Gascony

“ There are to be found among them men of rare merit, and men with plenty of courage, men as honest as are any others. But, actually, all Gascons do not come from Gascony. Every nation under the sun breeds its braggarts and false braves. 'The true Gascons,' says a writer who knew them well in their own land washed by the Garonne, ’the true Gascons possess a good deal of heart, and are desirous of making all the world aware of the fact.' But I am not satisfied that they do not make display of more heart than they actually possess. ”

“ The mountaineers of Gascony were far removed from the seat of government, and were but imperfectly informed of what passed there. They knew that their countryman had played an important part, and that he had on some occasions promoted their local interests; and they stood by him in his adversity and in his disgrace with a constancy which presents a singular contrast to his own abject fickleness. All France was amazed to learn that the department of the Upper Pyrenees had chosen the proscribed tyrant a member of the Council of Five Hundred. ”

“ There was no manner of doubt but that the English Regent, Bedford, was resolved to lose no more time, but seek to put beneath his iron heel the whole of the realm of France. Gascony had been English so long that the people could remember nothing different than the rule of the Roy Outremer--as of old they called him. Now all France north of the Loire owned the same sway, and as all men know, the Duke of Burgundy was ally to the English, and hated the Dauphin with a deadly hatred, for the murder of his father--for which no man can justly blame him. ”

“ The inhabitants of Gascony (Gascogne) a province in the south-west of France, are proverbial not only for their impetuosity and courage, but for their willingness to brag of the possession of these qualities. Excellent examples of the typical Gascon in literature are D'Artagnan in Dumas's Trois Mousquetaires (1844) and Cyrano in Rostand's splendid drama, Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) . ”

“ Cauvignac, the Gascon adventurer, is, in respect to the qualities supposed to be most characteristic of the natives of Gascony, a worthy compeer of the immortal D'Artagnan. The lovely, high-spirited, and virtuous Vicomtesse de Cambes, and the equally lovely and high-spirited favorite of the Duc d'Épernon, meet upon common ground in their rivalry for the affection of Canolles. ”

“ It is a desire to make this obscene work more congenial to the spirit of a gentleman, which, devil take me, I cannot stifle, not for the King himself. And then, Monsieur de Lesperon, are we not fellow-countrymen? Are we not Gascons both? Pardieu, there is no more respected a name in the whole of Gascony than that of Lesperon, and that you belong to so honourable a family is alone more than sufficient to warrant such slight favours as it may be in my power to show you. ”

“ Our road for a time lay through the wide valley of the river, and as we swung onward I sat erect in the saddle and drank in great draughts of the cool air—so sweet, so pure, such as one finds only here in Gascony. It was good to be alive, in such gallant company, with promise of hard blows and, perchance, glory at the end. I stole a glance at Fronsac, not doubting that he shared my exultation, and was astonished to see him riding with [68] rein loose and head bent and eye lack-lustre. ”

“ Gascony, an ancient province of SW. France, lying between the Atlantic, the Pyrenees, and the Garonne; it included several of the present departments; the province was of Basque origin, but ultimately became united with Aquitaine, and was added to the territory of the French crown in 1453; the Gascons still retain their traditional characteristics; they are of dark complexion and small in stature, vivacious and boastful, but have a high reputation for integrity.
Gaskell, Mrs., née Stevenson, novelist and biographer, born at Cheyne Row, Chelsea ”

“ Down in his heart I believe that noble gentleman would have been well pleased had matters gone to extremes between us, for however impoverished he might deem me; Lesperon's estates in Gascony being, as I have said, likely to suffer sequestration in view of his treason—he remembered the causes of this and the deep devotion of the man I impersonated to the affairs of Gaston d'Orleans. ”

“ God have mercy on his soul!
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The King of England sends the Earl of Derby to make War in Gascony. ST. GEORGE’S DAY drew near, when the grand feast was to be celebrated at the castle of Windsor. The king had made great preparations for it; and there were earls, barons, ladies, and damsels most nobly entertained. The festivities and tilts lasted a fortnight. Many knights came to them from beyond sea, from Flanders, Hainault, and Brabant, but not one from France. During the holding of these feasts the king received intelligence from different countries, particularly from Gascony. ”

“ They came to my help in the forest round Castres; and as I was in need of service, and they were faring forth to seek their fortunes, I bid them, an it pleased them, follow me. One parent was a native of Gascony, their mother I trow, since their name is English. I did hear somewhat of their simple tale, but it has fled my memory since."
"They are proper youths," said Sir John, not without a passing gleam of interest in any persons who hailed from his own country. "Half Gascon and half English makes a fine breed. The lads may live to do good service yet." ”

“ Meanwhile the king's army was defeated in Gascony, and Edward, who had on 7 Jan. made alliance with Guy, count of Flanders, determined to send a fresh force to Gascony, while he made an expedition in person to Flanders, in order to act against Philip in the north. With this view he held a parliament at Salisbury on 25 Feb., to which only the baronage of the kingdom was summoned, without the clergy or the commons. He asked the lords, one after another, to go to the war in Gascony. ”

“ Allusions to Historical Events and Noteworthy Personages Here and there some noteworthy man is commemorated in an everyday simile, as for instance: as deep as Garrick; as big as Gilderoy; as sour as Hector. The name gaskin (Ken. Sus.) denotes a species of wild cherry brought from France by Joan of Kent when her husband, the Black Prince, was commanding in Guienne and Gascony. ”

“ From about 1073 to 1137 Gascony was governed by the dukes of Aquitaine and counts of Poitiers, one of whom, William IX., gave the first charter of privileges to the town of Bayonne; but the duchy was weakened by the increasing independence of its great feudatories, especially the viscounts of Béarn and the counts of Armagnac. In 1137, the year of her father’s death, Eleanor, the daughter and heiress of Duke William X., married the king of France, Louis VII., and with the rest of Aquitaine Gascony passed under his direct rule. ”

“ Henry would have arrested him, but the magnates all took Simon's part, and separated them after a bitter altercation. A few days later Simon offered the king three alternatives: peace between himself and his accusers to be made at the king's discretion, and the earl then to return to Gascony and hold it for the king according to the terms of that pacification; if peace were refused by the other party, the king to furnish the earl with troops and arms, and the earl to return to Gascony and go on as before, fighting down rebellion and holding the land for the king by force ”

“ The part of France where dirge-singing stayed the 371 longest seems to have been the south-west. The old women of Gascony still preserve the memory of a good many songs, some of which have been fortunately placed on record by M. Bladé in his collection of Gascon folk-lore. The Gascon dirge is a kind of prose recitative made up of distinct exclamations that fall into irregular strophes. Each has a burden of this description:
Ah! ”

“ “I always said that this cadet from Gascony was a well of wisdom,” murmured Athos; ”

“ In 1288 he was found preparing to levy private war, but was repressed by Edmund of Cornwall, regent during the king^s absence in Gascony. Edward's reforms had alarmed the barons, who foresaw the curtailment of their power under a strong and well-ordered government. In 1289 the spirit of opposition was manifested in the refusal of a subsidy. Then the wars with France, Wales, and Scotland, which are the principal events in the history of 1294-6, forced Edward to resort to measures of arbitrary taxation ”

“ To these were soon added “other barons of Périgord and of the Limousin and Quercy whom Richard was disinheriting.” [150] In one of his most vigorous sirventes Bertrand made a stirring appeal to the great nobles of Gascony, Gaston of Béarn, Vézian of Lomagne, Bernard of Armagnac, Peter of Dax, Centol of Bigorre: “if they will it, the count [of Poitou] will have enough to do in those parts; and then, since he is so valiant, let him come with his great host this way and measure himself with us!” ”

“ Apparently the answer to this letter was an order to remain at his post; and he did so, though complaining bitterly of the impossibility of the task laid upon him. “We have already urged you,” he writes again, “to take some counsel for the defence of your land of Poitou and Gascony, not so much against the King of France as against your own barons, who ravage your land and capture and put to ransom your townsfolk, and behave themselves towards your men in such fashion that it appears, and we believe, they are not well affected to your service. ”

“ In 1246 he joined in the letter of remonstrance from the English peers to Pope Innocent IV. He was present in the parliament of 1248, and two years later he took the cross and went to the Holy Land. Humphrey de Bohun appears as one of those who spoke in defence of Simon de Montfort in 1252, and next year he was present at the renewal of the charters and the solemn excommunication of their transgressors. In 1254 he was with the king in Gascony, but received offence from slights put upon him when performing his duties as constable. ”

“ He knighted his son Geoffrey at Woodstock on August 6, [1007] and when the lad hurried over sea, eager to flesh his maiden sword and emulate the prowess of his brothers, he could find no more serious field in which to exercise his warlike energies than a succession of tournaments on the borders of France and Normandy. [1008] Richard however was again busy with more earnest fighting. The rivalry between the houses of Aragon and Toulouse had stirred up the petty chieftains of southern Gascony, whom the king of Aragon was seeking to enlist in his service ”

“ A collection of bons-mots and blunders made by Gascons is found in Vasconia Lyons, 1730. The description of a Gascon, as given by a fellow-countryman, is more flattering than that above. He says: "To be a Gascon is to be a happy mixture of dazzling virtues and of agreeable and convenient faults. Everything in us is charming, even our imperfections. What if there be blemishes perceptible in us? There are spots in the sun itself." ”

“ Those friends at the table who are faithful so long as it is spread with good cheer, but who vanish when the platter and the beaker are empty—say that they are Gascons, and that explains all. Should you encounter a fellow who boasts of his gallantries and the favours he has received from fair ladies, intimate that he is a Gascon, and all will know the worth of his statements. The word Gascon suffices to comprehend various characters never estimable. But it must not be supposed that all Gascons are such sorry creatures as those spoken of above. ”

“ Tell a Gascon any extraordinary fact, he instantly caps it—tells you something more extraordinary of the same kind. If he happens to be speaking of himself, he still employs the same style of amplification, but only as he would in discussing any subject besides. He possesses also, in an eminent degree, that— (what? frankness, shall I call it?) —at any rate, that peculiar quality, which at once makes you feel as much at ease with him as with an old acquaintance. All the French have this, but the Gascon has it pre-eminently.
My billet for the night was at a seedsman's. ”

“ The works of Le Gascon will be found more among great personages than with the so-called collectors, which gives value to their grace and charm. The King's brother Gaston possessed them, then Mazarin, an example from whose library is here reproduced. On this binding Le Gascon worked gilt compartments and elaborate arabesques; in the middle of the sides are the arms of the Cardinal and his pretentious device: "Arma Julii ornant Franciam!"—"The arms of Jules the ornament of France!" In spite of the profusion of subjects, nothing could better please the eye or indicate a man of taste. ”

“ I am satisfied to do so, and I leave this house without hope of ever seeing you again, with the gallows or prison in prospect, not to count the everlasting dagger of the Dutchman. Ah, well, in spite of all, I repeat, I was content: I said to myself, I know not what awaits me, rope or dungeon; but I am sure Blue Beard will say, 'It is fortunate, very fortunate for us at least, that this eccentric Gascon came here. Poor devil! what has happened to him?' There! that was my ambition. But I did not ask even a regret, a memory—a memory," said the Gascon, moved in spite of himself. ”

“ The bird on the branch, the dog in his kennel, the sheep in the field, the boats moored in the Loire, even, became alive and vocal. The latter, leaving the shore, abandoned themselves gaily to the current. The Gascon gave a last twirl to his mustache, a last turn to his hair, brushed, from habit, the brim of his hat with the sleeve of his doublet, and went downstairs. ”