The Knight and the Dragon: a legend of the Hougue Bie de Hambie, in the island of Jersey

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% ftgcni) OF THE HOUGUE BIE DE HAMBIE. IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY. By HARRIET GABOUREL, — - AUTHOR OF " SUZANNE DE L'OKME," A TALE OF FRANCE IN HUGUENOT TIMES. % s/nhort : HAYES AND CO., 17, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GAEDEN. All rights reserved. LONDON t SWIFT AND CO., NEWTON STREET, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. TO MY BEOTHEE-IN-LAW F. S. AENOTT, Esq., M.D., C.B., HONOEAEY SUEGEON TO THE QUEEN, AND LATE PEINCIPAL INSPECTOE-GENEEAL , MEDICAL DEPAETMENT, BOMBAY, Ujs UttU look IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. The Tower Of Hambie

In the earlier age of tbe history of Jersey, as well as in that of other places, local traditions and historical facts are so curiously and intimately blended to gether, that it is often difficult to discriminate between them, and to find out the truth or falsity of one or the other. Facts in those days were so highly coloured, so embellished and distorted by the fertile and credulous imaginations of the minstrels, or troubadours, who wandered about in search of matter for their improvisations, that the inhabitants of the countries through which they roved, caught a reflex of their enthusiasm, and became imbued with it ; adopting their descriptions after a time, as matters of belief. Each one who recited the event described added some new marvel, some extraordinary circumstance to the already highly-ornamented tale ; making it B i so romantic and improbable, that it was very difficult to disentangle truth from fiction.

To the inhabitants of Jersey — of whom we are writing in particular — these traditions and legends are still dear ; investing as they do the places, where the events related are supposed to have taken place, with a sort of halo or mystery, so to speak, which tends to keep alive the interest felt in the tale, as long as there are Jersey men and Jersey women left to tell and hear its wonderful circumstances. In those old days of superstition and semi barbarism, no lack of minstrels was there to minister to the popular tastes. Sights and sounds were described, and magnified into supernatural agencies ; and the more distorted and horrible the picture, the more devoutly it was believed. Those accordingly who went about from bouse to house, gaining their livelihood by chanting these occurrences in rude verse, and accompanying themselves on a sort of primitive harp then in vogue, were very acceptable visitors to all, both high and low, gentle and simple.

No gay tournament or feast in hall or bower was deemed complete, without one or more of these minstrels to sing some wild romance of battle-field, or knightly encounter, or of "enchanted castles stormed." As they sang in words of fiery import the warlike deeds of their favourite heroes, happy it was when the song was not interrupted by less harmonious THE TOWER OF HAMBIE. 3 sounds. These minstrels mostly belonged to other lands : France, Italy, and the north of Spain in particular, were the cradle of the species of art they practised ; and by the troubadours of those countries were the feats of doughty cavaliers of old carried into the homes of ladies fair, who always lent a willing ear to the recitations of these wandering poets. The established religion of Jersey in those days was Roman Catholic.

The inhabitants had been partially Christianized between the years 540 and 566 by a few holy men who, braving the dangers to be apprehended from a people steeped in Paganism and idolatrous barbarism, carried the doctrine of the Gospel into that benighted region. The Islanders, however, after the death of those devoted men, being again left to themselves, forgot many of their instructions ; and after a time drifted into the eiTors which pervaded the Church in later times ; and were even at that early period obscuring the pure light which she had received and derived from the Fountain-head of our holy religion. They became full of superstitions brought over by their Norman neigh bours, and added to by their own gross ignorance and credulity, until the ancient Faith was so overlaid with abuses,' that the devoted men who had imperilled their lives to bring the Islanders to the Cross of Christ, would hardly have recognized the doctrine they had been at such pains to inculcate, in the rites and b ceremonies which had taken the place of the simple Faith they had brought with them, and which were almost as questionable as the heathenish worship of earlier days had been.

The result of this, after a time, became apparent in the gradual decay of all things pure and lovely, and the great deviation from the rules of goodness and justice which ensued. Men with such a convenient religion as had everywhere sprung up, feared not to commit evil ; knowing that by the payment of certain sums to the priests, or by the grant of lands to enrich the abbeys and monasteries which reared their stately fanes all over the land, they could obtain immunity from temporal punishment and purchase absolution for their souls, whatever might be the crimes they had committed. Hence robbery, pillage, murder, together with lesser evils, were rampant ; not in one place alone, but all over the whole so-called Christian world. The Island of Jersey was not exempt from this feature in its social and religious administration, and was largely indebted to the neighbouring country for the innovations which had crept, one after another, into the pure religion which they had been taught ; until it gradually became debased and loathsome from the corruptions which it apparently sanctioned.

Left to themselves, the inhabitants of Jersey and of the sister-islands would probably have again lapsed THE TOWER OF HAMBIE. 5 into the cruel idolatries of the Druids, who long held sway in those lovely spots, or have returned to the Pagan rites introduced by the Romans ; but it was not so ordered : and although the good seed sown was almost smothered by the rank weeds of superstition, some grains escaped to bring forth abundant fruit later. Meanwhile, the example of the inhabitants of the continent, near which the islands lay in such close proximity, was in a great measure followed ; and to that continent we must now betake ourselves, in order to gather up the tangled web of truth and fiction of which our legend is composed. Exactly opposite to the eastern coast of the Island of Jersey the shores of France stretch out in an almost continuous line, until they terminate at one end by Cap la Hague, and at the other by Cap Frehel.

Of course there are numerous creeks and inlets, which when viewed from the opposite shore are not percep tible ; and from thence the mainland appears like one gigantic bay, embracing the group of islands — Jersey being the largest and most important of the cluster — in its encircling arms. In the days of which we are writing, these islands were only separated from it by a few miles of sea. At the present time the Channel is much wider ; the waves having constantly encroached both on the French and Jersey coast, until a fair expanse of land on each side has been completely sub merged. At some distance from the shore, at the foot of one of the hills visible from Jersey, stood, on a gentle slope, a building of some note, as being the residence of one of those Norman lords whose ancestors made a figure in the history of the Duchy of Normandy.

The lords of Hambie, or Hambye — one way of spell ing the word being as often used as the other — were then somewhat powerful in their country ; and they must have been wealthy too, for one of them founded a large Abbey, near which the small town of Villedieu les-Poiiles has since sprung up. The site on which the Abbey stands was granted to the Knights of St. John, or Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, by our King Henry I. as Duke of Normandy ; and very soon a village grew under its protecting shadow, which from being built so near a religious house took its name from it. It was called " Theopolis," or " God's Town," — in French of course "Villedieu;" and the village became in reality a town in the course of time. At the present period it is a very busy place. There are established within its limits manufactories of earthenware and hair cloth, and also copper foundries.

Lace and leather are likewise among the industrial products of Villedieu, and the women of the place employ themselves in the fabrication of the former with great success. The ruins of the magnificent Abbey above referred to are still in very good preservation ; and in rambling THE TOWER OF HAMBIE. among its deserted aisles and cloisters the imagination is carried back to the times when the piety or superstition of the founders had raised the stupendous pile at a cost which would probably astonish some of the people of the present day. The delicate tracery of the windows, the carved bosses and mullions, the thickness of the walls, and the air of grandeur which pervades the whole, give one but a faint idea of what it was in the days when cowled monks and stoled priests wandered about its precincts, and when the solemn chants of the daily services resounded through chancel and nave, and the incense from waving censers was -wafted over the kneeling masses who came to worship there.

In those long-past days a stately chateau also reared its proud crest near the Abbey, and afforded the protection of its lordly owners to the rising town situated so close to its walls. It was a grand place, if one may judge from the extent of its foundations ; traces of which are distinctly visible to any one who takes the trouble to search for them. Nothing, how ever, but fragmentary pieces of the walls are to be seen, and those are very little above ground. Their vast thickness induces the beholder to believe that this chateau must have been of great strength, and capable of holding out against a siege ; which in those early days would not be an uncommon thing to happen, for in those troublous times attacks from foes with whom the Lord of the domain might be at feud were often to be looked for, and as a matter of course guarded against.

At the time, however, when our story begins, the Lords of Hambie, for some unexplained reason, preferred dwelling in their own chateau on the coast, which also bore the same name ; and they seldom remained for any length of time at the one we have just described; although probably it was a far more magnificent building than the castle near the seashore. This last-named edifice was a sort of border tower, if the term is allowable. It was also constructed to resist the aggression of enemies, and its grey, weather-beaten walls showed many a sign. of attack from the foe without. It was a pleasant spot nevertheless ; and the view of the ever-changing sea, as seen from its casements and battlemented roof, must have had great attraction for its inmates. Another proof of the power and dignity of the family of De Hambie is, that a small town in the neighbourhood of Coutances still bears its name ; and doubtless other places and strongholds in the Norman province might lay claim to having been founded by some scion of that noble house.

In the days to which our tale belongs, the possessor of the domains above referred to was Fulk Paynel, Seigneur, or Lord of Hambie. He also owned a Manor in the Island of Jersey ; but dwelt chiefly on THK TOWER OF nAMEIE. 9 the mainland. Fulk Paynel was a man in the primo of life, brave, open-handed and confiding ; and like most of his compeers he bad approved himself by knightly deeds of arms. At that time, however, the Seigneur de Hambie was in a state of quiescence — much against his will, be it said ; and like almost all nobles of early times, being perfectly unlettered, he had no way of beguiling the weary hours, except by following the chaso or indul<nno; in the amusement of hawking. Even this, however, often failed to give him pleasure ; and at the period in which the events of this tale took place he began to tire of bis inactivity. An incident then occurred which turned his thoughts into a new channel, and sent him roving in quest of adventure.

Chapter II. Unexpected Guests

Before describing the incident referred to in the preceding chapter, we ought to give an account of the family and household of the Lord of Hambie. First then, the family. It consisted of himself, his wife, and an only child — a son about six or seven years of age. Ermengarde de Ravenel, Dame de Hambie, had been married when very young to the nobleman, a portion of whose history we are about to chronicle. She had been a lovely girl when, as a bride, he brought her to his fortress home ; and she was a lovely woman still. Many lances had been broken in her honour before she espoused her chosen knight ; but to none had she vouchsafed to listen, save to Fulk Paynel, who carried off his blooming prize to the intense chagrin of the dis comfited pretenders to her hand. The Lady of Hambie was devotedly attached to her husband, and he was equally devoted to her.

Their married life had been a perfectly happy one 5 and the birth of their little Raymond only added to their felicity, for he was a child of great promise. Notwithstanding these pleasant surroundings, the Lord of Hambie tired of being so constantly in his lady's bower ; and he fretted and fumed over the quiet times which for a space had fallen upon the land. Little need had he to do so ; for the constant wars abroad, and the petty hostilities— to say nothing of the depredations of lawless men at home — had greatly impoverished the kingdom, and ought to have made a season of rest acceptable. It was not so, however, and the fighting principle in the man — which had lain dormant for some time — was now awakening, and urging him to be once more up and doing ; making him long to be on his war-steed, doing battle for some thing or somebody ; no matter what, or who, provided he came off victorious in the fray, or even died a glorious death in his knightly harness.

The household of Fulk Paynel consisted of his Seneschal, a man who had grown grey in his master's service, and who looked after that master's interest as much, and perhaps more, than he would have looked after his own. There were also the usual domestics required in such an establishment ; and a score or so of men-at-arms, together with the Seigneur's Esquire, who, as frequently happened in those times, was a relative of the House of Hambie, and who had come to learn how to win his spurs under the auspices of his kinsman. There were also two orphan girls who had found a home under the roof of the powerful Baron, to whose care they had been left as a dying legacy by their parents, and who forthwith installed them as bower maidens to his " fair ladye." In summer the days passed pleasantly enough, but it was dreary work in winter, isolated as they were from all congenial society : for, unless some wanderer happened to pass that way and asked a night's hospitality, visitors were rare at the Tower of Hambie.

As may be supposed, no one craving admittance was ever refused. News from the outer world was too great a boon in so solitary a mode of living to en danger a refusal ; and whoever came to the gates was welcomed and well treated by all. It so happened that one day the Seigneur de Hambie, having exhausted all his in-door occupations, and being intensely weary of doing nothing, bethought himself of going down to the sea-shore, to see if he could pick up amusement of some sort or another, and summoned his esquire to attend him. Arrived there, they strolled about listlessly for some time, talking in a desultory manner. Suddenly the knight shading his hand, said : " Ho ! Gaspard, see'st thou that speck yonder ? Methinks it is a boat, which has just left the opposite shore." " Monseigneur is right," replied the person addressed; " it is a boat, and we shall soon have company at the Tower."

" Right glad am I," returned his Lord ; "I am tired of this life of inactivity, and would be thankful for any chance which might present itself of gaining renown in some melee, since there is now no foe against whom our Liege the King is waging war. What say'st thou Gaspard ? Would'st like to follow me to some part of the world, where, covering our selves with glory, thou mightest win thy spurs?" Gaspard de Lunel was a few paces behind his Seigneur, who did not turn round as he addressed him. The expression on his esquire's countenance was therefore lost on him, as the individual replied with apparent calmness : " Messire, I should desire nothing better !" But what, it may be asked, was the expression which flitted over the man's face and momentarily overshadowed it ? It was simply a look of hate, denoting a desire of revenge for some wrong.

And what was that wrong ? No one, but Gaspard the esquire, could have answered that question, except the writer of the Chronicle from which we derive our information ; and thus he explains the matter. First, then, the said esquire coveted his master's house and lands ; next, he could not brook control, and had received many a rebuke from that master for some unperformed duty, which, though kindly expressed, rankled in his heart ; and, lastly, the beauty of Ermen garde de Hambie had made him forget the fealty and loyalty he owed to her husband. Kind and courteous to all around her, the Lady of Hambie had never distinguished Gaspard more than the other members of the household, except inasmuch as he was a relative of the family she had entered ; which rela tionship gave him some claim to a greater degree of intimacy than the other retainers of the Lord of the domain.

For Gaspard, personally, Ermengarde felt a sort of antipathy; which, however, she tried to conceal, as much from the kindliness of her disposition as from the wish to do nothing displeasing to her husband.. Gaspard's manners were not unpolished when he chose to make himself agreeable; but there was a want of sincerity in his way of acting and speaking, which made the Lady fear almost more than she disliked him. He was at once fawning and cruel, as she had frequent opportunities of knowing ; and she could not bear to have him much about the house. His position, however, as her husband's esquire and kinsman made it difficult to avoid him ; but she withdrew from his society whenever it was possible to do so, after having vainly endeavoured to make Fulk sensible of what she so plainly saw herself.

Fulk Paynel was an upright, kind-hearted man. Without guile himself, he was unsuspicious of it in others ; and believed more in the honesty of some, than they quite deserved. He was religious after the fashion of the times in which he lived, when superstition took. the first place in man's faith, and stalked unchecked through the whole length and breadth of many lands. In short, he was a good, honest man ; and he administered justice to his vassals and servants with a degree of impartiality which won him the respect of all, as well as their friendship and love. Although Fulk Paynel now wearied of inaction, he really loved his wife and child devotedly; and was never happy when away from his home and them. According to the chronicle he was a handsome man. Tall and well made, he differed essentially in this, as well as in everything else, from his esquire, whose figure was short and broad, though not positively ungainly ; and whose mental qualifications, as well as those of his heart, were as different to those of his chief as darkness is to noon-day brightness.

Having thus given a description of some of the principal characters in this history, let us proceed to relate what befell them. The Lady Ermengarde in her bower watched her husband and bis follower from her lattice, and saw them pacing up and down the beach, frequently stopping to look at the black object which, as we have said, had attracted their attention. She saw it too, and calling one of her maidens to her side, pointed it out to her. " Isabelle," said the Lady, " what is that yonder ? It is assuredly approaching our shores, and it appeareth to me not unlike a boat." Isabelle de Blanchepierre looked in the direction indicated, and exclaimed joyfully : " Oh ! Madame, it is indeed a boat ! Prithee, let me call my sister." And the young girl clapped her hands gleefully at the thoughts of soon having visitors to cheer the dulness of the chateau.

"Clothilde ! Clothilde ! come to the casement ; see, sister miue, a boat approaches the land ; It comes from Jersey, and I see several men in it. Oh ! Madame, if one of them were but a minstrel, it would be rare pleasure to listen to his lays !" Thus spoke Isabelle de Blanchepierre as she called her young sister to come and see the boat, which was now rapidly approaching the shore near which the Castle de Hambie stood. The young girls were very fair to look upon. Isabelle, the elder of the two, had seen some seven teen or eighteen summers ; whilst her sister was only fifteen. They were both tall and graceful, with a certain stateliness of manner befitting their rank. In personal appearance they differed. Isabelle was a bright blonde, with masses of fair hair, which in the sunlight seemed like threads of paly gold ; whilst her laughing blue eyes were almost always dancing with fun and merriment.

Clothilde, young as she was, was far more staid in her demeanour ; and with her dark chestnut locks and pensive grey eyes, looked older, or at least as old, as her more volatile sister. She was of a more quiet, reflective disposition ; but she, too, tired ofttimes of the monotonous life they led, and she answered her sister's summons with a bright smile and an exclamation of pleasure. There they stood, those three fair beings : Er mengarde, with an arm around each maiden, looking scarcely older than if she had been an elder sister ; while they nestled close to her, with full confidence in her love and care. The dress of these noble ladies was such as befitted their station. The auburn locks of the elder were partially covered by the wimple or veil attached to the coif of ruby velvet which as a married woman she wore, and which flowed in ample folds over a dress of the same costly material.

The two young girls had no covering on their heads, their hair being simply bound with a fillet of silk, which allowed it to hang in rich masses down to their waists. Their silken kirtles were bordered with a band of embroidery, and had tight-fitting bodices and large hanging sleeves, likewise adorned in the same manner as their robes. This was their costume ordinarily; but on this occasion Isabelle had departed from her usual rule, and in addition had caught up her luxuriant locks with a golden arrow, in such a way as to reveal the contour of her c well-shaped head, and displaying her slender throat to great advantage. Altogether she looked very queenly, did Isabelle de Blanchepierre, notwithstanding the joyous temperament which was natural to her, and which at times was perfectly irrepressible.

She knew, however, how and when to put a curb on her exuberant spirits, and could be as calm and stately as her more quiet sister, when it was needful she should be so. Whilst we have been occupied in describing the lovely group, the boat which had attracted their attention, as well as that of the knight and his companion, neared the land, and soon words of greeting were exchanged as the Lord of Hambie recognised, and was recognised by, its occupants. "Welcome, Messires ! Right welcome!" was the salutation of Fulk Paynel, as those who were in the coracle, or small fishing vessel, leapt ashore. " Wel come to the Chateau de Hambie ! Gsspard, go and give notice to the seneschal of the arrival of this worshipful company ; for," turning courteously to the new comers, " you must honour my poor house by partaking of what cheer can be found therein for your refection. 'Tis a lucky time you have chosen for your visit, for we have been somewhat free from ' reivers bold ' of late ; and consequently our store has not been diminished by their marauding bands.

Ho ! Gaspard ! Haste thee, man .' These gallant wayfarers must needs be famished after encountering the sharp sea-air." " Nay, Monseigneur," returned one of the party, " the way is not long, and yet, methinks, the channel hath increased in width since last I came across, aud that was only some three or four years since." The speaker was an Islander of some note. He was accompanying two friends of his who had sojourned with him for a space, and who had con strained him to return with them to their own homes on the mainland. " Thou sayest truly," was the reply of the knight. "As each year passeth by some portion of the shore seems absorbed by the sea, and many a fertile acre along our coast has been submerged by the encroach ing tide, and rendered unfit for tillage." " Ha ! say'st thou so, my Lord ?"

" Aye !" replied Fulk, "and worthy brother Sergius, the porter at yonder convent, has told me ofttimes that when first he came here, some forty years ago or more, what is now by comparison a wide expanse of water was then not much more than a river of moderate width ; and he, moreover, tells of a tradition which is a matter of belief in the convent, that in earlier times the Bishop of Coutances, in whose diocese Jersey is, used to go on foot to visit his flock there, and that only a plank was needed to span the stream which separated the island from the continent. I c know not whether these tales are true or not, but the old man devoutly believes them." "Aye!" exclaimed one of the new comers, a knight who dwelt not far from the town, whose Bishop was said to have performed the journey, and who was better informed, and better educated than most of his class.

" Aye ! the good brother is right. There are manuscripts in our cathedral library which tell that previous to a great flood, which occurred in 709, and which swept all before it, these islands formed a part of the mainland, being included in the 'Pays des Unelles ;' and the expanse of water we now behold covers what was once one vast forest, extending almost continuously for leagues and leagues ; inter spersed with marshes of great extent, and containing in its recesses hermitages, wherein dwelt holy men who had retired from the world, thinking they would serve God better when not exposed to its allurements and temptations. On the borders of this forest too, and in its cleared spaces, stood hamlets and villages, the names of which are still remembered ; but every trace of them has totally disappeared from the face of the earth.

I have not seen those manuscripts myself, but I have been told by one skilled in deciphering them, that these facts are recorded in their pages, together with many other marvels, which he loves to talk about and to speculate upon. Many were the expressions of wonder from the UXEXPECTED GUESTS. knight's listeners at his recital. Messire Raoul de St. Pair, however, knew that what he was advancing was correct; although he was not cognizant of the fact that in later times, and at long intervals, through the excessive fall of the tides, the depths of ocean have been revealed — in point of fact laid bare, and relics of the destroyed villages have for a brief space been brought to light, showing unmistakably that human beings had once dwelt where naught but the ever restless sea now heaves and surges, and its countless denizens disport themselves.

For instance, there occurred in 1735, after a terrible tempest, one of these phenomena ; when the tide receded so far, that the site of the Hamlet of St. Etienne le Paluel was uncovered, plainly indicating the place where the roads leading to it once had been ; and not only that, but actually the ruts made by the rude and ponderous wheels of the carts then in use. Moreover, on that day were found domestic intensils, made of some sort of metal resembling pewter, which were taken possession of by the curious in antiquities ; and which doubtless have gone to swell the list of valuables in some con tinental museum. All this Sir Raonl knew not, or he would still more have electrified his hearers by his discourse. As it was, their astonishment at what he told them was un bounded ; and they expressed that astonishment in no measured terms, each according to his temperament.