Cévennes Mountains (France); France -- Description and travel
From Monastier one can drive to Goudet and thence walk to Arlempdes,
distant but three miles, one of the most picturesque sites, with one
of the most interesting castles in the Velay. At Goudet itself are the
ruined castles of Goudet and Beaufort. At Arlempdes the Loire has cut
its way through a mass of lava exposing prismatic columns, and the
village is commanded by a castle flanked by round and square towers
on a basaltic rock above it, and looking down from a sheer precipice
on the Loire that glides below. The summit of the rock was irregular,
and the feudal remains were grouped about on the platform equally
irregularly. The chapel of Arlempdes is of the twelfth century. The Lac
du Bouchet has been already spoken of. It is visited from Cayres. It is
not the only object worth seeing in that direction; three-quarters of a
mile off the main road from Le Puy to Langonne at Chacornac are caves
excavated by the hand of man, that served Mandrin as one of his mints
for forged coins. He was a native of S. Etienne; his principal factory
of coins was at S. André on the sea coast, but when disturbed there
he set up his workshop at Chacornac. Caught repeatedly, he managed to
break out of prison again and again, but finally was broken on the
wheel in 1755 at the age of forty-one. For some time he used an old
castle as his place for coining, first scaring the owner out of it by
spectral appearances and keeping up the idea among the peasantry around
that it was haunted.
Some commotion was caused in the spiritualistic world in 1903 by
stories circulating relative to a haunted mill at Perbet between Le
Puy and S. Front. It was occupied by a miller, Joubert, and his wife
and two daughters, Marie aged fourteen, and Philomène aged twelve.
On November 27th, 1902, three peasants were returning from market at
Lausanne, and had reached the glen of the Aubépine, when they heard
startling noises issue from the mill of Perbet accompanied by screams
of terror, and the bellowing of the cattle in the stable that was under
the same roof. Next moment they saw the miller's wife—he himself was
absent at the time—at the door gesticulating and calling for help.
The men hastened to the door, and beheld the two girls writhing in
convulsions on the floor, the crockery flying about the kitchen, and
the furniture performing a waltz. Next moment a volley of stones was
discharged at their heads. The men, panic-struck, crossed themselves
and departed to talk about what they had seen. Next day and during
several that followed crowds visited the ramshackle mill of Perbet,
to witness the performances that continued till the clock, the sacred
pictures, the window-panes, the crockery, every article the poor
dwelling contained, had been reduced to wreckage. The children were
conducted to the parish priest, who exorcised them, but all to no
purpose. The editor of the Radical _l'Avenir_ at Le Puy went to the
scene, but saw none of the performances. He contented himself with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account