Béarn and the Pyrenees : $b A legendary tour to the country of Henri QuatreCostello, Louisa Stuart
History
Béarn and the Pyrenees : $b A legendary tour to the country of Henri Quatre
Costello, Louisa Stuart
Béarn (France) -- Description and travel; Pyrenees -- Description and travel
We entered a court-yard, where a tailor was sitting working close by a
curious door-way, which appeared like the entrance to a church, and was
built into a wall, forming part of what was formerly a large mansion. We
were so much struck with the extraordinary sculpture round the arch,
that we inquired if there was any record of what it had been. The tailor
looked up surprised: "Well," said he, "I have lived here all my life,
and never took notice of this door-way before: we have plenty of old
stones here; but they are worth nothing, and mean nothing, that I know
of."
The carving which so excited our curiosity was a series of medallions:
some circular, some square, very much mutilated, but still traceable. On
one compartment were the figures of a bear _rampant_, and--what might
be--a bull: they seemed in the act of combat, and possibly might
represent the arms of Béarn and Ossau, though I confess I look upon them
as of _very early_ date--perhaps the work of the Gauls or Goths, _selon
moi_; another enclosed a Sagittarius and a dog; another, an animal like
a wolf, holding a club; another, an ape: the rest are too much worn to
enable an antiquarian to decide what they were; but the whole offered a
very singular and interesting problem, which we found it impossible to
solve: the medallions are on stones which have evidently belonged to
some other building, and been thus placed over a modern portal.
There is a cavern in the neighbourhood of Izeste, which is said to be
worth visiting; but the weather was not propitious to our seeing it.
We stopped on the way from the Eaux Bonnes, on our return, at a place
where our driver purchased us some ortolans, and we were almost stunned
with the noise and clamour of a crowd of little urchins, with flowers
and without, who, in whining accents, insisted on sous; but there was
nothing either pretty or romantic about them or their costume; and we
were very glad when, having procured the delicate little birds we waited
for, we could resume our route. This was just at the season of _La
Chasse des Palombes_--a time of much importance in the valley, when
hundreds of a peculiar sort of pigeons are sacrificed.
Many of the peaks which had been concealed from us the day before, came
forth from their circling mists, at intervals, on our return, and were
pointed out to us by their different names; but as we came back in the
evening to Pau, the range which was most familiar to us re-appeared in
all its splendour, much clearer than when we were nearer to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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