome horses of a deep roan colour, apparelled like an +earl, and very richly armed." + +But usually the free Companies enrolled themselves under some bastard +(Bourg) of a noble house in France or Guyenne. It was a bastard warfare +on their side; they stood in the same relation to the regular forces +that privateers do to a fleet of the Royal Navy. They paid no regard to +treaties. As the Bourg d'Espaign told Froissart: "The treaty of peace +being concluded, it was necessary for all men-at-arms and free +Companies, according to the treaty, to evacuate the fortresses and +castles they held. Great numbers collected together, with many poor +companions who had learnt the art of war under different commanders, to +hold councils as to what quarters they should march, and they said +among themselves that, though the kings had made peace with each other, +it was necessary for them to live. They marched into Burgundy, where +they had captains of all nations--Germans, Scots, and people from every +country--'and they agreed to disregard the treaty and to surprise towns +and castles as before.' A notorious Breton captain on his deathbed +said: 'Such has been my manner of carrying on war, in truth, I cared +not against whom. I did indeed make it under shadow of the King of +England's name, in preference to any other; but I always looked for +gain and conquest, wherever it was to be had.'" + +When they captured a town or castle, nominally for the English, they +were quite ready to sell it to the French for a stipulated sum. + +Froissart says that the Ribauds were "Germans, Brabantines, Flemings, +Gascons, and bad Frenchmen, who had been impoverished by the war" (i. +c. 204). He gives in one place the names of twenty of these captains, +not one English. [Footnote: Robert King of Puy Guihbem was an +Englishman, but an authorised governor and commander under the English +crown.] In another place he enumerates ten, all French or Gascons (ii. +c. 10). Among those who harassed the Languedoc, Quercy and Perigord, +not a single captain was English. The Bastard de Beby, the Bastard +d'Albret, Amadeu de Pons, Benezet Daguda, De l'Esparre, Menard de +Favas, l'Archipretre, Bertrand de la Salle, Le Non de Mauroux, Jean +l'Esclop, Nolibarba, Bertrand de Besserat, Perrot de Savoie, Ramonet +del Sort, and a score more, all base French or Gascon names. "These +brigands," says Lacoste, "were mainly composed of French soldiers to +whom the State had been unable to pay their wages." One whole company +was entitled that "des Bretons." + +But it was not the captains of the Companies alone who were Gascons, +French, and Bretons. The nobles throughout Guyenne were more than half +of them on the English side. The famous commander who did so much +towards achieving the victory of Poitiers was a Frenchman, the Captal +de Buch, Jean de Greuilly, Constable of Aquitaine for the English +crown. Amandeu and Raymond de Montaut, the Sire de Duras, Petiton de +Courton, Jean de Seignol, the Sire de Mussidan, and many more. +"Following their interests or their passions, all these nobles passed +from side to side, now that of the English, then that of the French; +but they preferred the English side to the other, for war against the +French is more pleasant than that against the English,"--that is to +say, it was more profitable. The _Livre de Vie_ of Bergerac under +the date 5th April 1381, speaks of Perducat d'Albret as "loyally +French." But his loyalty lasted but for a moment. Froissart has a +characteristic passage upon the Gascons that deserves quotation. After +giving a list of towns and castles on the Garonne and the Dordogne, he +says: "Some of these being English, and others French, carried on a war +against each other; they would have it so, for the Gascons were never, +for thirty years running, steadily attached to any one lord. I once +heard the Lord d'Albret use an expression that I noted down. A knight +from Brittany inquired after his health, and how he managed to remain +steady to the French. He answered, 'Thank God my health is good, but I +had more money at command, as well as my people, when I made war for +the King of England, than I have now; for, whenever we took any +excursions in search of adventures, we never failed meeting some rich +merchants from Toulouse, Condom, La Réole, or Bergerac, whom we +squeezed, which made us gay and debonair, but now all that is at an +end.' On hearing this I concluded that the Lord d'Albret repented +having turned to the French in the same manner as the Lord of Mucidens, +who swore to the Duke of Anjou he would set out for Paris and become a +good Frenchman. He did go to Paris, when the King handsomely received +him; but he slunk away and returned to his own country, where he again +became an Englishman, and broke all his engagements with the Duke of +Anjou. The Lords of Rosem, Duras, Langurant, did the same" (iii. c. +21). + +As with the captains of the Companies, so with the knights and +seigneurs who fought in the South for the Crown of England--their names +are for the most part French and Gascon, and not English. [Footnote: +Let it not be forgotten that those who condemned Joan of Arc to be +burnt were Frenchmen. The University of Paris denounced her as a +heretic. Her judges were the Bishop of Beauvais, a Frenchman by birth, +Jean Graveraut, Professor of Theology at the University of Paris, Grand +Inquisitor of France, Jean Lemaitre, prior of the Dominicans at Rouen. +Her bitterest accuser was the Canon Jean d'Estivet, general procurator, +who after the execution drowned himself in a pool. The Bastard of +Vendôme sold her to John of Luxembourg, and John of Luxembourg sold her +to the English for 10,000 francs. Charles VII. and his friends did not +raise a finger in her behalf. They forgot her at once, as a thing that +had answered its purpose and was no longer of use.] + +The Companies formed their nests in the rocks, which they fortified, or +in castles they had captured, or in such as had been abandoned by the +French, from inability to garrison them. The Causse was in their +possession from the Dordogne to the Lot, and Perigord to the gates of +the capital. They overran Auvergne, the Gevaudan, Poitou, the +Angoumois, the Rouergue and the Saintonge, to speak only of provinces +south of the Loire. The Government exhibited incredible feebleness +towards them. In 1379 the Count d'Armagnac, Royal Lieutenant in the +south, paid 24,000 francs to one of the _routiers_ to evacuate the +castle of Carlat, and 12,500 to the Bastard of Albret for five others. +In 1387 he convened an assembly of the States of Auvergne, Velay, +Gevaudan, Rouergue, Quercy, &c., to debate what was to be done to rid +the country of these pests. Instead of resolving on an united effort to +put them down by force of arms, they agreed to pay them 250,000 francs +to quit. They took the money, but remained. Every town, every village +was forced to come to terms with the brigands, by means of a +_patis_ or convention to pay a certain sum annually, to save it +from pillage. Should the covenanted money not be forthcoming to the +day, the place was sacked and burnt. + +At length the inhabitants, unable to endure the exaction of the +_routiers_ on one side and those of the King and the seigneurs on +the other, migrated to Spain and never returned. In 1415, as all the +inhabitants of Caudon had crossed the frontier, the curé applied to +have his cure united to that of Domme. He had no parishioners left. +Domme had been reduced from a thousand families to a hundred and +twenty, and these would have abandoned their homes unless stopped by +the Seneschal of Perigord. + +In 1434 the inhabitants of Temniac and Carlux began to pack their goods +for leaving, but the citizens of Sarlat stopped them, by promising to +feed them till the conclusion of the war. Some of the large towns had +lost so many of their citizens that they were glad to receive peasants +out of the country and enrol them as burgesses. In 1378, as the Causse +of Quercy was almost denuded of its population and nothing remained to +be reaped, the Companies abandoned it for the Rouergue, the Gevaudan +and the Limousin and Upper Auvergne. Thence the wretched peasants fled +to the deserted limestone Causse of Quercy and occupied the abandoned +villages and farms. They obtained but a short respite, for in 1407 the +Companies returned to their former quarters. Charles VI. imposed a +heavy tax on the whole kingdom to enable him to carry on the war +against the English. But Quercy was wholly unable to meet the demands, +and the King, in a letter dated the last day of February 1415, gives a +graphic account of the condition to which the land had been reduced. + +"Whereas, this land, at the time when it passed under the obedience of +the King of England, was the richest and most populous in all the Duchy +of Guyenne, and contained the finest cities, towns, and castles and +fortresses in the said duchy, which were free and quit of all taxes and +imposts, and with privileges conferred on them and confirmed by the +King of France when they shook off the English yoke; and the said land +of Quercy, after having returned to its legitimate sovereigns, has +testified to them the greatest loyalty; yet have its inhabitants been +grievously injured, assailed, beaten, robbed, pillaged, imprisoned, +killed, maltreated by the English in divers ways, which enemies have +since taken and occupied the greater part of the finest towns and +fortresses of the land; on which account the land of Quercy has since +continued in a condition of mortal warfare with the said enemies for +the space of fifty-five years; and this carried on without aid from us, +or from any one:--This unfortunate land has resisted to the utmost of +its powers and is doing so still; and it has been surrounded for long +by our said enemies, and is as it were destroyed and uninhabitable, and +the greater number of its towns, castles, and strongholds have become +desert and wild, covered with forest and scrub, inhabited by wild +beasts, with the exception of some few small places that are very poor +and miserable, and though at one time they were great and rich, they +have been to such an extent depopulated--partly through the war and +partly through pestilences that have ensued--there are now hardly one +hundredth part of the people remaining, and those who do remain are but +poor labourers and men of servile class; and these are kept night and +day harassed by watching against enemies, and yet are compelled to buy +them off with _patis_ and pensions, so that the greater portion of +their substance is consumed in this way;--therefore, &c." + +[ILLUSTRATION: LE DÉFILÉ DES ANGLAIS, LOT. A fortress of the English +commanding the road to Cahors. Several chambers are excavated out of +the rock.] + +In 1450 the English were driven out of Guyenne, but a fresh attempt to +recover it was made, that ended in the defeat and death of Talbot, in +1453. The Companies had then to dissolve. Out of a thousand churches in +Quercy but four hundred were in condition for the celebration of divine +service; many had been converted into fortresses. Most of the little +towns in Upper Quercy had lost the major portion of their inhabitants; +the villages were void of inhabitants. None knew who were the heirs to +the deserted houses and untilled fields. + +[Footnote: "Agros atque Lares proprios, habitandaque fana + Apres reliquit, et rapacibus lupis, + Ire, pedes quocunque ferent," + + --HORACE, _Epod. Od._, 16.] + +An emigration from Limousin and the Rouergue was called for to repeople +the waste places. Grammat, that had been a thriving town, in 1460 was +left with only five inhabitants, Lavergne with but three. Lhern, once a +flourishing place, was absolutely desert, the fields covered with +briars and thorns, not one house tenanted, and in the church a she-wolf +had littered her cubs. + +Throughout the country can be distinguished the churches built when the +war was over--quadrangular structures, without ornament. + +Two of the strongest fortresses held by the English in Perigord were +Bigaroque and the Roc de Tayac. The former belonged to the Archbishop +of Bordeaux, staunch in his adhesion to the English cause, and he +placed a garrison in it. The French did not attempt a siege, but in +1376 they raised a large sum in the neighbourhood and bought the +garrison out. Either they culpably neglected to place troops in it, or +were too weak to do so, and in 1386 the English reoccupied it without a +blow, and made it a centre whence they pillaged the country up to 1408. +In 1409 the Constable of France, however, laid siege to it and the +garrison capitulated, on condition that all prisoners taken by the +French should be set free. The French then demolished the +fortifications, but did this so inefficiently that in 1432 the English +had again established themselves therein. It was not recovered by the +French till 1443; somewhat later the Companies disbanded, and then they +so completely destroyed the fortress that of it nothing now remains. + +The other stronghold was the Rock of Tayac. The white cliff streaked +with black tears rises to the height of 300 feet, and is precipitous. +Throughout the whole length it is lined and notched and perforated, +showing tokens of having been a combination of cliff caves, and wooden +galleries, connecting the caves, as also of structures at the base of +the crag. These latter have disappeared, having been torn down when the +castle was demolished, but the indications of the roofs remain. There +were several storeys in the fortress. In one cave is a stable reached +by a ladder, also a well that was driven from an upper cavern through +the roof of the stable and through its floor to the level of the river. +The oven of these freebooters hanging in mid-cliff remains, guard-rooms +are still extant, and the principal upper storey is now turned into a +hotel, as already mentioned, but in so doing the stable has been +injured and the well filled up. The hotel is reached by a ladder. + +[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DES ANGLAIS, BRENGUES. This castle occupied by +the Free Companies, is now wholly inaccessible. The goat-path below was +closed, above and below, by gate-houses and guard-rooms.] + +[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DU DIABLE, CABRERET, LOT. A castle on a narrow +ledge of rock above the River Célé, built by the Bastard of Albert, +circ. 1380, and held for the English.] + +From this vultures' nest the Ribauds devastated the neighbourhood and +the Sieur des Eyzies on the opposite side of the river, and who was on +the French side, was powerless against them. In company with the +garrison of Bigaroque they surprised Temniac near Sarlat, S. Quentin +and Campagnac, in 1348, but were shortly after dislodged by the +Seneschal of Perigord from these acquisitions. + +In 1353 they surprised the church and fortress of Tursac and the castle +of Palevez. The men of Sarlat hastened to recover Tursac, bringing with +them some machines of war, named La Bride, Le Hop, Le Collard, and +l'Asne, that flung stones and bolts and pots of flaming tar and +sulphur. They managed to drive the English out of Tursac, but were +unable to recover the other castle. + +In 1401, at the solicitation of the Baron of Limeuil, they took and +utterly destroyed the town and castle of La Roche Christophe, as shall +be related in full in the sequel. On 4th December 1409, the Constable +of France having ruined Bigaroque, besieged the Rock of Tayac, and it +was taken after a gallant defence on 10th January 1410, demolished and +reduced to the condition in which we see it now. Then a tax was levied +throughout Perigord to pay for the cost of the sieges of Bigaroque and +the Rock of Tayac. + +We will now pass from Perigord to Quercy. Here the English Companies +held the valley of the Lot from below Capdenac to the gates of Cahors, +except the impregnable towns of Cajarc and Calvignac. + +Flowing into the Lot at Conduché is the river Célé that descends from +Figeac. This river was also in the grip of the English. + +Below Figeac the limestone precipices first appear at Corn, and the +cliff is full of caves in which there are remains of fortifications. +The cliff is not beautiful, but is wondrous strange, white, draped with +fallen folds of stalactite, black as ink, as though a tattered funeral +pall had been cast over it. Corn was a feof of the family of Beduer, +one of the five most powerful in Quercy. In 1379 Perducat, the Bastard +of Albret, an English Captain, occupied Corn, but sold it to John, +Count of Armagnac, Seneschal of Quercy; after having marched out and +pocketed his money, he turned round, marched in again, and set to work +to fortify the caves. He made the citizens of Cajarc contribute to the +expense of this proceeding, and even required them to send masons to +assist him in the work; but as they were loyal subjects of the French +King they demurred at this, and he substituted additional money payment +for personal service. He then pushed down the Célé valley to Cabrerets +near where it debouches into the Lot, and in 1383 he fortified the +caves of Espagnac, Brengues, Marcillac, Sauliac, and built the château +du Diable at Cabrerets. The Count d'Armagnac sent troops to dislodge +him, but failed. + +In the rock of Corn, a little higher up the river than the village, is +the Grotto du Consulat, reached by a path along a narrow ledge. To this +the villagers were wont to gather to elect their magistrates without +interference from the Bastard of Albret. Within is a bench cut in the +rock, and the roof is encrusted with stalactite formations like +cauliflowers. Immediately above the village is a much larger cavern 72 +feet high and 36 feet deep. It is vaulted like a dome, and tendrils of +ivy and vine hang down draping the entrance. Violets grow in purple +masses at the opening, and maiden-hair fern luxuriates within. At the +extreme end, high up, to be reached only by a ladder of forty rungs, is +another opening into a cave that runs far into the bowels of the +Causse, to where the water falls in a cascade that now flows forth +beneath the outer cave and supplies the village with drinking water and +a place for washing linen. Hard by the great entrance is another cave +situated high up, and called the Citadel, much smaller, access to which +is obtained by a narrow track in the face of the rock, with notches cut +in the limestone to receive the beams and struts that supported a +wooden gallery which once provided easy access to the cave. I did not +myself climb up and investigate the citadel, not having a steady head +on the edge of a precipice, and what information I give was received +from the curé, who seemed very much amused at my shirking the scramble, +and thought that the Englishman of to-day must be very different from +the Englishman of the fourteenth century who crawled about these cliffs +like a lizard. According to him, the cave within shows signs of having +been occupied, and has in it a squared and smoothed block of stone nine +feet long, at which Perducat and his ruffians doubtless caroused, as at +a table. + +[Illustration: CORN, LOT. Caves occupied by the Routiers. That above +the large one was formerly reached by a gallery of wood. It contains +the stone table at which the Routiers gambled and drank.] + +In the village of Corn is the picturesque château of the family of +Beduer built after the abandonment of the place by the English. It is +now occupied by poor families. A little farther down the valley is the +castle of Roquefort, which was also annexed by the Captain. It is near +the Church of S. Laurent, where was a village that was destroyed by the +Company. The church itself was blown up later by the Huguenots. +Roquefort is dominated by a precipice, at the foot of which lies a huge +mass of rock that has broken off from the cliff, and on this rock a +castle has been erected. It belonged to the family of Lascasas. One of +these fell at Résinières in a duel with the Seigneur of Camboulet; but +his adversary survived him only a few minutes, and both were buried on +the spot with three stones at their heads and two at their feet. When +the new road was being made their skeletons were found. The stones +remain _in situ_. + +In 1361 Cahors was in possession of the English. The bishop unwilling +to recognise the King of England as his sovereign retired to the Castle +of Brengues in the Célé valley that pertained to his family, the +Cardaillacs, and thence governed his diocese. There he died 3rd +February 1367, and his successor also occupied the Castle of Brengues. +But in 1377 it was captured by an English Company under Bertrand de la +Salle, and in 1380 it was held by Bertrand de Besserat, to whom it was +delivered over by Perducat d'Albret. + +There are two very remarkable castles at Brengues; both were fortified +by Perducat and Besserat. One hangs like a swallow's nest under the +eaves of the overhanging rock, and is now wholly inaccessible, so much +so that it is in perfect preservation. The river flows far below, and a +_talus_ of rubble runs up to the foot of the cliff, along which +_talus_, on a narrow terrace, is a path. This path was defended +both above and below the castle by gates that were battlemented and to +which guard-rooms were attached. The pensile castle is not large. It +was entered at one side, and has in its face three roundheaded windows. + +The other castle of Brengues is perforated in an angle of rock, at a +great elevation, and consists of several chambers. The cave at the +angle was walled up and furnished with doorway and windows. + +Near where the Célé flows into the Lot is the little town of Cabrerets. +Here the precipice of fawn-coloured limestone overhangs like a wave, +curling and about to break. On a ledge under it, and above the river +and the road and the houses, is the Devil's Castle, built by Perducat +d'Albret and Bertrand de Besserat. The latter held it from 1380 to +1390, but then, at the entreaty of the neighbourhood, the Seigneur +Hebraud de Saint-Sulpice at the head of levies laid siege to the castle +and took it. + +The castle has one of its walls of rock; only that towards the river +and the two ends are structural, as is also a round tower. A portion of +the castle has been pulled down; it has served as a quarry for the +houses beneath, but a good deal still remains. The tower is about 20 +feet in diameter. The entrance hall, lighted by windows, is 70 feet +long and 40 feet wide. A second hall, partly hewn out of the rock, with +recesses for cupboards and seats and with fireplace, is 42 feet long. +The oven remains in a ruinous condition. The castle is reached by steps +cut in the rock. + +[ILLUSTRATION: CHÂTEAU DES ANGLAIS, AUTOIRE. Reached by a sharp +scramble up a steep, and then by a ledge in a precipice. Some chambers +are scooped out of the rock. When the English were besieged, they +escaped by a goat-path, to a point whence hung a rope from a tree +above, and up this they swarmed.] + +Below Conduché, where the Célé enters the Lot, the road runs under +tremendous precipices of orange and grey limestone, in which the track +has been cut; and the road would be totally blocked by a huge buttress +split down the middle had not a tunnel for it been cut. As the Roman +road ran this way, the original tunnel was made by the Masters of the +World, but it has been widened of late years. Commanding the road and +the tunnel, planted in the cleft of the rock, is a castellated +structure, that also owes its origin to the captains who fortified the +Célé caves. + +None could pass up or down the road without being spied and arrested, +and made to pay toll by the garrison of this fort. [Footnote: So early +as the eleventh or twelfth century there was not a small river, as the +Célé and the Aveyron, on which tolls were not levied.] + +The Cahors Chronicle says of this period: "Deinde fuit in praesenti +patria mala guerra. Anglicis et Gallis hinc inde reprædentibus, unde +evenit victualium omnium maxima caristia. Nullus civis Caturci villam +exire erat ausus, omnia enim per injustitiam regebatur." If the +merchants and provision wains for Cahors were not robbed at the Défilé +des Anglais, they were subjected to toll. The interior of the chasm +reveals a whole labyrinth of passages and vaults dug out in the heart +of the calcareous rock. The chambers had openings as windows looking +out upon a river, and the rock was converted into a barrack that could +accommodate a large garrison. + +The last of the rock fastnesses of the _routiers_ that I purpose +describing is of a totally different character from the rest. It is at +Peyrousse in the Rouergue, in the department of Aveyron. Peyrousse is a +village, but was once a fortified town on a height, with its church and +church tower standing on the highest point and visible from a great +distance. It rises above a deep valley or ravine. The houses are all +old, and many of them in ruins. The church, dating from 1680, is not +ineffective; there are, however, the ruins of a Gothic church farther +down the hill. One of the embattled gates of the town is still +standing, as well as a tower erroneously supposed to be the bell tower +of the ruined church, actually part of the fortification of the place. +Projecting from the side of the hill on which stands Peyrousse, partly +attached to it, but for the most part detached, is a ridge of schist +starting 300 feet above the stream below, in one sheer precipice, and +precipitous on every side. It is perhaps 300 feet long, and rises like +a blade of an axe; at each extremity of this ridge is a lofty tower-- +one, the farthest, open at the side. To erect these towers it must have +been necessary to level a portion of the sharp edge on which they rest. +Between them one could walk only with a balancing pole like a tight- +rope dancer, as there is a sheer fall on each side. The rock is called +Les Roches du Tailleur, as having been appropriated by a captain who +cut folk's coats according as he wanted the cloth. How the builders +climbed to this height, how they managed to carry up their material, +and how they achieved the building of these towers, is impossible to +conjecture. The tradition is, that when the English quitted Peyrousse +they destroyed the means of ascent, and since 1443 no human being has +been able to climb the rock and visit the towers, that for nearly five +hundred years have had no other denizens than ravens and jackdaws. But +that is not all the puzzle of the Tailor's Rock. It is supposed that +there was a wooden castle between the towers. There is no indication of +there having been a stone structure. + +[ILLUSTRATION: COVOLO, FROM A PRINT BY MERIAN, 1640-1648. In the +defile of the Brenta; 100 feet above the road. It was capable of +containing a garrison of 500 men. It was taken from the Venetians by +Maximilian in 1509. It is between Primolano and Cismone.] + +[ILLUSTRATION: LA ROCHE DU TAILLEUR. Remains of a castle on a +precipitous rock at Reyrousse, Aveyron; it was held by the English +Routiers, who, when they abandoned it, destroyed the means of access, +since which time it has been inaccessible.] + +But if so, how was it balanced, or how secured? A plank cast across the +blade would make a see-saw for an ogre and ogress, till cut through. I +endeavoured with a glass to see whether notches had been hacked in the +schist to receive stays, and others on the ridge to accommodate joists, +but could distinguish none. + +Peyrousse became a Calvinist stronghold in the Wars of Religion, when +the churches were destroyed; but the Huguenots made no attempt to climb +the Tailor's Rocks and restore the castle. At the foot of the crags are +the remains of the chapel of the garrison. How did they descend to it +and mount again? I presume by a knotted rope. + +A cliff castle that bears a curious resemblance to Peyrousse is Trosky, +in Bohemia, but in this latter case the rocks are of basalt, and +between the two towers the connecting rock forms a deep depression. In +1415, Johann von Herzmanmiestetz and Otto Berka of Trosk sacked the +monastery of Opatowitz, butchered most of the monks, tortured the abbot +so that he died a few days later, and carried off all the plunder they +could collect. With the spoil Otto Berka built a castle on the two +spires of rock, a tower on each, and connected them with a crescent +wall, and a gallery of communication. The walls were six feet thick, +and the foundations clamped to the rock with iron. He also contrived a +tunnel, cut in the rock to the bottom, to enable himself and his men to +ascend and descend. In 1424, however, Otto Berka was there no more. The +castle was besieged by the terrible one-eyed Hussite commander, Ziska +with the Flail, and he succeeded in capturing the lower tower after +great loss of life, but entirely failed to take the upper donjon. After +the departure of Ziska the castle was taken as a residence by Margaret, +widow of Otto Berka, who secured the lower tower, and her granddaughter +Barbara occupied the higher. These women hated each other as poison, +and to personal hate was added religious rancour, for Barbara had +embraced the party of the Utraquists. The theological quarrel was +simply about the use of the chalice at communion. The Roman Church had +withdrawn it from the people; the Utraquists asserted their right to +it; and about this question the two parties fought and slaughtered each +other, and burnt towns and castles. The tradition is that all day long, +and part of the night, the two women screamed abuse at each other from +their several towers, and desisted only for their meals, their +devotions, and necessary sleep. Folk passing along the highway would +halt and listen to the yelling and vituperation of the two shrews. Each +had her own chapel at the foot of the cliffs, in which each +ostentatiously followed the rite of which she approved; and to this day +the chapels remain. According to the local story, the cries of the +women were so strident and so continuous that all birds were scared +away from Trosky. At length Margaret died, and Bertha had become so +accustomed to scolding at the top of her voice, that she died soon +after from dissatisfaction at having lost the object of her abuse. + +In 1468 Trosky was the property of William von Hasenburg, who sided +with King Mathias against George Podjebrad. After the defeat of +Mathias, Podjebrad captured Trosky, but as the owner came to terms, he +was allowed to retain his castle. The towers are all that remain of the +castle; the curtain wall has been broken down. The lower tower can be +reached by a climber with a steady head, but not without risk of life. +The higher tower is quite inaccessible. From the height a magnificent +prospect is obtained, with Prague in the distance. + +To return once more to the _routiers_. + +Near Mont Dore is the Roche de Sanadoire, 3660 feet high, composed of +phonolith and basaltic prisms. On the top stood the fortress of the +_routiers_, calling themselves English, under a Captain Chennel, +from 1378 to 1386, when he was caught, conveyed to Paris, and broken on +the wheel. It is not to be wondered at that the memory of the terrible +times of the English domination, and its consequence, the reign of the +_routiers_, should linger on in the memory of the people; that +every cliff castle should be a Château des Anglais, or a Château du +Diable--they mean the same thing. The peasant reads but little--history +not at all; but Jean Bonhomme looks up at the cliffs and finds the +story of the past graven there; and just as the twinge of a corn is +still felt after the foot has been amputated, so--though the English +rule has passed away, three hundred and fifty years have intervened--he +still winces, and curses the haunts "de ces cochons d'Anglais," though +in fact ces cochons were his own compatriots, doubled-dyed in iniquity, +as traitors to their country and their King. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CLIFF CASTLES--_Continued_ + + +I took the third of the classes into which I have divided my subject of +cliff castles, first of all; and now I shall take the others in the +category. + +The Seigneurs were not greatly, if at all, to be distinguished from the +Captains of the _routiers_ in their mode of life and in their +fortresses, save only this, that the latter were elected by their +followers, and the former were on their hereditary estates and could +demand the services of their vassals. In the matter of scoundreldom +there was not a pin to choose between them. But the _routier_ +chiefs were not tied to any one castle as their home; they shifted +quarters from one rock to another, from one province to another as +suited them, whereas the seigneur had his home that had belonged to his +forefathers and which he hoped to transmit to his son. + +I will give but an instance. + +Archibald V. (1361-1397) was Count of Perigord. He was nominally under +the lilies, but he pillaged indiscriminately in his county. Surrounded +by adventurers he planted his men in castles about Perigord, and from +that of La Rolphie "hung over the city like the sword of Damocles," +menaced Perigueux. One little town after another was pillaged. He +intercepted the merchants on the roads. At S. Laurent-du-Manoir his +captains added outrage to injury, for they took all the women of the +place, and cut off their skirts at the knees; and one who made +strenuous resistance they killed. + +In 1385, the Seneschal of Perigord, in the name of the King of France, +ordered Archibald to desist from his acts of violence. When he refused, +his lands were declared confiscated. But who was to bell the cat? He +mocked at the sentence, and was roused to fresh incursions and +pillages. At last in 1391 the Parliament acted, and summoned the Count +to appear along with twenty-three of his accomplices before its bar "to +answer for having overrun with his troops the suburbs of Perigueux; for +having assaulted the city, and neighbouring places; for having wounded +and killed a great many persons; for having incarcerated others to +extort a ransom from them; for having, like common highwaymen, seized +cattle, fired granges, mills, houses; and for having committed crimes +so infamous, so ferocious, that one would feel pain to disclose them." + +Archibald paid not the slightest regard to the summons or to the +sentence pronounced against him _in contumaciam_. The law could +not enforce its judgment, and six years later in 1397 he died. The King +refused to recognise his son Archibald VI. as Count of Perigord, but +Archibald disregarded the refusal, and openly sided with the English. +He successfully resisted the troops sent against him, and continued in +the same courses as his father. At last he was brought to bay in +Montignac, where he was constrained to capitulate. He was sent to +Charles VI., but effected his escape and fled to London in 1399. Thence +he returned in 1404, and captured Auberoche, much about the time of the +English victory at Agincourt. He died in undisturbed possession of his +county of Perigord in 1430. + +Few portions of France so lent itself to the requirements of the feudal +tyrants of the Middle Ages, as they did also to those of the +_routiers_, as the volcanic district of Auvergne. There the floods +of lava that flowed from the volcanoes have formed caps to hills, with +precipices on every side, cut through by the streams, that have +separated portions from the main current. Every such peak or fragment +of plateau was laid hold of by the seigneurs of old, as sites for their +fortresses. From the number of these strongholds and the almost +impregnable nature of most of them, the feudal tyrants of Auvergne were +able to hold their own, long after the rest had been brought to their +knees; and it was not until Richelieu with iron hand moved against them +that their career of rapine and violence was curbed. Beginning in 1626, +Richelieu ordered the demolition of all feudal fortresses that were not +necessary for the defence of the frontiers, and which were a permanent +menace to the King's authority, and an object of terror to town and +country, and to the nobles afforded reminiscence of past lawlessness. +The demolition was entrusted to the communes themselves. And in order +to bring the culprits to speedy judgment, he renewed the institution of +the _Grand Jours_; that of Poitiers in 1634 condemned over two +hundred nobles convicted of exactions and crimes. + +But it was impossible in many places, notably in Auvergne, for the +communes to get hold of the castles and blow them up. There, for some +thirty years longer, the seigneurs defied justice, and it was much the +same elsewhere. On the 31st August 1665, the _Grand Jours_ were +announced for all the centre of France, but notice that they were to be +held had been given so long before that the guilty were allowed plenty +of time to escape out of the country, go into hiding or come to terms. +Great were the expectations of the people. Right was at length to +prevail over Might. The Day of Judgment was coming on the oppressors. +The Mighty would be put down from their seat and the humble would be +exalted in their room. A peasant wearing his cap before a noble, the +latter knocked it off his head "Pick it up," said the peasant, "or the +King will cut off your head." The seigneur obeyed. + +But the result was disappointing. Only one noble had his head cut off. +Few executions were carried into effect, many were on paper. One of the +latter, a ruffian steeped in blood, defied the sentence and was +banished. Fléchier in his amusing and instructive book, _Les grands +Jours d'Auvergne_, has given us a dramatic account of the trial. + +Every description of intrigue was had recourse to, in order to +neutralise the effect of justice. The fair ladies of Clermont, _les +chats fourrés_, as Fléchier calls them, did their utmost to reduce +the severity of the judges. The Great Days lasted three months, and +ended in disappointment. Many of the worst offenders, convicted of +atrocious crimes, entered the Royal service and fought in the armies of +the King. + +But if justice spared the culprits, the opportunity was accorded to +destroy their strongholds, and now little remains of these Towers of +Iniquity but the foundations, and some fragments of their massive +walls, which were generally constructed of basaltic prisms taken from +the rock that sustained the castles, laid horizontally. "Puzzolana was +mixed with the mortar used in these constructions, and without the +binding quality communicated by this ingredient, probably no cement +would have taken effect on the smooth a rid iron surfaces of the +prisms." [Footnote: Poulette Scrope, "The Extinct Volcanoes of Central +France," Lond. 1858.] + +The King had indeed desired that greater severity should be used. He +wrote to the judges: "You must manage to banish oppression and violence +out of the provinces. You have begun well, and you must finish well." +At the conclusion he had a medal struck representing a slave rising +from the ground, under the protection of the sword of royalty, and with +the expressive device, _Salus provinciarum repressa potentorum +audacia_. + +It was, however, rather the destruction of the nests than the +punishment of the Vultures that effected the work. + +The Marquis de Canillac, one of the worst, escaped into Spain. He had +maintained twelve ruffians, whom he called his Apostles, who catechised +with sword and rod all who rebelled against his exactions. He levied +taxes on necessary articles of food, and when his vassals abstained +from food he fined them for not eating. He allowed none to marry +without paying into his hands half the _dot_ of the bride. His +kinsman, the Vicomte Lamotte-Canillac, was the one culprit executed. + +The river Vézère, opposite to the prehistoric caves of Moustier, makes +a sudden bend about a wall of chalk 300 feet high and 1500 feet long. +"Of all the rocks that have served for the habitation of man, this is +the most striking for its dimensions and for the number of habitations +it contained, if one may give that name to the excavations which the +hand of man has appropriated to his use. Staircases were carved in the +rock, carried half-way up the height, to where the cliff has been +excavated, its recesses enlarged and divided into compartments." +[Footnote: De Roumejoux, _Bulletin de la Soc. Hist. de Perigord._ +T. xix. 1892.] + +This bluff is called La Roche S. Christophe. It arrests attention at +once, for half-way up it is furrowed horizontally as though worked by a +giant's tool. If the visitor approaches the cliff, he will find that +the masses of rock that have fallen from above, as well as others that +have formed spurs, have been extensively worked to form town walls, +gateways, a church, a monastery, and dwelling-houses. + +One gateway, bored through the rock, has a guard-room or sentinel's +watch-chamber scooped out of a pinnacle. But not a roof remains, not a +living soul is to be seen in the street, not a huxter's stall in the +market-place, only tiles strewn about and white rocks blackened with +smoke show that man lived there. + +By a flight of stairs cut in the rock, the visitor can ascend to the +furrow in the face of the cliff, and there he finds that the whole has +been elaborately utilised. There are chambers excavated in the chalk +that were formerly closed by wood partitions, with recesses for beds, +cupboards, seats--clearly the bedrooms of ladies. The grooves into +which the planks were fitted can be made out. Doors were fitted into +rocky rebates to move on their hinges, the hinges being round +prolongations of the door frame turning in holes sunk in floor and +roof. The kitchen is there, the bakehouse with its oven; the guard-room +with its benches for the troopers, cisterns, store-chambers, closets, +cellars, a chapel, and the latrines. All but the last are on a level in +one long row, with the cliff descending precipitately from the gallery +that precedes the apartments and gave communication between them and +which, in part, had been widened by means of a wooden balcony and +railing. The chapel, if that be the walled structure in a hole of the +rock, is now inaccessible. Its destination is uncertain. The peasants +so designate it. + +Fragments of earthenware vessels and of tiles lie on the floors. I +could find nothing else. + +Above the principal gallery are others of less importance that can only +be reached from the top of the cliff. + +This Roche Saint Christophe has a history. It was first fortified by +Frotarius de Gourdon to resist the incursions of the Northmen. He was +assassinated at Mourcinez in Coursac in 991. There was a priory in the +town below, mention of which is found in a charter of 1187. + +The remarkable range of chambers and structures in the face of the +precipice formed the castle of the family of Laroque. It was a worthy +family, greatly respected in the neighbourhood, and loyal to the crown +of France. The seigneur was the protector of the little town that lay +below. + +On Passion Sunday, 1401, the townsfolk and the occupants of the castle +were gathered in the church, when a cry was raised that the enemy had +swarmed over the walls and were in the town. Adhémar de Laroque was the +seigneur at the time. He hastened from the church, but already the +street was full of English, and escape to his castle was cut off, as +they had secured the stair. + +Adhémar had a personal enemy, one Jean Ducos, a kinsman of the Baron de +Limeuil. These men, calculating that the garrison of La Roque would be +off its guard on that holy day, arranged with the English garrison of +the Rock of Tayac to surprise the town. + +They came upon it unobserved, and breaking in, massacred the people and +the guards; then ensued a general pillage, and a conflagration. Every +house was fired after it had been ransacked, and the English Ribauds +running along the platform with torches in their hands, applied the +flame to everything combustible--doors, galleries, partitions, rafters +--all blazed, and the only portion of the castle and town that was left +unconsumed were the latrines, to which they did not consider it worth +their pains to apply their torches. + +From that day to this the town of La Roche Saint Christophe has been +abandoned. No cottager has ventured to repair the ruined habitations +for his own use; as the place is esteemed haunted, notably on the night +of Passion Sunday, when a ghostly train of the dead is seen flickering +in and out of the rocks and ruins by the light of the Easter moon. + +But the castle was again tenanted for awhile by a band of Huguenots, +who committed such depredations in the neighbourhood that on 30th March +1588, the Viscount of Aubeterre, Governor of Perigord issued orders-- +"as the enemies of the King occupying this Castle are doing incredible +mischief to the poor folk of the neighbourhood," that they should be +expelled and the castle be utterly destroyed. [Footnote: La Roche S. +Christophe is mentioned in the letters of Petrarch. Labbé. Frag. Bp. +Petrarchi.] + +[Illustration: KRONMETZ. This cave castle was nominally held by nobles +in feof to the Bishop of Trent, but it actually became a den of +robbers. It was taken by storm in 1210. Count v. Firmian, to whom it +belongs, has built for himself a more convenient residence at the foot +of the rock.] + +Quite as curious, and with a less tragic history is La Roche Gageac on +the Dordogne, below Sarlat. "Ma chère patrie," wrote the old +chronicler, Jean Tarde, "une petite ville bien close et très forte +dépendant de la temporalité de l'evesque de Sarlet, _la quelle ne fut +jamais prinse par les Anglais_." + +The white Jurassic limestone dappled orange, fawn colour, and silver +grey, rises 250 feet above the river, the lower portion is in terraces, +very narrow, on which are the houses clinging to the rock, cramped +between the Dordogne and the cliff which rises 140 to 160 feet above. +The old houses are echeloned along the face of the rock, superposed the +one on the other, calcined by the sun as they face south, and the rock +behind cuts off all northern winds and reflects the glare of the +southern sun. This explains the vegetable precocity of the spot, where +wallflowers, cactus, roses, luxuriate. It would be too hot were it not +for the abundant springs, and the proximity to the Dordogne down which +a cool air is wafted. + +The habitations are either partly or wholly caves, they do not reach +half-way up the rock which overhangs to the west. In the face of the +cliff are two castles built into its recesses, one pertained to the +Bishop of Sarlat, and the other to the Fénélon family. Both were ideals +of a stronghold in the Middle Ages, impossible to escalade or to +undermine. In the fifteenth century La Roche Gageac was a walled town +containing five châteaux of noble families, juxtaposed and independent +of each other, although comprised within the same enclosure. Originally +indeed all were under the Bishop of Sarlat, but the Popes had set the +example of jobbery for the benefit of their sons and nephews, and the +Bishops were not slow to follow the lead. One Bishop made over the +principal castle to his brother as a hereditary feof, and others +disposed of the rest for money down, so that by the second half of the +sixteenth century the town had been dismembered. Although it had held +out against the English, when thus broken up among several, it could +not defend itself against the Calvinists, who took, burned and sacked +it in 1574. They killed three Sarlat priests. It was retaken by the +Royal troops in 1575, but it again fell into the hands of the +Calvinists in 1588, and the wreckage of its ecclesiastical buildings +dates from those two captures. + +The principal castle, that which belonged to the Bishop of Sarlat, +occupies one of the profound horizontal furrows in the face of the +rock, that are so common in the limestone and chalk formations. It +consists of three towers, two of which are square and one round, with +curtains uniting them, and a gate-tower, to which a flight of steps cut +in the rock gives access for a part of the way. But to reach this +flight one has to mount by a series of posts serving as steps driven +into sockets in the rock, with only here and there a sustaining iron +bar. Below the structure are chambers, possibly prisons, but more +probably store rooms dug out of the rock. In this castle one of the +Bishops of Sarlat, in stormy times, lived continuously, and there died. +How was his body carried down the stair? Probably it was lowered by +ropes. + +I cannot quit La Roche Gageac without a word on one of its most +illustrious natives, Jean Tarde, born there in 1561 the friend of +Galileo, and who, the first in France, five years after the great +Florentine had begun to search the skies with his telescope, invented +one year previously, erected his tube here at one of the openings of +this eagle's nest, and during ten consecutive years pursued his +astronomic studies. He was a remarkable man in many ways. He was the +first to map his native Perigord, and the first to write a chronicle of +the diocese of Sarlat, a valuable work for any who would compile a +history of the Hundred Years' War, the first also to repudiate the +accepted attribution of the dolmens as altars of sacrifice, and to +indicate their true character as sepulchres. His account of the ravages +committed by the Huguenots is also valuable. The year before his birth, +in 1560, at Lalande, the Calvinists got into the town through a hole in +the wall, killed the first Consul, the Vicar, and six other priests, +and massacred a hundred of the inoffensive citizens. Sixty took refuge +in the church. The Calvinists forced such as could to ransom their +lives, and slaughtered such as were too poor to do this. He was but six +or seven years old when the Huguenot captain, the Sieur d'Assier, took +La Roque, "killing the priests and burning the churches." He was aged +twelve when Captain Vivant took Sarlat, suppressed the bishopric, and +killed three of the canons and several of the citizens. At La Chapelle- +Faucher in 1569 the heretics drove 260 peasants into the castle and +massacred them all. He was made Vicar-General to the Bishop of Sarlat, +and it was after having made a tour of the diocese in 1594 that the +idea occurred to him to write the history of his country and repair as +far as possible the loss of so many of the archives that had been +burnt. In 1599 he was made honorary chaplain to Henry IV., and in 1626 +was published his _Description du pais de Quercy_. His history of +Sarlat, after remaining in MS. was at length published in 1887, but +only 150 copies were printed. Happily one is in the British Museum, and +I possess another. + +Gluges is on the Dordogne near Martel, where high up in the cliff, +difficult of access, is the fortified cave-castle of Guillaume +Taillefer, son of Raymond IV., Count of Toulouse, who was created Lord +of Quercy in 972. Nearly on the level of the river is a cave half +walled up, with traces of fresco on the walls, of course much later +than the time of Taillefer. A modern house has been built on the +platform that has been levelled, and much of the wall demolished; the +upper fortified cave has an opening in the wall, pointed, of the +thirteenth or fourteenth century. In much the same condition is another +cliff castle in the rocks of the valley of the Alzou, between Grammat +and Rocamadour, a little above the cascade of the mill Du Saut. + +I have elsewhere [Footnote: "A Book of the Cevennes," Lond., J. Long.] +given an account of the curious castle of La Roche Lambert at Borne in +Haute Loire, built in a basaltic cleft through which roars the river. +It is the theatre of George Sand's novel, Jean de la Roche. "I may say +without exaggeration that I was reared in a rock. The castle of my +fathers is strangely incrusted into an excavation in a wall of basalt +500 feet high. The base of this wall, with that face to face with it, +identically the same rock, forms a narrow and sinuous valley, through +which winds and leaps an inoffensive torrent in impetuous cascades. The +Château de la Roche is a nest of troglodytes, inasmuch as the whole +flank of the rock we occupy is riddled with holes and irregular +chambers which tradition points out as the residence of ancient +savages, and which antiquaries do not hesitate to attribute to a +prehistoric people. + +"The castle of my fathers is planted high up on a ledge of rock, but so +that the conical roofs of the tower just reach above the level of the +plain. My mother having poor health, and having no other place to walk +save one tiny platform before the castle on the edge of the abyss, took +it into her head to create for herself a garden at the summit of the +crag on which we were perched midway." + +In Cantal at Roqueville are the remains of a castle excavated out of +the rocks. Between Jung-Bunzlau and Böhm-Leipa in Bohemia is the rock- +castle of Habichstein. Two lakes lie in a basin of the hills that are +well-wooded up their sides, but have bare turfy crowns. The upper lake +is studded with islands. Between this and the lower lake stands an +extraordinary hump of sandstone, on a sloping _talus_. This hump +has much resemblance to a Noah's Ark stranded on a diminutive Ararat. +The rock is perforated in all directions with galleries and chambers, +and contains a stable for horses and for cattle, which, however, is no +longer accessible. On the summit of the rock rises a keep very much +resembling a Pictish broch. Habichstein belongs to the Wallenstein +family that possesses a stately schloss at the head of the upper lake. +It has been abandoned for, probably, two hundred years, as it can never +have been a comfortable residence; moreover, the sandstone is +continually breaking away. Below the hill and castle is the village. In +1811 there was a fall of the rock, and again in 1815, when it crushed +three of the houses beneath. + +[ILLUSTRATION: THE PUXER LOCH, STYRIA. Supposed to have been occupied +by a shadowless man. It was still inhabited last century by an old +mason.] + +Another and still more curious cliff castle in Bohemia is that of +Burgstein. There are several on the frontier of the Wargau and the +Hardt in North Bohemia, where the German and Czech languages meet, but +it is not possible here to describe them all. Burgstein is the most +curious. It consists of an isolated mass of sandstone springing out of +level land, an outlying block of the Schwoik chain. Formerly it rose +out of a lake or marsh, but this is now drained. The entrance is +through a narrow gap in the rock by a flight of steps that lead into a +court on all sides surrounded by sheer precipices except towards the +North-west, where a gap was closed by a wall. Out of this court open +caves, one was formerly the smithy, another the guard-room, a third the +stable, and in a recess is the well. From the court access to the main +structure is obtained by a rift in the sandstone commanded by the +guard-room, and up which ascends a stair of 15 steps that leads to a +second rift at right angles, up which leads a further stair of 76 +steps, and from the landing 37 descend to a lower portion of the rock, +a platform with a breastwork of wall, important for defence of the +entrance. + +The steps lead to various chambers, and to an open court that looks out +over the precipice, and has on one side scooped out of the rock a +watchman's chamber, and on the other an armoury, where pilasters on +each side supported shelves on which helmets and breastplates were +laid; and beyond this is a guard-room. The summit of the rock has on it +a lantern that lights an underground chapel, and formerly contained a +bell, also a modern summer-house. As the rock was commanded from the +south by a spur of the Schwoik range, when cannon were introduced, a +new mode of access was devised on the north side, a passage in loops +was constructed leading to the upper court. The castle called in Czech, +Stolpna, or the pillar, is first mentioned in the fourteenth century. +The great highroad to and from Böhmisch-Leipa passed near it, and it +became the stronghold of a Raubritter, Mikisch Passzer of Smoyn, who +became such a terror to the neighbourhood that the Sixtowns league of +Lausitz in 1444 attacked it with 9000 men, broke down the dam that held +back the water, and made of the rock an islet in a lake and constrained +Mikisch to surrender. Soon after, however, he recommenced his lawless +proceedings, and was again attacked in 1445, and after a siege that +lasted five weeks, forced to quit his fortress. At the end of the +seventeenth century Burgstein was converted into a hermitage and +Brother Constantine, the first hermit, either enlarged or dug out the +present chapel and built the lantern above, through which it obtains +light. He did more, he carved a figure of himself looking through a +telescope, life size, and planted on the summit of the rock. On the +occasion of the Prussian invasion of Bohemia the image was assumed to +be a spy, and the Germans fired at it and greatly damaged the figure, +and were much puzzled at being unable to prostrate the dauntless spy. +The present possessor of the rock castle has had the figure restored. +Burgstein remained the abode of a hermit till 1785, when the reforming +Joseph II. abolished all hermitages, and turned out every hermit in his +dominions. And now, back to the Jura limestone again. A few words must +be given to Kronmetz in Tirol, at the mouth of the Val di Non, opening +into the Etschthal. + +[Illustration: HABICHSTEIN BOHEMIA. A castle belonging to Count +Wallenstein now abandoned owing to the falling away of portions of the +rock. It contains stable for horses and cattle, now inaccessible +without ladders.] + +This castle belonged to the Bishops of Trient, and was intended by them +to serve as a place of "ward and custody" against invading or marauding +bands. + +But _quis custodiet custodies_? It was granted in fief to two +brothers Von Leo, who turned it into a robbers' nest, so that the +neighbourhood rose in arms in 1210 and stormed it. Then the bishops +confided it to the Herren von Metz, and they carried on a feud with +their overlord, the bishop. + +At last it came to the Counts von Firmian, who, in 1480, built a more +convenient mansion at the foot of the cliff, and turned the old castle +into a hermitage. + +The castle, that is in a fair condition, occupies a broad cleft in the +rock, only accessible by a narrow path cut in the rocks on the west +side. It consists of an outer court and an inner court, protected on +the side of the precipice by a stout wall, behind which were originally +chambers, as windows in the wall and beamholes show to have been the +case. There is a donjon that reaches to the overhanging rock and a +ruinous chapel with apsidal east end. The cleft runs further east, but +is blocked with a wall. + +Another cliff castle, of which Merian, in his Topographia, 1640-88, +gave a picture to arouse interest and wonder, is that of Covolo, at one +time in Tirol, now over the Italian border. His description of it is as +little accurate as his illustration. As a matter of fact, although it +is certainly a cliff castle, constructed in a cave, it is accessible on +foot, and it is by no means necessary to be conveyed to it by a +windlass. Indeed it would not be easy to erect a crane on the platform +of the castle that could haul up men and provisions from below. + +A more famous fortress in a cave is that of Schallaun in the Puxerloch. +Here is a grotto in the face of the precipice, 75 feet above the +valley. The cliff itself is 4500 feet high. The castle consists of two +stages, the outer court is at a lower level than the face of the cliff, +and the opening of the grotto. Entrance was obtained through this outer +court that was reached by a path cut in the rock, and from it by a +stair also rock-hewn. A second court was reached, above this was again +a third within the cave. On the right hand the cave branches out into a +long inner cleft that was closed at one time by a door, and was +probably used as a cellar. The main cavern also runs by a narrow +passage deep into the heart of the rock to a pool of crystal clear +water, never failing. The main building--hardly a donjon, was occupied +till late in last century by an old mason who patched it up and made it +habitable. At a little distance to the east is a smaller cave also with +a wall in front of it, and this is said by the peasants to have been +the kitchen of the castle, and to have been reached by a wooden gallery +from the main building. According to tradition, Schallaun derives its +name from Chalons. In the time of Charlemagne a knight of Chalons named +Charlot eloped with a Saxon princess, and took refuge in this cave. It +became a den of thieves, and Margaret Maultasch (Pouchmouth) took and +dismantled it. According to another story the castle served as the +haunt of a shadowless man. Unlike Camizzo's hero, he had not sold his +shade to the devil, but by a lapse of nature had been born without one. +This proved to him so distressing, and so completely interfered with +his matrimonial prospects that he took refuge in the Puxerloch, where +he was in shadow all day, and his peculiarity could not be noticed; he +issued from it only on moonless nights, on one of which he carried off +a peasant maid--and she never knew that he was shadowless, for he never +allowed her to see his deficiency. Historically very little is known of +the Schallaun castle, which is to its advantage, as when these castles +are mentioned in chronicles, it is to record some deed of violence done +by the occupants. In 1472 it belonged to the knightly family of Sauran, +but they sold it. It is now the possession of the Ritter von Franckh. +[Footnote: In "Unser Vaterland, Steiermark," Stuttgart, n.d., p. 47, is +a representation of the Puxerloch, but it resembles much more Kronmetz. +It gives towers and walls and gates that do not exist in the +Puxerloch.] + +Perhaps the nearest approach to the Puxerloch castle in France is the +Roc de Cuze near Neussargues in Cantal. In the face of the cliff is a +cave that has been converted into a castle, a wall closes the mouth, +and there is a tower. Another fortress completely carved out of the +rock is at Roqueville. + +I will now deal with the third class, rock towns and castles combined. +And I can afford space to treat of but one out of the many that would +enter more or less into the category. + +Although Nottingham town does not occupy the top of a rock, its castle +that does cannot be passed by without notice, because that rock is +perforated with galleries and has in it a subterranean chapel. + +The castle, now bereft of its ancient splendour, of its coronet of +towers, was built by William the Conqueror on the summit of a +precipitous height rising above the river Leen. It was dismantled by +Cromwell, and what remained was pulled down by the Duke of Newcastle, +who erected on its site the uninteresting and unpicturesque mansion +that now exists. + +The castle was long considered impregnable; and to it Queen Isabel fled +with Sir Roger Mortimer, whom she had created Earl of March, and she +held it with a guard of one hundred and eighty knights. King Edward III +with a small retinue occupied the town. Every night the gates of the +fortress were locked and the keys delivered to the Queen, who slept +with them under her pillow. Sir William Montacute, with the sanction of +the young king, summoned to his aid several nobles on whose fidelity he +could depend, and obtained Edward's warrant for the apprehension of the +Earl of March. The plot was now ripe for execution. For a time, +however, the inaccessible nature of the castle rock, and the vigilance +with which the gates were guarded, appeared to present an insuperable +obstacle to the accomplishment of their designs. However, Sir William +Eland, Constable of the Castle, was won over, and he agreed to admit +the conspirators. In the words of an old chronicler, the Constable said +to Montacute, "Sir, woll ye unterstande that the yats (gates) of the +castell both loken with lokys, and Queen Isabell sent hidder by night +for the kayes thereof, and they be layde under the chemsell of her +beddis-hede unto the morrow ... but yet I know another weye by an aley +that stretchith out of the ward, under the earthe into the castell, +which aley Queen Isabell ne none of her meayne, ne the Mortimer, ne +none of his companye knoweth it not, and so I shall lede you through +the aley, and so ye shall come into the castell without spyes of any +man that bith your enemies." On the night of October 19, 1340, Edward +and his loyal associates before midnight were guided through the +subterranean passage by Eland, and burst into the room where the Earl +of March was engaged in council with the Bishop of Lincoln and others +of his friends. Sir Hugh Trumpington, Steward of the Household, a +creature of Mortimer, attempting to oppose their entrance, was slain. +The Earl himself was seized, in spite of the entreaties of Isabel, who, +hearing the tumult, rushed from her chamber, crying "Fair son, spare my +gentle Mortimer!" Both were secured. The next day, Edward announced +that he had assumed the government, and summoned a Parliament to meet +at Westminster on the 26th November. No sooner had this Parliament met +than a bill of impeachment was presented against Mortimer. The peers +found all the charges brought against him to be "notorously true, known +to them, and all the people." And he was sentenced to be drawn and +hanged as a traitor. Mortimer was executed at Tyburn, and the Queen +Mother was sent under ward to the manor of Rising. The passage by which +the conspirators entered, and by which the Earl was conveyed away, goes +by the name of Mortimer's Hole to the present day. + +[Illustration: A PORTION OF THE ROCK MONASTERY, NOTTINGHAM PARK]. If I +were to attempt to deal with castles and towns on rocky heights I would +have to fill pages with descriptions of Capdenac, Najarc, Minerve, Les +Baux, San Marino, San Leo, and many another, but inasmuch as they are +_on_ rocks instead of being _in_ rocks, I must pass them over. + +A fourth class of cliff castle, neither the habitation of a +_routier_ nor the residence of a feudal seigneur, is that which +commands an important ford, or the road or waterway to a town, and +which was, in point of fact, an outpost of the garrison. + +I can describe but a few. + +The Emperor Honorius had conceded to the Visigoths all that portion of +Gaul that lay between the Loire and the Pyrenees. The Visigoths were +Arians. Far from imitating the Romans, who respected the religion of +the vanquished, and cared only that the peoples annexed to the Empire +should submit to their administrative and military organisation, the +Visigoths sought to impose Arianism on the nations over whom they +exercised dominion. The bishops and priests protested energetically +against this tyranny, and the Visigoths sought to break their +resistance by persecution and exile, but gained nothing thereby save +bitter hostility. In the year 511 an event took place that gave to the +Aquitanians their religious liberty. The Franks were their deliverers. + +Clovis, who coveted the rich provinces of the South, profited by the +religious antagonism existing between the Aquitanians and the Goths to +gain the confidence of the bishops to whom he promised the destruction +of Arian supremacy. And as he had obtained the strongest and most +numerous adhesions in Poitou he resolved there to strike a decisive +blow. + +He prepared his expedition with such secrecy and moved with such +celerity that Alaric II., King of the Visigoths, did not become aware +of his peril till the army of Clovis was on the confines of his realm. +He threw himself into Poitiers, and assembled all the forces he was +able to call together. Clovis crossed the Loire at Tours, and directed +his march towards Poitiers; he passed over the Creusse at Port de +Pilles, and reached the Vienne. The season was the end of September, +and there had been so much and such continuous rain that the river was +swollen, and he could not cross. Accordingly he and his army ascended +it on the right bank seeking for a ford. + +He reached Chauvigny, where was a ford, but this was now found +impracticable. On the left hand of the present road to Lussac-le- +Chateau is a stony, narrow, waterless valley, up which formerly ran the +old Roman highway. At the 21/2 kilometre stone is a dense thicket of oak +coppice, clothing the steep side of the valley. By scrambling down +this, clinging to the oak-branches, one reaches a bluff of chalk rock, +hollowed out by Nature at the foot to the depth of 10 feet, and running +horizontally to the length of from 32 to 34 feet, and terminating in a +natural barrier of rock. It contracts in one place so as to form two +chambers. Now this gallery is closed towards the valley by a screen of +six huge slabs 8 and 9 feet long, 8 and 9 feet high, and 4 feet thick. +They have apparently been slung down from above, and caught and planted +so as to wall up the open side of the recess. And at the north end +another block, now broken, was set at right angles so as to half close +the gallery at the end, leaving a doorway for access to the interior. +The attempt to plant these huge slabs on a steep slope was not in every +case successful, for a couple slid down the incline, but these served +to form a heel-catch to those who did remain erect. Local antiquaries +pronounce this to be a fortified cave, unique of its kind, devised to +protect the road to Lussac, at the strategical point where it could +best be defended. I have myself no manner of doubt that it was a so- +called demi-dolmen, a tribal ossuary of neolithic man. Not only is it +quite in character with his megalithic remains scattered over the +country, but treasure-seekers who in digging displaced and brought down +one of the side slabs found two diorite axes, one of which I was +fortunate enough to secure. Persons in Gaulish or post-Roman times +would not have dreamed of going to the enormous labour and attempting +the difficult task of forming the sides with stone slabs, but would +have closed the recess with a wall. The cave goes by the name of La +Grotte de Jioux (of Jove) which in itself hints its remote antiquity. + +[Illustration: THE RUINED MONASTERY IN THE ROCKS, NOTTINGHAM PARK. The +monastery commonly called Papists' Holes, abandoned at the Dissolution, +was finally wrecked by the Roundheads in the Civil Wars.] + +But, although I do not believe that this cave was constructed as a +military vidette and guard-house, I have no doubt whatever that it may +have been so used, and it is very probable that at this point took +place the first brush of Clovis and his Franks with the enemy, for the +valley bears the name of Le Vallon des Goths. Alaric knew, what Clovis +did not, that there was a ford at Lussac, and if he had any military +foresight, he would plant a body of men across the road in the throat +of the valley to intercept the Franks on their way. As it was, the +Franks pushed on, and seeing a deer wade across the river at Lussac, +raised exultant shouts, plunged into the Vienne, and crossed. The +result was the battle of Voulon, in which the Arian Goths were +defeated, and their empire broken down. [Footnote: This decisive battle +is located at Vouillé to the north-west of Poitiers; but local +historians are convinced that the site was Voulon to the south of +Poitiers. See Thibaudeau, _Abrégé de l'Histoire de Poitou_, Niort, +1889.] The Grotto of Jioux was but an accidental outpost, but those I +am about to describe were artificially contrived for that purpose. + +In the broad valley of Le Loir below Vendôme, the great elevated chalk +plateau of Beauce has been cut through, leaving precipitous white +sides. At one point a buttress of rock has been thrown forward that +dominates the road and also the ford over the river. Its importance was +so obvious that it was seized upon in the Middle Ages and converted +into a fortress. The place is called Le Gué du Loir. Not far off is the +Château of Bonnaventure, where Antoine de Bourbon idled away his time +drinking Surène wine, and carrying on an intrigue with a wench at le +Gué, whilst his wife, Jeanne d'Albret, was sending gangs of bandits +throughout her own and his territories to plunder, burn, and murder in +the name of religion. But Antoine cared for none of these things. At +Bonnaventure he composed the song:-- + + Si le roi m'avait donné + Paris, sa grande ville, + Et qu'il me fallait quiter + L'amour de ma mie, + Je dirai au roi Henri (III.) + Reprenez votre Paris, + J'aime mieux ma mie + Au Gué, + J'aime mieux ma mie. + +Molière introduced a couplet of this lay into his Alceste. + +[ILLUSTRATION: LA ROCHE CORAIL. A cave fortress commanding the river +Charante. The large opening is formed by breaking away a doorway and +windows; the doorway communicated with a wooden balcony leading to +other chambers in the rock.] + +[ILLUSTRATION: THE FIRST HALL, LA ROCHE CORAIL. Windows and slots for +discharging missiles, and for spearing those attempting to attack the +garrison in its stronghold.] + +The rock has been excavated throughout, and in places built into, and +on to. Two flights of steps cut in the cliff give access to the main +portion of the castle. That on the right leads first of all to the +Governor's room, hewn out of a projecting portion of the rock floored +with tiles, with a good fireplace and a broad window, commanding the +Loir and allowing the sun to flood the room. The opening for the window +formerly contained a casement. There is a recess for a bed, and there +are in the sides numerous cupboards and other excavations for various +purposes. This chamber is entered through that of the sentinel, which +was also furnished with a fireplace. The stair leads further up to a +large hall artificially carved out of the chalk, but not wholly, for +there had been originally a natural cavern of small dimensions, which +had a gaping opening. This opening had been walled up with battlements +and loopholes, but the old woman to whom the rock or this portion of +the rock belongs, and who is a cave-dweller at its foot, has demolished +the wall to breast-height, so as to let the sun and air pour in, for +she uses the cave as a drying place for her wash. From this hall or +guard-room two staircases cut in the rock lead to other chambers also +rock-hewn higher up. + +The second main stair outside gives access to a second series of +chambers. + +Unfortunately, some rather lofty modern buildings have been erected in +front of this cliff castle, so as to render it impossible to make of it +an effective sketch or to take a satisfactory photograph. + +Still more interesting is La Roche Corail below Angoulême on the river +Charente, opposite Nersac and the confluence of the Boeme with the +Charente. Where is now a bridge was formerly a ford. The castle of +Nersac commanded one side of the valley, and La Roche Corail the other. +This cliff castle was at one time very extensive. The rock rises from a +terrace partly natural and partly artificial, on which a comparatively +modern château has been erected that masks the rock-face. But on +entering the court behind the château the bare cliff is seen with a +yawning opening halfway up, and indentations in the wall of rock show +that at one time there were hanging barbacans and chambers suspended +before the rock as well as others hewn out of it. + +To reach the interior it is necessary to enter a grange that has been +built at right angles to the rock, and in it to mount a ladder to +another granary that occupies a floor of solid rock. Thence a second +ladder leads into the caves. Formerly, however, the ascent was made by +steps cut in the side of the cliff, and openings from within enabled +the garrison with pikes to precipitate below any who were daring enough +to venture up the steps uninvited. + +The ladder gives admission through a broken door cut in the rock into a +long vaulted hall, that was formerly floored across so as to convert it +into two storeys. [Footnote: Actually the doorway and three lower +openings look into the dark granary. In the illustration I have shown +them as letting light in, as intended originally.] The lower storey or +basement opens on the left-hand side into a second cave, and the upper +by a passage cut in the rock communicated with another range of +chambers looking out of the face of the crag by artificial windows. +Immediately in front of one entering the hall is the portal of +admission to another very large hall that had originally well-shaped +windows, and a door leading on to the wooden balcony, but this has all +been broken away forming the ragged opening seen from below. + +In 1534 Calvin was staying in the adjoining parish of S. Saturnin with +a canon of the cathedral of Angoulême, who had a good library, and was +disposed to favour him. The house is pointed out, but it has been +rebuilt or altered. A cavern there is also shown to which Calvin +retired to meditate on his Reform. It is now a cellar full of casks, +wheelbarrows, and rubbish. It was never a very pleasing resort, and he +preferred to come to La Roche Corail where, in the cavern just +described, he had more space, and less likelihood of being disturbed. +And here it was that he wrote his "Institute of the Christian +Religion." One is disposed to rest here for awhile and muse, and +consider what a manufactory of explosives this cavern was. From this +vaulted chamber was launched that doctrine which was to wreck nearly +every church in France and drench the soil in blood. I do not in the +least suppose that Calvin saw any beauty in the view through the gap in +the rock--not in the island below with its poplars and willows whose +branches trail in the bottle-green waters of the Charente--not in the +lush meadows with the yellow flags fluttering by the waterside--not in +the grey towers of Nersac castle and church rising above dark woods, +flushed orange in the setting sun against a purple sky. I do not +suppose that he noticed the scent of the wallflowers growing out of +every fissure wafted in on the summer air. There was logic thought in +his head, but no poetry in his heart, no sweetness in his soul. He +looked across in the direction of Angoulême, and wished he had a ladder +and a hammer that he might smash the serene face of the Saviour looking +down on the city from the western gable of the cathedral. Five and +twenty years must elapse before that wondrous domed pile was to be +wrecked by the Huguenots, his disciples. But here it was, in this +cavern, that he elaborated his system of reform, treating Christianity +as a French peasant treats an oak tree, pollarding it, and lopping off +every lateral, natural outgrowth. Assuredly, many a volatile +superstition had lodged in its branches, and many a gross abuse couched +under its shadow. But these might have been scared away without +mutilating the tree till it was reduced to a stump. He desired, +doubtless, to bring back the Church to the condition in which he +supposed it had been when born. But one cannot reduce an adult to the +simplicity and innocence of childhood by stripping off all his clothes, +and denying him the conventional figleaf. + +[Illustration: LES ROCHES. Houses built into and against the rocks.] + +[Illustration: GUÉ DU LOIR. Remains of a cliff-fortress commanding the +approach to Vendôme. But a small portion of this castle is visible in +this plate.] + +Having shattered the Catholic faith by the crowbar of his logic, he +sought to build up a grotto out of its fragments, and call it a church. +His "Institute of the Christian Religion" was published the following +year. It produced the desired effect at once. There were many reasons +why it should. Earnest and devout souls were troubled at the sight of a +Christianity that was so in name but had little Christianity in its +practice. They felt that the Church had drifted far out of its way and +had grounded on quicksands, and they thought that the sole way of +saving the hulk was to cast all its precious lading into the sea. +Christ's Church had been founded on a rock, it had withstood the rain +and the flood, but was crumbling down with dry rot. Calvin would have +neither the rock nor the sand. Into the mud he drove the piles by the +strokes of his genius, on which to erect the platform that was to +uphold the conventicle of his followers, and if that did not stand, it +would at least mark its site by their dejections. And dejections there +are everywhere, where the Calvinists were, wrecked churches, mutilated +monuments, broken glass, and shattered sculpture. Ruskin, remarking on +some delicate carving at Lyons, under a pedestal, observes that the +mediaeval sculptors exhibited absolute confidence in the public, in +placing their tenderest work within reach of a schoolboy's hand. Such, +however, was the love of the beautiful generally diffused, that objects +of art were safe from destruction or defacement. But with the outburst +of Calvinism all those affected were inflamed with a positive hatred of +the beautiful in art. If this had been confined to the destruction of +images to which idolatrous worship was offered, it would be explicable +and justifiable, but it extended to the most innocuous objects. +Delicate tracery such as adorns the west front of the church of +Vendôme, a lace-work of beautiful sculpture representing trailing roses +and vines, birds and reptiles, was ruthlessly hacked. Churches, +cathedrals, were blown up with gunpowder--such was the fate of the +cathedrals of Montauban, Périgueux, and Orléans. Beza himself rolled +the barrels of gunpowder to explode under the great piers that +sustained the central tower of Orleans. [Footnote: In 1769 Montgomery +was preparing to blow up the beautiful Cathedral of Condon, only +consecrated thirty-eight years before, but accepted as its ransom from +the inhabitants the sum of 30,000 livres.] + +The cry for reform was loud, and rang from every quarter of Europe +except from the Vatican, where the Pope, like Dame Partington with her +mop, thought to stay its progress. The grandsons of the old +_routiers_ cried fie on this quiet life, and snuffed the air for +rapine. The nobility were out of pocket and out at elbows, and looked +with avaricious eyes on the fair and broad lands of the Church, and +their fingers itched to be groping in her treasury, and they hoped to +patch their jerkins with her costly vestments. Court favourites were +abbots _in commendam_, held prebendaries, without being in holy +orders, sixfold pluralists abounded, ecclesiastical hippopotami, that +might fairly be hunted. All kinds of interests were enlisted against +the Church, good and bad, sincere and hypocritical, only a spokesman +was needed, a trumpet sound to call to the battle, and Calvin proved +the spokesman, and his "Institute" was the trumpet note. + +An outpost station that is curious and puzzling is La Rochebrune on the +Dronne, below Brantôme. The road to Bourdeilles and Périgueux runs +immediately below a chain of very fine chalk cliffs, and there is but +just space for it between the steep slope below them and the river. At +one point about a mile and a half below Brantôme, the cliff is broken +through, where a lateral valley opens on that of the Dronne: here there +is a _talus_ overgrown with box and juniper leading up to a rock, +of inconsiderable height, with some holes in it, overhanging, and +capped with brushwood that at one time also covered the slope below the +rock. + +By the roadside, immediately under this rock, is the opening into a +cave that admits into another much larger, and lighted from above, and +in which at the extremity is a passage leading upwards, now choked with +earth and stone. + +The original entrance to the cave has been destroyed through the +widening of the highroad, so that it is now impossible to tell whether +it was effectually concealed or whether precautions had been taken for +its defence. + +At one spot only in the rocks above is there a gap, and through that +gap, probably once walled up, access is obtained into a sort of +circular courtyard, where there are traces of a fireplace, and where is +a stone bench. From this court a spiral staircase, rock-hewn, leads to +the platform on top of the rocks. In the wall on the right of the court +is a doorway neatly cut in the chalk, square-headed and adapted for a +framed door that could be strongly barricaded. Immediately within is a +quadrangular pit sunk in the floor, now choked with stones. This, in +such a position, could not be a silo, it probably was the opening +through which those who entered the cave from below, by the road, made +their way into the interior of the fortress. Stepping over this pit one +enters a hall with six large round holes cut in the roof communicating +with an upper chamber, and receiving a borrowed light through them. A +spiral staircase at the side furnished with _meurtrières_ through +which the besieged could stab at their enemies, leads to the upper hall +or chamber, which is lighted by two rude windows, one high up, the +other low down, and with a bench recess opposite them. But the strange +and perplexing feature of this room is that it has in the floor eight +round holes, each large enough to let a man fall through. Six +communicate with the chamber below, but the other two open under the +overhanging cornice, outside the castle. One of the holes--opening into +the nether chamber, is precisely where would rest the feet of men +seated on the bench. There is no trace of a groove to receive covers to +these holes. + +It has been conjectured that this strange construction was a granary, +in which the peasants concealed their corn; but there are difficulties +in accepting this theory. The Rochebrune commands the road, and a +hiding place would assuredly be located in the depths of a wood, away +from a highroad, in some secluded valley. It has been conjectured that +the holes served for discharging the corn into the lower chamber. But +why carry it by a narrow winding stair aloft to pour it down into a +nether cave, when the latter, the supposed granary, itself was at once +accessible through the doorway? Moreover, two of the holes open +outwards, and not into the supposed store-chamber. It may be said that +these were for hauling up the sacks of corn, but the incline on which +they open is so steep, that it would be a prodigious waste of labour to +drag the corn up under the cornice in which they are, whereas the other +ascent is easy. The precautions taken to provide means of stabbing at +an assailant point to this having been a fortress. My interpretation of +the puzzle is this: first, that the left hand stair leading to the +summit of the crag enabled one of the defenders to light a beacon, so +as to warn the people of Brantôme when danger threatened; that next, +the garrison, which could not have comprised more than five or six men, +as Rochebrune is very small, retired within the rock. If this courtyard +were invaded, they escaped into the lower chamber and barred the door, +and were able to thrust at assailants through the slots. But if the +door yielded they would scramble up the rock stair into the upper +apartment, and as the enemy broke into the lower cavern, they stabbed +and thrust at them through the six holes in the floor. Should their +position be rendered untenable, they could slip through the two holes +that opened outwards, into the brushwood and so effect their escape; +for these holes would not be perceived, or their purpose understood by +besiegers unfamiliar with the castle. + +Usually, over the floor, riddled like a colander, planks were laid, +that on emergency could be turned up on their sides. I may add that the +windows opening outwards are purposely so inartificially made that no +one passing along the road underneath would suspect that there was a +fortress above his head. He would certainly suppose that these holes +were natural, such as are commonly found in the chalk cliffs. In fact +the first time I visited Brantôme, and walked down the river to +Bourdeilles, I passed this rock and entertained no suspicion that it +contained anything remarkable, that it was as a matter of fact, a mere +shell, with all the artificial work within. + +Why was it that every city--nay, every little town--had to be not only +walled about but to have its outposts? Because France was not a nation, +only a congeries of individualities. As Michelet says of the fourteenth +century: "The kingdom was powerless, dying, losing self-consciousness, +prostrate as a corpse. Gangrene had set in, maggots swarmed, I mean the +brigands, English and Navarese. All this rottenness isolated, detached +the members of the poor body from one another. One talks of the +Kingdom, but there were no States General, nothing at all general, no +intercommunication, the roads were in the power of cut-throats. The +fields were all battlefields, war was everywhere, and none could +distinguish friend from foe." + +How needful these outposts were may be judged from what Froissart says: +"Rogues took advantage of such times (of truce), and robbed both towns +and castles; so that some of them, becoming rich, constituted +themselves captains of bands of thieves; there were among them those +worth forty thousand crowns. Their method was to mark out particular +towns or castles, a day or two's journey from each other; then they +collected twenty or thirty robbers, and travelling through by-roads in +the night-time, about daybreak entered the town or castle they had +fixed upon, and set one of the houses on fire. When the inhabitants +perceived it they thought it had been a body of soldiers sent to +destroy them, and took to their heels as fast as they could" (Bk. i., +c. 147). + +Passing on from the outposts to towns, or defences to highways, we must +glance at such as guard the approaches to countries, or such as +Gibraltar that commands the great waterway between the Mediterranean +and the Atlantic. Gibraltar is certainly the most complete and +marvellous of all cliff castles. This is too well known to English +travellers to need description here. + +The French Gibraltar, Urdos, commands one of the passes through the +Pyrenees. It is hewn out of the mountain in a buttress of rock, and +rises in stages from the road to the height of 500 feet. Externally the +mountain looks harmless enough. A cave opens here, and a rift there, +and a few streaks of masonry may be noticed, but actually the mountain +is riddled with galleries, batteries, and long flights of stairs, and +hollowed out for ammunition and other stores; and it is capable of +containing a garrison of three thousand men. + +Faron also, 1660 feet high, with its magnificent precipices of salmon- +coloured limestone, commanding both the harbour of Toulon and the Bay +of Hyères, is capped with fortifications and pierced with batteries, +casemates, and chambers for military stores, a position made by Nature +and utilised with supreme skill. Nor must the chain of rock-forts of +Campi delle Alte and of Mont Agel above Monaco, dominating the Corniche +road be forgotten, ready to drop bombs amidst an army from Italy +venturing along that splendid road, nor must Besançon be forgotten, +occupying its inaccessible rock--inaccessible that is, to an enemy. + +"Oppidum maximum Sequanorum," as Caesar described it in his day; +"natura loci sic muniebatur ut magnam ad ducendum bellum daret +facultatem." + +Ehrenbreitstein faces the opening of the Moselle into the Rhine; and +Frankenfeste holds the key of the Brennerpass; and Dover Castle +commands the strait at its narrowest. Königstein crowning a precipitous +rock 748 feet above the Elbe, though in Saxony is garrisoned by +Prussians, guards the pass down the river from Bohemia; and +Peterwardein is a rock-built fortress, that has been called the +Ehrenbreitstein and Gibraltar of the Danube. What are these frontier +fortresses but the same on an extensive scale as the Gué du Loir, the +Roche Corail, and the Rochebrune? In the Middle Ages every city, every +little town had to have its outposts and watch-tower on the look-out +for the enemy, and to break the first impetus of an attack. But now it +is not the town but the nation that has to gird itself about with +frontier fortresses. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SUBTERRANEAN CHURCHES + + +When the periods of persecution of the early Christians had come to an +end, and they were able in security to assemble for worship, two +distinct types of Church contested for the supremacy--the Basilican and +the Catacumbal. + +Even during the times before Constantine, when persecution was in +abeyance, Christians had been accustomed to gather together for the +Divine mysteries in private houses. But after that Christianity was +recognised and favoured, the wealthy and noble citizens of Rome, Italy, +and Africa, who had become Christians, made over their stately +reception halls, or basilicas, to be converted into churches. These +basilicas, attached to most palaces, were halls comprising usually a +nave with side aisles separated from the nave by ranges of columns, and +an apse at the extremity of the nave in which the master of the house +was wont to sit to receive his clients and his guests. This is the type +upon which cathedral and parish churches in east and west are modelled. +But the early Christians had become accustomed in times of danger to +resort to the subterranean chapels in the Catacombs. The poorer members +doubtless preferred these dingy meeting-places to the lordly halls of +the nobles, and the slaves could not feel their equality with their +masters under the same roof where they had served, and been whipped, as +in the Catacombs, where all were one in fear of their lives and in the +darkness that, buried distinction. Moreover, the cult of the martyrs +had grown to a passion, and it had become customary to commemorate +their nativities as it was called, _i.e._ the anniversaries of +their deaths, at their tombs in the Catacombs. It was there that the +faithful habitually prayed, it was near the bones of the Saints that it +was believed special sanctity dwelt, and that prayers were most +effectually answered through their intercession; and it was there, +_ad martyres_, that they themselves purposed to be laid in +expectation of the Resurrection. + +In Rome, the tombs of the martyrs continued to enjoy popular favour, +and to attract crowds, till the incursion of the Lombards, when, to +save the relics of the Saints from profanation, they were transferred +to the basilicas within the walls, whereupon the Catacombs ceased to +interest the faithful, that were neglected and allowed to fall into +oblivion. Gaul rejoiced in having had its soil watered with the blood +of many witnesses to the Faith, consequently it had numerous hypogee +chapels, and when, to the Martyrs were added hermits, abbots, bishops, +devout women, and confessors of all descriptions, their underground +tombs became extraordinarily numerous, and were resorted to with great +devotion. Such was the origin of the crypts found in profusion in +France, not under cathedrals only, but under parish and monastic +churches as well. The whole population having become Christian, the +resort to these subterranean chapels became so great as to cause +inconvenience, and the bishops proceeded to "elevate" "illate" and +"translate" the bones of the saints from their original resting-places +to the basilicas above ground. Thereupon the crypts lost most of their +attraction, and the worshippers gathered about the altars in the upper +churches to which the bones had been transferred. + +In Britain, where there were no early martyrs save Alban at Verulam, +and Julius and Aaron at Caerleon, the type of church from the beginning +was basilican, as we may see by that unearthed at Silchester, and that +of S. Martin at Canterbury. + +It was the same in Germany and throughout Northern Europe. + +John and Paul were chamberlains to the Princess Constantia. They had in +some way incurred the anger of the Emperor Julian, and he sent orders +for their despatch in their own house on the Coelian hill. They were +accordingly executed in their bath, and were buried in the cellar under +their mansion. At once a rush of the devout of Rome took place to the +Coelian to invoke the aid of these new martyrs. The visitors picked off +the plaster, scribbled their names on the walls, applied kerchiefs to +the tomb, and collected the dust, stained with the blood of the +chamberlains. Pope Hadrian IV., 1158, built a basilica on top of the +house, driving the foundations through it, and transferred to this +upper church the bones of SS. John and Paul. At once the stream of +devotion was deflected from the substructure to the superstructure, and +the former was filled up with earth and totally abandoned. + +Herbert Spencer has established in his "Principles of Sociology" that +the mausoleum was the egg out of which the temple was evolved. The +first cave-dwellers buried their dead in the grottoes in which they had +lived, and themselves moved into others. They periodically revisited +the sepulchres to bring offerings to the dead. In time the deceased +ancestor became invested by the imagination of his descendants with +supernatural powers, and ascended from stage to stage till he was +exalted into a deity. Thenceforth his cave became a temple. Ferguson, +writing of the Chaldæan temples, and indicating their resemblance to +tombs says, "The most celebrated example of this form is as often +called (by ancient writers) the tomb or the temple of Belus, and among +a Turanian people the tomb and the temple may be considered as one and +the same thing." [Footnote: Clement of Alexandria (Exhort. to the +Heathen) had already said, "Temples were originally Tombs." _Cf_. +also Eusebius (Præp. Evangelica ii. 6) heads the chapter, "The Temples +of the Gods that are none other than Tombs."] + +In the primitive Church there were, as we have seen, churches which had +no connection whatever with sepulchres, and chapels underground that +contained tombs. The current of popular feeling set so strongly towards +the latter that the Popes yielded to it, as did also the Bishops, and +converted every basilica into a mausoleum by the transfer to it of the +bones of a saint. + +But that was not all. The Holy Mysteries had been celebrated in private +houses and basilicas on wooden tables, sometimes square, but often +round, and with three legs. An illustration is in the cemetery of S. +Calixtus, of the latter half of the second century, where a priest is +represented celebrating at what looks like a modern tea-table. +According to William of Malmesbury, S. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester +(1062-1095), destroyed the wooden altars in his diocese, which had been +universal in England, _altarea lignea jam inde a priscis diebus in +Anglia_. But with the transformation of the basilica into a +mausoleum, the altar was also transformed into a sepulchre. If it did +not contain the entire body of a saint, it had a hole cut in it to +receive a box containing relics; and the Roman pontifical and liturgy +were altered in accordance with this. The Bishop on consecrating an +altar was to exact that it should contain relics, and the priest on +approaching it was required to invoke the saints whose bones were +stored in it. [Footnote: Pontifex accepta mitra, intigit policem dextræ +manus in sanctum Chrisma et cum eo signat confessionem, id est +sepulchrum altaris, in quo reliquiæ deponendæ. _Pont. Roman._ The +priest on ascending to the altar kisses it, and refers to the relics +contained in it. "Oramus te, Domine, per merita sanctorum tuorum quorum +reliquiæ hic sunt--ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea."] The +cavity in the slab to contain the relics was liturgically entitled +_sepulchrum_. The change from a table to a tomb involved a change +of material from wood to stone. + +The dedication of a church to a saint in the Latin Church implies the +presence in the sepulchre of the altar of the relics of that saint. +From the Roman point of view, a dedication without the relic is +unmeaning. Among the Celts this was unknown, with them a church took +its name after its founder, and the founder of a church dedicated it by +a partial fast of forty days, and prayer and vigil on the spot. The +early basilicas of Rome also took their titles from the families that +surrendered their halls for Christian worship. The introduction of +dedication to deceased saints marks unmistakably the transformation of +a church from a basilica to a mausoleum. + +It is certainly remarkable that whereas in Paganism the identification +of the tomb with the temple passed away, and the temple acquired +independence of such association, in the Latin Church the reverse took +place; there the church unassociated with a tomb--a basilica in fact-- +was converted into a sepulchral monument. + +The reverence of the early pontiffs shrank from dismembering the bodies +of the saints. To Queen Theodelinda Pope Gregory I. would accord only +oil that had burnt in the lamps at their tombs, or ribbons that had +touched them. Gregory V., in 594, wrote to Constantia Augusta, who had +built a church in honour of S. Paul, and craved a portion of his body: +"Dear lady, know that the Romans when they give relics of the saints +are not accustomed to parcel up their bodies, they send no more than a +veil that has touched them." [Footnote: Baronius, _Hiérothonie de J. +C._, Paris, 1630, p. 173.] + +But when the Latin Church was constrained by the force of popular +prejudice to transform all her sacred temples into sepulchral churches, +there was no help for it; the bodies of the saints had to be torn in +pieces for distribution. A toe, a finger was taken off, legs and arms +were amputated, the vertebræ of the spine were dispersed over +Christendom, the teeth were wrenched out of the jaws, the hair plucked +from head and chin, moisture exuding from the body was carefully +cherished, and bones were rasped to furnish a little sacred phosphate +of lime to some church clamorous to be consecrated. + +A plateau to the south of Poitiers had long borne the name of Chiron +Martyrs. Chiron means a heap of stones, but why the epithet of Martyrs +attached to the heaps of stones there nobody knew. The old Roman road +leading to and athwart it was named La Route des Martyrs, also for no +known reason. But in October 1878 the plateau was being levelled by the +military authorities, when it was discovered that the stones were +actually broken tombs, and that they were clearing a pagan Necropolis. +Soon they came on a portion where were sarcophagi orientated and +crowded thickly about a subterranean building. The distinguished +antiquary, Le Père de la Croix, now undertook the investigation, and +discovered that these latter were the tombs of Christians, and that +they surrounded a hypogee Martyrium. This was excavated and proved to +be a chapel erected over the bodies of certain martyrs of Poitiers, of +whom no records had been preserved, or at all events remained, whose +very existence was unknown; also, that it had been constructed by an +abbot Mellebaudes at the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh +century. It contained an altar built up of stone, plastered over and +painted, measuring at the base 2 feet 8-1/2 inches by 2 feet 2 inches +and 3 feet 7 inches high. Also sarcophagi for the bodies of the martyrs +there found, also one that Mellebaudes had prepared for himself. In the +floor were many graves, possibly of his kinsfolk. Numerous inscriptions +in barbarous Latin, some paintings and carvings, were also found. Among +the latter a rude sculpture represented two of the martyrs, Hilarius +and Sosthenes, who had been crucified. A bracelet of amber and coloured +glass beads, amber ear-rings, and bronze ornaments were also +discovered. + +[Illustration: Plan of the Martyrium. + +1-4. Stone sarcophagi. +5, 6, 9, 10, 14. Graves sunk in the rock, covered with flat slabs, +containing bones. +8. Pit covered with a carved slab. +11, 13. Children's graves covered with carved slabs brought from +elsewhere. +12. Pit containing no bones. + +A. Altar. +B. Arcosolium containing the sarcophagus with the bones of the +martyrs. +C. The sculpture of the crucified saints. +D. Doorway. +F.F. Pilasters. +O.O. Broken pilasters. +G.G. Benches. +H. Sarcophagus of Mellebaudes. +E. East window.] + +Mellebaudes certainly built his mausoleum where there had been one +earlier, that had become completely ruinous, for he complains that he +had not been able to recover all the bones of the martyrs that had been +laid in it. This destruction had probably been effected by the +Visigoths, and the building by Mellebaudes took place some time after +the defeat and expulsion of these Arians in 507. The final ruin of the +Martyrium he raised may have been the work of the Saracens in 732. +[Footnote: For full account with plates see P. Camille de la Croix, +_S. J. Hypogée Martyrium de Poitiers, Paris, 1883._] + +The hypogee was sunk nine feet in the rock, but the roof must have +shown above ground. A window was to the east. S. Avitus in the sixth +century speaks of the wondrous skill of architects in his day, who +contrived to introduce daylight into the crypts. It is evident that no +glass was inserted in the window, although the use of glass for windows +was becoming general in the sixth century; and Fortunatus, Bishop of +Poitiers, died 609, and Gregory, Bishop of Tours, died 595, both speak +in terms of admiration of the glazing of windows for churches. It may +well be understood that in the mind of the people long after the stream +of public devotion had been directed to the churches above ground, a +liking for those that are excavated underground should remain. Indeed, +it is not extinct yet, as any one may see who visits the church of Ste. +Croix at Poitiers, or S. Eutrope at Saintes, or S. Martin at Tours, to +mention but three out of many. In all these are mere empty tombs, yet +they are the resort of numerous devotees. The darkness, the mystery of +these subterranean sanctuaries, impressed the imagination. Accordingly +we find, especially in France, many cave-churches. Indeed they are so +numerous that I can afford space to describe but a couple of the +largest. Many are small, mere chapels, and shall be dealt with under +the heading of hermitages. + +[ILLUSTRATION: INTERIOR OF THE MONOLITHIC CHURCH OF S. EMILION, +DORDOGNE. Height from the floor, sixty feet. It is no longer used for +divine worship.] + +Few scenes of quiet landscape can surpass that of the valley of the +Dordogne from the road between Sauveterre and Libourne. It broke on me +upon a breezy spring morning. The Dordogne, broad and blue, swept +through the wide valley between banks dense with poplar and osier. The +whole country wore a smiling aspect; the houses, built of freestone, +looked fresh and comfortable, and were surrounded by their gardens. The +maize-fields were as a rippling green sea. The flax-fields in bloom +were sheets of the tenderest blue, and those of the _Trifolium +incarnatum_ red as blood, and the road was like a white ribbon +binding together a variegated wreath. To the north of the Dordogne rose +a grey cluster of buildings, the old town of S. Emilion, famous for its +wine. It occupies the edge of a plateau. The only business pursued +therein is the making of wine and of macaroons. + +The entrance to S. Emilion is not striking. None of its buildings, +except the keep of its castle are visible. The road dives into a grove +of acacias, and then enters the town by a narrow street. The acacias +were a mass of pink and white blossom, exhaling a sweet fragrance. + +In the middle of the eighth century lived a hermit named Emilian, born +of obscure parents at Vannes in Brittany. He became known to the Count +of that place, who took him into his service, where he showed himself +profusely charitable to the poor with his master's substance. This led +to his ignominious dismissal, and he wandered into the Saintonge, +entered the Benedictine Order, and became baker to the monastery. But +he proved so objectionable there that he was turned out. So he wandered +further south, and finding a rock in the forest above the Dordogne, +wherein was a small cave, out of which flowed a spring, he took up his +abode therein. His fame soon brought disciples to him, and gathered +admirers about him; and after his death in 767, a monastery of +Benedictine monks was settled there, and a town sprang up about it. + +The cave of S. Emilion still remains. In face of it rises a mass of +rock with abrupt scarp towards the west and the market-place. Thence a +street slopes up to the platform on the top of the rock. The front of +the rock has an ambulatory before it pierced with windows and doors, +and through these latter access is obtained to the interior of the +rock, which is hollowed out into a stately church, dedicated to the +three kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. + +This monolithic church has for its base a parallelogram measuring 120 +feet by 60 feet. It is composed of two portions of unequal height. The +anterior portion is a vestibule, narthex, or ambulatory to the church, +and is only 21 feet high. The windows in this are of the flamboyant +order, and the principal doorway is richly sculptured. The body of the +church into which this vestibule opens is 95 feet long and 60 feet +high. The body consists of a nave and side aisles, all excavated out of +the living rock. Six windows light the interior, the three in the +flamboyant style already mentioned, and above, set back the whole +length of the narthex under circular-headed arches, are three plain, +round-headed windows, like a clerestory, opening into the nave and +aisles, one window in each. + +Looking from the market-place at the church the spectators would +suppose that the nave ran parallel with the vestibule, but this is not +the case, it is at right angles to it. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MONOLITHIC CHURCH, AUBETERRE, CHARENTE. +Showing the gallery of communication to the Seigneural pew, seen in +face. The supports of the gallery vault have crumbled away within forty +years, through neglect.] + +The small upper windows cast but a chill and feeble light into the vast +cavern, so that the choir and chapels are buried in perpetual twilight. +The windows in the vestibule do very little towards the illumination of +the interior. At the extremity of the nave, which is raised on steps to +form a choir, anciently stood the high altar, but this has been +removed. Above, where it was can be discerned faintly through the +obscurity, a bas-relief rudely sculptured, but very curious. It +occupies the entire width of the choir; on the right is an angel +playing upon a stringed instrument, with outspread wings, as if in the +attitude of soaring, and on the left, perched on a rock, is a monstrous +animal with gaping jaws, bristling mane, and raised paws. In the midst +of the group is a little old man armed with a stick, apparently +repelling this monster. It has been conjectured that this is intended +as a representation of the saint himself ready to deliver his votaries +from the jaws of Hell. But it is more probable that the whole subject +is allegorical of Death, armed with his scythe between the powers of +Light and of Darkness. The choir arch is one of the boldest and most +original conceptions in this marvellous temple. It consists of two +gigantic angels carved out of the sandstone, with their feet upon the +piers on each side, and their heads nearly meeting at the crown of the +vault. Each has four wings, the two smaller wings are raised about +their heads, forming a nimbus to each. The other two wings are +depressed. These mighty angels were formerly whitened and partially +gilt, and the effect of the great figures looming out of the dark vault +is most impressive. + +On the right side of the nave, at the spring of the arches, between two +of the piers, is a centaur armed with a bow, cut in the stone, and on +the opposite spandril are two goats, disposed back to back, also cut in +the rock. On one of the piers is an inscription graven regarding the +dedication of the church, but unfortunately the date is illegible. The +exterior of the church is adorned with a noble portal, richly +sculptured, of much later date than the church within. + +On entering the church through this rich portal a feeling of +astonishment comes over one. The exterior in no way corresponds with +the interior, which is void of ornament. The piers are massive +parallelograms without mouldings, the arches between them semicircular, +stilted, perfectly plain; a string alone marks the rise of the arch +from the pier. + +In the floor of one of the aisles is a hole through which a descent was +anciently made into the crypt below the church; this crypt also is hewn +in the solid rock, and has a funnel-shaped dome, a spiral flight of +steps was cut in the rock round it descending from the church into the +crypt. The descent must have been hazardous in the extreme unless the +stairs were provided with a balustrade, of which at present no trace +remains. + +Admittance into the crypt is also obtained through a door cut in the +face of the rock, but this was made in 1793 when the soil and the bones +of the old canons of the Church of the Three Kings were required for +saltpetre to make gunpowder for the armies of the Republic. Over the +door is a mask carved in the stone and a little window; above the +monolithic church, standing on the platform of rock, is the exquisite +flamboyant spire, not communicating with the church beneath, also a +modern _salle de danse_. + +Another subterranean church as interesting but not as well preserved is +that of Aubeterre in Charente, on the Dronne. By the valley of the +Dronne all movement of troops from the Limousin and Perigord into the +Saintonge took place, and the rock of Aubeterre was considered of so +great military importance that a strong castle was constructed on the +summit, and its possession was contested repeatedly during the Hundred +Years' War and the wars of religion. Its position was peculiar in this +also, that it was in the seneschauté of the Angoumois, in the diocese +of Périgueux, and for the purpose of taxation in the Limousin. + +[ILLUSTRATION: ROCAMADOUR. A cluster of chapels, some excavated in +the rock. Zacchæus is erroneously supposed to have lived and died in +one of them. A famous place of pilgrimage.] + +The town is built in the form of an amphitheatre on a chalk hill that +commands the Dronne. The hill is precipitous in parts, and is +everywhere so steep that the roofs of the houses are below the gardens +of those above them, and the saying there is, "Mind that your cattle be +not found in your neighbour's stable by tumbling through the roof." The +castle occupied a height cut off from the town by a deep cleft, that +has its sides pierced with caverns, and its store chambers and cellars +are dug out of the rock. But the most curious feature of Aubeterre is +the monolithic church of S. John beneath the castle. The doorway +admitting into it is on the level of the street, and gives access to a +charnel-house with what would be termed _arcosolia_ in the +catacombs, on each side, and the floor is humpy with graves. This is 70 +feet long by 16 feet wide. On the right hand it gives admission through +a doorway cut in the rock to the church itself, consisting of a nave +and side aisle divided from it by massive monolithic piers, very much +decayed at the top. It is lighted by three round-headed windows like a +clerestory without glass. At the further end is an arch admitting to an +apse, in the midst of which is an octagonal monolithic tomb of +Renaissance style, with columns at the angles, and surmounted by the +statue of Francois d'Esparbes de Lussac, Marshal of Aubeterre, and the +much mutilated figure of his wife in Carrara marble. + +A gallery excavated in the rock above the arch into the apse is +continued the whole length of the aisle, and turns to admit into the +seigneural gallery or pew high up over the entrance whence he and his +family could hear Divine Service. + +On the right-hand side of the nave opens a second charnel-house, called +by the people "the Old Church," also with its _arcosolia_; there +is also a door by which exit is obtained into a small cemetery +overgrown with briars and thorns, and with the head-crosses reeling in +all directions, and utterly neglected. For centuries not this yard +only, nor the two charnel-houses but also the floor of the church, have +served as the burial-place of the citizens of Aubeterre, and the floor +is raised four feet above that of the apse though frequent interments. +The last head cross I noted within the church bore the date 1860. + +The height of the church is said to be fifty feet. The castle above was +sold about sixty years ago to a small tradesman of the town, who +straightway pulled it down and disposed of the stones for building +purposes, and out of the lead of the gutters, conduits, and windows +made sufficient to pay the purchase-money. + +Then he converted the site into a cabbage garden and vineyard. Not +content with this he brought a stream of water in to nourish his +cabbages. This leaks through and is rapidly disintegrating and ruining +the church beneath, that was protected so long as the castle stood +above it. Seven years ago the arched gallery in the aisle was perfect, +now it has crumbled away. The piers were also intact, now they are +corroded at the top. A stream pours down through the vault continuously +by the monument of the Marshal. The church is classed as a _monument +historique_, nevertheless nothing was done to prevent the damage +effected by the destruction of the covering castle, and nothing is done +now to preserve it from utter disintegration. + +In my opinion the apse was excavated to receive the monument, which +consists of a mass of chalk in position, with a hole on one side to +receive the coffins let down into the seigneural vault; and this could +not have been there with a high altar behind it. In a lateral chapel is +a hole in the vault, through which the ropes passed to pull the bells +that were hung in a tower above, but which has been destroyed. + +[ILLUSTRATION: AUBETERRE, CHARENTE. Mausoleum of Francois Espartes in +the choir of the Subterranean Church.] + +In 1450 Aubeterre was in the possession of the English, and they sold +it to the Count of Perigord. When the Huguenot troubles began, the Lord +of Aubeterre threw himself into the movement and appropriated the lands +and revenues of the ecclesiastical foundations in the town. François +d'Aubeterre was involved in the conspiracy of Amboise, and was +sentenced to death, but pardoned. He deemed it expedient, however, to +go to Geneva, where, as Brantôme informs us, he turned button-maker. In +1561 he was back again in Aubeterre, and converted the monolithic +church into a preaching "temple," sweeping away all Catholic symbols, +and it remains bare of them to this day. His brother, Guy Bonchard, +Bishop of Périgueux, was also an ardent Calvinist, and used his +position for introducing preachers of the sect into the churches. +Although disbelieving in Episcopacy, he did not see his way to +surrendering the emoluments of his see. He was deposed in 1561, and +Peter Fournier elected, whom the Huguenots murdered in his bed 14th +July 1575. + +In 1568 Jeanne d'Albret issued orders to the gangs of men she sent +through the country to lay hold of the royal revenues, to sequestrate +and appropriate all ecclesiastical property, to raise taxes to pay +themselves, and to require all municipalities to furnish from four to +five soldiers apiece to replenish their corps. + +Jeanne's power extended over Lower Navarre, Béarn, the land of Albret, +Foix, Armagnac, and other great seigneuries. Through her husband, +Antoine de Bourbon, she could rule and torture Perigord, the +Bourbonais, and the Vendomois. She had good cause to be offended with +the Pope, for in 1563, with incredible folly, he threatened her with +deposition from her throne, a threat he could not possibly execute. By +enrolling and sending forth over the south to ravage and confiscate, +she was a second Pandora letting loose the hurricane, slaughter, fire, +famine, and pestilence, leaving Hope locked up behind. + +Aubeterre played a conspicuous part in the wars of religion, and the +Catholics in vain essayed to take it. The seigneur could always draw +from the bands of Calvinist soldiery to hold it, and it remained in +their power till the peace of La Rochelle. + +I might include Rocamadour in the Department of Lot among the +interesting rock churches. It consists of a cluster of chapels clinging +to the rock or dug out of it, and looking like a range of swallows' +nests plastered against the face of the cliff. The people of the place +fondly hold that Zaccheus, who climbed up a sycamore tree to see Our +Lord pass by, came into Quercy, and having a natural propensity for +climbing, scrambled up the face of the precipice to a hole he perceived +in it, and there spent the remainder of his days, and changed his name +to Amator. No trace of such an identification occurs before 1427, when +Pope Martin V. affirmed it in a bull, although in the local breviary +there was no such identification. It is extremely doubtful whether any +saint of the name of Amator settled here, the story concerning him is +an appropriation from Lucca. [Footnote: _Analecta Bollandiana_, T. +xxviii., pp. 57 _et seq_.] + +But I will not describe this, one of the most remarkable sites in +Europe, as I have done so already in my "Deserts of Southern France," +and as of late years it has been visited by a good many English +tourists, and the French railway stations exhibit highly coloured views +of it, turning Rocamadour into a national show place. + +At Lirac, in Gard, is La Sainte Baume, a small church or chapel, +excavated out of the rock, 60 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 30 feet +high. It is lighted by an aperture in the vault. Three other caves +behind the choir are almost as large. + +At Mimet, in Bouches-du-Rhône, is the church of Our Lady of the Angels, +hewn out of limestone rock, with stalactites depending from the roof. + +At Peyre, near Millau, in Tarn, is the church of S. Christophe, scooped +out of the living rock, with above it an old crenellated bell tower. + +[Illustration: SUBTERRANEAN CHURCH, AUBETERRE. Looking east. In the +choir is the mausoleum. The floor of the church is raised four feet by +it having been made the parish cemetery. The process of degradation of +the pillars is noticeable at their heads.] + +At Caudon, on the Dordogne, now in the parish of Domme, the old parish +church is monolithic, entirely excavated in the rock, but with a +structural bell-cot above it. As already mentioned, Caudon was a +parish, but as owing to the devastations of the Companies, all the +inhabitants had deserted it and fled to Spain, it was annexed to Domme. +What is curious is that before it had been carved out of the limestone +as a church there had been cave-dwellers in or about it, that have left +their traces in the sides of the church. The Marquis de Maleville, who +has his château near, has put the church in thorough repair, and it is +still occasionally used. + +Natural caves have been employed as churches or places of worship. Thus +the Grotte des Fées, near Nimes, was used by the Calvinists for their +religious assemblies before 1567, when they obtained the mastery of the +town, sacked the bishop's palace, and filled up the well with the +Catholics, whom they precipitated into it, some dead and others half +alive. + +The Grotte de Jouclas, near Rocamadour, served the villagers of La Cave +till the parish church was rebuilt. At Gurat, in Charente, the church +of S. George is hollowed out of the rock; it dates from the tenth +century, it is believed, and preceded the present parish church, which +was erected in the eleventh century, and is Romanesque. In the valley +of the Borrèze, near Souillac (Lot), is a cave in which bones of the +_ursus spelœus_ have been found. It is used as a chapel to Notre +Dame de Ste. Esperance. + +At Lanmeur, in Brittany, is the very early crypt of S. Melor, a Breton +prince put to death about the year 544. The legend concerning him is +rich in mythical particulars. His uncle, so as to incapacitate him from +attaining the crown of Léon, cut off his right hand and left foot. The +boy was then provided with a silver hand and a brazen foot. One day he +was seen to use his silver hand in plucking filberts off a tree, +whereupon his uncle had him murdered. The crypt is the most ancient +monument of Christian architecture in Brittany. It measures 25 feet by +15 feet 6 inches, and is divided into a nave and side aisles by two +ranges of columns hardly 4 feet high, sustaining depressed arches not +rising above 3 feet 6 inches, and decorated with rudely sculptured +trailing branches. + +[Illustration: Section of the Dolmen Chapel of the Seven Sleepers near +Plouaret.] + +A still more curious subterranean chapel is near Plouaret, in Côtes-du- +Nord. It is, in fact, a prehistoric dolmen under a tumulus, on top of +which a chapel was erected in 1702-4. The descent into the crypt is by +a flight of steps. The primitive monument consisted of two huge +capstones of granite supported by four or five vertically planted +uprights, but one, if not two of the latter have been removed. At the +east end is an altar to the Seven Sleepers, and the comical dolls +representing them stand in a niche above the altar. + +In the north-west of Spain, at Cangas-de-Ones, near Oviedo, is a little +church of probably the tenth or eleventh century, built on top of a +cairn that covers a dolmen. This latter consists of a circular chamber +into which leads a gallery composed of fifteen upright slabs, covered +by four others. The dolmen served as a crypt to the church, and from it +have been recovered objects in stone and copper of a prehistoric +period. A writer in the seventeenth century says that in his time +devotees regarded the dolmen as the tomb of a saint, and scrabbled up +the soil, and carried it away as a remedy against sundry maladies. +[Footnote: _Revue mensuelle de l'ecole d'Anthropologie_, Paris, +1897.] + +[Illustration: Plan of the Dolmen Chapel near Plouaret.] + +The Bretons have a ballad, _Gwerz_, concerning the former +monument. It is a miraculous structure dating from the Creation of the +World: "Who will doubt that it was built by the hand of the Almighty? +You ask me when and how it was constructed. I reply that I believe that +when the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all were created, then was +this also made." + +Although the dolmen is no longer underground, I must refer to that of +Confolens near S. Germain-sur-Vienne, because it was originally under a +tumulus. It is a dolmen, of which only the cover, a huge mass of +granite remains intact, in an island of the Vienne. Underneath the slab +are sculptured a stone axe with handle, and one without, also a cross. +The capstone rests on four pillars of the twelfth century. Mr. Ferguson +erroneously claimed the dolmen as evidence that rude stone monuments +continued to be erected till late in the Middle Ages. But, in fact, the +pillars are not of equal length, their capitals are not in line, nor +are their bases. What is obvious is that the rude stone supports were +removed one by one, and the Gothic pillars inserted in their place were +cut exactly to the length required. Thus altered, the dolmen served as +a baldachin or canopy over the stone Christian altar that is still in +place beneath it. About this monument a chapel had been erected with +apse to the east, measuring 36 feet by 15 feet. This has been +destroyed, but the foundations remained till recently. The cross on the +capstone was cut when the prehistoric monument was converted to use by +Christians. To descend to the floor of the chapel a flight of steps had +been constructed. The chapel was dedicated to S. Mary Magdalen. + +In Egypt, in the Levant, cave-churches are common. The chapel of Agios +Niketos, in Crete, is now merely a smoke begrimed grotto beneath a huge +mass of rock on the mountain side. The roof is elaborately ornamented +with paintings representing incidents in the Gospel story, and the +legend of S. Nicolas. Though it is no longer employed as a church, an +event that is said to have happened some centuries ago invests it with +special regard by the natives. The church was crowded with worshippers +on the eve of the feast of the patron, when the fires which the +villagers who had assembled there had lighted near the entrance, where +they were bivouacking for the night, attracted the attention of a +Barbary corsair, then cruising off the island, and guided him to the +spot unobserved. Suddenly and unexpectedly he and his crew, having +stolen up the hill, burst upon the crowd of frightened Cretans. The +Corsairs thereupon built up the entrance, and waited for day, the +better to secure their captives for embarkation. But happily there was +another exit from the cavern behind the altar, and by this the whole +congregation escaped into another cave, and thence by a passage to a +further opening, through which they stole out unobserved by the +pirates. + +The rock-hewn church of Dayn Aboo Hannes, "the convent of Father John," +in Egypt, near Antinoe, has its walls painted with subjects from the +New Testament; the church is thought to date back to the time of +Constantine. + +The passion for associating grottoes with sacred themes is shown in the +location of the site of the Nativity at Bethlehem. There is nothing in +the Gospel to lead us to suppose that the event took place in a cave, +though it is not improbable that it did so. The scene of the +Annunciation was also a rock-hewn cave, now occupied by a half- +underground church, out of which flows the Virgin's Fountain. + +In Gethsemane, "the chapel of the Tomb of the Virgin, over the +traditional spot where the Mother of our Lord was buried by the +Apostles, is mostly underground. Three flights of steps lead down to +the space in front of it, so that nothing is seen above ground but the +porch. But even after you have gone down the three flights of steps you +are only at the entrance to the church, amidst marble pillars, flying +buttresses, and pointed arches. Forty-seven additional marble steps, +descending in a broad flight nineteen feet wide, lead down a further +depth of thirty-five feet, and here you are surrounded by monkish sites +and sacred spots. The whole place is, in fact, two distinct natural +caves, enlarged and turned to their present uses with infinite care. +Far below the ground you find a church thirty-one yards long and nearly +seven wide, lighted by many lamps, and are shown the tomb of the father +and mother of the Virgin, and that of Joseph and the Virgin herself. +And as if this were not enough, a long subterranean gallery leads down +six steps more to a cave eighteen yards long, half as broad, and about +twelve feet wide, which you are told is the Cavern of the Agony." +[Footnote: Geikie (C.), "The Holy Land and the Bible," Lond. 1887, +ii.p.8.] + +Stanley says: [Footnote: "Sinai and Palestine," Lond. 1856, p.150.] +"The moment that the religion of Palestine fell into the hands of +Europeans, it is hardly too much to say that as far as sacred +traditions are concerned, it became 'a religion of caves,' of those +very caves which in earlier times had been unhallowed by any religious +influence whatever. Wherever a sacred association had to be fixed, a +cave was immediately selected or found as its home. First in antiquity +is the grotto of Bethlehem, already in the second century regarded by +popular belief as the scene of the Nativity. Next comes the grotto on +Mount Olivet, selected as the scene of our Lord's last conversation +before the Ascension. These two caves, Eusebius emphatically asserts, +were the first seats of the worship established by the Empress Helena, +to which was shortly afterwards added a third--the sacred cave of the +Sepulchre. To these were rapidly added the cave of the Invention of the +Cross, the cave of the Annunciation at Nazareth, the cave of the Agony +at Gethsemane, the cave of the Baptism in the Wilderness of S. John, +the cave of the Shepherds of Bethlehem. And then again, partly perhaps +the cause, partly the effect of the consecration of grottoes, began the +caves of the hermits. There were the cave of S. Pelagia on Mount +Olivet, the caves of S. Jerome, S. Paula, and S. Eustochium at +Bethlehem, the cave of S. Saba in the ravine of Kedron, the remarkable +cells hewn or found in the precipices of the Quarrantania or Mount of +the Temptation above Jericho. In some few instances this selection of +grottoes would coincide with the events thus intended to be +perpetuated, as for example, the hiding-place of the prophets on +Carmel, and the sepulchres of the patriarchs and of Our Lord. But in +most instances the choice is made without the sanction, in some +instances in defiance of, the sacred narrative." + +It is questionable whether Dean Stanley is right in attributing the +identification of caves with sacred sites to Europeans, it is probable +enough that the local Christians had already fixed upon some if not all +of them. After the pilgrims or the Crusaders had come in their +thousands and visited the holy sites, they returned to their native +lands deeply impressed with the association of caves with everything +that was held sacred, and this, added to the dormant sense of reverence +for places underground consecrated to holy purposes that had come to +them from their parents, must have tended to the multiplication of +subterranean churches. + +In some venerated caves and in certain crypts are springs of water that +are held to be invested with miraculous properties. The crypts of S. +Peter in the Vatican, S. Ponziana and S. Alessandro, have such flowing +springs. In the crypt of the church of Gorlitz is a well, and from that +of the cathedral of Paderborn issues one of the sources of the river +Pader. The Kilian spring rises in the crypt of the New Minster in +Würzburg. Out of the cave of the monastery of Brantôme, to be described +in another chapter, streams a magnificent source. Most of the water is +employed for the town and for the washerwomen, but one little rill from +it is conducted to an ornate fountain, that bears the name of S. +Sicarius (Little Cut-throat), one of the Innocents of Bethlehem slain +by order of Herod. It is explained that by some means or other +Charlemagne obtained his bones, but how the infant of a Hebrew mother +acquired a Latin name has not been attempted to be explained. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ROCK HERMITAGES + + +There is an account in the _Times'_ Correspondent's record of +Colonel Younghusband's expedition to Lhasa that when read haunts the +imagination. It is the description made by Mr. Landon of a Buddhist +monastery, Nyen-de-kyl-Buk, where the inmates enter as little children +and grow up with the prospect of being literally immured in a cave from +which the light of day is excluded as well as the society of their +fellow-men, there to spend the rest of their life till they rot. Horace +may say: + + Jubeas miserum esse, libenter + Quatenus id facit; + +but few Christians can feel this towards another human being, though of +another race, religion, and under another clime. + +"These men," said the abbot to Mr. Landon, "live here in the mountain +of their own free will; a few of them are allowed a little light +whereby reading is possible, but these are the weaker brethren; the +others live in darkness in a square cell partly hewn out of the sharp +slope of the rock, partly built up, with the window just within reach +of the upraised hand. There are three periods of immurement. The first +is endured for six months, the second, upon which a monk may enter at +any time he pleases, or not at all, is for three years and ninety-three +days; the third and last period is for life. Only this morning," said +the abbot, "a hermit died after having lived in darkness for twenty- +five years." Mr. Landon goes on to say: "Voluntary this self-immolation +is said to be, and perhaps technically speaking it is possible for the +pluckier souls to refuse to go on with this hideous and useless form of +self-sacrifice, but the grip of the Lamas is omnipotent, and +practically none refuse." + +He describes a visit to the cell of one of those thus immured: "The +abbot led us into a small courtyard which had blank walls all round it, +over which a peach-tree reared its transparent pink and white against +the sky. Almost on a level with the ground there was an opening closed +with a flat stone from behind. In front of this window was a ledge +eighteen inches in width with two basins beside it, and one at each +end. The abbot was attended by an acolyte, who, by his master's orders, +tapped three times sharply on the stone slab. We stood in the little +courtyard in the sun and watched that wicket with cold apprehension. I +think, on the whole, it was the most uncanny thing I saw in all Tibet. +What on earth was going to appear when that stone slab, which even then +was beginning weakly to quiver, was pushed aside, the wildest +conjecture could not suggest. After half-a-minute's pause the stone +moved, or tried to move, but it came to rest again. Then, very slowly +and uncertainly it was pushed back, and a black chasm was revealed. +There was a pause of thirty seconds, during which imagination ran riot, +but I do not think that any other thing could have been so intensely +pathetic as that which we actually saw. A hand, muffled in a tightly +wound piece of dirty cloth, for all the world like the stump of an arm, +was painfully thrust up, and very weakly it felt along the slab. After +a fruitless fumbling the hand slowly quivered back again into the +darkness. A few moments later there was again one ineffectual effort, +and then the stone slab moved noiselessly again across the opening. +Once a day water and an unleavened cake of flour is placed for the +prisoner upon that slab, the signal is given, and he may take it in. +His diversion is over for the day, and in the darkness of his cell, +where night and day, noon, sunset, and the dawn are all alike, the poor +soul has thought that another day of his long penance was over." + +Here is another account from the pen of Sven Hedin. + +He visited the monastery of Sumde-pu-pe, where was a hermitage +consisting of a single room five paces each way, built over a spring +that bubbles up in the centre. Inside the hermit had been walled up +with only a tiny tunnel communicating with the outside world. Once +inside, he was never again to see the light of day nor hear a human +voice. The man Sven Hedin saw had been immured for sixty-nine years, +and wished to see the sun again. + +"He was all bent up as small as a child, and his body was nothing but a +light-grey parchment-like skin and bones. His eyes had lost their +colour, and were quite bright and blind. Of the monks who sixty-nine +years before had conducted him to the cell not one survived.... And he +had scarcely been carried out into the sunlight when he too, gave up +the ghost." [Footnote: "Trans-Himalaya: Discoveries and Adventures in +Tibet," Lond. 1910.] + +S. Theresa once said that she had a vision of Hell. The torture did not +consist of flames, but in being planted opposite a blank wall, on which +to gaze through all eternity. The hermit in a Buddhist cell must have +undergone this torture till all intelligence, all consciousness, save +desire for food, was dead within him. + +There have been horrible instances of voluntary immurement in Christian +Europe, and above all in the Christian East; but not quite--though very +nearly--as bad as this. Moreover, not one line, not a single word in +the Scriptures inculcates such self-annihilation. Christ set the +example of retirement from the world into the wilderness for forty +days, to a mountain apart for one night, to teach men occasionally and +for a limited period, to withdraw from the swirl of business and the +clatter of tongues. And S. Paul retired from the society of men after +his conversion to gather his thoughts together, and prepare for his +great missionary work. But that was something altogether different from +ascetic abnegation of life and flight from its responsibilities. + +The peopling of the solitudes of Syria and Egypt by solitaries was due, +not to flight from persecution, but to revulsion from the luxury of the +great cities, and very largely as an escape from compulsory military +service. It was not a new thing. Judaism had been impregnated with +Buddhism, or at all events with Brahminism, and with ideas of +asceticism. The Essenes and Therapeutæ lived, the first in the time of +the Maccabees upon the shores of the Dead Sea, and the last two +centuries later, in Egypt. Both inhabited cells in the desert, +preserving celibacy, renouncing property, pleasure, and delicate food, +and consecrating their time to the study of the Scriptures, and to +prayer. And yet celibacy was in violation of the principles of Judaism, +which required every man to marry, in the hopes of becoming a +progenitor of the Messiah. Further, they rejected the bloody sacrifices +of the law, and would have nothing to do with the temple at Jerusalem. +We can see by Philo's "On the Contemplative Life" how completely +Alexandrian Judaism had sucked in Buddhist doctrine, and how +Therapeutic asceticism formed the bridge from Buddhism to Christian +monachism. In the same places where Essenes and Therapeutæ had been, +there later we find Christian solitaries. "We can have no doubt," says +Ferdinand Delaunay, "that the Therapeutic Convents which perhaps gave +the first signal for conversion to the new faith, served also as the +cradle for Christian monachism. History shows us, hardly a century +later, this flourishing in the same localities on the borders of the +lake Mareotis, and on the heights of Nitréa. And we cannot doubt but +that Christian solitaries continued at Alexandria the work of their +Jewish predecessors, and endeavoured to make their oracles serve for +the propagation of the Gospel." [Footnote: Delaunay (F.), _Moines et +Sibylles_, Paris, 1874, p. 316.] + +The language in which Philo describes the Therapeutæ might be applied +to the Christian monks of Egypt. I must condense his rambling account. +The Therapeutæ abandon their property, their children, their wives, +parents, and friends and homes, to seek out fresh habitations outside +the city walls, in solitary places and in deserts. They pray twice in +the day, at morning and evening, and the interval is wholly devoted to +meditation on the Scriptures and elucidating the allegories therein. +They likewise compose psalms and hymns to God, "and during six days +each, retiring into solitude, philosophises, never going outside the +threshold of the outer court, and indeed never looking out. But on the +seventh day they all assemble, and sit down in order, and the eldest, +who has the most profound learning, speaks with steadfast voice +explaining the meaning of the laws." + +They wore but one garment, a shaggy hide for winter, and a thin mantle +for summer. Their food was herbs and bread, and their drink water. +Philo concludes his account thus: "This then is what I have to say of +those who are called Therapeutæ who have devoted themselves to the +contemplation of nature, and who have lived in it, and in the soul +alone, being citizens of heaven and of the world, and very acceptable +to the Father and Creator of the universe because of their virtue; it +has procured them His love as their most appropriate reward, which far +surpasses all the gifts of fortune, and conducts them to the very +summit and perfection of happiness." + +It was not among the Jews alone that the solitary life was cultivated. +In the Serapium of Thebes were also heathen monks leading a very +similar life. That Persian Manichæism had infected Jews and heathen as +well there can exist little doubt. [Footnote: Philo gives an account of +the sacred banquets of the Therapeutæ that strongly reminds us of the +Agapæ of the Early Christians.] + +In 177, in Lyons, when S. Pothinus and others were arrested, thrown +into prison, tortured and killed for the Faith, there was one of the +martyrs who caused offence to the rest because "he had long been used +to a very austere life, and to live entirely on bread and water. He +seemed resolved to continue this practice during his confinement, but +Attalus (another martyr), after his first combat in the theatre, +understood by revelation that Alcibiades gave occasion of offence to +others by seeming to favour the new sect of the Montanists (a Christian +phase of Manichæism), who endeavoured to recommend themselves by their +extraordinary austerities. Alcibiades listened to the admonition, and +from that time ate of everything with thanksgiving to God." [Footnote: +Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._, v. i.] + +But, although Buddhism affected the lives of certain Christians, it in +no way touched their faith--that life was the result of contact with +Manichæism, which taught that all matter was evil, and that the flesh +must be subdued, as essentially ungodly. The Buddhist religion in its +ethics is the absolute reverse of the Christian. The Buddhist prays and +tortures, and stupefies himself for purely selfish reasons, so as to +escape reincarnation in the form of a bug, a louse, or a worm, by the +destruction within himself of all human passions and inclinations. His +self-torture is undertaken for the object of absorption into Nirvana, +only to be reached by reducing the mind and heart to absolute +indifference to every animal desire, and thus to escape the eternal +revolution of metempsychosis. "No man liveth to himself, and no man +dieth to himself," is a maxim incomprehensible to a Buddhist. As Mr. +Landon says: "The spiritual brigandage of the Lamas finds its +counterpart in many other creeds, but it would be unjust not to record +in the strongest terms the great radical difference that exists between +Lamaism at its best and Christianity at its worst. There has never been +absent from the lowest profession of our faith a full recognition of +the half-divine character of self-sacrifice for another. Of this the +Tibetians know nothing. The exact performance of their duties, the +daily practice of conventional offices, and continual obedience to +their Lamaic superiors is for them a means of escape from personal +damnation in a form which is more terrible perhaps than any monk- +conjured Inferno. For others they do not profess to have even a passing +thought. Now this is a distinction which goes to the very root of the +matter. The fact is rarely stated in so many words, but it is the truth +that Christianity is daily judged by one standard, and by one standard +only--its altruism, and this complete absence of carefulness for +others, this insistent and fierce desire to save one's own soul, +regardless of a brother's, is in itself something that makes foreign to +one the best that Lamaism can offer." + +One day a gnat stung S. Macarius, and he killed it. To punish himself +for this, he went to the marshes of Scete, and stayed there six months. +When he returned to his brethren he was so disfigured by the bites of +the insects that they recognised him only by the tone of his voice. A +Brahmin would have been filled with remorse lest he had killed a +reincarnation of his grandmother, but the Egyptian ascetic only because +he had given way to momentary irritation. + +One has but to read the sayings of the Fathers of the Desert to see +that no vein of Brahminism or Buddhism had tinctured their faith, +however deeply it may have coloured their practice. When plague raged +in Alexandria, they were ready to quit their cells and hasten into the +cities to minister to the sick and dying; when the faith, as they +understood it, was menaced, to champion the truth. + +That the Egyptian hermits, flying from association with the world, +should betake themselves to caves, is hardly to be wondered at. In that +land the rocks are pitted with artificial grottoes, which were the +tombs of the ancient Egyptians, and were commodious and to be had +without asking leave of any one. + +Twice was Athanasius obliged to fly from the fury of the Arians, and to +take refuge among the solitaries in their caves. Once he was +constrained to remain in concealment in his father's tomb, also a +cavern. When he was banished to Trèves, tradition says that he would +not occupy a house, but sought out a grotto in a hill beyond the +Moselle, and made his abode therein. + +The filiation between the Syrian and Egyptian solitaries with the +hermits of Buddhism may be made out with some plausibility. In the East +sanctity and asceticism are inseperable. The smug missionary who cannot +preach the Gospel apart from a wife, mosquito curtains and a cottage +piano, and who travels from one station to another in a palanquin borne +by sweating natives, does not impress the imagination of an Oriental, +and has small chance of making converts. It was possibly much the same +with the barbarians who overwhelmed the Roman Empire. To strike their +imagination and win them to the Cross, it may be that asceticism was a +necessary phase of mission work. "The Spirit breatheth where He wills, +and thou canst not tell whence He cometh or whither He goeth," is the +Vulgate rendering of S. John iii. 8. But if it was at one time a +necessary phase, it ceased to be so when the effect required was +produced; and from the close of mediaeval times the hermit was an +anachronism. The life of S. Antony by Athanasius, and the _Historia +Lausiaca_ or "Lives of the Fathers of the Desert," by Palladius +(died c. 430), were published in the West, and inflamed minds with the +desire to emulate the ascetics of Syria and Egypt; and speedily there +were zealots who sought out retreats in the dens of the earth, in which +to serve God in simplicity. + +Some anchorites [Footnote: Properly an _anchorite_ is a recluse, +walled into his cell; a _monk_ is a solitary; and an _eremite_ +or _hermit_ is a dweller in the desert.] are commemorated in both the +Greek Menæa and the Roman Martyrology more worthy to be esteemed Buddhists +than Christian saints. Theodoret, who wrote A.D. 440, describes the lives +of two women of Berœa, whom he had himself seen. They lived in a roofless +hovel with the door walled up and plastered over with clay, and with a +narrow slit left for a window, through which they received food. They +spoke to those who visited them but once in the year, at Pentecost; not +content with the squalor and solitude of their hut, they loaded themselves +with masses of iron which bent them double. Theodoret was wont to peer +in through the chink at the revolting sight of the ghastly women, a mass +of filth, crushed double with great rings and chains of iron. Thus they +spent forty-two years, and then a yearning came on them to go forth and +visit Jerusalem. The little door was accordingly broken open, and they +crawled out, visited the Holy City, and crawled back again. + +Another visited by Theodoret was Baradatus, who built himself a cabin +on the top of a rock, so small that he was unable to stand upright in +it, and was obliged to move therein bent nearly double. The joints of +the stones were, moreover, so open that it resembled a cage and exposed +him to the sun and rain. Theodosius, patriarch of Antioch, as a +sensible man, ordered him to leave it. Then Baradatus encased himself +in leather so that only his nose and mouth were visible. Nowhere was +the imitation carried to such wild extravagance as in Ireland. S. +Findchua is described as living like an Indian fakir. In his cell he +suspended himself for seven years on iron sickles under his arm-pits, +and only descended from them to go forth and howl curses on the enemies +of the King of Leinster. + +In England also there was extravagance. S. Wulfric, who died in 1154, +encased himself in a coat of chain-mail worn next his skin even in +winter, and occupied a cell at Hazelbury in Somerset. S. Edmund of +Canterbury (died 1242) wore a shirt of twisted horsehair with knots in +it, and bound a cart rope round his waist so that he could scarce bend +his body. In Advent and Lent he wore a shirt of sheet-lead. Thomas à +Becket, when slain, was found by the monks of Canterbury to be wearing +a hair shirt and hair-cloth drawers, and their admiration became +enthusiastic when they further discovered that this hair-cloth was +"boiling over" with lice. That this species of sanctity is still highly +approved and commended to the imitation of the faithful we may suppose +from the fact that Pius IX. in 1850 beatified the Blessed Marianna, +because she was wont to sleep in a coffin or on a cross, and on Fridays +hung herself for two hours on a cross attached to it by her hair and by +ropes. On broiling hot days she denied herself a drop of water to +quench an almost intolerable thirst. Verily Manichæism has eaten like a +canker into the heart of the Latin Church. + +But the early anchorites of Europe were not usually guilty of such +extravagance. They were earnest men who sought by self-conquest to +place themselves in a position in which they could act as missionaries. +It was their means of preparing for the work of an evangelist. In most +cases the apostle of a district sunk in paganism had no choice, he must +take up his abode in a cave or in a hovel made of branches. In the +Gallo-Roman cities the Christian bishops had gradually taken into their +hands the functions of the civil governors. They were men of family and +opulence, and lived in palaces crowded with slaves. They did nothing +whatever towards the conversion of the country folk, the pagani. This +was the achievement of the hermits. Till the peasants had been +Christianised they would not invite the preacher of strange doctrines +under their roofs, they looked on him with dislike or mistrust as +interfering with their cherished superstitions and ancestral customs. +He could not force his society on reluctant hosts. + +S. Beatus, a British or Irish missionary, settled into a cave above the +lake of Thun, dreaded by the natives as the abode of a dragon. He +succeeded in his work, and died there at the advanced age of ninety. In +1556 the Protestant Government of Berne built up the mouth of the +grotto and set soldiers to repel the pilgrims who came there. Now a +monster hotel occupies the site, and those who go there for winter +sport or as summer tourists know nothing or care less about the abode +of the Apostle whence streamed the light of the Gospel throughout the +land. + +Below the terrace that surrounds the height on which Angoulême is built +is the cave of S. Cybard (Eparchius died 581). An iron gate prevents +access to it, and the path down to it is strewn with broken bottles and +sardine tins. No one now visits it. But within, where are an altar and +the mutilated statue of the saint, lived the hermit who in the sixth +century did more than any other man to bring the people of the +Angoumois out of darkness into light. But, as already said, when the +work of evangelisation was done, then the profession of the hermit was +no longer required, and such anchorites as lingered on in Europe +through the Middle Ages to our own day were but degenerate +representatives of the ancient evangelical solitaries. + +A few years ago hermits abounded in Languedoc. They took charge of +remote chapels on mountain tops, or in caves and ravines. They were +always habited as Franciscan friars, but they were by no means a +reputable order of men, and the French prefêts in conjunction with the +bishops have suppressed them. + +They were always to be seen on a market day in the nearest town, not +infrequently in the taverns, and in the evening festooning along the +roads on their way back to their hermitages, trolling out convivial +songs spiced with snatches of ecclesiastical chants. "Mon Dieu," says +Ferdinand Fabre, [Footnote: Barnabé, Paris, 1899] "I know well enough +that the Free Brothers of S. Francis, as they loved to entitle +themselves, had allowed themselves a good deal of freedom, more than +was decorous. But as these monastically-habited gentry in no way +scandalised the population of the South, who never confounded the +occupants of the hermitages with the curés of the parishes, why sweep +away these fantastic figures who, without any religious character, +recruited from the farms, never educated in seminaries, peasants at +bottom, in no way priests, capable, when required, to give a helping +hand with the pruning knife in the vineyard, or with the pole among the +olives, or the sickle among the corn. Alas! they had their weaknesses, +and these weaknesses worked their ruin." The salt had lost its savour, +wherewith could it be seasoned? + +It was not in Southern France alone that the part of the hermit was +played out. An amusing incident in the confession of Fetzer, head of a +gang of robbers who infested the Rhine at the end of the eighteenth +century, will go some way to show this. The gang had resolved on +"burgling" a hermit near Lobberich. Had he been an eremite of the old +sort, the last place in which robbers would have expected to find +plunder would be his cell. But in the eighteenth century it was +otherwise, and this particular hermit kept a grocer's shop, and sold +coffee, sugar, and nutmegs. The rogues approached the cell at night, +and as a precaution one of them climbed and cut the rope of the bell +wherewith the hermit announced to the neighbourhood that he was about +to say his prayers. Then they broke open his door. In Fetzer's own +words, "The hermit was not at home, but as we learned, had gone a +journey in connection with his grocery business. In the hermitage, +however, we found several men placed there to keep guard over his +goods. We soon settled them, beat them with our cudgels and cast them +prostrate on the floor. Then we burst open all the chests and +cupboards, but found little money. There was, however, plenty of tea +and sugar. As we were about to leave, a fearful storm came on, and +without more ado we returned into the hermitage to remain there till it +was overpast. In order to dissipate the tedium, we ransacked the place +for food, and found an excellent ham and wine in abundance. I assumed +the place of host. Serve the meal! Bring more! I ordered, and we +revelled and shouted and made as great a din as we liked. In the second +room the hermit had a small organ. I seated myself at it; and to make +the row more riotous I played as well as I was able. The laughter and +the racket did not cease till morning broke. Then I dressed myself up +in the hermit's cowl and habit, and so went off with my comrades." +[Footnote: _Der neue Pitaval_, Leipzig, xviii. p. 182] + +I remember visiting a hermit in 1868 who lived on a ledge in the cliff +above S. Maurice in the Vallais, where was a cave that had been +occupied by the repentant Burgundian King Sigismund. He cultivated +there a little garden, and I have still by me a dried bouquet of +larkspur that he presented to my wife on our leaving after a pleasant +chat. A pilgrimage to the cave was due on the morrow, and he had just +returned from the town whither he had descended to borrow mugs out of +which the devotees might drink of the holy spring that issued from the +cave. + +The Wild Kirchlein, in Appenzell, is now visited rather by tourists +than by pilgrims. A huge limestone precipice rises above the Bodmenalp, +that is a paradise of wild flowers. A hundred and seventy feet up the +cliff gapes a cavern, and at its mouth is a tiny chapel. It is reached +by what is now a safe pathway and over a bridge cast across a chasm. +But formerly the ascent could not be made without danger. In the +beginning of the seventeenth century, some Alpine shepherds, who had +reached the cave, reported that they had seen in it the remains of an +altar. This aroused interest, and in the summer of 1621 a Capuchin +named Tanner ascended to the cave, blessed, and consecrated it as a +place of pilgrimage. He said mass there and preached. He was shortly +afterwards called away to Freiburg, and for thirty years the cave was +disregarded and neglected. But at the end of that time Tanner returned +to Appenzell, and interested the parish priest Ulmann in it. When war +broke out between Schwyz and Zurich in 1656, Ulmann concealed the +treasures of the church in the cave. This drew attention to it, and +shortly after an altar was furnished with what was needful, and on the +Feast of S. Michael in 1657 mass was again said there. Various matters +--loss of friends, and contests with the secular authorities--wearied +Ulmann, and he resolved on retiring as a hermit to the cave in the +cliff, taking with him, however, an attendant. The swallows left, the +winter storms came on, yet he braved the wind and cold, and remained a +tenant of the cave for two winters and as many summers; but then, by +order of the Bishop, he left to act as chaplain to a convent in Lindau. +There he spent nine years, till falling ill, he felt a craving for the +purer air of his Appenzell home, and obtained leave to return and again +re-tenant the beloved cave. In his last will he bequeathed the Upper +Bodmen Alp that was his ancestral inheritance for the maintenance of +the Holy Grotto. After his death the little chapel with its tower was +built, and a Capuchin friar occupied the hermitage. In 1853, the last +hermit there, Brother Antony Fassler, fell down the precipice whilst +gathering herbs. Since then there has been no such picturesque object +to lead the visitor through the recesses of the cavern and show the +stalactites; that office is now performed by the innkeeper of the hotel +on the Alp. + +The cave of S. Verena is one of the favourite pilgrim resorts in +Switzerland. It is near Soleure, and lies in a valley of a spur of the +Jura. According to the received tradition she ran after the Theban +legion--in modern parlance was a camp-follower, but deserted the +soldiers here, and took up her abode in this grotto. There is no +mention of this hermitage earlier than 1426, and the legend has grown +up since. That the cave was much more ancient, and was invested with +holy awe, is no doubt true. In fact, there is reason to believe that +Verena was a German goddess. [Footnote: Rocholz, _Dei Gaugöttinnen_, +Leipzig, 1870.] Her symbol is a comb, and in the wall are cut these words: + + Pectore dum Christo, dum pectine servit egenis, + Non latuit quondam sancta Verena cavo; + +that is to say, serving Christ and combing the heads of the poor, the +holy Verena lived unconcealed in this grotto. + +The way to the chapel is through woods, the valley closing in till bold +rocks are reached. In a niche is a statue of the Magdalen, with the +inscription, "I sleep, but my heart waketh." A few steps further is a +representation of the Garden of Gethsemane. From this a long and steep +stair leads up to the chapel, cut deep in the rock, with an altar in +it. Behind this is the Holy Sepulchre carved in the stone, in the +seventeenth century by the hermit Arsenius. On the other side of the +chapel a long stone stair leads again into the open air. Under this +stair is a hole in the rock into which the hand can be thrust. +According to a "pious belief" the Saint one day was much tormented with +the remembrance of the military, and longed to resume her pursuit of +them, and she gripped the rock, which yielded like wax to her fingers. + +Another Swiss rock hermitage is that of the Magdalen near Freiburg, in +the cliff on the right bank of the Saane. At the close of the +seventeenth century it was enlarged by a hermit, John Baptist Duprés, +and his comrade John Licht. They worked at it for twenty years. Duprés +dug a number of cells out of the sandstone, a kitchen with a chimney, a +dining-room, a church, and a stable. The church measures 63 feet long, +30 feet wide, and is 22 feet high. He built a tower to his church, and +gave his chimney the height of 90 feet so as to ensure that his fire +should not smoke. The hermit Duprés was drowned in 1708 as he was +rowing over the river a party of scholars who had come to visit him. No +hermit lives there now. His residence is occupied by a peasant with his +family. + +On the Nahe, that flows into the Rhine, is the little town of +Oberstein, whose inhabitants are nearly all employed in cutting and +polishing agates, sardonyxes, and various other stones prized by +ladies. Precipitous cliffs arise above the town, and contract the space +on which houses could be raised, and these rocks are crowned by two +ruined castles, the Older and the Newer Oberstein. About half-way up +the face of the cliff, 260 feet above the river, can be seen a tiny +church, to which ascent is made by flights of steps. The old castle +rises above this, and stands 360 feet above the river, but its remains +are reduced to a fragment of a tower. Separated from it by a notch in +the rocks is the new castle that was destroyed by fire about thirty- +five years ago. + +In the old castle lived in the eleventh century two brothers, Wyrich +and Emich von Oberstein. Both fell in love with the daughter of the +knight of Lichtenberg, but neither confessed his passion to the other. +At last, one day Emich returned to the castle to announce to his +brother that he had been accepted by the fair maid; Wyrich, in an +impulse of jealousy, caught his brother by the throat and hurled him +down the precipice. His conscience at once spoke out, and in the agony +of his remorse he had resort to a hermit who bade him renounce the +world, grave for himself a cell in the face of the melaphyre clay--the +hermit did not give to the rock its mineralogical name--and await a +token from heaven that he was forgiven. Accordingly Wyrich von +Oberstein scrambled up the face of the cliff as high as he could +possibly go, and there laboured day after day till he had excavated for +himself a grotto in which to live and expiate his crime. And a spring +oozed out of the rock in his cave, and was accepted by him as the +promised token of pardon. After a while he obtained that a little +church should be consecrated which he had constructed at the mouth of +his cave. On the day that the bishop came to dedicate the structure he +was found dead. + +What is supposed to be his figure, that of a knight in armour, is in +the chapel. This latter was rebuilt in 1482, and the monument came from +the older structure. The chapel has been handed over to the Calvinists +for their religious services, which is the humour of it, as Nym would +have said. + +Beside the highroad (_route nationale_) from Brive to Cahors, but +a very little way out of the town, is a mass of red Permian sandstone +perforated with caves. In 1226 S. Anthony of Padua was at Brive, and +resided for a while in one of them. Since then it has been held sacred +and occupied by Franciscans, who erected a convent above it; in so +doing they cut into and mutilated some very ancient artificial workings +in the sandstone for the contrivance of rock habitations. The cave, +however, was neglected when the Franciscans were expelled at the +Revolution, but they returned in 1875 and rebuilt or greatly enlarged +their convent, only to be expelled again in 1906. The grottoes, now +converted into chapels to the number of four, are in a line under the +superstructures, that in the middle the actual hermitage. This, +moreover, has been cut out of the rock artificially, at a higher level +than the others, that are natural and are untenable, owing to the +incessant drip of water from the roofs. The first cave is dedicated to +S. Francis of Assisi, but it is a rock shelter rather than a cave. It +is natural, but in one corner a small water-basin has been scooped. The +second cave is mainly natural, but partly artificial; it is dedicated +to Notre Dame Auxiliatrice. The third, reached by steps, is wholly +artificial, and before the stairs were built to lead to it, was +inaccessible save by a short ladder. It placed the occupant in safety +from invasion by wolves or other objectionable visitors. It measures 21 +feet by 15 feet. This, which was the habitation of S. Anthony, +communicated with the two lower caves, one on each side, by lateral +openings. + +The fourth cave is that of Des Fontaines, in which are basins of water +cut in the rock, receiving the everlasting drip from above. + +It is impossible to give one tithe of the hermitages in caves that are +to be seen in Europe; but a few words may be devoted to La Sainte +Beaume in Var, where, according to tradition, Mary Magdalen spent the +end of her days. The tradition is entirely destitute of historical +basis, and rests on a misconception. Scott has described the cave with +tolerable accuracy in "Anne of Geierstein," though he had not seen it +himself. + +The cave is in the range of cretaceous limestone that runs east and +west to the north-east of Marseilles, and at La Beaume Sainte reaches +the height of 3450 feet. The wild flowers, the fine forest, and the +white rocks impart great interest to the visit without consideration of +historical and legendary association. The botanist will find the globe +flower, the anemone, the citisus, the man, the bee, the fly orchids, +and the _Orchis militaris_ in considerable abundance; also banks +of scented violets. + +The grotto is at a considerable height above the valley. According to +the legend, as already said, Mary Magdalen spent the close of her life +here, and numerous anchorites settled in the caves around. In the fifth +century Cassian placed monks in the grotto, but they were driven away +by the barbarians, and La Sainte Beaume fell into complete oblivion +till the thirteenth century. + +The cave is lofty and spacious, not a little damp, and water drips from +the roof. To protect the altar a baldachin has been erected over it. At +the extreme end is a raised dais of natural rock, on which the saint is +supposed to have made her bed. Another cave is that of the Holy +Sepulchre, which was formerly occupied by the monks of S. Cassian. From +the Sainte Beaume a path leads upwards to the Saint Pilon, the highest +pinnacle of the rock which here rises to a point, out of which grow +wild pinks and aromatic shrubs, and where falcons make their nest. +According to the legend, Mary Magdalen was elevated by the hands of +angels to this point seven times a day, there to say her prayers, which +proceeding surely entitles her to a place as the patroness of aviation. + +At Sougé, on the Loir, a little below the troglodyte town of Trôo +already described, half-way up the cliff is the cave-chapel of S. +Amadou. It is 45 feet deep and 15 feet wide. The altar is at the end +surmounted by a niche containing a statue of the saint, and to this +formerly pilgrimages were made from all the valleys round. But this is +a thing of the past, for it is now private property and converted into +a cellar. What is peculiar about this chapel is that it is surrounded +by a gallery also rock-hewn, and it was customary for the pilgrims to +pass round the chapel through this gallery before entering it. + +At Villiers, near Vendôme, is the chapel of S. Andrew, that was +formerly inhabited by a hermit. It is divided into two chambers. That +on the left is the chapel proper, with its altar. Above the other +opening is a bas-relief of the Crucifixion. When levelling the floor of +this hermitage a few years ago, so as to convert it into a commodious +private dwelling, a number of skeletons were found in graves sunk in +the rock. + +[Illustration: Plan of the Chapel of S. Amadou.] + +Montserrat is famous throughout Spain on account of its statue of the +Virgin, which is supposed to have been made by S. Luke, and brought to +Barcelona in the year 50 by S. Peter, which, of course, is nonsense. S. +Luke never painted, and S. Peter never visited Spain. This +extraordinary mountain derives its name from its saw-like appearance, +_Mons serratus._ It consists of pudding-stone, "a strange solitary +exiled peak, drifted away in the beginning of things from its brethren +of the Pyrenees, and stranded in a different geological period." Mr. +Bayard Taylor thus describes the summit after a two hours' climb. +"Emerging from the thickets we burst suddenly upon one of the wildest +and most wonderful pictures I ever beheld. A tremendous wall of rock +arose in front, crowned by colossal turrets, pyramids, clubs, pillars, +and ten-pin shaped masses, which were drawn singly, or in groups of +incredible distinction, against the deep blue of the sky. At the foot +of the rock the buildings of the monastery and the narrow gardens +completely filled and almost overhung a horizontal shelf of the +mountain, under which it again fell sheer away down, down into misty +depths, the bottom of which was hidden from sight. In all the galleries +of memory I could find nothing resembling it." [Footnote: Taylor (B.), +"Byways of Europe," Lond. 1869, i. p. 23.] + +The spires of rock range about 3300 feet high, jumbled together by +nature in a sportive mood. Here and there, perched like nests of the +solitary eagle, are the ruins of former hermitages, burnt by the French +under Suchet in July 1811, when they amused themselves with hunting the +hermits like chamois in the cliffs, hung the monks of the monastery, +plundered it of all its contents, stripped the Virgin of her jewellery, +and burnt the fine library. Hitherto the monks, when periodically +dressing the image, had done so with modestly averted eyes, but +Suchet's soldiers had no such scruples. This image had been entrusted +in the ninth century to a hermit, Jean Garin. Now Riguilda, daughter of +the Count of Barcelona, was possessed by a devil, in another word, +crazy, and was sent to be cured by the image or the hermit. A +temptation similar to that of S. Anthony followed, but with exactly the +opposite result. To conceal his crime, Jean Garin cut off Riguilda's +head, buried her, and fled. Overtaken by remorse he went to Rome, and +confessed his sin to the Pope, who bade him become a beast, never +lifting his face towards heaven until the hour when God himself would +signify his pardon. + +Jean Garin went forth from the Papal presence on his hands and knees, +crawled back to Montserrat, and there lived seven years as a wild +beast, eating grass and bark, and never looking up to heaven. At the +end of this time his body was entirely covered with hair, and it so +fell out that the hunters of the Count snared him as a wild animal, put +a chain round his neck, and brought him to Barcelona. Here an infant of +five months old, on beholding the strange beast, uttered a cry and +exclaimed, "Rise up, Jean Garin, God has pardoned thee." Then, to the +amazement of all, the beast arose and spoke in a human tongue. Happily +the story is no more true than that the image was made by S. Luke. It +is an old Greek story of S. James the Penitent, with the penance of +Nebuchadnezzar tacked on to it. + +Forbes says: "The traveller should visit the ruined hermitages of Sta. +Anna, San Benito, not forgetting La Roca Estrecha, a singular natural +fissure; the highest and most interesting of all is the S. Jeronimo. +These retreats satisfied the Oriental and Spanish tendency to close a +life of action by repose, and atone for past sensualism by +mortification. The hermitages were once thirteen in number; each was +separate, and with difficulty accessible. The anchorite who once +entered one, never left it again. There he lived, like things bound +within a cold rock alive, while all was stone around, and there he +died, after a living death to the world, in solitude without love. Yet +they were never vacant, being sought for as eagerly as apartments in +Hampton Court are by retired dowagers. Risco says that there were +always a dozen expectants waiting in the convent the happy release of +an occupant. To be a hermit, and left to live after his own fashion, +exactly suited the reserved, isolated Spaniard, who hates discipline +and subjection to a superior." [Footnote: "Handbook of Spain," Lond. +1845, p.496. A visit to the image is heavily indulgenced. Pope Paul V. +granted remission of all his sins to any one who entered the +confraternity of our Lady of Montserrat. Mr. B. Taylor says of the +image: "I took no pains to get sight of the miraculous statue. I have +already seen both the painting and the sculpture of S. Luke, and think +him one of the worst artists that ever existed."] + +Above Cordova, also in the Sierra, are rock hermitages serving in +Andalusia the same purpose that did those of Montserrat in Catalonia. +These also never wanted a tenant, for in the Iberian temperament, +_inedia et labor_, violent action alternating with repose is +inherent. + +In Italy, Subiaco must not be left without a notice. It was hither that +S. Benedict fled when aged fourteen. He chose a cave as his abode, and +none knew what was his hiding-place save a monk, Romanus, who let down +to him from the top of the rock the half of the daily loaf allotted to +himself, giving him notice of its being ready for him by ringing a +little bell. Here, once, troubled by the passions of the flesh, +Benedict cast himself into a thicket of thorns, and afterwards planted +there two rose-trees which still flourish. This is now converted into a +garden, and near by all the monks of Subiaco are buried. + +Near La Vernia, a favourite retreat of S. Francis, is a deep cleft in +the rocks, and a cave to which he was wont to retire at times. One +friar only, Brother Leo, was permitted to visit him, and that once in +the day with a little bread and water, and once at night; and when he +reached the narrow path at the entrance, he was required to say +_Domine labia mea aperies;_ when, if an answer came, he might +enter and say matins with his master. In a second cave the saint slept. +Outside this is the point of rock from which according to the +_Fiorette:_ "Through all that Lent, a falcon, whose nest was hard +by his cell, awakened S. Francis every night a little before the hour +of matins by her cry and the flapping of her wings, and would not leave +off till he had risen to say the office; and if at any time S. Francis +was more sick than ordinary, or weak, or weary, that falcon, like a +discreet and charitable Christian, would call him somewhat later than +was her wont. And S. Francis took great delight in this clock of his, +because the great carefulness of the falcon drove away all +slothfulness, and summoned him to prayers; and moreover, during the +daytime, she would often abide familiarly with him." + +The Warkworth hermitage in Northumberland was made famous by Bishop +Percy's ballad. + +In "Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border," 1835, it is +thus described. "The hermitage of Warkworth is situated on the north +bank of the Coquet, and about a mile from the castle. Leaving the +castle yard and passing round the exterior of the keep, a footpath +leads down the declivity on the north side of the river. Entering a +boat and rowing a short distance along the river, the visitor is landed +at the foot of a pleasant walk which leads directly to the Hermitage. +This secluded retreat consists of three small apartments, hollowed out +of the freestone cliff which overlooks the river. An ascent of +seventeen steps leads to the entrance of the outer and principal +apartment, which is about eighteen feet long, its width being seven +feet and a half, and its height nearly the same. Above the doorway are +the remains of some letters now illegible, but which are supposed when +perfect to have expressed, from the Latin version of the Psalms, the +words: Fuerint mihi lacrymæ meæ panes die ac nocte. The roof is +chiselled in imitation of a groin, formed by two intersecting arches; +and at the east end, where the floor is raised two steps, is an altar +occupying the whole width of the apartment. In the centre, immediately +above the altar, is a niche in which there has probably stood a figure +either of Christ or of the Virgin. + +"Near the altar, on the south side, there is carved in the wall a +monumental figure of a recumbent female. In a niche near the foot of +the monument is the figure of a man, conjectured to be that of the +first hermit, on his knees, with his head resting on his right hand, +and his left placed upon his breast. On the wall, on the same side, is +cut a basin for the reception of holy water; and between the principal +figure and the door are two small windows. At the west end is a third +small window, in the form of a quatrefoil. + +"From this apartment, which appears to have been the hermit's chapel, a +doorway opens into the corner one, about five feet wide, and having +also an altar at the east end, with a basin for holy water cut in the +wall. In the north wall of this inner chamber an arched recess is cut, +the base of which is of sufficient length and breadth to admit a +middle-sized man reclining. An opening, cut slantwise through the wall +dividing the chamber, allows a person lying in this recess to see the +monument in the chapel. In the same wall there is rather an elegantly- +formed window, which admits the light from the outer apartment. To the +north of the inner chamber is a third excavation, much smaller than the +other two, which led to an outer gallery to the west, commanding a view +of the river. This gallery, which has been much injured by the fall of +a part of the cliff, is said to have been arched like a cloister. After +returning from these dimly-lighted cells to open day, and passing +through a stone archway, a flight of steps cut in the side of the rock +leads to the hermit's garden at the top." + +S. Robert of Knaresborough, who died 1218, was the son of one John +Thorne of York, of which city his brother was mayor. Leland informs us +that he forsook "the lands and goodes of his father to whom he was +heire as eldest sonne." Leaving his home he came to Knaresborough, +where he found a certain knight ensconced in a cave scooped out of the +rock by the side of the Nidd, and dignified by the name of S. Giles's +Chapel. But the knight had had enough of it, and _instante +diabolo_ quitted his cave and made it over to Robert Thorne, and +"returned like a dog to his vomit," which is a monastic way of putting +the fact that he returned to his wife and family. + +[ILLUSTRATION: SCULPTURE IN ROYSTON CAVE. Representing S. Christopher +and other saints, men in armour and ladies.] + +Robert, however, did not spend an entire year in the cave, for certain +_latrunculi_ having stolen _hys bred, hys chese,_ _hys sustenance_, +he quitted the grotto--doubtless at the approach of winter--and estab- +lished himself in much more comfortable quarters at Bramham. He was +certainly a hermit who boiled his peas, for we are told that he maintained +four men-servants; two were occupied in tilling his farm, one attended +to his personal wants--was, in fact, his valet--and one went about with +him on his begging expeditions. + +The cave is 10 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 7 feet high. There is an +image of a knight at the entrance, by some supposed to be more modern; +it is, however, said that S. Robert did much himself to adorn and +enlarge his chapel. + +It was in this cave that Eugene Aram and Richard Housman murdered +Daniel Clarke on 8th February 1745, for the sake of some jewellery and +plate they had induced him to bring to S. Robert's Chapel with him. + +It was not till fourteen years after that the body of Clarke was found, +and Mrs. Aram declared that her husband and Housman had murdered him; +Housman turned King's evidence, and Aram was hung on 16th August 1759. + +Roche hermitage in Cornwall occupies a spire of rocks of schorl that +shoots 100 feet above the surrounding moor. Built into the rocks is a +little chapel, and beneath it is the hermit's cell. This seems to have +been occupied continuously down to the Reformation, and various stories +are told of the tenants. + +There was once a steward under the Duchy named Tregeagle. He was a +peculiarly nefarious agent, and very hard upon the tenants. His spirit +is still supposed to roam over the moors, and not to be able to find +peace till he has dipped the water out of Dozmare Pool with a nutshell. + +Once, pursued by devils, he fled for sanctuary to Roche, and thrust his +head through the east window of the chapel, but, being a broad- +shouldered spirit, could force his way in no further. The devils were +baffled and withdrew. But Tregeagle's position was not desirable. The +wind, the rain, and the hail lashed that portion of his person that +remained exposed, and he dared not withdraw his head from sanctuary +lest the devils should be on him again. At every cutting blast he +howled, and his howls so disturbed the hermit of Roche, that he found +it impossible to sleep or to attend to his prayers on windy nights. +Unable to liberate Tregeagle himself, he sent for the monks of Bodmin, +and they imposed on the wretched steward the task aforementioned, and +assured him immunity from pursuit whilst engaged upon it. + +"Robin Hood's Stable," in Nottinghamshire, at Pappewick, of which +Throsby gives an illustration in his "History of the County," 1797, was +in all probability a hermitage. Mr. W. Stevenson writes: "I am +convinced, from its nearness to the great old road, its position due +south, and its evidences of columns and arches, that it is an old cell +or anchorite's cave of equal, if not superior age, to the neighbouring +abbey. The interior would make a good picture, as the dampness of the +rock is favourable to green vegetation in sportive lines and patches on +the warm colours and the shadows of the rock. It is an artist's dream. +Time, during the lapse of centuries, has made sad havoc with the +entrance. Originally it had a level cutting running into the hill until +a face of rock was won in which to make a door and hew an underground +apartment. + +"The hollow of this cutting has been raised, the banks rounded down, +the roof over the door has fallen; the hand of destruction has worked +back into the cave, and all evidence of the door and its whereabouts +has vanished. The floor is loaded with sand and blocks fallen from the +roof. The floor being so buried renders it difficult perfectly to judge +of the depth of the apartment." What a habitation for a rheumatic +hermit! The "sportive lines and patches" of vegetation suggest sportive +tweaks and twinges of the loins. + +[ILLUSTRATION: SCULPTURE IN ROYSTON CAVE] + +Two miles from Repton is Anchor Church, where are the remains of a +hermitage in a singular rocky bank, rising abruptly above the pastures +on the verge of the Trent. "The summit is clothed with overhanging +woods, forming only a portion of the high grounds, but the suddenness +of the change which the scenery derives from the appearance of +precipitous and broken rocks, occurring in the midst of a soft and +beautiful region of pastoral luxuriance, is very striking. A curious +series of chambers, communicating with each other, has been at some +distant period beyond tradition excavated in that portion of the rock +which is most naked and precipitous; and from this circumstance the +site has been designated Anchor Church, signifying the residence of a +hermit. At a distance it bears a very close resemblance to a Gothic +ruin; the rude openings formed to admit light into the several cells, +and the ruggedly fashioned doorway aiding, at first sight, the +appearance of an artificial pile of grey antiquity. The rock is found +principally to consist of rough grit-stone, and of a congeries of sand +and pebbles. The Trent, which now flows at a short distance, formerly +ran close under the rock, as is indicated by a dead pool of water +situate near its foot, and communicating with the channel of the river. + +"A tall flight of steep steps rudely fashioned of large unshapen blocks +of stone, conducted to the entrance of the hermitage, and the dim light +within its hoary, moss-grown, sloping walls is admitted through +irregularly formed apertures, pierced through the dense body of the +rock, and command magnificent views of the subjacent scenery." +[Footnote: Bigsby (R.), "Historical and Topographical Description of +Repton in the County of Derby," Lond. 1854.] + +In the month of August 1742, when occasion arose for setting a post in +a "Mercat House" at Royston in Hertfordshire in order to place a bench +on it for the convenience of the market women, the men in digging +struck through the eye or central hole of a millstone, laid +underground, and on raising this found that it occupied the crown of a +cave sixteen feet deep, as appeared by letting down a plumb line. There +was a descent into it of about two feet wide, with holes cut in the +chalk at equal distances, and succeeding each other like the steps of a +ladder. It was accurately circular. They let a boy down, and from his +report of its passing into another cavity, a slender man with a lighted +candle descended, and he confirmed the report, and added that the +second cave was filled with loose earth, which, however, did not quite +touch the wall, which he could see to right and left. + +The people now conceived the notion that a great treasure was concealed +here, and some workmen were employed to enlarge the passage of descent. +Then with buckets and a well-kerb, they set to work to clear it, and +drew up the earth and rubbish that filled the cave. When they came to +the floor of the descending passage they ran a long spit downwards and +found that the earth was still loose. The vast concourse of people now +became troublesome, and the workmen were obliged to postpone further +operations till night. + +After much time and labour had been expended, the cave was cleared, but +no really scientific examination of it was made till 1852, when Mr. +Beldam drew up a report concerning it, which he presented to the Royal +Society of Antiquaries. The cave is bell-shaped, and from the floor to +the top of the dome measures 25-1/2 feet. The bottom is not quite +circular, but nearly so, and in diameter is from 17 feet to 17 feet 6 +inches. A broad step surrounds it, 8 inches wide and 3 feet from the +floor. About 8 feet above the floor a cornice runs round the walls cut +in a reticulated or diamond pattern two feet wide. Almost all the space +between the step and this cornice is occupied with sculpture, +crucifixes, saints, martyrs, and subjects not easy to explain. Vestiges +of red, blue, and yellow are visible in various places, and the relief +of the figures has been assisted by a dark pigment. In various parts of +the cave, above and below the cornice, are deep cavities or recesses of +various forms and sizes, some of them oblong, and others oven-shaped, +of much the same character as those found in the French caves. High up +are two dates cut in the chalk, in Arabic numerals, that have been +erroneously read 1347 and "Martin 1350 February 18," but these should +be respectively 1547 and 1550, as Arabic numerals were not in use in +England in the fourteenth century, and the name of Martin and the +February are distinctly sixteenth century in character. The figure +carving was not done by the same hand throughout. + +Apparently the cave was originally a shaft for burial or for rubbish, +and a hole in the side and floor that Dr. Stukeley took for a grave was +nothing but a continuation downwards of the ancient shaft, as is proved +by what has been found in it. But in mediaeval times the puticolus was +enlarged and converted into a hermitage, and a hermit is known to have +occupied it till the eve of the Reformation, for in the Churchwarden's +book of the parish of Bassingborne, under the date 1506, is the entry, +_"Gyft of 20d. recd, off a Hermytt depting at Roiston in ys pysh"_ +It is true that this entry does not absolutely fix the residence of the +hermit at the cave, but it is hardly probable that there were two +hermitages in so small a town. + +The cave was probably filled in with earth in 1547 and 1550, when the +inscribed dates were affixed. After which its existence was forgotten, +and the Mercat House was erected over it before 1610. The carvings have +been supposed to belong to the period of Henry II. and Richard Cœur-de- +Lion, but it is not possible to put them earlier than the beginning of +the sixteenth century, at all events such as represent the Crucifixion. +It is possible, however, that some of the kingly or knightly figures +may be somewhat earlier. + +Stukeley was quite convinced that the Royston cave was the oratory of +the Lady Rohesia, daughter of Aubrey de Vere, who succeeded his father +in 1088, but there exists no evidence that she ever lived at Royston. +The place takes its name from Rohesia, daughter of Eudo Dapifer. + +In 1537, says Froude, while the harbours, piers, and fortresses were +rising in Dover, "an ancient hermit tottered night after night from his +cell to a chapel on the cliff, and the tapers on the altars before +which he knelt in his lonely orisons made a familiar beacon far over +the rolling waters. The men of the rising world cared little for the +sentiment of the past. The anchorite was told sternly by the workmen +that his light was a signal to the King's enemies" (a Spanish invasion +from Flanders was expected), "and must burn no more; and when it was +next seen, three of them waylaid the old man on his way home, threw him +down, and beat him cruelly." [Footnote: "History of England," vol. iii. +p. 256.] + +The following notice appeared in the _Daily Express_ of 9th June +1910. "A subterranean chamber with a spiral staircase at one end and a +Gothic roof has been discovered at Greenhithe. It is believed to have +been a hermit's cell." + +The hermit left a pleasant memory behind him when he disappeared from +England, perhaps just in time before complete degeneration set in as in +France and Germany, Italy and Spain. Shakespeare, whenever he +introduces him, does so in a kindly spirit, and represents him as a +consoler of the afflicted and a refuge to the troubled spirit. By +Spenser also he is treated with affection. + + "Towards night they came unto a plaine + By which a little hermitage there lay, + Far from all neighbourhood, the which annoy it may. + + And nigh thereto a little chappel stoode, + Which being all with ivy overspred + Deckt all the roofe, and, shadowing the roode, + Seem'd like a grove faire braunched over hed: + Therein the hermit, which his life here led + In streight observance of religious vow, + Was wont his hours and holy things to bed; + And therein he likewise was praying now, + Whenas these knights arrived, they wist not where nor how." + +[ILLUSTRATION: CHÂTEAU DE RIGNAC. A renaissance château on the +Vézère, built partly into and partly out of the overhanging cliff. +Since the sketch was made a portion of the first archway has fallen.] + +[ILLUSTRATION: ROYSTON CAVE. A section. The entrance with steps at +the side is a modern addition.] + +I do not recall any harsh words spoken of the departed hermit. After +the Reformation it was felt that a factor in life was gone that could +be ill spared. + +In these days when we live in a hurricane of new ideas, in the stress +of business, we cannot understand the attractiveness of the peace of a +cell away from the swirl of the storm, or the value of the hermits as +guides of life. When the hermit was swept away, into his place as +counsellor of the troubled stepped the witch, and to her those had +recourse who had previously sought the eremite. The influence of the +witch was always for evil, that of the hermit was usually good. The +troubled soul desires a confidant and an adviser. The parish priest is +not always spiritually minded, and is not always disinterested. What is +hid from the wise and prudent is revealed to babes, and for the +guidance of distracted consciences, the healing of wounded spirits, the +words of the childlike hermit were a boon. However, he is gone past +recall, and into his room have stepped the lawyer who demands six-and- +eightpence for a word of advice, and the doctor whose charges are +proportionate to the rental of our houses. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROCK MONASTERIES + + +The early Syrian and Egyptian hermits would have become a sect of +manichæan heretics but for the popularity of the profession and the +Arian persecution. In quitting the world they cut themselves off from +the churches. They no more took part in its assemblies, participated in +the sacraments, nor observed the sacred seasons. Paul, the first +hermit, deserted the society of men when aged fifteen, and lived till +the age of a hundred and ten in solitude without ever having partaken +of the Bread of Life. S. Mary of Egypt spent forty-seven years in the +Wilderness, stark naked, covered with hair like a wild beast, and only +received the Viaticum when dying, by the chance of a priest passing +that way. A fifteenth century statue of her, nearly life-size, is in +the National Museum at Munich, removed from the Cathedral of Augsburg +as indelicate. S. Antony spent twenty years in a sort of cistern, and +only twice a year received loaves, let down from above through the +roof. Certainly all that time he was voluntarily excommunicate. If S. +Hilarius ever made sacramental communion we are not told, but we do +know that he was for ever hiding himself from where were his fellow- +men, in wilds and oases, and where there were no Christian churches. + +In the desert, times and seasons slipped away, and became confounded, +so that by the first hermits neither Easter nor the Lord's Day were +observed. In the Gospel, the works of mercy, feeding the hungry, giving +drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and +prisoners, are appointed as the means of deserving a reward in heaven, +but the anchorites neglected every one, cut themselves adrift from the +chance of performing them, and sought to merit heaven in their own way. +Christ declared, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink +His blood, ye have no life in you," but they wilfully lived apart from +the sacramental life as surely as any modern Quaker. + +But when crowds of refugees from the duties and pleasures of life +sought the desert, they ceased to be solitaries, and organisation on a +monarchical system under an abbot became necessary; and when bishops +and priests fled to them, or were banished and sought them, during the +Arian persecution, they came to plume themselves as champions of +orthodoxy, and conformed to Catholic usage, assembling on the Lord's +Day for prayers and the Eucharist. When the fashion set in for +deserting the world, floods of men, women, and children threw +themselves into it, and flowed into the desert during a century with +resistless force. Pachomius, who died at fifty-six, reckoned three +thousand monks under his rule; the monasteries of Tabenna soon included +seven thousand, and S. Jerome affirms that as many as fifty thousand +were present at the annual gathering of the general congregation of +monasteries that followed his rule. + +There were five thousand on the mountain of Nitria; near Arsinoë the +Abbot Serapion governed ten thousand. It has even been asserted that +there were as many monks in the deserts of Egypt as inhabitants in the +towns. The immense majority of these religious were cenobites; that is +to say, they lived in the same enclosure, and were united under an +elected head, the abbot. The cenobitical life rapidly and necessarily +superseded that of the solitary. In fact the monks were now no more +solitaries than are the jackdaws in a cleft, or the bees in a hive, but +unlike the jackdaws, they were under discipline, and unlike bees were +without a sting. + +It was not mere love of an indolent life and a desire to escape from +military service that swelled the numbers in the desert. The condition +of the decaying Roman world led men to despair of the Commonwealth, and +of the possibility of their being able to save their own souls in the +midst of the general corruption. "The people were exhausted by +compulsory taxes, to be spent in wars which did not concern them, or in +Court luxury in which they had no share. In the municipal towns liberty +and justice were dead. The curials, who were responsible for the +payment of the public moneys, tried their best to escape the unpopular +office, and when compelled to serve wrung the money in self-defence out +of the poorer inhabitants by every kind of tyranny. Private profligacy +among all ranks was such as cannot be described in any modern pages. +The regular clergy of the cities were able to make no stand against the +general corruption of the age because--at least if we are to trust such +writers as Jerome and Chrysostom--they were giving themselves up to +ambition and avarice, vanity and luxury; and, as a background to all +these seething heaps of decay, misrule and misery, hung the black cloud +of the barbarians, waxing stronger and stronger so that the wisest +Romans saw clearly as the years rolled on, they would soon be the +conquerors of the Caesars and the masters of the Western world. + +"No wonder, if in such a state of things, the minds of men were stirred +by a passion akin to despair, which ended in a new and grand form of +suicide. It would have ended often, but for Christianity, in such an +actual despair as that which had led in past ages more than one noble +Roman to slay himself, when he lost all hope for the Republic. That the +world--such at least as they saw it then--was doomed, Scripture and +their own reason taught them. They did not merely believe, but saw, in +the misery and confusion, the desolation and degradation around them, +that the world was passing away, and the lust thereof, and that only he +who did the will of God could abide for ever. They did not merely +believe, but saw that the wrath of God was revealed from Heaven against +all unrighteousness of men. Under these terrible forebodings, men began +to flee from a doomed world, and try to be alone with God, if by any +means they might save each man his own soul in that dread day." +[Footnote: Kingsley (C.), "The Hermits," Lond. 1868.] + +In the year 336 Athanasius was in exile at Trèves. He is traditionally +held to have there occupied a cave beyond the Moselle. The Bishop +Maximinus received him with honour. Early in his episcopate Athanasius +had visited the congregation of monks on the Upper Nile, and he was +enthusiastic in his admiration of their manner of life. It is supposed +that whilst at Trèves he began to write the "Life of S. Anthony," if +indeed he was the author of that popular work. Here he is thought to +have been visited by Maxentius, Bishop of Poitiers, and brother of the +Bishop of Trèves, bringing with him Martin, then a friend and pupil of +S. Hilary, this latter at the time a wealthy noble of Poitiers. And +from the discourse of Athanasius, if this meeting actually took place, +the imagination of Martin was fired with ambition to reproduce in +Europe the life of the fathers of the desert in Egypt. + +Anyhow, to this residence of Athanasius at Trèves, "one may trace the +introduction into the Western Church of the principle and laws of +ascetic self-renunciation, which, though they had run to great extremes +in the Nitrian desert and in the valley of the Nile, assumed noble form +when the idea took possession of the more phlegmatic temperament and +practical energies of the West. Without discussing the vexed question +of the authorship of the 'Life of S. Anthony,' which is referred by +many traditional testimonies to Athanasius, we think it obvious, from +the 'Confessions' of Augustine, that the religious circles at Trèves +had been strongly moved by the self-abandonment and entire consecration +to the religious life of the exiled bishops. It was here, while reading +the 'Life of S. Anthony' that the friends of Augustine at length +yielded themselves to God." [Footnote: Reynolds (H. R.), "Athanasius, +his Life and Life-work," Lond., R.T.S., 1889, p. 54.] + +Martin was at Poitiers in 361 when S. Hilary had returned from exile to +his bishopric and to his wife and daughter. He had been living the +eremitic life on the isle of Gallinaria, shaped so like a snail, off +the coast of Albenga, and had nearly poisoned himself with trying to +eat hellebore leaves. On reaching Poitiers, he told his old friend the +Bishop, that he desired to follow the monastic life in his diocese, and +obtained his cheerful consent. Some way up the Clain, five miles from +Poitiers, the little river glides through a broad valley, with meadows +on its left bank often overflowed, but with a ridge of conglomerate +rocks pierced with caves on the right bank. Here Martin settled, and +there can exist no manner of doubt that his first settlement was in one +of these grottoes, though at a later period the monastery was moved to +the further side of the river, when the caves proved inadequate to +harbour all the candidates for the religious life who placed themselves +under his direction. One of his monks, however, named Felix, refused to +quit his cave that is now shown, and in which he died perhaps, in an +inaccessible cliff that is surmounted by a cross. + +The friable conglomerate has yielded to storm and rain, and much of it +has crumbled down; but the openings to the caves are visible from +below, where the slopes are purple and fragrant with violets and, +later, pink with primulas, and the rocks are wreathed with clematis. A +pure spring bursts forth at the foot and works its way through beds of +forget-me-not and marsh marigold to the Clain. + +Martin had been ordained exorcist and then priest. + +His most trusted disciples were Felix, Macarius, and Florentius. As +already said, except in the Gallo-Roman cities, Christianity did not +exist. The country-folk were pagans. Martin lifted up his eyes and saw +that the fields were white to harvest. He preached throughout Poitou +and La Vendée, and visited the coast to the isles of Yeu and Ré. He +travelled on foot, or mounted on an ass, sought every village and +hamlet, to sow the seed of the Word of God, and where he could not go +himself, he sent his disciples. Ligugé, his monastery, became a centre +of evangelisation to the country round. It was the first monastery +planted on Gaulish soil. It was ruined by the Saracens in 732, and +again by the Normans in 848. It was rebuilt in 1040. But Ligugé never +had a worse enemy than one of its abbots, Arthur de Cossé. He made +public confession of Calvinism; gave up the abbey to be pillaged, sold +its lands for his own advantage, and did everything in his power to +utterly ruin it. It owed its restoration to the care of François de +Servier, Bishop of Bayonne. + +Ligugé was, however, destroyed at the French Revolution. In 1864 it was +acquired by the Benedictines, and rebuilt on a large scale. It was +enriched with a valuable library, and became a nursery of Christian art +and literature. But the law of 1901 banished the monks, and the vast +building is now empty, as the State has not so far found any use for +it. + +In the year 971 the episcopal throne of Tours was vacant, and the +citizens at once decided on securing Martin as their bishop. But when +he arrived on foot, dust-covered, with shaggy hair, the bishops +assembled to consecrate protested against the election. It was +customary to choose a bishop from among the nobility and the wealthy. +Defensor, the Bishop of Angers, signalised himself by his opposition. +He absolutely refused to consecrate the poor dishevelled monk. But when +the lector opening the psalter at hazard read out the words, "Out of +the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because +of thine enemies: that thou mightest still the enemy and the defender" +(defensor), [Footnote: So in the old Gallican Version; in the Vulgate +the word is _Ultor_.] the people raised a great shout, God +himself had spoken, and the bishops had to yield to the popular will. +Martin was then aged fifty-four. + +No sooner was he installed than he cast about him to establish on the +banks of the Loire a monastic colony such as he had founded at Ligugé. +He found a place where in later times rose the great abbey of +Marmoutier, the wealthiest in France, and with a church that was called +the Gem of Touraine. But then it was merely a chalk cliff rising above +the Loire on its right bank, two miles above Tours, and on the summit +had stood the old Gaulish city of Altionos. The Romans had transferred +the capital of the Turones to its present site, and had given it the +name of Cæsarodunum. But Althionos was probably not wholly abandoned, +poor Gauls still dwelt there in their huts, and nothing had been done +to bring them into the fold of Christ's Church. + +The cliff with its caves had already been sanctified. It had been a +refuge in time of persecution, and there S. Gatianus, the first Bishop +of Tours, in the third century had sheltered. But now Martin and his +disciples set to work to enlarge and remodel the subterranean +habitations; they scooped out a chapel, and they formed a baptistry. + +In 853 the Northmen came up the Loire and massacred a hundred and +sixteen of the monks. Only twenty-four escaped. In 982 Marmoutier was +refounded by Eudo, Count of Blois, and the noble basilica built below +the rock was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095. The vast wealth of +the abbey led to enlargements and splendour of architectural work; but +in 1562 the Huguenots wrecked it, burned the precious library with all +its MSS., broke down the altars, and shattered the windows. Its +complete destruction, however, was due to the Revolution, when in 1791 +it was completely pulled down, nothing left of the splendid church but +the tower and a portion of the northern transept that was glued to the +rock. The oratory of S. Martin was levelled to the rock on which it +stood. + +[ILLUSTRATION: LE TROU BOUROU. A cave fortress on the Beune. The hole +through which the man is peering was used for defence of the steep +ascent to the entrance. Note the arrangement for barring the door.] + +[ILLUSTRATION: ROCK BAPTISTERY OF S. MARTIN, MARMOUTIER. Elevated and +occupied by S. Martin, Bishop of Tours, A.D. 371-396. On the right- +hand side is the well, on the left the font for immersion. The niches +in the wall are for the holy oils. ] + +But the fact of the transfer of the monastery to the flat land below +the cliff had this effect, that the old caves, the original cradle of +Marmoutier, were neglected and forgotten. They were overgrown by +brambles, crumbled away, and none visited them. + +In 1859 the oratory in which S. Martin had prayed was restored or +rather rebuilt from its foundations. + +One night when Martin was engaged therein in reading the Scriptures, +the door was burst open and in broke a party of masqueraders. They had +disguised themselves as Jupiter, Minerva, and Mercury, and some damsel +devoid of modesty presented herself before the startled modesty of the +bishop without disguise of any sort, as Venus rising from the foam of +the sea. Some were dressed as Wood Druses very much like the devils of +popular fancy. Mercury was a sharp, shrewd wag, and bothered the saint +greatly, as he admitted to Sulpicius, his biographer, but Jupiter was a +"stupid sot." At the rebuke of Martin the whole gang good-humouredly +withdrew. + +I was in this cell on Mid Lent Sunday, when hearing a noise outside, I +looked forth and saw a party of masqueraders frolic and frisk past on +their way to a tavern where was to be a costume ball. So goes the +world. Some fifteen hundred and thirty years ago the Gospel was being +preached in Tours, as it is now, men and women were striving to follow +its precepts as now, and tomfoolery was rampant in Tours fifteen +hundred and thirty years ago as it is now. + +And now, as to the remains in the rock of the primitive Marmoutier. The +grottoes of S. Gatianus and of the disciples of S. Martin have been +cleared out. There is a little arcade of three round-headed unadorned +arches cut in the cliff that served as a cloister, and there is the old +baptistry where Martin admitted his converts into the Christian Church, +sunk in the rock for adult and complete submersion, and the niches in +the wall for the sacred oils. Adjoining is the cave in which the +neophyte unclothed and afterwards reclothed himself. There are graves +sunk in the rock, where some of his disciples were laid, and there is +the chapel partly in the rock and partly rebuilt, dedicated later by +Gregory of Tours to the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, but of which in +after times a different story was told--namely that seven brothers who +had been devoted disciples of Martin prayed him when he was dying that +they might speedily follow, and on the anniversary of his death they +all seven fell asleep. + +There is another cave that escaped destruction at the Revolution, +though opening out of the transept of the church. It is that of the +Penitence of Brice. + +Brice had been adopted as a child by Martin, and brought up by him to +be a monk. But Brice had no liking for the religious life, and was very +disrespectful to his master. One day a sick man came to see Martin and +asked of Brice where the saint was. "The fool is yonder," answered he, +"staring at the sky like an idiot." + +One day Martin rebuked Brice for buying horses and slaves at a high +price, and even providing himself with beautiful young girls. Brice was +furious, and said. "I am a better Christian than you. I have had an +ecclesiastical education from my youth, and you were bred up amidst the +license of a camp." + +On the death of S. Martin, the people of Tours, tired of having a saint +at their head, with proverbial fickleness chose Brice as his successor +because rich--he was said to have been the son of the Count of Nevers-- +and because he was anything but a saint. As bishop he showed little +improvement, and gave great scandal. Lazarus, Bishop of Aix, accused +him before several councils. At last a gross outrage on morals was +attributed to him, and caused his flight. A nun gave birth to a child, +and confessed that she had been seduced by the bishop. Brice either ran +away from Tours or was deposed. A priest named Justinian was elected in +his room. On the death of Justinian, Armentius succeeded him. Brice +remained in exile till the death of Armentius, and then ventured back +to Tours to reclaim his episcopal throne. He was allowed to reascend +it, and he occupied it for seven years; and the cave in which he did +penance for his frailties and the scandal he had caused is intact to +this day. He died, after having been nominally bishop for forty-seven +years, the greater portion of which time he had spent in exile. The +Church of Rome is certainly very charitably disposed in numbering him +among the saints. Why he should be regarded as the patron of wool- +combers one cannot see, [Footnote: The following prayer is recommended +by the Archbishop of Tours to the faithful for use. "Nous vous +supplions, Seigneur, par l'intercession de S. Brice, Evêque et +Confesseur, de conserver votre peuple qui se confie en votre amour; +afin que, par les vertues de notre Saint Pontife, nous méritions de +partager avec lui les joies celestes." The virtues of Brice!] but as +such he enjoyed some popularity. + +There is yet another cave in the Marmoutier rocks that may be +mentioned; it is that of S. Leobard. Leobard was a saint of the sixth +century, a native of Auvergne, who, coming to pray at the tomb of S. +Martin, resolved on spending the rest of his days in one of the cells +of Martin's monastery in the rocks. He settled into an untenanted cave, +which he enlarged, and lived in it for twenty-two years. At the +extremity he dug a deep pit in which he desired to be buried standing +with his face to the East, thus to await the coming of the Lord. But +although his desire was fulfilled, the monks of Marmoutier would not +let his body rest there, but hauled it up, that it might become an +object of devotion to the faithful. + +The Abbey of Brantôme on the Dronne (Dep. Dordogne) was originally, +like Marmoutier, a cavern monastery, and like those of Marmoutier, the +monks waxing fat, they kicked and abandoned the grottoes for a stately +structural monastery. The beautiful Romanesque tower of the church +stands on top of a rock that is honeycombed with their cells. The +church, consisting of nave only, is of marvellous beauty, early +pointed, and built on a curve, as there was but little space to spare +between the river and the cliffs. Unhappily church and cloister were +delivered over to be "restored" by that arch-wrecker, Abbadie, who has +done such incalculable mischief in Perigord and the Angoumois, and his +hoof-mark is visible here. The monks, not content with a sumptuous +Gothic abbey, pulled it down and built one in the baroque style, and +had but just completed it when the Revolution broke out "and the flood +came and swept them all away." In the court behind this modern +structure is to be seen the cliff perforated with caves; it has, +however, been cut back to the detriment of these, so that we have them +shorn of their faces. Nevertheless they are interesting. The old +monolithic chapel of the monastery remains, turned into a pigeonry, and +with the steps left that gave access to the pulpit, and two pieces of +sculpture on a very large scale, cut out of the living rock. One +represents the Crucifixion with SS. Mary and John; the other has been +variously explained as the Last Judgment or the Triumph of Death. It +perhaps represents the Triumph of Christ over Death. His figure and the +kneeling figures of His Mother and the Beloved Disciple were, however, +never completed, and remain in the rough. + +Beneath the figure of Christ is Death, figured by a head surmounted by +a crown of bones, and a crest representing a spectre armed with a club. +On each side is an angel blowing a trumpet. Below are ranged a dozen +heads of popes, bishops, princes, knights, and ladies, in boxes to +represent graves. + +[Illustration: THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST OVER DEATH + +Sculpture in the cave monastery of Brantôme. The figure of Christ was +never completed. Below is a head crowned with bones, for Death, with +Time as crest. Below, in boxes, are the dead, of various degrees.] + +In the front of this huge piece of sculpture are trestles planted in +the ground to support planks to serve as tables when the Brantômois +desire to have a banquet and a dance. + +The sculpture above described is not earlier than the sixteenth +century. A few paces from it, in the same line and almost under the +tower, is another grotto called _La Babayou_--that is to say "of +the statue," and it probably at one time enshrined an image of a saint. +On the left of the subterranean church is the fountain of the little +Cut-throat already mentioned. S. Sicarius, whose relics were the great +"draw" to Brantôme in the Middle Ages, was supposed to have been one of +the Innocents slain by Herod; and the relics were also supposed to have +been given to the abbey by Charlemagne. As there was no historic +evidence that Charles the Great ever had a set of little bones passed +off on him as those of the Innocent, or that he ever made a present to +the abbey of a relic, it will be seen that a good deal of supposition +goes to the story. As I have said before, how it was that the child of +a Hebrew mother acquired a Latin name, and that one so peculiar, we are +not informed. + +Outside the town gate are other large excavations that are supposed to +have formed a temple of Mithras, but this is mere conjecture. The +largest is now employed as a _Tir_--a shooting gallery. That there +were buildings connected with it is seen by the holes in the rock to +receive rafters. + +S. Maximus, Bishop of Riez, who died in 460, was born at Château Redon, +near Digne, and he entered the monastic life on the isle of Lerins, +under S. Honoratus, and when that saint was raised in 426 to the +episcopal throne of Arles, Maximus succeeded him as Abbot of Lerins. +But this monastery was becoming crowded, and Maximus pined for the +solitary life, so one day he took a boat, crossed to the mainland, and +plunged into the wild country about the river Verdon, that has sawn for +itself a chasm through the limestone; where it debouches, he planted +himself at a place since called Moustier-Ste-Marie. The lips of the +crevasse are linked by a chain, with a gilt star hanging in the midst, +little under 690 feet above the bed of the torrent. No one knows when +this star was hung there, but it is supposed to have been an _ex +voto_ of a chevalier, de Blac. Within the ravine, reached by a +narrow goat-path, were caves in the cliffs, and into one of these +Maximus retired in 434 and was speedily followed by other solitaries. +The caves are still there, the faces walled up, but as at Ligugé, and +as at Marmoutier, and as at Brantôme, so was it here. As the monastery +grew rich, the solitaries crawled out of their holes into which the sun +never shone, and erected their residence at the opening of the ravine. +A chapel remains, founded by Charlemagne, but rebuilt in the fourteenth +or fifteenth century, reached by a stair protected by a parapet. + +Moustier was famous at the close of the seventeenth and beginning of +the eighteenth century for its faience, with elegant designs and good +colouring. Specimens are now extremely scarce. Two vases of this ware +may be seen on the altar of the chapel. The principal potters there +were Pierre Fournier, Joseph Olery, Paul Rouse, and Féraud. They +usually signed their work with their initials. Maximus was just a +century later than Martin; the fever for imitating the lives of the +Fathers of the Deserts of Egypt was then in full heat. His master, +Honoratus, had been wont to escape from his island monastery and hide +in a cave in the glowing red porphyry rocks of the Esterelle. I can +understand his retiring thither, above a sea blue as the neck of a +peacock, among glowing red rocks, and masses of pines, and heather, and +arbutus, and every kind of fragrant herb, and where, when only +snowdrops are appearing in England, the spires of white asphodel are +basking in the sun. + +[Illustration: CAVES OF LIGUGÉ + +The primitive rock monastery of S. Martin. It was abandoned later when +the monks moved to the further side of the river; but Felix, a disciple +of S. Martin, remained and died in the cave, now inaccessible, below +the cross.] + +Near Nottingham are the "Popish Holes," close to the river Lene. They +are thus described by Stukeley. "One may easily guess Nottingham to +have been an ancient town of the Britons; as soon as they had proper +tools they fell to work upon the rocks, which everywhere offer +themselves so commodiously to make houses in, and I doubt not first was +a considerable collection of this sort. What is visible at present is +not so old a date as their time, yet I see no reason to doubt but it is +formed upon theirs. There is a ledge of perpendicular rock hewn out +into a church, houses, chambers, dove-houses, &c. The church is like +those in the rocks of Bethlehem and other places in the Holy Land; the +altar is natural rock, and there has been painting upon the wall, a +steeple, I suppose, where a bell hung, and regular pillars. The river +winding about makes a fortification to it, for it comes at both ends of +the cliff, leaving a plain in the middle. The way into it was by a gate +cut out of the rock, and with an oblique entrance for more safety. +Without is a plain with three niches, which I fancy their place of +judicature, or the like. Between this and the castle is a hermitage of +like workmanship." + +These remains pertain to a cell called S. Mary le Rock, a quarter of a +mile west of the Castle, and belonged to Lenton priory. It was +abandoned after the time of Edward IV., and is supposed to have come +down in a perfect form to the time of the Civil War, when it was much +injured by the Puritans as Papists' holes. A good many illustrations +exist of it after the Civil Wars, as a large folding plate in Throsby's +and Thoroton's "History of Nottinghamshire," 1797, but there is none to +show what it was before. + +It possesses a pigeonry much like that at Brantôme, but on a smaller +scale, that wiseacres have pronounced to be a Columbarium, not for +doves, but for the reception of jars containing the ashes of the dead, +and have attributed this dovecote to Roman times. Mr. William Stetton, +a local antiquary, writing in 1806, stated that the excavation +"appeared to have been made in the earliest ages of Christianity, when +the converts resorted for secrecy and security to grottoes or caves, +and similar places of retirement and seclusion. The style is evidently +Roman. The whole interior appears to have been invested with a thin +plastering, or perhaps, only a wash, which has been painted in various +colours in mosaic devices. The altar still remains pretty perfect +notwithstanding the ravages of time and wanton depredation. A Roman +column still adorns the north side of it, but its corresponding one on +the south side has long been destroyed." + +An architect, John Carter, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1860, +stated that the "arrangements of the excavations are monastical; and +we, with much satisfaction, trace out the infirmary, refectory, +dormitory, chapter-house, and the chapel. The latter place gives two +aisles, divided by perforated arches, with headways in the manner of +groins, and at the east end an altar." + +There can be no question now that although the original excavations +were possibly enough Roman-British, the Papists' holes, as we have them +now, are truly, as Mr. Carter says, monastical. + +How absurd old fashioned antiquaries were may be proved by the fact +that the chimney that warmed the monks, and up which went the smoke +from their kitchen, was pronounced to be a _bustum_, a flue +employed for the cremation of the dead. As to the "Roman" column, that +also is mediaeval. + +Curzon, in his "Monasteries of the Levant," 1849, says "the scenery of +Meteora (Mt. Pindus in Albania) is of a very singular kind. The end of +a range of rocky hills seems to have been broken off by some +earthquake, or washed away by the Deluge, leaving only a series of +twenty or thirty tall, thin, smooth, needle-like rocks, many hundred +feet in height; some like gigantic tusks, some shaped like sugar- +loaves, and some like vast stalagmites. These rocks are surrounded by a +beautiful grassy plain, on three sides of which grow groups of detached +trees, like those of an English park. Some of these rocks shoot up +quite clean and perpendicularly from the smooth green grass, some are +in clusters, some stand alone like obelisks. Nothing can be more +strange and wonderful than this romantic region, which is unlike +anything I have ever seen before or since. In Switzerland, Savoy, the +Tyrol, is nothing at all to be compared to these extraordinary peaks. +At the foot of many of these rocks there are numerous caves and holes, +some of which appear to be natural, but most of them are artificial; +for in the dark and wild ages of monastic fanaticism, whole flocks of +hermits roosted in these pigeonholes. Some of these caves are so high +up in the rocks that one wonders how the poor old gentlemen could ever +get up to them, whilst others are below the surface, and the anchorites +who burrowed in them, like rabbits, frequently afforded rare sport to +parties of roving Saracens; indeed, hermit-hunting scenes seem to have +been a fashionable amusement previous to the twelfth century. In early +Greek frescoes and in small stiff pictures with gold backgrounds, we +see many frightful representations of men on horseback in Roman armour, +with long spears, who are torturing and slaying Christian devotees. In +these pictures the monks and hermits are represented in gowns made of a +kind of coarse matting, and they have long beards, and some of them are +covered with hair; these, I take it, were the ones most to be admired, +as in the Greek Church sanctity is always in the inverse ratio to +beauty. All Greek saints are painfully ugly, but the hermits are much +uglier, dirtier, and older than the rest. They must have been very +fusty people beside, eating roots and living in holes like rats and +mice." + +On the summit of these needles of rock are monasteries. Of these there +were twenty-four, but now seven alone remain tenanted by monks. The +sole access to them is by nets let down by ropes and hauled up by a +windlass, or as an alternative in the case of that of S. Barlaam, by a +succession of ladders. + +As an example of a rock monastery and church in Egypt, I may quote the +same author's description of that of Der el Adra, or of the Pully, +situated on the top of Gebel el Ferr, where a precipice about 200 feet +in height rises out of the waters of the Nile. + +The access to it is by a cave or fissure in the rock, the opening being +about the size of the inside of a capacious chimney. "The abbot crept +in at a hole at the bottom, and telling me to observe where he placed +his feet, he began to climb up the cleft with considerable agility. A +few preliminary lessons from a chimney-sweep would have been of the +greatest service to me, but in this branch of art my education had been +neglected, and it was with no small difficulty that I climbed up after +the abbot, whom I saw striding and sprawling in the attitude of a +spread eagle above my head. My slippers soon fell off upon the head of +a man under me. At least twenty men were scrambling and puffing +underneath him. Arms and legs were stretched out in all manner of +attitudes, the forms of the more distant climbers being lost in the +gloom of the narrow cavern up which we were advancing. Thence the climb +proceeded up a path. At the summit beside the monastic habitations was +the church cut out of the rock, to which descent is made by a narrow +flight of steps." + +Mr. Curzon gives a plan of this church as half catacomb or cave, and +one of the earliest Christian buildings which has preserved its +originality. + +The caves of Inkermann in the Crimea have been already alluded to. Here +is a description of a subterranean abandoned monastery and church. + +"Having traversed a passage about fifty feet long, we reached a church, +or rather the remains of one; for a portion of the living rock in which +these works were cut had fallen and carried with it half of this +curious crypt. Its semicircular vaulted roof, and the pillars in its +corners, indicated it to be of Byzantine origin; while a Greek +sculptured cross, in the centre of the roof, told that it was a temple +dedicated to that religion. The altar, and any sculpture which might +have existed near it, are gone, and have long since been burnt into +lime, or built into some work at Sevastopol. Beyond the church we found +a large square apartment, entered by another passage, and looking over +the valley of Inkermann. A few more cells, resembling those on the +stairs, composed the whole of this series of excavated chambers, the +arrangements of which at once proclaimed them to have been a monastery. +These were the cells, the refectory, and the church. There is nothing +in their construction as a work of art; yet there is an absence of that +roughness and simplicity which exist in many caverns of the opposite +mountain, and which indicate their being of a much earlier date than +these." [Footnote: Scott (C. H.), "The Baltic, the Black Sea, and the +Crimea," Lond. 1854, p. 280.] + + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAVE ORACLES + + +Standing upon the pinnacle upon which is planted the marvellous +Romanesque cathedral of Le Puy, and looking north, is seen in the +distance the basaltic mass of Polignac crowned by a lofty donjon. + +That mass of columnar basalt was occupied and held sacred in Roman +times, and was dedicated to Apollo. In the courtyard of the castle is a +well, l'Albime it is called, that descends to the depth of 260 feet, +and there still exists an enormous stone mask of the solar god that +closed it, and from the mouth of which oracles were given. How these +were produced is now made clear. In the side of the well is a chamber +cut out of the rock that concealed a confederate who uttered the +response to the questioner, and the voice came up hollow and with +reverberation betwixt the gaping lips of stone, to overawe and satisfy +the inquirer. + +"Before the old tribes of Hellas created temples to the divinities," +says Porphyry in his treatise 'On the Cave of the Nymphs,' "they +consecrated caverns and grottoes to their service in the island of +Crete to Zeus, in Arcadia to Artemis and Pan, in the isle of Naxos to +Dionysos." + +And from caves issued the most famous Grecian oracles, and the +mysteries were often celebrated in them. The cave in which Zeus as an +infant was concealed on Mount Ida naturally became sacred. Kronos had +received the Kingdom of the World on condition that he should rear no +male children. Accordingly when one was born he ate it. But when Zeus +arrived, his mother gave Kronos a stone to eat in place of the child, +and hurried off the babe to Crete, where it was nourished in a cave by +the Corybantes, who sounded cymbals and drums to drown his cries. + +There was a Charonion at Hierapolis, an account of which we get from +Apulæus and Dio Cassius. It was deep. From the orifice, which was +surrounded by a balustrade, escaped so dense a vapour that animals held +in it died, and men who inhaled it were stupefied. The priests who +ministered to the oracle professed to be immune, but Strabo tells us +that they simply held their breath when they stooped over the fumes. He +who desired to consult the oracle was for a while placed on a platform +above the opening. + +On the flank of Mount Citheron was a cave dedicated to the Nymphs. +Those who desired to inquire of them entered the grotto, when it was +supposed that the Nymphs inspired them with a knowledge of the future; +and such persons were entitled _Nympholeptes_. The corresponding +expression among the Latins was _lymphatici_, expressive of the +pale and exhausted condition in which they were when they issued from +the cave. Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea says: "There are exhalations that +produce drowsiness and procure visions;" and Apulæus says: "Due to the +religious fury they inspire, men remain without eating or drinking, and +some become prophets and reveal future things." + +Apollo was the god of prophecy above all others. He was born at Delos, +according to the poets; and it is there that the Homeric poems say was +one of his most ancient sanctuaries. Thence, doubtless, issued the +twenty famous oracles at the epoch of the colonisation. At Delphi the +priestess was seated on a tripod over a crack in the rock, from which +exhaled mephitic vapours that rendered her delirious, and her +incoherent exclamations were reduced into hexameters by the attendant +priests. But there was also at Delos the Manteion, the prophetic +grotto. This has of late years been discovered along with the +foundations of the temple. The Manteion is a gallery, naturally bored +in the rock. The winds that penetrate it cause strange pipings and +hollow moans, that served as an accompaniment to the oracles. But the +most remarkable of these caverns was that of Trophonios in Beotia. +Pausanius tells us the legend of its origin. The Beotians had suffered +from drought for two years and sent to consult the oracle of Delphi. +The reply received was that they must refer themselves to Trophonios at +home. But who was the party? The Beotians had never heard of him. Then +the oldest of their deputies recalled having once pursued a swarm of +bees and followed it till it disappeared in a cave. That doubtless was +the spot, and there, after the offering of sacrifices, Trophonios +obligingly showed himself, and explained who he was and what were his +powers. Since that time his oracle was much consulted, and happily an +account of how he, or his priests, befooled visitors to the cave has +been given us by Pausanius from his personal experience. + +Those who wished to consult the oracle had first to purify themselves +by spending some days in the sanctuary of the Guardian Spirit and of +Fortune, to abstain from warm baths, but to bathe in the river +Hercynia; they might eat as much as they liked of the meat offered in +sacrifice. "You are conducted during the night to the river, where you +are bathed and rubbed with oil by two boys of the age of thirteen. Then +the priests take possession of you, and you are conducted to two +fountains side by side. You drink of one, that of Oblivion, so as to +disengage your thoughts from what is past, then that of Remembrance, to +assure your recollecting what is about to take place. After having +addressed your prayers to a statue, you go to the oracle, dressed in a +linen tunic girded below the breast, and booted in the fashion of the +country. The oracle is on the mountain above the sacred grove. It is +surrounded by a marble wall, about the height of your waist. On this wall +are planted twigs of copper linked together by copper filaments, and the +gates are in this grating. Within this enclosure is a chasm, not +natural, but excavated with a good deal of art and regularity, in form +like a baker's oven. There is no ladder there for descent into the +cave, and one is brought, that is light and narrow. Once at the bottom +you see on one side, between the ground and the masonry, a hole about +large enough for a man to squeeze through. One lies on the back, and +holding in one hand a honey-cake, thrust the feet in at the opening, +and then work oneself till the legs are in up to the knees. Then, all +at once, the rest of the body is dragged down with force and rapidity, +just as if you were swept forward by an eddy in a river. + +"Once arrived in the secret place, all do not learn the future in the +same manner. Some see what is to befall them unrolled in vision, others +hear it by the ear. Then you ascend by the same opening whereby you +descended, going feet foremost. No one, it is said, has died in the +cave, with the exception of one of the guardsmen of Demetrius, and he +went down, not to consult the god, but in hopes of plundering the +sanctuary of its gold and silver; his carcase, they say, was not +ejected by the orifice that is sacred, but was found in another spot. +On issuing from the cave of Trophonios the priests lay hold of you, and +after having planted you on the seat of Remembrance, question you as to +what you have seen and heard. When you have told them, they hand you +over, overwhelmed with fear, and unrecognisable by yourself and others, +to other ministers who convey you to the edifice dedicated to the Good +Genius and to Fortune." + +Those issuing from the cave for long after remained dejected, pale, and +melancholy. Pausanius says that after a while one who had gone through +the ordeal could laugh; but Suidas tells us that those who returned +from having made the descent never smiled again, and this gave occasion +to a saying relative to a preternaturally grave personage, "He has +consulted the oracle of Trophonios." + +Plutarch gives us some further particulars. The description made by one +of the characters he introduces speaks of visions caught by inhaling a +stupefying gas. Under its influence hallucinations were produced in +which Trophonios himself was thought to appear, and the tortures of +Tartarus were revealed. On emerging from the cave into fresh air, the +questioner fell into fits of delirium, and thought he still saw strange +visions. In the biography of Apollonios of Tyana, Philostratus tells us +that the sage and wonder-worker was very desirous to penetrate into the +cave, but that the priest raised objections and made difficulties, till +at last his patience failed and he entered by main force and remained +within seven days. So much in this semi-fictitious biography is true +perhaps--that this hero did force his way in. It is also true that he +had sufficient discretion not to tell what he had discovered of the +tricks there perpetrated. + +There was another of these caves at Acharaca, near Nysa, on the road to +Tralles. The gas there exhaled had a medical healing virtue, and also +gave occasion to the delivery of oracles. Persons suffering from an +illness and placing confidence in the power of the gods, travelled +thither and stayed some time with the priests, who lived near the cave. +Those ministers of the gods then entered the cavern and spent a night +in it. After that they prescribed to their patients the remedies +revealed to them in their dreams. Often, however, they took their +patients along with them into the cave, where they were expected to +remain for several days fasting and falling into prophetic sleep. + +About four centuries before the Christian era, there existed at Rome a +temple dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, by the Tarquins, and beneath +it was a subterranean chamber in which were preserved a collection of +ancient oracles, the keeping of which was confided to his officers, the +duumviri, and the penalty of death attached to the divulgation +unlicensed, of their contents. + +According to the legend, a strange woman, the sibyl of Cumæ, brought to +Tarquin the old nine books of oracles, and demanded for them three +hundred pieces of gold. The king considered the price exorbitant, +scoffed at the woman, and refused to buy. Thereupon the sibyl cast +three of the volumes into the fire, and demanded the same sum precisely +for the remaining six. Tarquin again declined to purchase. She then +burnt three more, but still required for the remainder the original +price. The king now thought that he had acted unwisely, and hastened to +conclude the bargain and secure the oracles that contained prophecies +relative to the destiny of the Roman people. + +The oracles were written on palm-leaves in Greek, and with various +signs and hieroglyphs, and the volumes were bundles of these leaves +tied together. + +In the year 671 of Rome, eighteen years before the Christian era, the +old Temple of Jupiter, built by the Tarquins, was destroyed by fire, +and with it perished the Books of Destiny. Six years after the temple +was rebuilt, and an attempt was made to recover the Sibylline oracles, +by sending throughout Italy for oracles reported to be Sibylline. The +deputies sent brought back from Erythæa a thousand verses, but the +collection rapidly increased in such quantities that Augustus ordered +them to be examined, and such as proved to be worthless he burnt. After +a second sifting, those that remained were put into two golden coffers +and placed under the pedestal of the statue of the Palatine Apollo. + +As is well known, there were in circulation a number of forged +Sibylline oracles; some of these were the product of the Jewish +Therapeutæ, others of Christians. In his hatred of Christianity, the +Emperor Julian ordered search to be made for these fictitious oracular +books, that they might be destroyed. In 363 the Temple of the Palatine +Apollo caught fire and was destroyed. The Christians charged Julian +with having caused the fire so as to get rid of the Sibylline oracles +hid under the statue of Apollo. But these had not been injured; the +gold boxes in which they were, were opened, and to their confusion the +Christians found that the oracles contained no prophecies concerning +Christ, only _sortes_ celebrating the gods Zeus, Aphrodite, Hera, +&c. + +The accusation brought by the Christians against Julian recoiled upon +them, for it was they who, later, by the hands of Stilicho, destroyed +the collection. The order for the destruction was given by two +Christian emperors, Honorius and Arcadius, on the plea that these +oracles favoured and encouraged paganism. + +Saul, it will be remembered went to consult a witch in the cave of +Endor, where she conjured up before him the spirit of Samuel. + +Isaiah rebukes the Jews for "lodging in the monuments," doubtless to +obtain oracles from the dead, to raise up the ghosts of the deceased, +and exhort from them prophecies as to the future. As already pointed +out, the dead and the pagan gods were one and the same. To consult a +deity was to consult a hero or an ancestor of a former age. + +There is a curious story in an Icelandic Saga of a shepherd, named +Hallbjörn, on a farm where was a huge cairn over the dead scald or poet +Thorleif. The shepherd, whilst engaged on his guard over his master's +flock, was wont to lie on the ground and sleep there. On one occasion +he saw the cairn open and the dead man come forth, and Thorleif +promised to endow him with the gift of poetry if he would compose his +first lay in his, the dead man's praise. And he further promised that +Hallbjörn should become a famous scald and sing the praises of great +chieftains. Thereupon the tenant of the tomb retired within again, and +the shepherd on waking found himself endowed with poetic gift, and he +sang a lay in honour of Thorleif. "And he became a famous scald, and +went abroad, and sang songs in honour of many great men, and obtained +high honour, and good gifts, and became very wealthy." [Footnote: +Fornmavma Sögur, Copenh. 1827, iii. pp. 102-3.] + +It will be remembered that Saul's interview was with the ghostly Samuel +through the intervention of the witch. And there are many stories of +living men endeavouring to obtain knowledge of the future through +invocation of the spirits of the dead. Indeed spiritualists at the +present day carry on the same business. + +One thing that conduced to the belief that certain caves were inhabited +by gods and spirits, was that strange sounds at times issued from them. +These were caused by currents of air entering some of the apertures and +vibrating through the passages, provoking notes as if these galleries +were organ pipes. This is the explanation of the Æolian cavern of +Terni, supposed to be the abode of spirits; and a cave near Eisenach +was long reported to be an entrance to hell, because of the moans and +sighs that were heard issuing from it. + +The echo also was quite inexplicable to the ignorant, and was assumed +to be the voice of some spirit or mountain gnome living in the heart of +the rock, to whose habitation a cave gave access. + +An abandoned mine with a pool at the bottom, on Dartmoor, is thought to +be the abode of a spirit whose wails may be heard when the wind blows, +and whence a voice issues calling out the name of that person who is +next doomed to die in the parish of Walkhampton. + +The most remarkable representative in the Middle Ages of the cave of +Trophonios was that in Lough Derg in Ireland, the purgatory of S. +Patrick as it was called. The origin is obscure, but it sprang into +notoriety through the publication by a monk, Henry of Saltrey, of the +descent of a knight Owain into it. Owain had been in the service of +King Stephen, and he made his descent in the year 1153. Whether there +ever were such a person as the knight Owain, or whether he was a mere +invention of Henry of Saltrey is uncertain. Saltrey's account is +precise as to the various stages through which Owain passed, and it is +a vulgar rendering of the common stories of visits to purgatory, of +which Dante's is the highest and most poetical version. + +Lough Derg is among the dreary and barren mountains and moorlands in +the south of the County of Donegal; in it is an island, with ribbed and +curiously shaped rocks, and among these was supposed to be the entrance +to purgatory. + +Giraldus Cambrensis, who wrote his "Topography of Ireland" in 1187, +mentions the island in Lough Derg as among the wonders of Ireland. +[Footnote: But there is no mention of it among the wonders of Ireland +in the Irish Nennius.] It was, he says, divided into two parts, of +which one was fair and pleasant, while the other part was wild and +rough, and believed to be inhabited only by demons. In this part of the +island, he adds, there were nine pits, in any one of which, if a person +was bold enough to pass the night, he would be so much tormented by the +demons that it was a chance if he were found alive in the morning; and +it was reported that he who escaped alive would, from the anguish he +suffered there, be relieved from the torments of the other world. +Giraldus continues by telling us that the natives called the place +Patrick's purgatory, and that it was said that the saint had obtained +from God this public manifestation of the punishments and rewards of +the other world, in order to convince his incredulous hearers. + +Numerous visitors to Lough Derg in the Middle Ages published the +narrative of what they had there seen and undergone, and rivalled each +other in the extravagance of their accounts. There was a monastery on +Lough Derg, and the monks had the key to the entrance to the cavern, +but no visitor was suffered to pass within without the consent of the +bishop of the diocese, and the payment of a heavy fee. Among all the +extravagance that was written by visitors about the purgatory, some +retained their common sense, and perceived that there was either fraud +or hallucination in the visions there supposed to be seen. + +Froissart gives an account of a conversation he had with Sir William +Lisle on this subject: "On the Friday in the morning we rode out +together, and on the road I asked him if he had accompanied the King in +his expedition to Ireland. He said he had. I then asked him if there +was any foundation of truth in what was said of S. Patrick's Hole. He +replied that there was, and that he and another knight had been there. +They entered it at sunset, remained there the whole night, and came out +at sunrise the next morning. I requested him to tell me whether he saw +all the marvellous things that are said to be seen there. He made me +the following answer: 'When I and my companion had passed the entrance +of the cave, called the purgatory of S. Patrick, we descended three or +four steps (for you go down into it as into a cellar), but found our +heads so much affected by the heat that we seated ourselves on the +steps, which are of stone, and such a drowsiness came on that we slept +there the whole night.' I asked if, when asleep, they knew where they +were, and what visions they had. He replied that they had many and +strange dreams, and they seemed, as they imagined, to see more than +they would have done had they been in their beds. This they were both +assured of. 'When morning came and we were awake, the door of the cave +was opened, and we came out, but instantly lost all recollection of +everything we had seen, and looked on the whole as a phantasm.'" + +It is apparent from this that the wild descriptions given by others +were merely an account of their dreams or hallucinations; in many cases +purely imaginary accounts, given for the sake of creating a sensation. +I do not suppose that the monks of Lough Derg devised any scenic +effects, but left the imagination of the dupes to riot of its own +accord unassisted. In the fifteenth century a monk of Eymstadt, in +Holland, undertook the pilgrimage to Lough Derg. He arrived at the +lake, and applied to the prior for admission, who referred him to the +bishop of the diocese. The monk then repaired to him, but as he was +"poor and moneyless," the servants refused to admit him into their +master's presence. Having, however, with difficulty obtained an +audience, he begged humbly to be suffered to visit S. Patrick's +purgatory. The Bishop of Clogher demanded a certain sum of money, +which, he said, was due to him from every pilgrim who came on this +errand. The monk represented his poverty, and after much urgent +solicitation, the bishop grudgingly gave him the necessary licence. He +then went to the prior, performed the usual ceremonies, and was shut up +in the cavern. There he remained all night, in constant expectation of +seeing something dreadful; but when the prior let him out next morning +he had to admit that he had seen no vision of any sort. Thoroughly +dissatisfied with his experiences, he went direct to Rome, and reported +what he thought of S. Patrick's purgatory to Pope Alexander VI. The +Pope was convinced that the whole thing was a fraud, and ordered the +destruction of the purgatory. It was the eve of the Reformation; +mistrust of miracles was rife, and the Pope was anxious to suppress one +that when investigated might prove a scandal. + +The purgatory was accordingly suppressed, the cave closed, but not +destroyed, and no pilgrims admitted to it; this was in 1497. The +closing of the cave did not, however, interfere with the pilgrimage, +and the Archbishop of Armagh in 1503 urged on Pope Pius III. to +withdraw the prohibition. This was done, and profuse indulgences were +offered to such as revisited the cave or at all events took part in the +Lough Derg pilgrimage. On 12th September 1632, Sir James Balfour and +Sir William Stewart, carrying out the orders of the Government, seized +"for her Majesty's use and benefit the Island of the Purgatory," and +unroofed and otherwise destroyed the monastic buildings there. But +superstition is not to be killed by Acts of Parliament. By a statute of +the second year of Queen Anne all pilgrimages to S. Patrick's purgatory +were decreed to be "riotous and unlawful assemblies," and were made +punishable as such; and resort to the purgatory had become more +frequent owing to Clement X. having granted a Plenary Indulgence to +such as visited it. Since then these Indulgences have been repeatedly +renewed. At present the pilgrimages are again in full swing, and there +is a prior on the island, a hospice for the reception of the visitors, +and a chapel of S. Patrick and another of S. Mary. "Between the two +churches the space is taken up with the Campanile and Penitential beds. +There are five of these beds, and they are dedicated to SS. Dabeoc, +Columba, Catherine, Brendan, and Bridget. They are circular in form, +measuring, with the exception of S. Columba's, about ten feet in +diameter. S. Columba's is about twice the size of the others. They are +surrounded with walls, varying in height from one to two feet and each +of them is entered by a narrow gap or doorway." [Footnote: "Lough +Derg," by Rev. J. E. McKenna, Dublin, n.d.] + +It would seem then that the old superstitious practices are being +reverted to as nearly as the spirit of the times will allow, and the +destruction of the cave itself will admit. + +It is perhaps needless to add that there is no historical evidence for +the apostle of Ireland having ever been at Lough Derg. Derg is probably +a mistake for Deirg, and Lough Deirg would mean the Lake of the Cave. +Gough, in his additions to Camden, thus described the purgatory: "It +was about sixteen feet and a half long, by two feet one inch wide, +built of freestone, covered with broad flags and green turf laid over +them, and was so low and narrow that a tall man could hardly sit, much +less stand in it. In the side was a window just wide enough to admit a +faint ray of light; in the floor a cavity capable of containing a man +at his length, and under a large stone at the end of the pavement a +deep pit; the bottom of the cave was originally much below the surface +of the ground. It stood on the east side of the church, in the +churchyard, encompassed with a wall, and surrounded by circles or +cells, called the beds, scarcely three feet high, denominated from +several saints. The penitents who visited the island, after fasting on +bread and water for nine days and making processions round these holy +stations thrice a day barefoot, for the first seven days, and six times +on the eighth, washing their weary limbs each night in the lake, on the +ninth enter the cave. Here they observe a twenty-four hours fast, +tasting only a little water, and upon quitting it bathe in the lake, +and so conclude the ceremony. + +"Leave being first obtained of the bishop, the prior represented to the +penitents all the horror and difficulty of the undertaking, suggesting +to them at the same time an easier penance. If they persevered in their +resolution, they were conducted to the door with a procession from the +convent, and after twenty-four hours confinement let out next morning +with the like ceremony." [Footnote: "St. Patrick's Purgatory," by +Thomas Wright, London, 1844. _Analecta Bollandiana,_ t. xxvii. +(1908). O'Connor, "St. Patrick's Purgatory," Dublin, 1895. MacRitchie, +"A Note on St. Patrick's Purgatory," in the Journal of the Roy. Soc. of +Ant. of Ireland, 1901.] + +As may well be supposed, after the long preliminaries and the heavy +fees paid, the penitents could hardly, unless unusually strong-minded +like the Dutch monk, declare roundly that they had seen nothing. I do +not suppose, as already said, that there was any fraud deliberately +enacted, personages dressing up as devils and angels, but that the +visitor's own dreams, and his vanity or lively imagination were left to +propagate the story of the marvels to be seen and heard in Lough Derg. + +But wonderful caves, entrances to a mysterious underworld, are common +in all countries. A story is told of Friar Conrad, the Confessor of S. +Elizabeth of Thuringia, a barbarous, brutal man, who was sent into +Germany by Gregory IX. to burn and butcher heretics. The Pope called +him his "dilectus filius." In 1231 he was engaged in controversy with a +heretical teacher, who, beaten in argument, according to Conrad's +account, offered to show him Christ and the Blessed Virgin, who with +their own mouths would ratify the doctrine taught by the heretic. To +this Conrad submitted, and was led into a cave in the mountains. After +a long descent they entered a hall brilliantly illumined, in which sat +a King on a golden throne and by him the Queen Mother. The heretic +prostrated himself in adoration, and bade Conrad do the same. But the +latter drew forth a consecrated host and adjured the vision, whereupon +all vanished. + +The German stories of the mountain of Venus, in which the Tannhäuser +remains, or of Frederick Barbarossa, in the Unterberg, or the Welsh +stories of King Arthur in the heart of the mountain, seen occasionally, +or the Danish fables of Holger Dansk in the vaults under the +Kronnenburg, all refer to the generally spread belief in an underworld +inhabited by spirits. + +In the year 1529 died Lazarus Aigner of Bergheim, near Salzburg, a poor +man. At his death he handed over to his son a MS. account of a descent +he had made into the underworld in 1484, and this was at once published +and created a considerable sensation. + +According to his account, in the year just mentioned, he was on the +Unterberg with his master, the parish priest, Elbenberger, and another, +when they visited a chapel on the rock, above the entrance to which +were cut the letters S.O.R.G.E.I.S.A.T.O.M., out of which they could +make nothing. + +On returning home the priest observed that he wished that Lazarus would +revisit the place, and make sure that the inscription had been +accurately copied. Accordingly, next day, Aigner reascended the +mountain and found the chapel again. But he had started late, having +his ordinary work to do before he had leisure to go, and the evening +was darkening in. As the way led by precipices, he deemed it +inadvisable to retrace his steps that night, and so laid himself down +to sleep. Next morning, Thursday, he woke refreshed, but to his +amazement saw standing before him an aged barefooted friar, who asked +him whence he came and what had brought him there. To this Lazarus +Aigner answered truthfully. Then the hermit said to him, "I will +explain to you what is the signification of these letters, and will +show you something in vision." + +Then the barefooted friar led him into a chasm, and unlocked an iron +door in the rock, by means of which Lazarus was admitted into the heart +of the mountain. There he saw a huge hall out of which went seven +passages that led to the cathedral of Salzburg, the church of +Reichenhall, Feldkirch in Tirol, Gemund, Seekirchen, S. Maximilien, S. +Michael, Hall, St. Zeno, Traunstein, S. Dionysius and S. Bartholmæ on +the Konigsee. Here also Aigner saw divine worship conducted by dead +monks and canons, and with the attendance of countless dead of all +times in strange old-world costumes. He recognised many whom he had +known when alive. Then he was shown the library, and given the +interpretation of the mysterious letters, but as it was in Latin, +Aigner forgot it. After seven days and as many nights spent in the +underground world, he returned to daylight, and as the hermit parted +with him he solemnly bade him reserve the publication of what he had +seen and heard till the expiration of thirty-five years, when times of +distress and searchings of heart would come, and then the account of +his vision might be of profit. And exactly at the end of the thirty- +five years Lazarus Aigner died. There can be little doubt that, if the +whole was not a clumsy fabrication, it was the record of a dream he had +when sleeping, on the mountain outside the chapel of the Unterberg. + +Roderic, the last of the Goths, has been laid hold of by legend and by +poetry. Southey wrote his poem on the theme, and Scott his "Vision of +Don Roderic," an odd blunder in the title, as _don_ was not used +prior to the ninth century. Roderic ascended the throne of the Goths in +Spain in 709. According to the legend he seduced the daughter of +Julian, Count of the Gothic possessions in Africa. She complained to +her father, and he in revenge invited the Moors, whom he had hitherto +valiantly opposed, to aid him in casting Roderic from his throne, the +issue of which was the defeat and death of Roderic, and the occupation +of nearly the whole peninsula by the Moors. At Toledo is a cave with a +tower at its entrance formerly dedicated to Hercules, and tradition +said that he who entered would learn the future fate of Spain. The cave +still exists. The entrance lies near San Ginos; it was opened in 1546 +by Archbishop Siliceo, but has never since, according to Forbes, been +properly investigated. The story went that in spite of the entreaties +of the prelate and some of his great men, Roderic burst open the iron +door, and descended into the cave, where he found a bronze statue with +a battle-axe in its hands. With this it struck the floor repeatedly, +making the hall reverberate with the sound of the blows. Then Roderic +read on the wall the inscription, "Unfortunate king, thou hast entered +here in evil hour." On the right side of the wall were the words, "By +strange nations thou shalt be dispossessed and thy subjects departed." +On the shoulders of the statue were written the words, "I summon the +Arabs," and on its breast, "I do mine office." The king left the cave +sorrowful, and the same night an earthquake wrecked the tower and +buried the entrance to the cave. + +Evidently Shakespeare had this story in his mind when he wrote the +scene of the descent of Macbeth into the cave of Hekate. + +Although the oracles had ceased to speak in the pagan temples and +caves, yet the desire remained to question the spirits and to inquire +into the future, and for this purpose throughout the Middle Ages either +wizards were had recourse to that a look might be taken in their magic +mirrors, or else the churches were resorted to and the sacred text +received as the response of God to some question put by the inquirer. +When Chramm revolted against his father Clothair, he approached Dijon, +when, says Gregory of Tours, the priests of the cathedral having placed +three books on the altar, to wit the Prophets, the Acts of the +Apostles, and the Gospels, they prayed God to announce to them what +would befall Chramm, and by His power reveal whether he would be +successful and come to the throne, and they received the reply as each +opened the book. + +Gregory also says that Meroveus, flying before the wrath of his father +Chilperic, placed three books on the tomb of S. Martin at Tours, the +Psalter, the Book of Kings, and the Gospels; he kept vigil all night, +and passed three days fasting. But when he opened the books at random, +the responses were so alarming that he despaired, and left the +sepulchre in tears. [Footnote: For many more instances see Lalanne +(L.), _Curiosités des Traditions_, Paris, 1847.] + +The councils sought to put an end to this superstition. The sixteenth +canon of the Council of Vannes, held in 465, forbade clerks, under pain +of excommunication, to consult these _sortes sacræ_, as they were +called. This prohibition was extended to the laity by the Council of +Agde in 506, and by that of Orleans in 511. It was renewed repeatedly, +as, for instance, in the Council of Auxerre in 595, by a capitulary of +Charlemagne in 789, and by the Council of Selingstadt in 1022, but +always in vain. If inquirers might not seek for answers in the +churches, at the tombs of the Saints, they would seek them in the dens +of necromancers. In spite of this condemnation, consultation of the +divine oracles even formed a portion of the liturgy; and at the +consecration of a bishop, at the moment when the Book of the Gospels +was placed on his head, the volume was opened, and the first verse at +the head of the page was regarded as a prognostication of the character +of his episcopate. There are numerous accounts of such presages in the +chronicles. Guibert of Nogent relates, for instance, that when Landric, +elected Bishop of Noyon, was receiving episcopal unction, the text of +the Gospel foreshadowed evil--"A sword shall pierce through thine own +soul also." After having committed several crimes, he was assassinated. +He had, as his successor, the Dean of Orleans; the new bishop on being +presented for consecration, there was sought, in the Gospel, for a +prognostication concerning him, but the page proved a blank. It was as +though God had said, "With regard to this man I have nothing to say." +And in fact he died a few months later. + +The same usage was practised in the Greek Church. At the consecration +of Athanasius, nominated to the patriarchate of Constantinople by +Constantine Porphyrogenetos, "Caracalla, Bishop of Nicomedia, having +brought forward the Gospel," says the Byzantine historian Pachymeros, +"the people were alert to learn the oracle of the opening of the +volume. The Bishop of Nicomedia having perceived that the leading words +were 'prepared for the devil and his angels,' groaned in his heart, and +covering the passage with his hand, turned the leaves and opened at +these words, 'and the birds of the air lodged in the branches of it,' +which seemed to have no connection with the ceremony. All that could be +was done to conceal the oracles, but it was found impossible to cover +up the fact. It was said that these passages condemned the +consecration, but they were not the effect of chance, because there is +no such thing as chance in the celebration of the divine mysteries." +When Clovis was about to attack the Visigoths and drive them out of +Aquitaine, he sent to inquire of the oracles of God at the tomb of S. +Martin. His envoys arrived bearing rich presents, and on entering the +church they heard the chanter recite the words of the psalm, "Thou hast +girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou shalt throw down mine +enemies under me. Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn their backs +upon me: and I shall destroy them that hate me" (Ps. xviii. 39, 40). +They returned with joy to the king, and the event justified the oracle. + +I might fill pages with illustrations, but as these have no immediate +reference to cave oracles, I will quote no more. It is obvious that +recourse to churches and the tombs of the saints had taken the place of +inquiries at the temples of the gods, and the grottoes dedicated to +Fawns and Nymphs. So also it was by no means uncommon for recourse to +be had to churches in which to sleep so as to obtain an oracle as to +healing, as it had been customary for the same purpose to seek pagan +temples. This was called _Incubation_. + +The dreams produced were often the result of inhaling a gas that +escaped in some of the caves, or through fissures in the floors of the +temples. At Hierapolis in Phrygia was a cavern of Cybele. At the close +of the fifth century, when the temple of the goddess had been +completely abandoned through the interdiction of paganism, the +philosopher Damascius, who had remained faithful to the old beliefs of +his country, descended, along with a companion, into the Charonion in +spite of the danger attending it, or was supposed to exist. He came +forth safe and sound, according to his own account, but hardly had he +reached his home before he dreamt that he had become Attys, the lover +of Cybele, and that he assisted at a festival held in his honour. There +were other such caves. In the visions seen by those sleeping in them, +the divinities of healing appeared and prescribed the remedies to be +taken by those who consulted them. Pilgrimages to these resorts-- +temples and caves of Æsculapius, Isis, and Serapis, were common events. +Those who desired to consult Serapis slept in his temple at Canope. +When Alexander was sick of the malady whereof he died, his friends went +thither to learn if any cure were possible. "Those who go to inquire in +dream of the goddess Isis," says Diodorus Siculus, "recover their +health beyond expectation. Many have been healed of whom the physicians +despaired." The temples were hung with ex-votos. At Lebedes, in Lydia, +the sick went to pass the night in the temple of the Soteri, who +appeared to them in dreams. It was the same in a temple in Sardinia. So +also in one of Ino in Laconia. In the Cheronese, the goddess Hemithæa +worked the same miracles as did Isis. She appeared in dream to the +infirm and prescribed the manner in which they might be healed. In the +Charonion of Nyssa it was the priest who consulted the gods in dream. +In the temple of Æsculapius near Citheræa, a bed was always ready for +incubation. Christianity could not uproot so deeply founded +superstitious convictions and practices. + +The Emperor Constantine consecrated to the archangel Michael two +churches near Byzantium, one was at Anaplous, on the Bosphorus, the +other on the opposite shore at Brochoi. This second church replaced a +temple that had, according to tradition, been founded by the Argonauts, +and was called the Sosthenion. According to John Malala, Constantine +slept in the temple and asked that he might be instructed in dream to +whom the church which was to replace it should be dedicated. Great +numbers from Byzantium and the country round had resort to these +churches to seek the guidance of the archangel in their difficulties +and a cure when sick. Sozomen, the ecclesiastical historian, relates an +instance of a cure effected in one of the churches of S. Michael. +Aquilinus, a celebrated lawyer, was ill with jaundice. "Being half +dead, he ordered his servants to carry him to the church, in hopes of +being cured there or dying there. When in it, God appeared to him in +the night and bade him drink a mixture of honey, wine and pepper. He +was cured, although the doctors thought the potion too hot for a malady +of the bile. I heard also that Probian, physician of the Court, was +also cured at the Michaelon by an extraordinary vision, of pains he +endured in his feet." "Not being able to record all the miracles in +this church, I have selected only these two out of many." [Footnote: +_Hist. Eccles._, ii. 3; see for many illustrations Maury (A.), +_La Magic_, Paris, 1860. Part II., chap. i.] + +That which took place at the Michaelons on the Bosphorus occurred +elsewhere, in churches dedicated to SS. Cosmas and Damian. At Ægae in +Cilicia was a shrine of Æsculapius, and incubation was practised in his +temple. It afterwards became a church of Cosmas and Damian, and the +same practices continued after the rededication. The chain of +superstitious practices continued after the change in religion without +any alteration. In the church of S. Hilaire in France is to be seen the +saint's bed, "to which they carry insane persons, and after certain +prayers and religious rites, they lay them to sleep in the bed, and +they recover." [Footnote: _Jodocus Sincerus, Itin. Galliae, +1617._] + +In my "Book of South Wales" I have shown that the same usage continued +as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century in the church of +Christchurch near Caerleon, on the gravestone of one John Colmer, and +have reproduced a print of 1805, representing a man lying there to get +cured. + +We have accordingly a series of customs beginning in caves dedicated to +heathen deities, transferred to their temples, then to churches under +the invocation of Christian saints and of angels. + +One might well have supposed that with the advance of education, there +would have been an end to all cave oracles and grotto apparitions. But +not so--there is a special mystery in a cave that stimulates the +imagination, and the final phase of this tendency is the apparition at +Lourdes, and the consecration of the grotto. The vision at Le Salette +has not retained its hold on the superstitious, because it was on an +alp, but that of Lourdes being in a cave, roused religious enthusiasm +to the highest pitch. That the supposed apparition talked nonsense made +the whole the more delightfully mysterious. + +"Yonder, beneath the ivy which drapes the rock, the grotto opens," +writes Zola, "with its eternally flaming candles. From a distance it +looks rather squat and misshapen, a very narrow and humble aperture for +the breath of the Infinite which issued from it. The statue of the +Virgin has become a mere speck, which seems to move in the quiver of +the atmosphere heated by the little yellow flames. To see anything it +is necessary to raise oneself; for the silver altar, the harmonium, the +heaps of bouquets thrown there, the votive offerings streaking the +smoky walls, are scarcely distinguishable from behind the railing." + +The floor of the grotto is scarcely raised above the level of the river +Gave, which has had to be thrust back to make room for a passage to the +mouth of the cavern. The whole story of the apparition of the Virgin +there rests on the unsupported assertion of an hysterical scrofulous +peasant girl. But who can say that the cult of sacred grottoes is a +thing of the past when tens of thousands of pilgrims visit Lourdes +annually, and believe in the story that confers sanctity on it! + +[Illustration: KYNASTON'S CAVE. Interior. On the right is Kynaston's +chamber, on the left is the stable of his horse. The lettering and date +cut in the pier were made subsequent to his death.] + +[Illustration: NESS CLIFF. Cave occupied by Humphrey Kynaston the +outlaw, with his horse. In the interior is the stable as well as +Kynaston's own cell.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ROBBERS' DENS + + +The name of the outlaw, Humphrey Kynaston, who, with his horse, lived +in the face of a precipice, is not likely speedily to be forgotten in +Shropshire; his exploits are still matter of tradition, and the scenes +of his adventures are yet pointed out. + +Humphrey was the son of Sir Roger Kynaston, of Hordley, near Ellesmere. +The family derived from Wales and from the princes of Powys. Their arms +were argent, a lion rampant sable. + +Sir Roger Kynaston had zealously embraced the side of the York faction. +King Henry VI. had attempted to make peace by holding a conference in +London, when the Lord Mayor at the head of five thousand armed citizens +kept peace between the rival parties. Henry proposed an agreement, +which was accepted, and then the King, with representatives of both +sides, went in solemn procession to S. Paul's. To the great joy of the +spectators, the Yorkist and Lancastrian leaders walked before him arm +in arm, Richard, Duke of York, leading by the hand the queen, the real +head of her husband's party. + +But the pacification had been superficial. The Yorkists were determined +to win the crown from the feeble head of Henry. At their head was the +Earl of Warwick, and the King had hoped to get him out of the way by +making him Governor of Calais. But strife broke out again six months +after the apparent reconciliation at S. Paul's. The Earl of Salisbury +was the first to move; but he had no sooner put himself in march from +Yorkshire to join the Duke of York at Ludlow, than Lord Audley, with +7000 men, attempted to intercept him. They met at Blore Heath, in +Staffordshire. Audley was drawn into a snare, and slain by Sir Roger +Kynaston with his own hand; along with him fell 2000 of his followers. +Thenceforth the Kynastons assumed, not only the Audley arms and the +motto, "Blore Heath," but the rising sun of York as their crest. + +Wild Humphrey was the son of Sir Roger Kynaston, by his wife the Lady +Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Gray, Earl of Tankerville, and Lord of +Powys. He was the second son, and not expecting to succeed to the +family estates, was given the constableship of the castle of Middle, +which had at one time belonged to the Lords le Strange, but which had +lapsed to the Crown. + +He sadly neglected his duties, and allowed the castle to fall into +disrepair, almost into ruin. This was not altogether his own fault. The +castle was of importance as guarding the marches against the Welsh, +always ready, at the least provocation, to make raids into England. The +office of constable was honorary rather than remunerative, a poor +recompense for the services rendered by Sir Roger to the Yorkist cause. +Humphrey was expected to keep up the castle out of his own resources, +and he was without private means. It was true that with the accession +of the House of Tudor, danger from the Welsh was less imminent: but +Henry VII. was a parsimonious monarch, careful mainly to recover for +the exchequer the sums of which it had been depleted in the Wars of the +Roses. + +As Humphrey was short of money, he took to robbery. The Wars of the +Roses had produced anarchy in the land, and every man's hand was +against his fellow, if that fellow had something of which he might be +despoiled. + +The story is told that one day Wild Humphrey rode to the manor-house of +the Lloyds of Aston, and requested a draught of wine. With ready +hospitality a silver beaker was brought forth swimming with the juice +of the grape. Humphrey, who was mounted, drained it to the last drop, +then, striking spurs into his horse, galloped away, carrying the silver +vessel with him. As has been said of Robin Hood, so it was told of the +Shropshire freebooter, that he robbed the rich and befriended the poor. +On one occasion he stopped the steward of a gentleman and plundered him +of the rents just received. The Lord of the Manor sent him a message +that he had been a forbearing landlord, but now he absolutely must put +the screw upon his tenants to make up for his loss. Kynaston at once +waylaid another gentleman's steward, and paid the first back to the +last penny with the proceeds of the second robbery. + +His depredations at length became so intolerable that he was outlawed +in the eighth year of Henry VII. As this year began on the 22nd August +1490, and did not end till the 21st of August 1491, it is not quite +certain in which year of our reckoning he was placed under ban. + +He was now obliged to fly from the dilapidated castle of Middle, and +seek himself out a place of refuge. This he found or made for himself +in the face of the cliff of Ness. + +This is a hill of new red sandstone, near Bass Church, that forms an +abrupt scarp towards the south. The top commands a superb view of the +Shropshire plain, with the Breiden Hills rising out of them, and the +Long Mynd to the south. The western horizon is walled up by the Welsh +mountains. Formerly the head and slopes of Ness Cliff were open down, +but have been enclosed and planted of late years by Earl Brownlow, so +that it is not easy to realise what the appearance was when Wild +Humphrey took up his abode in the rock. + +In the cliff, that is reached by a rapid ascent, and which rises above +the slope some 70 feet, he cut a flight of steps in the side of a +buttress that projects, till he reached the main face of the crag, +about half-way up. Then he scooped out a doorway, next excavated two +chambers, one to serve as a stable for his horse, the other for a +habitation for himself. In the latter he formed a hearth, and bored a +hole upwards in a slanting direction, till he reached daylight, and +this served as chimney. Beside his door he cut a circular orifice to +act as window. The doorway was closed by a stout door sustained in +place by a massive bar, the socket holes to receive which remain. + +In the pier between the stable and his own apartment, he cut two +recesses, probably to receive a lamp. Between these a later hand has +engraved the initials H.K., and the date 1564. As Humphrey died in +1534, this was, of course, none of his doing. + +At the foot of the cliff near the first step is a trough or manger cut +in the living rock, apparently to receive water, but as no water exudes +from the rock, it must have served for the oats or other corn given to +his horse. It is traditionally said that Wild Humphrey's horse pastured +in proximity to the Ness. When Humphrey saw danger, and when the shades +of evening fell, he whistled; whereupon the beast ran like a cat up the +narrow steps in the face of the rock, and entered its stable. Once +there, Kynaston was master of the situation, for only one man at a time +could mount the stair, and this was commanded by his window, through +which with a pike he could transfix or throw down an intruder. + +Where now stands the National School at the foot of the hill was at +that time a meadow, to the grass of which his horse was partial. + +The farmer to whom the meadow belonged naturally enough objected, and +collected a number of men who linked themselves together with ropes and +surrounded the field. The horse took no notice but continued browsing. +The ring gradually contracted on him. Kynaston saw the proceeding from +his eyrie, and uttered a shrill whistle. At once the gallant steed +pricked up his ears, snorted, ran, leaped clean over the head of a man, +and scrambled up the stair in the cliff, to his master's shelter. On +another occasion a thief, thinking it no harm to rob a felon, succeeded +in leaping on the horse's back. But the beast, feeling that some one +was astride of him other than Wild Humphrey, ran to the cliff, and the +rider, frightened at the prospect of being carried up the rock side and +into the power of the desperate outlaw, was but too thankful to throw +himself off and get away with a broken arm. + +Humphrey had two wives, both Welsh girls, whom he carried off, but +married. Gough, in his history of Middle, says: "Humphrey Kynaston had +two wives, but both of soe mean birth that they could not claim to any +coat of arms." By the first he had a son, Edward, who died young. By +the second he had three sons, Edward, Robert, and Roger. If tradition +may be trusted he proved so brutal and so bad a husband that his second +wife left and returned to her kinsfolk in Wales. His son Edward was +heir to the last Lord Powys, and continued the succession. Humphrey's +elder brother died without lawful issue, and the honours and estates of +the family devolved on Edward, upon his father's death in 1534. + +Now the laws relating to the marriage of Englishmen with Welsh women +were still in force. The English Parliament, in 1401, had passed a +series of the most oppressive and cruel ordinances ever enacted against +any people; prohibiting marriage between English and Welsh, and +disfranchising and disqualifying any Englishman from holding or +inheriting property, if he had married a Welsh woman, and closing all +schools and learned professions to the Welsh. These infamous laws had +been re-enforced by Parliament in 1413, and were not repealed when +Henry VII. came to the throne, as might have been anticipated. But +Henry granted the Welsh a charter, which rendered the administration +less rigorous. These tyrannous laws were not repealed till 1536. Now, +the fact that Humphrey's marriage with Welsh women stood against him in +no way justified his treatment of his wives. + +Deserted by his second wife, Wild Humphrey was assisted by his mother, +who came to Ruyton, in the neighbourhood, and carried him food on +Sunday, a day of civil freedom. + +On one occasion when he had been committing his usual depredations, on +the further side of the Severn, the Under Sheriff at the head of a +posse rode to arrest him, and for this purpose removed several planks +of Montford Bridge, by which he was expected to return, and then laid +in wait till he arrived. In due course Humphrey Kynaston rode to the +Severn Bridge and prepared to cross. Thereupon the _posse +comitatus_ rose and took possession of the bridge end believing that +they had him entrapped. But the outlaw spurred his horse, which leaped +the gap, and he escaped. A farmer, who had been looking on, so the +legend tells, called out, "Kynaston, I will give thee ten cows and a +bull for thy horse." "Get thee first the bull and cows that can do such +a feat," shouted the outlaw in reply, "and then we will effect the +exchange." + +The leap of Kynaston's horse was measured and marked out on Knockin +Heath, and cut in the turf, with the letters H.K. at each end. + +The accession of a Welsh prince to the crown was in reality a fortunate +thing for the Kynastons, especially for Wild Humphrey; for ever since +the rising of Owen Glendower, an Englishman who had married a Welsh +woman was, as already said, legally disqualified from holding any +office of trust, and from acquiring or inheriting land in England. +Consequently Humphrey's issue by his Welsh wife might have been +debarred from representing the family but for the accession of Henry +VII. As it turned out, since his elder brother left no issue, the son +of Humphrey eventually inherited the family estates of the Kynastons. + +Two and a half or three years after his outlawry, Humphrey was +pardoned, 30th May 1493. The pardon is still extant, and is in the +possession of Mr. Kynaston, of Hardwick Hall and Hordley, the present +representative of the family. The direct line from Wild Humphrey +expired in 1740. + +It is somewhat noticeable that in all the successive generations there +was no further outbreak of the wild blood. The Kynastons descending +from the outlaw, who was the terror of the countryside, were orderly +country gentlemen, who did their duty and pursued harmless pleasures. +Perhaps Wild Humphrey was rather a product of his lawless times, of the +terrible disorders of the Wars of the Roses, and of the cruel law that +blasted him and his issue, on account of his Welsh marriages, than a +freebooter out of sporting propensities. + +Tradition says that his continued misconduct and ill-treatment of his +wife kept her estranged from him. But on his deathbed he had one single +desire, and that was to see her and obtain her pardon. He stoutly +refused to be visited by any leech; and only reluctantly agreed to +allow a "wise woman," who lived at Welsh Felton, near the scene of his +old exploits at Ness Cliff, to visit him and prescribe herbs. + +On her arrival, however, his humour had changed, and he impatiently +turned away, saying, "I'll have none of your medicines. I want naught +but my Elizabeth, my poor wronged wife." + +"And she is here," answered the wise woman, throwing off her hood. + +Humphrey turned and laid his head on her bosom, and without another +word, but with his eyes on her face, breathed his last. + +Is the story true or _ben trovato_? Who can say! It reposes on +tradition. + +Ness Cliff, the rock, in the face of which Humphrey Kynaston lived four +hundred years ago, remains, with his cave, his flight of steps, up +which ran his faithful horse, his stable, and the feeding trough, and +the hearth on which burned Wild Humphrey's fire, very much as he left +it. Only one feature is changed. There, from his rock, his eye ranged +over the rolling woodland and open champagne country for miles so that +he could see and prepare against the enemy who ventured to approach his +stronghold; now it is buried in larch and Austrian pine plantations, so +that nothing is visible from the cave, save their green boughs. It +seems strange that for so many years he can have been suffered to +continue his depredations without an attempt being made to surround his +rock and keep him imprisoned therein till he was starved into +surrender. But the explanation is probably this. He had made friends +among the peasantry of the neighbourhood, whom he never molested, and +to whom he showed many kindnesses; and they rewarded him by giving him +timely warning of the approach of those bent on his capture, and thus +enabled him to mount his horse, gallop away, and conceal himself +elsewhere. Yet this only partly explains the mystery. If the cave were +deserted, why did not the sheriff and his _posse comitatus_ +destroy the steps leading up into it, and thus render a retreat into it +impossible? The only conclusion at which one can arrive is that the +custodians of the law in the fifteenth century were half-hearted in the +discharge of their duty, that there was a secret admiration for the +wild outlaw in their hearts, and that they were reluctant to see the +scion of a brave and ancient house brought to the gallows. + +Some men have become predatory animals, and as such seek out lairs as +would the beasts of prey. + +The Chinaman possesses an instinctive reversion to old subterranean +life. Wherever he goes, wherever he succeeds in forming a "China-town," +he begins to burrow and undermine the houses in which he and his +fellow-countrymen live, and a labyrinth of passages and chambers is +constructed, communicating with the several dwellings, so that a +criminal Chinaman can rarely be trapped in the native quarter by the +police. When San Francisco was burnt, the ground under the Chinese town +was found to be honeycombed with runs and lurking-holes to an +astounding extent. + +When David had to escape from the pursuit of Saul, he fled first of all +to Gath, but being recognised there, he made his way to the cave of +Adullam. "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in +debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto +him, and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about +four hundred men." [Footnote: 1 Sam. xxii. 1-2] In a word, he became +the head of a party of freebooters, who laid the neighbourhood under +contribution. + +The Palestine surveyors have identified the cave of Adullam with one +now called by the peasants Aid-el-Ma. It lies in a round hill about 500 +feet high, pierced with a number of caverns; the hill itself being +isolated by several valleys and marked by ancient ruins, tombs, and +quarryings. "A cave which completes the identification exists in the +hill. It is not necessary to suppose that the one used by David was of +great size, for such spacious recesses are avoided by the peasantry +even now, from their dampness and tendency to cause fever. Their +darkness, moreover, needs many lights, and they are disliked from the +numbers of scorpions and bats frequenting them. The caves used as human +habitations, at least in summer, are generally about twenty or thirty +paces across, lighted by the sun, and comparatively dry. I have often +seen such places with their roofs blackened by smoke: families lodging +in one, goats, cattle, and sheep, stabled in another, and grain or +straw stored in a third. At Adullam are two such caves in the northern +slope of the hill, and another further south, while the opposite sides +of the tributary valley are lined with rows of caves, all smoke- +blackened, and mostly inhabited, or used as pens for flocks and herds. + +"The cave on the south of the hill itself was tenanted by a single +family when the surveyors visited it, just as it might have been by +David and his immediate friends, while his followers housed themselves +in those near at hand." [Footnote: Geikie (C.), "The Holy Land and the +Bible," Lond. 1887, i. p. 108.] + +The haunts of the bandits in the times of Herod must have been very +much like those in Dordogne. They were high up in the face of +precipices in Galilee, and he was able only to subdue these gangs of +freebooters by letting his soldiers down in baskets from the top of the +cliffs, with machines for forcing entrance. [Footnote: Josephus, +"Antiq.," xiv. 6.] + +Stanley says [Footnote: "Sinai and Palestine," 1856, pp. 148-149.]: +"Like all limestone formations, the hills of Palestine abound in caves. +In these innumerable rents, and cavities, and holes, we see the shelter +of the people of the land in those terrible visitations, as when 'Lot +went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in a cave.' Or as when 'in the days of +Uzziah, King of Judah, they fled before the earthquake to the ravine of +the mountains;' to the rocky fissures, safer, even though themselves +rent by the convulsions, than the habitations of man. We see in them, +also, the hiding-places which served sometimes for the defence of +robbers and insurgents, sometimes for the refuge of those of whom 'the +world was not worthy;' the prototypes of the catacombs of the early +Christians, of the caverns of the Vaudois and the Covenanters. The cave +of the five kings at Makkedah; the 'caves, and dens, and strongholds, +and 'rocks,' and 'pits,' and 'holes' in which the Israelites took +shelter from the Midianites in the time of Gideon, from the Philistines +in the time of Saul; the cleft of the cliff Etam, into which Samson +went down to escape the vengeance of his enemies; the caves of David at +Adullam and at Maon, and of Saul at Engedi; the cave in which Obadiah +hid the prophets of the Lord; the caves of the robber hordes above the +plain of Gennesareth; the sepulchral caves of the Gadarene demoniacs; +the cave of Jotopata, where Josephus and his countrymen concealed +themselves in their last struggle, continue from first to last what has +been called the cave-life of the Israelite nation." + +The vast grotto of Lombrive in Ariège has been already mentioned. It +became a den of a band of murderous brigands at the beginning of the +nineteenth century. A detachment of soldiers was sent to dislodge them +in 1802; to reach the great hall access is had by crawling through a +narrow passage, and here the robbers murdered as many as 146 of the +soldiers, taking them one after another as they emerged from the +passage, and cutting their throats. [Footnote: "Spelunca," Paris, +1905, t. vi. p. 169.] The passage now bears the name of that of _Du +Crime_. + +The Surtshellir in Iceland has attracted a great deal of attention, +perhaps because it is so different from other caves, being formed in +the lava. Its origin is very easily explained. At a great eruption of +lava from a neighbouring crater, the crust hardened rapidly whilst the +viscid current below continued to flow, and this latter flowed on till +it also became rigid, and left a great gap between it and the original +crust. I visited it in 1860. It has several branches, and in it lie +pools perpetually frozen. There are gaps here and there in the roof +through which rays of light penetrate, and also snow that heaps itself +on the floor. In one side-chamber is a great accumulation of sheep- +bones. In the thirteenth century a band of twenty-four robbers took up +their abode in this cavern, and made excursions in all directions +around, robbing farmhouses, and driving away sheep. When this had gone +on for some time the bonders united and succeeded in surrounding the +gang, and killing eighteen of them. The six who escaped fled to the +snow mountains, and were never heard of again. Now the strange thing +is, how could the men live through a winter in this horrible cavern +with a floor of ice in many places, and with a temperature below +freezing even in summer? Fuel they could not procure, as there are but +black sandy moors around that grow nothing but dwarf willow, and that +is so scarce as to be inefficient for their purpose. They must have +supplied themselves with light and heat by the tallow of the sheep they +killed, run into a lamp. This is the only heating fuel used at present +by the Icelanders, apart from the animal heat they give out in the +closely sealed common room they occupy as sleeping quarters as well as +dining-room and workshop. It may be vastly pleasant in theory to live +at other people's expense, but it has its drawbacks, and in this +instance _le jeu ne valait pas la chandelle_. + +In Pitscottie's "Chronicles of Scotland," and in Holinshed's "Scottish +Chronicle," at the end of the reign of James II. there is a story of a +brigand who is said to have lived in a den called Feruiden, or +Ferride's Den, in Angus, who was burnt along with his wife and family +for cannibalism, the youngest daughter alone was spared as she was but +a twelvemonth old. But when she grew up she was convicted of the same +crime, and was condemned to be burnt or buried alive. + +I have given elsewhere a very full account of the cave--a den of +robbers beside which that to which Gil Blas was carried was a paradise +--La Crouzate on the Causse de Gramat in the Department of Lot. I will +therefore here mention it but superficially. At the entrance are +notches in the rock, showing that at one time it was closed by a door. +A rapid descent is suddenly brought to a standstill by an opening in +the floor of a veritable _oubliette_, and this opening is crossed +only by a bridge of poles, the hand helping to maintain the balance by +pressing against the wall of rock on the right hand. Then comes a +second hollow, but not so serious, and then a third that can only be +descended by a ladder. This opens into a hall in the midst of which +yawns a horrible chasm, across which lies a rough bridge of poles that +give access to some small chambers beyond, which had formerly been +tenanted by the brigands who had their lair in this cavern. Notches in +the walls of the well show that across it were laid poles that +sustained a pulley, by means of which a bucket could be let down to the +well 265 feet, for water. My cousin, Mr. George Young, actually found +remains of the crane employed for the purpose at the bottom of the +well. About the year 1864, M. Delpons, prefect of the Department of +Lot, observing a huge block of limestone lying in a field near La +Crouzate, had it raised, and discovered beneath it twelve skeletons +ranged in a circle, their feet inwards, and an iron chain linking them +together; probably the remains of the bandits who made of La Crouzate +their den, whence they issued to rob in the neighbourhood. According to +the local tradition, the peasants of the surrounding country paid a +poll-tax for every sheep and ox they possessed so as to raise a levée +which should sweep the Causse of these marauders, and it was due to +this effort that the band was captured and every member of it hung to +the branches of the walnut tree beneath which lies the broad stone. + +At Gargas, near Montzéjeau, in Hautes Pyrenées, is a prehistoric cavern +of considerable extent. In it have been found sealed up in stalagmite +the remains of primitive man. Now the significant fact exists that just +ten years before the outbreak of the French Revolution this cave was +inhabited by Blaise Ferrage, a stone-mason, who at the age of twenty- +two deliberately threw aside his trade and retired into the grotto, +whence he sallied forth to seize, murder, and eat children and young +girls. Men also he shot, strangled, or stabbed, and dragged to his +lair, there to devour their carcases. + +For three years this monster terrorized the countryside. The number of +his victims was innumerable. As last he was caught and broken on the +wheel in December 1782. There is no evidence that the naked prehistoric +men who had inhabited the cave of Gargas were cannibals. + +That the outlaw and he who has dropped out of the ranks of ordered +social life, and he who seeks to prey on civilised society should +naturally, instinctively, make the cave his home, is what we might +expect. He is reverting to the habits of early man whose hand was +against every man. + +In the "Two Gentlemen of Verona," the outlaws are presented as living +in a cave. The robbers in "Gil Blas" had their lair also in one. + +One of the finest and most pathetic of Icelandic Sagas is the history +of Grettir the Outlaw, who was born in 997, and killed by his enemies +in 1031. He spent nineteen years in outlawry in Iceland, and outlawry +there in that terrible climate, with no house to cover his head, would +seem an ordeal impossible for human endurance. Between the autumn of +1022 and the spring of 1024, that is to say during two winters, he +lived in a cave in the west of the island. A steep shale slide was +below a cliff, and above this a hollow in the rock. He built up the +mouth of the cave, and hung grey wadmal before the entrance, so that +none below could notice anything peculiar, or any one living there. +Whatever fuel he wanted, all he had to eat, everything he needed, had +to be carried up this slippery ascent by him. Down the shale slide he +went when short of provisions, and over the marshes to this or that +farm and demanded or carried off, sometimes a sheep, sometimes curds, +dried fish--in a word what he required. + +In the summer of 1862 a very similar lair which Grettir inhabited a +little later in the east of Iceland was explored by a farmer living +near. This is his description of it: "The lair stands in the upper part +of a slip of stones beneath some sheer rocks. It is built up of stones, +straight as a line, four and three-quarter ells long and ten inches +wide, and is within the walls seven-eighths of an ell deep. Half of it +is roofed over with flat stones; small splinters of stone are wedged in +between these to fill up the joints, and these are so firmly fixed that +they could not be removed without tools. One stone in the south wall is +so large that it would require six men to move it. The north wall is +beginning to give way. On the outside the walls are overgrown with +black lichen and grey moss." + +A chapman spending the winter in a farm hard by, named Gisli the Dandy, +heard that a price of nine marks of silver was placed on the head of +Grettir. "Let me but catch him," said he, "and I will dress his skin +for him." + +The outlaw heard of this threat, and one day looking down from his rock +he saw a man with two attendants riding along the highway. His kirtle +was scarlet, and his helmet and shield flashed in the sun. It occurred +to Grettir that this must be the dandy, and he at once ran down the +slide of stones, clapped his hand on a bundle of clothes behind the +saddle, and said, "This I am going to take." Gisli, for it was he, got +off his horse, and called on his men to attack Grettir. But the latter +soon perceived that the chapman kept behind his servants, and never +risked himself where the blows fell; so he put the two thralls aside +and went direct upon the merchant, who turned and took to his heels. +Grettir pursued him, and Gisli, in his fear, threw aside his shield, +then away went his helmet, and lastly a heavy purse of silver attached +to his girdle. Presently the flying man came to a bed of old lava full +of cracks. He leaped the fissures and reached a river that flowed +beyond. There he halted, unable to make up his mind to risk a plunge +into it, and that allowed Grettir to run in on him and throw him down. + +"Keep my saddle-bags and what I have thrown away," pleaded the fallen +man, "only spare my life." "There must be a little skin-dressing done +first," answered Grettir. Then he took a good handful of birch rods +from the wood, pulled Gisli's clothes up over his head, and laid the +twigs against his back in none of the gentlest fashion. Gisli danced +and skipped about, but Grettir had him by his garments twisted about +his head, and contrived to flog till the fellow threw himself down on +the ground screaming. Then Grettir let go, and went quietly back to his +lair, picking up as he went the purse and the belt, the shield, casque, +and whatsoever else Gisli had thrown away. Also he retained the +contents of his saddle-bags. [Footnote: "Grettir Saga," Copenh. 1859. +"Grettir the Outlaw," Lond. 1890.] + +At Dunterton, on the Devon side of the Tamar, is a headland of rock and +wood projecting above the river, and in this is a cave. In or about +1780 there was a man, the terror of the neighbourhood, who lived in +this cave, but that he was there was unknown. He was wont to "burgle" +the houses of the gentry round, and his favourite method of proceeding +was to get on the roof and descend the chimneys, which in those days +were wide. In my hall chimney was, till I removed it, an apparatus +fitted with sharp spikes upward to impale the burglar should he attempt +to get into the house that way. In the house of a neighbouring squire a +funnel was made into which he might drop, and from which he could not +escape. He was finally discovered by Colonel Kelly, when drawing the +wood with his hounds; as the cave was held to be the den of the ogre, +it was looked upon with fear, and was also long the lair of smugglers. + +Perhaps the latest cave-dwelling criminal was Carl Friedrich Masch, who +before his execution confessed to having committed twelve murders and +to having attempted several more. This man carried on this warfare +against society from 1856 to 1864, that is to say for eight years, in +Prussia. His presence in the district was always suspected rather than +ascertained, by the numerous cases of arson, burglary, and robbery, as +well as by murders and murderous attacks. One of his worst crimes was +the butchery of a whole family, a miller, his wife, three children, +aged respectively twelve, ten, and five, and a young servant-maid in +1861. In vain were large rewards offered for the capture of Masch; if +he had confederates they were not bribed to betray him, and the police +were powerless to trace him. Even soldiers were called out to search +the forests, but all in vain, and he was not captured till 1864 when he +was arrested when tipsy in the street of Frankfurt on the Oder, and +then it was not till some hours later that it was discovered he had but +just committed a fresh murder. + +In March 1858 a miller named Ebel went into the Pyritz forest near +Soldin, along with his servant-man to fetch away firewood he had +purchased. After having laden his wagon he sent it home under the +conduct of his man, and remained behind among the trees. He looked +about among the bushes to find a suitable branch that he could cut to +serve as a walking-stick. Whilst thus engaged he came on some rising +ground overgrown with young birch, and on the slope of the hill not +more than 200 paces from the much-frequented highroad he noticed a spot +where the snow was beaten hard, as if it had been the lair of a wild +beast. To get a better sight of this, Ebel parted the bushes and came +closer. Then he was aware of a patch of dried leaves uncovered by snow. +Unable to account for this, he stirred the leaves with his recently cut +stick, and to his surprise saw them slide down into the earth as into a +funnel. More puzzled than ever he began to examine the locality, when +he noticed that the ground under his feet sounded hollow, and that +there was hard by a second and larger hole. As he stood staring at +this, suddenly a cudgel appeared followed by the white face of a man +with black hair and beard and dark piercing eyes, rising out of the +ground. For a moment Ebel stood paralysed with terror, and then, as the +man was heaving himself to the surface, he beat a hasty retreat. + +When he reported what he had seen to the forester and some wood- +cutters, he was at first not believed, but he insisted that they should +accompany him to the spot. They did so, and this is what they found: a +board, covered with earth, but with a hole in the midst, through which +a couple of fingers could be thrust so as to bring it from below into +position, had been used to cover the entrance to an underground +habitation. Jumping into a pit, a passage was seen about five feet +high, in which a stove had been placed, and the hole the miller had +seen, into which the leaves had fallen, was the chimney. Further on was +a chamber seven feet long by seven feet broad, and five feet high, that +had clearly served as a dwelling for some considerable time. It was +full of clothing, linen, an axe, a hammer, a bunch of keys, and an +assortment of burglar's tools. The roof was supported by posts and +transverse beams, and from them hung legs of pork, bacon, and sausages. +There was also a cellar well stocked with wine and brandy, and even +champagne. A bed was fashioned of birch boughs and fir branches and +hay. The boughs protected from the damp of the soil. Great quantities +of bones of pigs, sheep, geese, and other poultry were found buried in +the sides of the passage and about on the surface. + +The forester reported to the police what he had seen. A good many of +the articles found were reclaimed by peasants who had been robbed; but +the denizen of the cave-dwelling had vanished, and returned no more. At +the same time, attacks on persons and property ceased in that +neighbourhood, but began in the neighbourhood of Berlin. But in the +spring of 1859 they were renewed in the district of Soldin. The +military were ordered to manoeuvre, surround, and traverse the woods, +and search every moor. All was in vain, not a trace of the perpetrator +of these crimes could be found, and no sooner were the soldiers +withdrawn than a taverner and his young wife were discovered in their +little inn, with their heads beaten in, and their throats cut, and the +man's watch and his money taken. This was followed by the murder of a +peasant girl, on the highroad, as she was returning from saying +farewell to her lover who had to leave his village for military +service. Next came the slaughter of the miller and his family. Renewed +efforts to trace the murderer were made and were equally fruitless. + +A toll-keeper was fired at in his bed and severely wounded. The would- +be assassin had drawn a cart into position, placed boards on it, raised +an erection on the boards to support himself so as to be able to take +aim at the sleeping man through the window. He could see where he was, +as a light burned in the room. He was prevented breaking into the house +and murdering the wife and child by the approach of passengers. A +farmer was shot at and also badly hurt when returning from market, and +only saved from being killed and robbed by his horse taking fright and +galloping out of reach. + +A further hiding-place of Masch was discovered by accident, as was the +first, in May 1861, in the neighbourhood of Warsin. It was more roomy +than the first, constructed with more art, was also underground, and +contained innumerable objects that had been stolen; amongst others a +little library of books that Masch could read in the long winter +evenings to pass away the time. + +When after eight years of this sort of life, he was finally arrested, +he was brought to confess his crimes. And one portion of his narrative +concerned his place of concealment in the winter of 1858-59, before he +had dug out his subterranean abode at Warsin, and after the discovery +of his den at Pyritz. + +That was also spent underground, but not in a cave of his construction. +I will give the account in his own words. + +"The winter came on and I had no money and no place of refuge against +the cold. It was only when a hard frost set in that I found an asylum +in the culvert constructed to carry off the water from the Bermling +lake. The canal consists of a stone-built tunnel, the entrance to which +is closed by closely-set iron stancheons. But accustomed as I was, like +a cat, to contract and wriggle through narrow spaces, I succeeded in +forcing my way in and I formed my lair on the solid ice. Before a fall +of snow I provided myself with food, wine, brandy, clothing, and +bedding, but I was constrained to spend many weeks in my hiding-place +lest I should betray it by my footprints in the snow. My abode there +was terribly irksome, for the culvert was not lofty enough to allow one +to stand upright in it, and I was constrained to wriggle about in it, +crawling or thrusting myself along with hands and feet. I had indeed +covered my legs with leather wound about them, but my limbs became +stiff. Sitting on the ice was almost as uncomfortable as lying on it. +An upright position when seated became unendurable with my legs +stretched out straight before me. Accordingly I hacked a hole through +the ice into the frozen mud, and thrust my legs down into it. But my +blood chilled in them, and my legs would have been frozen in, had I not +withdrawn them and stretched them out as before, well enveloped. +Moreover I could not sit with my back leaning against the ice-cold +stone walls, and the air in the tunnel was dense and foggy. As soon as +the ground was clear of snow I escaped from my horrible prison, and +enjoyed myself in the open, but for safety had to retreat to it again. +On one occasion I narrowly escaped discovery. The owner of the estate +hard by and his son were out one day with their hounds. These latter +rushed to the entrance of the culvert and began snuffing about at it. +Their masters observed this, and made the brutes enter the tunnel. I +crouched, my loaded gun in my hand, and peered betwixt the iron bars. +If one of the hounds had come near me, I would have shot it. Happily +the beasts did not venture far in, probably on account of the heavy +vapour they had lost the scent. They withdrew, and I remained in my +cellar-dwelling till the spring. When the ice melted and the mud became +soft, I had to quit my winter quarters. I had suffered so unspeakably +that I resolved without more ado to excavate for myself a new +habitation underground which in comparison with the culvert seemed a +paradise to me." [Footnote: _Der neue Pitaval_, Leipzig; neue +Serie, ii. 1867, pp. 104-105.] + +Masch was executed on 18th July 1864. + +A picturesque walk through the woods near Wiesbaden on the Taunus road +leads to the Leichtweishöhle, a cave under a mass of fallen rock, in +the Nerothal. The cave measures 100 feet in length, and at its entrance +and exit are now set up portraits of the former occupant of this +retreat and his mistress. Within, in a side chamber, is the bedroom of +the robber, and his bed, that was covered with dry moss. In the midst +of the cave is a round, massive stone table, and under its foot is a +pit excavated to receive his money and other valuables. The cave, now +accessible, is an object of many a pleasant excursion from Wiesbaden; +over a century ago it was in a dense and pathless forest, the +intricacies of which were unknown. + +Henry Antony Leichtweiss was born in 1730 at Ohrn, and was the son of a +forester in the service of the Duke of Nassau. He was put apprentice to +a man who was at once a baker and a besom-maker, and he learned both +professions with readiness. Being a well-built, handsome youth, he +managed to get engaged as courier in a noble family, and in the +situation made many journeys and learned to know the world, and also to +lay by some money. In September 1757 he married the daughter of the +magistrate (Schultheiss) of Dotzheim, and he obtained appointment under +him as scrivener. By his wife he had seven children. On the death of +his father-in-law, and the appointment of a new magistrate, the aspect +of his affairs changed. He was detected in attempts to appropriate +trust-money to his own use, and was dismissed his office. He sank +deeper and deeper, and was arrested and imprisoned at last for theft. +On leaving Wiesbaden, where he had been confined, he returned to +Dotzheim, but there no one would have anything to say to him, and his +own wife refused to receive him into her house. + +Leichtweiss now gave himself up to a vagabond life, and as he had of +old been associated with the chase, he turned to poaching as a +resource. The wide stretch of forests of the Taunus, well stocked with +game, and the proximity to such markets as Frankfort and Mainz, offered +him a prospect of doing a good business in this line. He managed to +induce a wench to associate herself with him, and he dug out a cave of +which the description has already been given, in which he made his +headquarters, and where he lived and carried on his depredations +unmolested for seven years. The spot was so secret and the confusion of +rocks there was so great, that he trusted never to be discovered. The +main danger lay in smoke betraying him when his fire was lighted, or of +his track bring followed in the snow during the winter. But, as already +said, for seven years he remained undiscovered, although the keepers of +the Duke were well aware that the game in the forests was being shot +down and disposed of in the town, and although villagers declared that +he had stayed and robbed them. These allegations were, however, never +proved. When he was at last captured, he was tried and sentenced to be +placed in the stocks at Wiesbaden in the market. Two days after he hung +himself in prison. + +In the chapter on Souterrains I have spoken of the Adersbach and +Wickelsdorf rock labyrinths, without mentioning that they have served +as a haunt for robbers. I will now deal with them from this point of +view. Take a piece of veined marble, and suppose all the white veins of +felspar washed clear, leaving the block cleft in every direction from +top to bottom, and all the cleavages converging to one point and +through that one point only, on the Wickelsdorf side, is access to be +had to the labyrinth. But then conceive of the block thus fissured +towering three hundred feet or more sheer up, and having narrow rifts +as the passages by which the interior may be penetrated. In the +eleventh century sixty knights of the army of Boleslas III., when the +latter was driven back by the Emperor Henry II., took refuge in the +neighbourhood of Trauterau, and built there a castle, and subsisted on +robbery. The captain was a Pole named Nislaf. As they prospered and +multiplied, Nislaf divided his company, and placed one portion under +Hans Breslauer, who said to his men, "We have a treasure-house in these +rocks, only unhappily it is empty. We must pillage the merchants and +travellers, and fill it." Nislaf's party fell out with one another, and +one, named Alt, led off the discontented and built a fortress, the +remains of which may be traced at the highest point above the Adersbach +labyrinth. One day the crowing of a cock betrayed where Nislaf had his +abode, and troops were sent from Prague to clear the country. Most of +the bandits were captured and executed. + +In the early part of the nineteenth century a notorious ruffian at the +head of a gang lurked in this neighbourhood. His name was Babinsky. + +One evening, in the autumn of 1839, a carriage drew up at the outskirts +of the Dobrusch forest. A couple of ladies descended from it at the +door of a tavern, and asked the Jewish landlady if they could be +accommodated with supper and a bed. "We are afraid to proceed," said +one of the ladies, "for fear of Babinsky." "Babinsky," answered the +hostess, "has never shown his face here." + +The ladies were shown into a plain apartment, but were made uneasy by +seeing a number of ferocious looking men in the passage and bar. "Who +are these?" asked the lady. "Only packmen," replied the landlady. After +supper the two ladies were shown into a large bedroom in which at one +side was an old-fashioned wardrobe. When left alone they examined this +article of furniture, and perceived an unpleasant odour issuing from +it. By some means or other they succeeded in forcing open the door, +when they perceived that at the bottom of the wardrobe was a trap-door. +This they raised, and to their dismay discovered a well or vault, out +of which the unpleasant odour issued. They now set fire to some +newspaper, and threw it down the hole, and to their unspeakable horror +saw by the flames a half-naked corpse. The ladies closed the trap and +considered. It was clear that they were in a murderous den, probably +controlled by Babinsky. The youngest lady, who had most presence of +mind and courage, descended the stairs, opened the guest-room, and said +to her coachman, "Hans, it is now half-past nine. This is the hour at +which Captain Feldegg, my brother-in-law, promised to start at the head +of a military escort to conduct us through the forest. We will leave as +soon as you can harness the horses to save him the trouble of coming on +so far as this." + +Hans finished his glass of wine and rose. The men in the guest-room +looked at one another. Before half-an-hour had elapsed the carriage +rolled away, and next morning the police were communicated with. It +need hardly be said the ladies met with no escort. + +A few days later a middle-aged, ragged fellow, with a grinding organ, +arrived at the inn, and called for a glass. In the guest-room were the +"packmen," and some equally wild-looking girls. The grinding organ was +put in requisition, and to its strains they danced till past midnight, +when Babinsky himself entered and the dancing ceased. The organ-grinder +had so ingratiated himself into the favour of the robbers, that they +resolved on retaining him as the musician of the band. He was conveyed +across country till they reached some such a rocky retreat as that of +Wickelsdorf or Adersbach, and there spent three weeks, only allowed to +accompany the band when they were going to have a frolic. On these +occasions they betook themselves to the resort agreed on, by twos and +threes. One day as some of them passed along a road, they saw a blind +beggar in the hedge, asking for alms. Some cast him coppers, and the +organ-grinder slipped into his hand a kreutzer, wrapped in a bit of +paper. + +That night the tavern was surrounded by the military, and the whole +gang, along with Babinsky, was captured. This was on 15th October 1839. +The organ-grinder was the Prague detective Hoche. + +The trial dragged on for several years; some of the robbers were +executed, some sentenced to ten, others to twenty years of +imprisonment. No evidence was produced that actually convicted Babinsky +of having committed, or been privy to the murders, and he was sentenced +to penal servitude for life. + +I was rambling in Bohemia and tracing the Riesen Gebirge in 1886. On +reaching home I read what follows from the Vienna Correspondent of the +_Standard_. "At the little market town of Leitomischl in Bohemia," +at the foot of the continuation of the Giant Mountains I had been +exploring, "an innkeeper and his wife and son have just been arrested +by the police on a charge of having, during the last twenty-five years, +murdered no fewer than eleven persons. The victims were all travellers +who had put up for a night at his house, and who had shown that they +were in possession of ready cash. For a considerable time the +suspicions of the police had been aroused by the sudden disappearance +of various visitors staying at this inn. Among the latest cases was a +cattle dealer who, after visiting the market, was returning home with +the proceeds of the sale of a herd of cattle, and a young baron who had +won a large sum in a public lottery. After putting up at the inn in +question, these men, like others before them, were never heard of +again. The very last case was that of the sudden disappearance of a +lady, who was undoubtedly murdered and robbed by the arrested persons." + +I did in fact find the inns in Bohemia, in certain places infested, but +not with bandits and cut-throats. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ROCK SEPULCHRES + + +A noteworthy distinction exists between the countless rock-tombs in +Palestine and those equally countless in Egypt. In the former there has +not been found a single inscription to record the name of the occupant, +whereas among the latter not one was unnamed. + +The reason probably was that the Jew had no expectation of existing in +a state after death, and those of his family he put away in their holes +in the rocks had ceased to be to him anything more than a recollection. +All his hopes, his ambition, were limited to this life and to the +glorification of his nation. The highest blessing he could personally +reckon on was that his days might be long in the land which the Lord +his God would give him. + +The horizon of the Egyptian, on the other hand, was full of +anticipation of a life of the spirit when parted from the body. +"Instead of the acres of inscriptions which cover the tombs of Egypt," +says Dean Stanley, "not a single letter has been found in any ancient +sepulchre of Palestine." + +When the Israelites escaped from the iron furnace of Egypt, they +carried with them so intense an abhorrence of all that savoured of +Misraim that they put away from them polytheism and repudiated +idolatry; they swept away as well the doctrine of life after death, +such as dominated the Egyptian mind, that they might focus all their +desires on this present life. + +"Let me bury my dead out of my sight," expressed the feeling of the +Israelite before and after the Exodus. + +The patriarchs had no conception of the resurrection of the body. The +idea was unknown to them. Their faith did not even embrace a belief in +the immortality of the soul. A passage in Job (xix. 25-27) has been +adduced to prove the contrary, but it does so only because it is a +mistranslation, and was manipulated by the translators according to +their own preconceptions. Even the word rendered Redeemer has no such +signification, it means "the Avenger of Blood." It was probably through +contact with other nations that had a wider hope, that slowly and +haltingly the conception of a prolonged existence after death made its +way among the Jews. + +Christianity invested the body with a sacredness undreamt of under the +Old Covenant, and gave assurance, not of a continued existence after +death alone, but of a resuscitation of the body. "If in this life only +we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." "As in Adam +all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." + +The Jews entertained a strong aversion towards incineration, because +the latter was a pagan usage, and they gloried in their singularity. In +Rome they had their catacombs hewn out of the rock, and the Christians +followed their example. + +A short time before the Christian era, Judea had been made tributary to +Rome by the victories of Pompey, and many thousands of Jews were +transferred to Rome, where a particular district was assigned to them +on the right bank of the Tiber. We know how tenaciously Jews clung to +their religion and to their traditional practices, and they sought to +lay their departed members in rocky sepulchres, such as those of their +distant country. And, in fact, outside the Porta Portese, the gate +nearest to their quarter of the town, a Jewish catacomb exists, +discovered in 1602, excavated in Monte Verde, that contains the tombs +of the Hebrews. From this all emblems exclusively Christian are absent. +There are representations of the Ark of the Covenant, of the seven- +branched candlestick. The lamps also were impressed with the same +symbols; and in a fragment of a Greek inscription is traced the word +"Synagogue." + +The catacombs of the Christians resembled those of the Jews in every +other particular. + +Three different kinds of stone compose the basis of the Roman Campagna; +the _tufa litoide_, as hard and durable as granite, used extensively for +building purposes; the _tufa granolare_, which is consistent enough to +retain the form given to it by excavators, but it is useless as building +material, and lastly the _Pozzuolana_, largely employed in the making +of Roman cement. Neither the _arenaria_ or sand quarries, nor those +for the building stone were ever employed for excavation to make catacombs, +whereas the _granular tufa_ has been so largely excavated for this purpose +that if the galleries were continued in one line, it has been reckoned +that they would stretch the entire length of the Italian peninsula. +They form a labyrinth of passages and cross-passages, and are moreover in +several stages called _piani_. But they do not extend far from the +Eternal City, not beyond the third milestone. The galleries have a breadth +of from two to four feet, and their height is governed by the nature of the +rock in which they are hewn. The walls on both sides are lined with graves +dug out of the rock, in a horizontal position, one above the other, like +bunks in a cabin. In each of these reposed one or more bodies. Here and +there the sequence is broken by a cross-passage that leads to a small +chamber, and in these chambers the sides, like those of the galleries, are +perforated with graves. All these graves were originally closed by slabs +of marble or tiles. This is about the only distinction between the graves +of the rich and those of the poor, of the slave from his master. Those +who desired to set some mark on the resting-place of a relative, to +distinguish it from those around, either had the name engraved upon the +slab, or rudely scratched with the sharp end of a trowel in the mortar by +which the slab was secured, or else a bit of ornamented glass or a ring or +coin was impressed in the mortar while it was still wet. + +The martyrs in many cases were accorded a more elaborate grave. They +were laid in a sarcophagus in an _arcossolium_, and on the +covering slab the Holy Mysteries were celebrated on the anniversary of +their martyrdom. But sometimes a wealthy family had its own chamber, +_cubiculum_, reserved for its members. + +The puticoli, of which mention has already been made as ash and refuse +pits, were of a totally different description. They were funnel-shaped +shafts sunk in the rocks, the narrow orifice being on the level of the +ground. Into this were precipitated the carcases of slaves and of the +poor. Indeed, they are still in use at Naples, when a cart with a +lantern may be followed till it reaches the place of interment, where a +hole gapes. The corpse that is enveloped in a shroud only, is shot down +into the hole, without its winding sheet, that is reserved for further +use. + +But to return to the catacombs. There are not only over thirteen in the +neighbourhood of Rome, but they are found also at Otricoli, Soriano, +Spoleto, Vindena, Chiusi, Lucca, Castellamare, Prata by Avellino, +Aquila, Puzzuoli, Baiæ, Nola, Canesa, Tropea, Manfredonia, Venisa--this +last perhaps Jewish. There are five sets of them at Naples. Others in +Malta. In Spain at Ancona, Siviglia, and Elvira. In France is the +hypogee opening out of the early church of S. Victor at Marseilles. In +Germany is one at Trèves. In Hungary at Fünfkirchen. One in the Greek +island of Melos, at Alexandria also, and at Cyrene. One at Salamis in +Cyprus. The catacombs of Syracuse are like those of Rome, of vast +extent. They have lofty vaults very superior to the narrow gangways of +the cemeteries of Rome. A broad gallery runs athwart the whole +labyrinth, and from this branch out innumerable passages. One large +circular hall is lighted from above. Along the sides are niches that +served as sepulchres. Paintings as at Rome decorate the walls and +vaults, all of an early Christian character, representing men and women +in the attitude of prayer, the peacock, and the sacred monogram. + +Numerous inscriptions from the tombs are collected in the museum of +Syracuse. + +The catacombs of Paris are not of ancient date as catacombs. They were +originally, like those of Syracuse, quarries for the construction of +the _calcaire grossier_ for building the city, down to the +seventeenth century. They extend under the communes of Vauregard, +Montrouge, and Gentilly on the left bank of the Seine, and it is said +that a tenth part of Paris is thus undermined. In 1774, and again in +1777, accidents occurred through the giving way of the crowns of the +caverns, bringing down with them the houses built above. In the +Boulevard Neuf a building near the Barrière d'Enfer suddenly sank into +a hole 80 feet deep, and this drew public attention to the danger. + +Until the end of the reign of Louis XVI the principal burying-ground of +Paris had been the Cemetery of the Innocents. Originally situated +beyond the walls of the town, it had in due course been so surrounded +by the growing metropolis as to render it impossible to continue its +use as a cemetery, and in 1784 the practice of burying therein was +discontinued, the accumulated bones of Parisians were removed thence +with great precaution, on account of the insalubrity of the operation, +and they were deposited in the old quarries, and the catacombs were +solemnly consecrated for their reception by the Archbishop of Paris on +7th April 1787. A public market-place was then established on the site +of the former cemetery. + +To protect the town from settling down into this necropolis, vast sums +were expended in substructures, so as to remove all danger of future +collapse. + +Gradually many other cemeteries that had been encroached upon, or +surrounded, were required to yield up their dead, so that it was +estimated that the catacomb contained the remains of three million +persons. The bodies of some victims of the Revolution were placed here +as well. + +For many years the bones remained as they were thrown down on their +removal, in heaps, but after 1812 they were gradually arranged in a +fantastic manner, and turned into an exhibition for the curious. Sixty- +three staircases lead from the different parts of the town into the +catacombs, and are used by workmen and agents appointed to take care of +the necropolis. Twice in the year tours of inspection are made by the +surveyors, but visitors are no longer allowed access to the catacomb. +There have occurred cases of men having been lost in the intricate +labyrinth. + +The crypts in which were laid the bodies of saints gave occasion to +kings, princes, and great men employing like mausoleums. + +The poor and mean might lie in the earth, but men of consequence must +have vaults in which the members of their families might be laid. What +hideous profanation of sepulchres would have been spared had the kings +of France been laid in the earth! They elected to repose in the crypt +of the splendid minster of S. Denis. When the Revolution broke out, the +Convention resolved that the tombs should be destroyed in accordance +with the motion of Barrère, 31st July 1793, "La main puissante de la +République doit éffacer impitoyablement ces épitaphes superbes, et +demolir ces mausolées qui rappeleraient des rois l'effrayant souvenir;" +and "of the coffins of our old tyrants let us make bullets to hurl at +our enemies." The decree for the destruction was sacrilegiously +executed; the coffins were opened--Henri II. and his queen in their +robes, Henri IV. in a perfect state of preservation, Louis XIV. still +recognisable. The body of Turenne, with the fatal bullet visible in it, +was preserved as a peep-show. The rest were thrown into "fosses +communes" dug in the neighbourhood. By a singular coincidence, the work +of desecration was begun on 12th October 1793, the anniversary of the +day on which, one hundred years before, Louis XIV. had caused the +demolition of the tombs of the German Emperors at Spires. Not only so, +but the agent employed by the Convention was Hentz, a namesake of the +superintendent of the work of destruction carried out at Spires. + +And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges--Louis XI. +escaped. He had been buried in a crypt at Cléry, and had been +forgotten. In 1889 the abbé Saget, curé of Cléry, opened the vault and +found the body intact. Louis XI. had this sepulchre made for himself +during his lifetime. Now the visitor can take in his hand the head, and +muse over it on the treachery, cunning, and cruelty that once lodged in +that little brain-pan. Scott may have been incorrect in his history in +"Quentin Durward," but he was accurate in his characterisation of the +king. + +The instinct of immortality is implanted in the human breast. The +reverential care with which primeval man treated his dead, showed a +confusion of ideas between soul and body. His senses told him, and told +men in the historic period, that the body dissolved to dust, yet as a +temple of the spirit it was treated with respect. The soul to the +Egyptians was in some manner always related to the body. The "ka" must +have something to which to return, if not to the mummy, then to its +model. + +The dead in the first ages were given the caves in which they had +lived, but they began to press out the living, to monopolise all caves, +and afterwards artificial dwellings were reared to receive them, stone +structures, dolmens, that were heaped over with earth, to make them +resemble their former subterranean habitations. Sometimes these +structural caves consist of a series of chambers connected by a +passage, the so-called _allées couvertes_ of France, but of which +we have fine examples in Scotland and Ireland. + +Where huge slabs of granite, limestone, or sandstone were not +available, the living scooped out underground cemeteries, closely +resembling their own underground dwellings. + +In the Petit Morin are many of these that have been explored and +described by the Baron de Baye. I have already spoken of the habitable +caves there found. But there were sepulchral chambers excavated in the +chalk as well. These differ from the others in that the entrances are +blocked by a large slab, and in some instances have sculptured figures +in them of the goddess of Death, or of a stone hammer. + +The Norsemen buried their sea-kings in the ships in which they had +sailed on their piratical expeditions. King Ring, when he slew Harold +Hilditön, buried him in his chariot and with his horses. In Gaulish +tombs such chariots have been found. The Scandinavians seem to have had +but a confused idea of what death was; the dead were but in a condition +of suspended animation. Hervör went to the isle of Samsey where, under +a huge cairn, lay her father Angantyr and his eleven brothers who had +fallen in single combat. Angantyr had been buried along with his sword +Tyrfing. + +When she reached the grave mound she sang:-- + + "Wake thou up, Angantyr! + Wakens thee Hervör + Thy only daughter. + Give from the grave mound + Freely thy good sword. + + "Wake thou up Hervard! + Wake thou, Hjorvard! + Hrani, Angantyr! + Shake off your slumbers + Under the tree-roots." + +From his grave Angantyr replies:-- + + "Hervör, my daughter, + Wherefore disturb me? + Full of temerity + Madly thou seekest + Dead men to waken." + +But she persists. She will have the sword. Whereupon the cairn gapes, +and she sees fire therein, and from out of the mound and flame the +sword is hurled forth and falls at her feet. [Footnote: "Hervarar +Saga," Copenh. 1785.] + +Grettir the Strong broke into the tomb of Karr the Old, an ancient +Viking, to obtain his sword, and had to wrestle with the dead man +before he could wrench it from him. [Footnote: "Grettir Saga," Copenh. +1859, chap. xviii.] I will quote another case of cairn-breaking that +exhibits the same conception of suspended life in the grave, and that +in Christian times. I shall slightly condense the story. "Gest started +breaking into the mound in the day. At evening, with the help of the +priest, he had got down to make a hole in the vault, but next morning +it was all closed up again." To obviate this the priest watched all +night by the cairn furnished with holy water. Next morning when Gest +returned, the mound was as he had left it, and the two continued their +operations. Gest was let down into the cavity, and the priest and other +men held the rope. It was fifty fathoms down to the floor. Gest had a +candle in his hand, and he now lighted it and looked about him. He saw +a big ship with five hundred men in it, and they were all preparing to +start up, but as the light of the (consecrated) candle fell on them +none stirred, but they stared blankly and snorted. Gest smote at them +to cut off their heads, but it was as though his sword passed through +water. He cleared the dragon-ship of all its valuables and sent them up +by the rope. Then he searched for Raknar (the Seaking whose tomb it +was). He found a descent still further underground, and there he +discovered Raknar seated on a throne. He was frightful to look upon, +and the vault was both cold and stinking. A cauldron was under his feet +full of treasure, and he had a torque about his neck, very resplendent, +and a gold ring on his arm. He was in breastplate and helmet, and had a +sword in his hand. Gest went up to Raknar and saluted him courteously +in a song, and Raknar bowed in acknowledgment. Gest said to him: "I +cannot commend your appearance at present though I can praise your +achievements. I have come a long way in quest of you, and I am not +going away unrewarded for my trouble. Give me some of what you have, +and I will sing your renown far and wide." Raknar bowed his head to +him, and allowed him to remove his helmet and breastplate. But when +Gest attempted to deprive him of his sword, Raknar sprang up and +attacked Gest. He found him neither old nor stiff. And now the +consecrated candle went out. Raknar became so strong that Gest could +hardly bear up against him; and all the men in the ship now rose up. +Then Gest invoked his father Bard who appeared, but availed naught, +then he called upon Him who had created heaven and earth, and vowed to +accept the faith which King Olaf was preaching. Thereupon Olaf appeared +in a blaze of light, and Raknar collapsed, with all his men. His power +was gone from him. Whereupon Gest cut off his head and laid it at his +thigh. At the apparition of King Olaf all the dead men who had stood up +reseated themselves on their benches. After that Gest removed all the +treasures out of the tomb. [Footnote: "Bartða Saga," Copenh. 1860, +chap. xx.] The cairn of the outlaw Gunnar was seen open occasionally. +"Sharphedin and Hogni were out of doors one evening by Gunnar's cairn +on the south side. The moon and stars were shining clear and bright, +but every now and then the clouds drove over them. Then all at once +they thought they saw the cairn standing open, and lo! Gunnar had +turned himself in the grave-mound and was looking at the moon. They +thought they saw four lights burning within, and none of them threw a +shadow. They saw Gunnar, that he was merry, and wore a right joyful +face. He sang a song, and that so loud it might have been heard though +they had been further off." The song of the dead man is given, and then +it is added: "After that the cairn was shut up again." [Footnote: "Nials +Saga," chap. lxxix., trans, by Dasent, Edin. 1861, chap. lxxvii.] + +Helgi Hundingsbane was visited in his grave-mound by his wife Sigrun, +who spent a night there with him. He informed her that all her tears +fell on and moistened him. "Here Helgi have I prepared for thee in thy +mound a peaceful bed. On thy breast, chieftain, I will repose as I was +wont in thy lifetime." To which the dead Helgi replies: "Nothing is to +be regarded as unexpected, since thou, living, a king's daughter, +sleepest in a grave-mound, in the arms of a corpse." Next morning +Sigrun departs. [Footnote: "Helgi Kv. Hundingsbana," ii. 45-47.] + +Saxo Grammaticus tells us a grimly tale. Asmund and Asvid, brothers in +arms, had vowed not to be separated in death. It fell out that Asvid +died, and was buried along with his horse and dog in a cairn. And +Asmund, because of his oath of friendship, had courage to be buried +with him, food being put in for him to eat. Now just at this time, Eric +(King of Sweden) happened to pass nigh the barrow of Asvid, and the +Swedes thinking it might contain treasure, broke into it with mattocks, +and saw disclosed a cave deeper than they had anticipated. To explore +this, a youth, chosen by lot, was let down in a basket. But Asmund, +when he saw the boy descend, cast him out, and got into it himself. +Then he gave the signal to draw up. Those above drew in the basket, +thinking by the weight that it contained much treasure. But when they +saw the unknown figure of a man emerge, scared by his strange +appearance, and thinking that the dead had come to life again, they +flung down the rope and fled. For Asmund looked ghastly, covered with +the corruption of the charnel-house. He tried to recall them, and +assured them that they were needlessly alarmed. And when Eric saw him, +he marvelled at the aspect of his bloody face, the blood flowing freely +and spurting out. Then Asmund told his story. He had been buried with +his friend Asvid, but Asvid came to life again every night, and being +ravenously hungry, fell on and devoured his horse. That eaten, he had +treated his dog in the same manner, and having consumed that he turned +on his friend, and with his sharp nails tore his cheek and ripped off +one of his ears. Asmund, who had no ambition to be eaten, made a +desperate resistance, and finally succeeded in driving a stake through +the body of the vampire. Out of delicacy due to old friendship, Asmund +did not have recourse to the usual means of quelling the posthumous +vivacity and vitality of a corpse, which was to cut off the head and +make the dead man sit on it. [Footnote: "Saxo Gramm.," V., chap, clxii- +iii.] + +The notion of suspended animation after death by no means expired with +paganism. When Severus, Bishop of Ravenna, was about to die, he went in +full pontificals to the tomb of his wife and daughter, had the stone +removed, and bade the dead ones make room for him between them, and +they obeyed. When S. Meven died, and his faithful friend Austell +followed him shortly after, the dead body moved on one side in the +sarcophagus to accommodate his companion. When an irreverent man struck +the coffin of S. Cadoc with a staff, the incensed Saint "roared like a +bull." In the Life of S. Germanus of Auxerre is a curious episode. A +pagan named Mamertinus being overtaken by night and a storm, took +refuge in a solitary building in which was a sarcophagus. He put his +knapsack under his head on the upper slab of the tomb, and lying down +there went to sleep. At midnight he was roused by a young man at the +door of the cell, who called out, "Corcodemus, Corcodemus, levite of +Christ, arise!" whereupon a voice answered from the tomb, "What do you +want?" The youth replied, "Bishop Perigrinus and Bishop Amator want you +at the church, where they are holding vigil." "I can't go," replied the +dead man, "I have a visitor here and I must show him hospitality." +After an interval the young man returned with two others and again +summoned Corcodemus, who now got out of his grave and said to one of +those who was at the door, "I will go with you, but you must abide here +and protect my visitor, for there is a bitch with her young, to the +number of seven, ready to tear him to pieces." + +So late as 1680 a book appeared, _De Miraculis Mortuorum_, by L. +C. F. Garmann, published at Leipzig, opposing opinions not merely of +the ignorant but of the learned as to a kind of prolongation of +physical life in the dead--their issuing from the graves to suck the +blood of the living, their continuing their wonted avocations +underground, as a shoemaker being heard cobbling in his coffin, of +infants shedding their milk teeth and growing second teeth, of gnawing +their grave clothes, and many other horrible superstitions--showing how +persistent the belief was that the dead did continue to live in their +sepulchres. [Footnote: The confusion between the ghost and the corpse +is exemplified in "Hamlet." + + "Tell + Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, + Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre, + Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd, + Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws + To cast thee up again." + + Act I. sc. 5.] + +The idea that by symbolic burial a man became regenerate, that he put +off the old condition and entered into another that was new, by passing +through the earth or a hole in the rocks, was very general, and it has +continued to the present day in the modified form of enabling a +sufferer by this means to leave behind his infirmities and pass into a +condition of robust health, or of one charged with a crime clearing +himself by this ordeal. + +The passing of a child through the earth was forbidden by the Canons of +Edgar (A.D. 969). [Footnote: Thorpe, "Ancient Laws and Institutes," +Lond. 1840.] Women who had crying children dug a hole in the earth and +thrust the child through, drawing it out at a further hole. Men were +forbidden also to pass cattle through a hollow tree or _per terram +foratam transire_. In France weak children were passed through a +hollow stone of S. Tessé. In the crypt of Ripon Minster is a hole in +the rock through which young women crept to establish their innocence +when charged with incontinence. In Iceland a long turf was cut attached +to the soil at both ends, and such as would pass out of a condition of +hostility into one of brotherhood crawled through the gap. At Ilefeld, +in the Harz, is a holed stone called the Nadelöhr. Any one coming to +settle in the Harz for the first time is required to creep twice +through the perforation. In a good many places in Germany a similar +process is gone through to cure lumbago. Indra, the god of Thunder +among the Hindoos, drew a sick man thrice through a hole, and thereby +gave him health and new birth. The many Helfensteins that are found in +Germany were in like manner stones of Help, by traversing which the old +man was put off and the new man put on. [Footnote: Sepp, +_Altbayerischer Sagenschatz_, Munich, 1876, p. 87 _et seq_.] +Creeping through a holed stone, or under one suspended over another, is +still practised in Ireland as a cure for disorders. From passing under +the earth the custom passed to going through a split tree, the tree +representing the coffin. An interesting account of this usage will be +found in White's "Selborne." + +And now let us turn to something else. + +A religion of the worship of ancestors formed the ground-work of many +religions that in process of time have totally changed their character. +It lies at the root of the creeds and practices of most peoples in east +and west. It was in Greece before its religion passed into the stage of +the deification of natural forces. The Assyrians and Chaldeans clung to +it in Western Asia. The Egyptians in the valley of the Nile, the +Etruscans in Italy. At the other extremity of the world, the Chinese +and Anamites perform its rites to this day from Saghalien to Cambodia. + +But in Western Asia and in Europe the primitive religion became +modified little by little. On the borders of the Tigris and the +Euphrates, as well as on the banks of the Nile, appeared the beginnings +of a different eschatology and a vague expectation of a resurrection of +the dead. The Hellenes and Romans, under the influence of philosophy, +acquired another conception of immortality, and their institutions, +issuing from collectivism, broke up into individualism. + +In the extreme East, on the other hand, the ancient beliefs and +institutions remained stationary, and Buddhism was unable materially to +disturb them. It introduced its doctrine of Metampsichosis, its +Nirvana, and its hell; but these notions did not modify, they got mixed +up with the old conceptions in a jumble of heterogeneous and +contradictory beliefs. To the present day the family remains the unit +in the State; it is under the patriarchal despotism of the head of the +line, the priest of the domestic hearth, the proprietor for the time +being of the family estate. Every household has its particular gods and +protectors--the ancestors thus sublimated, and the master of the +family, the prospective god. The condition beyond the grave in no way +depends on conduct during life, it is determined by the descendants. If +the defunct be honoured, enriched with sacrifices, he becomes a +beneficent protector and is happy; neglected and abandoned, he avenges +his unfortunate condition on his forgetful posterity. To transmit the +family cult and the patrimonial field to an heir is the first duty of +man. We inherit unconsciously, not the physical character of our +ancestors only, but also their ideas and prejudices. Our practices are +often dictated by custom of very ancient date, not at all by reason or +by conviction. Expense and trouble are incurred to convey a corpse from +one end of Europe to England, that it may repose in the family vault. +We decorate our graves with flowers as though the dead appreciated +them; they are but the representatives of the ancient sacrifice to the +dead. We drink to the memory of the deceased as though pouring out +libations to them. Our tombstones are direct descendants of the menhir +and the obelisk, our altar-tombs of the dolmen, our family vault of the +primeval cave ossuary. + +But in one point we have diverged very far from the path of old +beliefs. We have lost touch with the invisible world; we put our dead +out of sight and remember them no more, as though no part of the +community to which we belong, nor links in a chain of which every link +is living. + +It was one of the sayings of Swedenborg, that the Aryan West had +something to learn from the Turanian East. It is so--the reverend +thought of the dead as still forming a part of the organism of the +family. With the revolt at the Reformation at the trade made out of the +feelings of the bereaved, the coining of their tears into cash to line +the pockets of the priests, came an unwarranted oblivion of the dead, a +dissociation from them. The thought that the departed had still a claim +on our sympathy and on our prayers was banished as smacking of the +discarded abuse. Prayer for the dying was legitimate and obligatory at +ten minutes to three, but prohibited at five minutes to three when the +breath had passed away. We have gone too far in this direction. We live +in an immaterial as well as in a material world. We are planted at the +overlap of two spheres, that which is spiritual and that which is +physical, and we gravitate so sensibly and so rapidly to the latter as +to lose touch with the former, and finally to disbelieve in the +existence of such a sphere. + +The earth can radiate its heat, and receive and be steeped in the +falling dew only when the sky is not overcast; but our heavens are so +thick with clouds that our spirits can exhale no warmth into the +Infinite, nor drink in any balm descending from the Unseen. It is only +by detachment from the routine of vulgar life that we can enter into +any relation with the spiritual world. Political interests, social +obligations, financial concerns, choke the spiracles of our inner +being, and we lose all concern about what is supersensible, and hold no +communication with it. There are stars and planets overhead, Orion with +his spangled belt, Cassiopeia in her glittering chair, and Pleiades in +their web of silver, but we cannot see them because of the fog that +envelops us. + +According to an Indian legend, the first men were bred like maggots in +the heart of the earth, but laying hold of some depending fibres drew +themselves up into the light of day. We reverse the order, and from the +bright spiritual sphere crawl underground by the thousand tendrils of +daily life. + +The early Methodists and the Quakers broke away from the low material +conception of life common in their day, and asserted the reality of the +spiritual world, and the duty of living for it, as also the certainty +of holding intercommunion with the spirits. The 'Other worldliness' of +the mediaeval monastic mysticism had produced a revolt against a +conception of life that was false, its passive hostility to +civilisation, the hollowness of its ideal existence, its exaggerated +asceticism, its disparagement of the family life, and the result was +the swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction. The recoil came +with the Methodists. But we cannot live wholly in the world of spirit, +any more than we ought to live wholly in the world of matter, for our +nature is double, and no portion of it should be atrophied. Extreme +mysticism is as falsifying of our nature as is extreme worldliness. The +stupidity and charlatanism of modern spiritualism is the rebellion of +men and women against the materialism of present conception of life. +Where natural expression of a need is checked, it breaks out in a +disordered form, just as arrested perspiration and circulation of the +blood produce fever. If all recognition of supersensible existence be +denied, the assertion that it does, has its place, and makes its +demands on us, will call forth, if not a wholesome, then a diseased +expression. + +We are intended to rise at times and breathe the atmosphere above us, +and then to descend again to the lower region. It is only the dab and +the common plaice that are content to lie ever on the bottom, and they +are but one-sided fish. They see with one eye only, the other has been +absorbed and become dead. Every creature has in it a promise of +something better than what it is. The slow-worm has rudimentary legs, +but they are never developed; the oyster has rudimentary eyes, but they +come to nothing. The larva has in it the promise of wings, and it grows +into a butterfly or dies a grub. The soul of man has its wings so +battered by its cage and is so enamoured of its groundsel and bit of +sugar, that even if the door be left open it will not look forth, +certainly not break away. Yet there is a world beyond the bars, and a +world peopled by happy spirits, and if it cannot at once join them, it +can call to them and unite with them in rapturous song. The old +turnspit was bred in the kitchen, and its daily task was to run in the +revolving drum that helped to roast the meat. Its legs became deformed +like those of the dachshund. It cared not to romp in the green meadows, +to run with the hounds, it waddled about the kitchen floor looking out +for the bones and scraps of fat cast to it, as payment for its toil. +And that is what we are becoming through unremitting neglect of our +spiritual avocation. + +More than fifty years ago I was walking at night through lanes near +Dartmoor, and caught up a trudging postman who daily, nightly, measured +long distances. I soon found that he was a man who had his spiritual +eye open. + +"Do you not feel lonely in these long walks in the dark?" I inquired. + +"I am never alone," he replied, "the spirits are always with me." + +"Your thoughts," I suggested. + +"My thoughts are indeed within me, humming in my head. I must go forth +to meet the spirits. Look here," he went on, "the soul of man is like a +fly in a cobweb. It can't spread its wings till it breaks loose, and +then it very often carries away some of the threads with it." + +Mr. Jacks gives us, in his "Human Studies," one of a shepherd on the +Wolds, the counterpart of my postman. There be more of these men than +is generally supposed. But he who would deal with this subject would be +constrained to say with the knight in the "Canterbury Pilgrims"-- + + "I have, God wot, a large field to ere + And wayke ben the oxen in the plough." + +I have broken away from my caves, and have rambled--I know not whither. + + Vive, vale: si quid novisti rectius istis, + Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum. + --HORACE, Epist. i. 6. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +Owing to the great kindness of Mr. Wm. Stevenson, author of "Bygone +Nottinghamshire," I am able to give some additional matter that must be +of interest, with which he has supplied me. + +(p. 32.) "Your account reminds me of a rock excavation of great extent +with turns and windings on the old time 'Way to the Gallows,' in +Nottingham, where a number of cave-dwellings existed down to a century +ago. The last tenant was a sandman who stabled his ass in the cave +behind. He passed the greater part of his life in selling sand about +the town, carrying it in a sack across the back of his ass. Time wore +him out, and he had to enter the workhouse. His cave was then explored, +and it was found of enormous extent, in two storeys. It is supposed to +have been mainly wrought day after day and year after year by this +sandman. It is still to be seen, but dangerous to explore. One party of +investigators a few years ago carried a string with them as a clue by +means of which to find their way out again. There is a story of it +becoming a lurking place of robbers after the sandman's day. A number +of the excavations under the town are held to have been made or +extended by the tenants above, obtaining their supply of sand from +below. Formerly floors were sanded." + +(p. 35.) Puticoli. Slave pits have been found in South Africa. "When +the old town hall and town prison at Nottingham was demolished a few +years ago, and the site was excavated for the advance of the Great +Central Railway, seven or more pits were found, one with a rusty chain +in it. They were about four feet in diameter at the top, and seven feet +at the bottom, with dished floors. They varied from about twelve to +eighteen feet in depth. We had no knowledge of anything of the kind in +local history. Two others were found a distance away that could have +had no connection with the prison site." + +Formerly at Monte Carlo the bodies of suicides were thrust into the +holes that riddle the limestone rock and gave it the name of Les +Spelunges. But the conditions became insanitary, and Italian workmen +were employed to get them out, and carry them away to sea and there +sink them. + +(p. 50.) "Formerly it was the way in which wells were ascended and +descended in Nottingham, by means of notches cut in the side for the +insertion of toes and fingers. I have had to do with the exploration of +the base of Edward IV.'s Tower at Nottingham Castle, destroyed with +gunpowder during the Civil War. In one corner of the basement we found +a well filled with rubbish. This the workmen cleared out for over fifty +feet, and all the way down were notches in the wall, and the men went +up and down like monkeys, using no other means for ascending and +descending." + +(p. 83.) Ventholes for smoke were common in Nottingham, Sneinton, and +Mansfield. + +(p. 82.) SOUTERRAINS. Mr. Stevenson writes relative to the pits before +the entrance doors of refuges: "Some years ago I had a part in +exploring the Norman Keep of Scarborough Castle, erected early in the +reign of Henry II.; we worked under the entrance staircase, and found a +pit arched over at a later period and covered with a stone landing, but +originally it must have been a pit or well in front of the only +entrance door. It was partly cleared out of fallen masonry and rubbish, +but not properly explored. Overhead was a shoot for stones or molten +lead. It would appear that the pit system was abandoned about the close +of the Middle Ages." + +(p. 98.) "It is fairly well determined in the 'History of Nottingham' +that the Roman Catholics in Elizabeth's and James I.'s reign met +secretly in the caves in the rock of the town. They were also refuges +of the Dissenters in the days of Charles II." + +(p. 153.) NOTTINGHAM. "There have been several falls of the rock, both +at Nottingham itself and at Sneinton. Mortimer's Hole, under the +Castle, is only one of four that are known to exist, three of which can +be traversed, one wholly and two in part; one of these latter is by +many regarded as the true historical passage. It started at the meadow +level, and was partially closed by a wall; the rock wasted with time, +and the thin wall gave way, bringing down a vast amount of rock above, +and leaving the cavern in this part an open alley. The cave was then +converted into malt offices, which yet remain in the higher and perfect +part. The rock-caverns in the park, the old cell of S. Mary-le-rocke, +formed possibly the parent of Lenton priory, just as those at Ligugé +were the parent of the abbey on the further side of the river. The rock +monastery, the 'Papists' Holes' has long ago lost most of its front by +falls of rock and the destruction wrought by the Roundheads. A huge +artificial pillar has of recent years been erected to prevent further +falls. A fall in 1829 brought down from 1000 to 1400 tons, a mass some +seven or eight feet thick. On 10th May in the same year, evidently due +to an earth tremor, a like great fall occurred at the rock habitations +at Sneinton. The inhabitants escaped as by a miracle. A dog barked +furiously in the night, and the inhabitants of the cave dwellings +rushed forth, fancying that robbers were at work there. In 1830 a +portion of the town cliff fell, as did also some of that in the park. + +"The county or sheriff prison for Notts and Derby was, as far as can be +traced back by records, half-way up the over ninety feet cliff of the +town of Nottingham, and was entered from the King's hall at the top. +Light holes were made in the face of the rock to the south. In these +vaults, now closed, men and women were confined like wild beasts, on +straw. The prior and monks were enclosed here in the time of Henry +VIII., and were marched thence to the gallows. The inhabitants of the +lower part of the town under the prison complained of the ordure +exuding from the prison and trickling down the rock. There are records +of marvellous escapes of prisoners, both male and female, down the face +of the rock, till comparatively recently. As may well be supposed, +gaol-fever raged in these horrible dens. One vault is still shown under +the castle. Leland and Camden both speak of an underground dungeon in +which tradition (this time falsely) says that King David of Scotland +was confined, and on the walls of which with a nail he carved a +crucifix. These travellers do not say that they actually saw it; but +Thomas Bailey, in publishing his 'Annals of Notts,' employed a local +artist to depict the scene. After the erection in the seventeenth +century of the Italian castle, the vault was converted into a wine- +cellar. Leland says that there had been three chapels in the castle, +but he does not say where. + +"In the town of Nottingham are two rock-hewn stairs. The most important +is called the 'Long Stairs,' they begin, cut out of the perpendicular +face of the rock, at its highest point, landing opposite the old mother +church. The steps are now faced with harder material than the local +sandstone. On the side there are houses, and indeed houses on the tops +of houses, a tenant at a lower level, another at a higher, each +obtaining entry from the stairs. The 'Short Stairs' are not wrought in +the face of the cliff, and have houses on both sides. These are clearly +in a prehistoric quarter of the town, where was once a hill-fort." + +(p. 159.) FORD CASTLES. The ancient ford at Retford, Notts, was more +north than the present, and beside it is a red cliff largely cut into +with joist-holes, &c., for floors and roofs, and give indications of +former habitations. + +Radford, a name borrowed by the priory, _alias_ Worksop, is a hill +of red sandstone that dominated the ford. On the hill is an +entrenchment. + +(p. 160.) Mr. Stevenson remarks on the holes in the floor at +Rochebrune; "This is what I should expect to find in a maltery, which +must be of two floors, the lower one for steeping and sprouting the +corn, and holding the fire-crates, the higher one for drying and +storing the malt. The higher floors are now made of perforated tiles, +the holes too small for the grains to pass through, but in old times I +think the malt was dried in braziers something like large frying-pans. +Drying rooms for wheat were attached to corn-mills to dry the corn +before grinding. In some seasons corn is difficult to dry; perhaps in +France they did not make malt, but they may have dried grapes." Malt +was not made in Perigord, I believe; and the indications at Rochebrune +are strongly those of defence against assailants. Grapes would hardly +be dried in a cavern, but in the sun, and there is plenty of sun in the +South of France. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe +by Sabine Baring-Gould + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES AND CAVE DWELLINGS *** + +This file should be named 8898-8.txt or 8898-8.zip + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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