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ROMANTIC CITIES OF PROVENCE
ROMANTIC CITIES OF PROVENCE
CLOISTERS OF ST. TROPHINE, ARLES. By E. M. Synge. ROMANTIC CITIES OF PROVENCE BY MONA CAIRD ILLUSTRATED FROM SKETCHES BY JOSEPH PENNELL AND EDWARD M. SYNGE NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN TO MARGUERITE HAMILTON SYNGE [ All rights reserved. ]...
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Preface
Preface
This volume can hardly be said to have been written: it came about. The little tour in the South of France which is responsible for its existence, happened some years ago, and was undertaken for various reasons, health and rest among others, and the very last idea which served as a motive for the journey was that of writing about the country whose history is so voluminous and so incalculably ancient. Nobody but a historian and a scholar already deeply versed in the subject could dream of attempt
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CHAPTER I THE SPELL OF PROVENCE
CHAPTER I THE SPELL OF PROVENCE
"Aubouro-te, raço Latino— Emé toun péu que se desnouso A l'auro santo dou tabour, Tu siès la raço lumenouso Que viéu de joio e d'estrambord; Tu siès la raço apoustoulico Que souno li campano â brand: Tu siès la troumpo que publico E siès la man que trais lou gran Aubouro-te, raço Latino!" Latin race arouse thyself! With thy hair loosened to the holy air of the tabor, Thou art the race of light, Who lives in enthusiasm and joy: Thou art the apostolic race— That sets the bells a-chiming; Thou art
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CHAPTER II AVIGNON
CHAPTER II AVIGNON
"Sur le pont d'Avignon, On y danse, on y danse!" "Avenio ventosa, sine vento Venenosa, cum vento fastidiosa." Latin Proverb. "Parlement mistral et Durance Sont les trois fleaux de Provence." Old Saying. CHAPTER II AVIGNON How the sun does pour down on to the great esplanade before the Palace of the Popes! It is as warm as a June day in England and twice as light. That astounding building towers into the blue, bare and creamy white, every stern, simple line of it ascending swift and clear, in rep
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CHAPTER III A SEVERE CRITIC—UZÈS AND BARBENTANE
CHAPTER III A SEVERE CRITIC—UZÈS AND BARBENTANE
"La cigalo di piboulo, La bouscarlo do bouissoun, Lou grihet di farigoulo Tout canto sa cansoun." The tree locust in the poplar, the thrush in the wayside bush, The grasshopper in the wild thyme, each sings its own song. Mistral. CHAPTER III A SEVERE CRITIC—UZÈS AND BARBENTANE At the table d'hôte of our hotel, a little group of travellers was clustered at the far end of the long, old-fashioned room—silent, French though they were. My neighbour was a pale, faintly-outlined young man, with short,
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CHAPTER IV PETRARCH AND LAURA
CHAPTER IV PETRARCH AND LAURA
"Solea lontana in sonno consolarme Con quella dolce angelica sua vista Madonna; or mi spaventa e mi contrista; Né di duol , né di téma posso aitarme: Ché spesso nel suo volto veder parme Vera pietà con grave dolor mista; Ed udir cose, onde'l cor fede acquista, Ché di gioja e di speme si disarme. Non ti sovèn di quell' ultima sera, Dic' ella, ch'i lasciai gli occhi tuoi molli, E sforzata dal tempo me n' andai? I' non te'l potei dir all or, né volli: Or te'l dico per cosa esperta e vera; Non spera
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CHAPTER V THE CITIES OF THE LAGOONS
CHAPTER V THE CITIES OF THE LAGOONS
"The Ligurians—subdued finally by Augustus ... had constituted the first nationality ... of Provence. Perhaps Asiatic in origin, they extended, with the Celts and the Iberians ... from the Pyrenees to the Alps, along the littoral ... at the epoch assigned for the founding of Marseilles, 590 or 600 b.c. "The Ligurians extended from the seventh or eighth century b.c. from the Pyrenees to the Arno along the Mediterranean shores. "The Ibero-Ligurians have left memories of three tribes, the Bebrykes,
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CHAPTER VI THE BIRTH OF CHIVALRY
CHAPTER VI THE BIRTH OF CHIVALRY
"Quan vez la landeta mover De joi sas alas contra 'lrai, Que s'oblida e s laissa cazer Per la doussor qu'al cor l'in vai Ailas! qual enueia m'enve, Cui qu'ieu ne vai jauzion! Meraveillas m'ai quar desse Lo cor de dezirier no m fon." "When I behold the skylark winging its merry journey towards the sun and then forgetful of itself from sudden inebriety of pleasure, drop down precipitant; Oh! how I long then for a fate like hers! How much I enjoy then the joy to which I'm witness! I am astonished t
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CHAPTER VII THE GAY SCIENCE
CHAPTER VII THE GAY SCIENCE
"Li douz cossire Qem don amors soven Domnam fan dire De vos maint vers plazem Pessan remire Vostre cors car e gen Cui eu dezire Mas qu non faz parven; E sitot me deslei Per vos ges nous abnei Q'ades vas vos soplei De francha benevolensa Domna on beutaz gensa." From a famous Canzo by Guilhelm de Cabestaing . Q'ades vas vos soplei De francha benevolensa Domna on beutaz gensa." From a famous Canzo by Guilhelm de Cabestaing . "The sweet thoughts which love gives me often, Lady, makes me sing of you
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CHAPTER VIII ORANGE AND MARTIGUES
CHAPTER VIII ORANGE AND MARTIGUES
"Beauty gives men the best hint of ultimate good which their experience as yet can offer." "The Life of Reason"— George Santayana. CHAPTER VIII ORANGE AND MARTIGUES Every one who has travelled in mountain regions has been puzzled by the curious fact that the more peaks his journeyings reveal to him the more there are to reveal. The number of the mountains seems to increase in geometrical proportion and the traveller has presently to learn that, in spite of all appearances, the last towering summ
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CHAPTER IX ROMANTIC LOVE
CHAPTER IX ROMANTIC LOVE
The Laws of Love accepted by Courts of Love. (As given by Rowbotham.) A SQUARE AT NIMES. By Joseph Pennell. CHAPTER IX ROMANTIC LOVE Criticise and condemn as we may the conceptions of the time, the institution of chivalry accomplished a marvellous work of regeneration wherever it was able to establish itself. One can but turn with emotion and gratitude to the land where it has blossomed into some of its most beautiful forms, where the warm blood of the South took fire and impelled to the followi
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CHAPTER X ARLES
CHAPTER X ARLES
"The name of Arles has raised great discussions.... Some see in it a Greek origin, Agns , others regard it as Latin, Ara lata (raised altar), because the Romans there found an altar consecrated to Diana of the Ephesians by the Phoceans of Marseilles: ... others as Celtic Ar-lath , moist place, on account of its marshes.... It is sufficiently evident that the name Arelate has not a physiognomy either Greek or Roman; and the radical Ar which is found ... in the name of the Arekomique Volcians ...
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CHAPTER XI SONG, DANCE, AND LEGEND
CHAPTER XI SONG, DANCE, AND LEGEND
"At eventide it delighted him much to sit by the blazing fire of fagots on the hearth and tell us tales of the Reign of Terror, when during the Revolution he had dug a pit and had hidden there many a poor fugitive. Then my mother would sing the sweet old Provençal songs, La Bello Margountoud , L'aucen engabia .... "Ballads and stories would be told by her while I drank in with delight the wild legends of Provence."— Mistral's Account of his Parents. CHAPTER XI SONG, DANCE, AND LEGEND There are s
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CHAPTER XII TARASCON
CHAPTER XII TARASCON
"Amo de longo renadivo, Amo jouiouso e fièro a vivo, Qu'endibes dins lou brut dóu Rose e dóu Rousau! Amo di séuvo armouniouso E di calanco souleiouso, De la patrio amo piouso, T'apelle! encarno-te dins mi vers prouvençau!" " Calendau "— Mistral. ("Soul of my country ever new, Joyous and fiery, gallant, true, Who laughest in the waves of the Rhone, Upstirred by Rousau on his throne, Soul of the pine's wood harmony, And of each sun-creek of the sea; Soul of my Fatherland's dear shrine, Inspire Pro
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CHAPTER XIII THE PONT DU GARD
CHAPTER XIII THE PONT DU GARD
"Qui donc disait qu'il n'y a ni fraicheur ni ombre en Provence! Il semble y avoir là-bas dans le tortueux lointain de la rivière, un infini de rêverie, un paradis melancolique.... Je contemple la noble structure du Pont Géant, ces arcades silencieuses qui semblent dévorer de l'azur." Paul Mariéton. CHAPTER XIII THE PONT DU GARD Barbara had heard of the approaching arrival of some cherished relations in Provence, and as blood is the thickest of all substances—impenetrable by the X or any other ra
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CHAPTER XIV A HUMAN DOCUMENT
CHAPTER XIV A HUMAN DOCUMENT
"How many a rustic Milton has passed by Stifling the speechless longing of his heart, In unremitting drudgery and care. How many a vulgar Cato has compelled His energies, no longer tameless then To mould a pin or fabricate a nail. How many a Newton to whose passive ken These mighty spheres that gem infinity Were only specks of tinsel fixed in heaven To light the midnights of his native town." Shelley , "Queen Mab." Shelley , "Queen Mab." CHAPTER XIV A HUMAN DOCUMENT The inside of the fly being s
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CHAPTER XV BEAUCAIRE AND ITS LOVE-STORY
CHAPTER XV BEAUCAIRE AND ITS LOVE-STORY
"The central love-poetry of Provence, the poetry of the Tenson and the Aubade, of Bernard de Ventadour and Pierre Vidal, is poetry for the few, for the elect and peculiar people of the kingdom of sentiment. But below this intenser poetry there was probably a wide range of literature ... reaching ... an audience which the concentrated passion of those higher lyrics left untouched ... the only representative of its species, M. Fauriel thought he detected in the story of Aucassin and Nicolette, wri
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CHAPTER XVI CARCASSONNE, THE ALBIGENSES AND PIERRE VIDAL
CHAPTER XVI CARCASSONNE, THE ALBIGENSES AND PIERRE VIDAL
"Oh! garden that is blooming in the fields of Montolian, Ye are crimsoned with the blood of the slain." From MS. poem on the Albigensian Crusades found by M. Fauriel in the "Bibliothèque du Roi." CHAPTER XVI CARCASSONNE, THE ALBIGENSES AND PIERRE VIDAL With the siege of Beaucaire fresh in our minds, Simon de Montfort and Count Raimon VI. of Toulouse became enrolled among the names that jumped to the eyes wherever they occurred. We pursued any trail that led to further particulars of these two me
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CHAPTER XVII MAGUELONNE
CHAPTER XVII MAGUELONNE
"Aigues Mortes is a dead town! Maguelonne is the ghost of one." CHAPTER XVII MAGUELONNE Maguelonne—the dwelling on the Pool. The name has an aroma of romance, and a sort of tender melancholy which penetrates to the imagination before one knows whether it is a city or a mountain or some gloomy castle in an old fairy tale. Once it was a splendid city spreading along the shores of the lagoon; now there remains but a solitary church, one of the characteristic fortress-churches of the Midi, a bare, p
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CHAPTER XVIII THE SPIRIT OF THE WILDERNESS
CHAPTER XVIII THE SPIRIT OF THE WILDERNESS
"Sa desolation grandiose ... immense et caillouteuse comme une steppe d'Orient." Paul Mariéton. CHAPTER XVIII THE SPIRIT OF THE WILDERNESS Fanfarigoule in the Crau [18] is the haunt of the ghouls. Let any one wander alone in that extraordinary desert, and if he have not nerves of steel or a cast-iron imagination he will understand how it earns that reputation. As for disputing the existence of those ancient beings, to what reasonable mind would it occur—especially at the hour of sunset? Immense
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CHAPTER XIX ROSES OF PROVENCE
CHAPTER XIX ROSES OF PROVENCE
"Ai vist la roso adematin Tout bello e fresco espandido...." "I have seen the morning rose expanded all beautiful and fresh...." Roumanille. "Sweet month of May, So fresh, so gay, Hast come again? Nature awakes, Soon morning breaks In hawthorn glen, The birds' refrain Thrills forth its strain." From the Provençal of Aubanel. BASE OF MONUMENT OF MARIUS, ST. REMY. By Joseph Pennell. CHAPTER XIX ROSES OF PROVENCE What is the mysterious force in life that always makes it impossible to linger in any
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CHAPTER XX AN INN PARLOUR
CHAPTER XX AN INN PARLOUR
"O princesso di Baus! Ugueto, Sibilo, Blanco-Flour, Bausseto, Que trounavais amount sus li roucas aurin, Cors subre-bèu, amo galoio, Dounant l'amour, largant la joio E la lumiero, li mount-joio De Mount-Pavoun, de Crau li trescamp azurin Encaro vuei dins soun mirage Se representon voste oumbrage.... Li ferigoulo meme an counserva l'óudour De vòsti piado; e m'es vejaire Que vese encaro,—galejaire, Gentiéu, courriòu e guerrejaire,— Que vese à vòsti pèd canta li troubadour." "O princesses des Baux!
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CHAPTER XXI LES BAUX
CHAPTER XXI LES BAUX
Paul Mariéton. CHAPTER XXI LES BAUX In all Provence, perhaps in all Europe, there is no more astonishing relic of mediæval life than that "crater of a feudal volcano" Les Baux, [21] a veritable eagle's nest of a city in one of the wildest and highest points of the Alpilles. It is a morning's drive from St. Remy across the little range to its steep southern side. We plunge straight into their heart and begin to mount by gradual windings through little valleys, arid and lonely. Dwarf oak, lavender
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CHAPTER XXII RAIMBAUT DE VACQUEIRAS AND GUILHELM DES BAUX
CHAPTER XXII RAIMBAUT DE VACQUEIRAS AND GUILHELM DES BAUX
"De la solitaire demeure Une ombre lourde d'heure en heure, Se détache sur le gazon, Et cet ombre, couchée et morte Est la seule chose qui sorte Tout le jour de cette maison." Alphonse Karr. CHAPTER XXII RAIMBAUT DE VACQUEIRAS AND GUILHELM DES BAUX There is a particular stately house off the main street that suggested itself as the house of the golden-haired lady of Les Baux. Her burial place pointed to her having belonged to a family of importance. She was probably the wife of some tempestuous
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CHAPTER XXIII THE SORCERESS OF THE ALPILLES
CHAPTER XXIII THE SORCERESS OF THE ALPILLES
"And midst the thyme They drink from golden bowl And circle round in goblin farandole." Mistral. AT LES BAUX. By E. M. Synge. CHAPTER XXIII THE SORCERESS OF THE ALPILLES Music in a dead city! We stopped abruptly. Out of the deepening stillness there grew slowly, solemnly, the muffled, mournful trembling of an organ issuing from the closed doors of the church on the platform. The sound swelled, ebbed, fell into low troubled mutterings, then swelled again; never was any strain more plaintive, soli
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CHAPTER XXIV ACROSS THE AGES
CHAPTER XXIV ACROSS THE AGES
"Pas de chantar m'es pres talens, Farai un vers don sui dolens, Non serai mais obediens De Peigtau ni de Lemozi. Ieu m'en anarai en eyssilh; Laissarai en guerra mon filh, E gran paor et en parilh; E faran li mal siey vozi." ("A desire to sing has seized me, And I shall sing of that which afflicts me; I shall no longer be obeyed By either Poitou or Limousin. I shall depart into exile; I shall leave my son behind me in war, In great fear and peril, At the mercy of those who wish him ill.") By Will
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CHAPTER XXV THE SONG OF THE RHONE
CHAPTER XXV THE SONG OF THE RHONE
"Salut, empèri dóu soulèu, que bordo Coume un orle d'argènt lou Rose bléuge! Empèri dóu soulas, de l'alegrìo! Empèri fantasti de la Prouvènço Qu'emé toun noum soulet fas gau au mounde!" ("Hail, Empire of the sun, which the dazzling Rhone borders like a silver hem! Empire of happiness and gaiety, fantastic Empire of Provence, thou who with thy name alone charmest the world!") Mistral , The Poem of the Rhone ( Canto Second —xviii.). CHAPTER XXV THE SONG OF THE RHONE With the spirit of the country,
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CHAPTER XXVI THE CAMARGUE
CHAPTER XXVI THE CAMARGUE
"Not a growing thing Save stunted tamarisk. Salt-wort, sea poppy" CHAPTER XXVI THE CAMARGUE Sometimes a lonely sea-mew breaks the monotony of the sky, or, some huge-winged bird, the "stalking hermit of the lagoon," casts a flitting shadow. "One vast desert ... The sole confine some distant glare of sea." In summer there are no flowers in this forsaken region, only the white inflorescence of salt crystals—frozen tears of generations of vanished peoples one might fancy them. And, as if in mockery,
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CHAPTER XXVII "ARTISTS IN HAPPINESS"
CHAPTER XXVII "ARTISTS IN HAPPINESS"
"Baseness rusts, wears out and seals up young-heartedness." Raimbaut d'Aurenga. CHAPTER XXVII "ARTISTS IN HAPPINESS" It is doubtful if there is a country in Europe where the spirit of the past is so strong as it is in Provence. One needs not to dive down for it below the surface; it lives before one's eyes everywhere, every day. That strange cheer and blitheness that seems to belong to the centuries gone by has not yet been beaten down by the care and heaviness of modern life. The mere act of li
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