Guernsey Folk Lore: a collection of popular superstitions, legendary tales, peculiar customs, proverbs, weather sayings, etc., of the people of that islandMacCulloch, Edgar, Sir
History
Guernsey Folk Lore: a collection of popular superstitions, legendary tales, peculiar customs, proverbs, weather sayings, etc., of the people of that island
MacCulloch, Edgar, Sir
Folklore -- Guernsey
“That whereas their predecessors, the inhabitants of the Vingtaine of
the Epine, had in former times built a chapel, with a churchyard, for
divine service, by reason of the sea, which doth oftentimes hinder them
from going to their parish church of the Valle; and that since that
time His Majesty’s Commissioners having considered how necessary that
chapel was for them, it hath pleased the late Queen Elizabeth to grant
unto them yearly ten or twelve quarters of wheat, for the maintenance
both of the said chapel, and also of a schoolmaster to instruct their
children; notwithstanding all which the said chapel, together with the
churchyard, hath been utterly ruinated and the trees beaten down, and
the grounds and rents belonging thereunto taken away, to the great
grief and prejudice of the said parishioners, and therefore they humbly
desire that the said chapel be built again by them that have thus
ruinated it, and the rents belonging thereunto, for so necessary a use,
be restored unto them again, with the tithes and rights concerning it.”
The answer and decision of the Commissioners was not satisfactory.
They owned there was probably a chapel of ease on that spot, and they
go on to state that, having examined some aged people who dwelt near
the place, as well as the Lieutenant-Governor and other officers, they
find that ten or twelve quarters of wheat had been given either towards
the maintenance of the chapel or of a schoolmaster, and that some had
heard divine service said there about the beginning of the reign of
Elizabeth and long before, but they can find no evidence to prove
that it was founded or built for a chapel of ease, the complainants
accounting for the absence of documentary evidence in support of their
claim by alleging that the Governor had taken it away with him. The
Commissioners go on to say that on further examinations they have had
there was a certain Popish superstitious service used therein, and that
wheat rents had been given by certain inhabitants for the saying of a
morrow mass upon Sundays, and for such like superstitious uses, and
that about forty years previously, the chapel, with all appertaining
to it, had been seized for the use of the Queen. The conclusion they
arrived at was that the seizure was legal, and should be maintained.
At the north-east extremity of the Clos-du-Valle, near the estate
called Paradis, and a little way beyond the cromlech called Déhus or
Thus, stood La Chapelle de Saint Malière or Magloire, an early apostle
of the island.
All traces of this chapel have long since disappeared, but its site
is still pointed out as being that of a little thatch-covered cottage
on the side of the hill.[90] The old farmhouse close by, called “St.
Magloire,” is said to have been the residence of the priest attached to
its service.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account