Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-10-07

THERE exists in Jersey, but there
alone of all our channel Islands. a time.
honored and interesting ceremonial,
concerning which we.venture to say the
generality of readers are uniformed,
outsiders being seldom or never invited
to witness it. The very earliest records
of the little land tell of its practice; it
was in full force and vitality at the be-
ginning of the twelfth century, and, ex-
cept that nowadays it has been shorn
of much of the pOmp and circumstance
which once made it a sort of pageant
and added finish and gloss to its i'm
portance, it remains as useful and effioa-
cious in Queen Vlctoria's reign as it was
in that of King John. The procedure
to which we a1lude, and which time has
been unable to change, is called in Off
cial language "Une Visite Rovale. :"
Whence it derives its honorific title is
very obscure: possibly enough for some
scion of the Duchy of Normandy, when
Jersey belonged to that province, having
conducted the proceedings in person, as
we'll for parade as for arbitration and
pecuniary emoluments. But for many
long century royalty has been typifed
only by the presence and authority of
the chief insular magistrate, sby the CO.
operation of his brother fiurates Of
judges, by his law advisers, and by some
other attaches of the royal court. On a
fixed day, once in every six years, and
generally before wheat harvest, these
officials meet the Constable and other
municipals of a select parish near its
church, and after certain examinations
OF finances bearing upon the object of
fho -, IS
good men and true of the loyalty-as a
sine qua non there must be no tie of
blood or marriage between them-and
who are to act in the capacity of Voy-
eurs, i. e., discoveries Of roadway and
roadside irregularities, proceed on a
DECENTRALIZATION to those roads where it is
presumed most faults of omission or
commission may be hit upon.
Led by the Voyeurs and preceded by
LIE Viscomte, the Sheriff, who, in her
aldic terms, has his "supporters, the
gentlemen with the AK and measuring
tape, the royal visitors pass into, say,
narrow shady lane. On either hand are
tall hedges, scarcely permitting view
of yellow corn-felds and fruit-laden or
boughs of trees SO arched and interlaced
that hardly ray of July sun struggles
through. To most persons unacquaint-
ed with the habit of Jersey roads, it
seems that no flaw or imperfection can
be detected; but Messieurs les Voyeurs
are sharper. Moving at funeral pace
ahead, peering here and there they pres
emily call halt; that branch hangs too
low; it is certainly under the regulation
OF "dix pieds de hauteur."s A report
10 or n / n ,%oS, ck.,ec -
and SO verifies the defective pitch. The
Baili and his coadjutors consult; the
bough is doomed to the ak, but pend
ing to looping, the renter Or tenant, or
owner of the land, as the case may be,
on which the tree is growing is fined Is
pence for his neglect or oversight; (" the
law doth give it and the court awards
it," A little further on some over-luxu-
RANT brambles, enticed by summer heat
and moisture, have shot out badly from
the he'd e and project into the pathway
Again standstill; again a report;
again brief conference; again an Or
der for the pruning-knife; and again
one-and-six-penny fine for the careless
ness of the master of the offending
blackberry bush. A tree has been al
lowed to grow from the embankment
and its trunk lessons the legal width of
the lane The same formulary is gone
through; the ak marks it; it is order
ed to be felled within given time, or
good many more pence than the afore-
said Is will be the amende mulcted from
its proprietor. At particular spot the
road seems to the vigilant detectives to
be curtailed of its fair proportions.
Out comes the yard measure; by the
bones of St. Heller! yea, it is from two
to three inches narrower than it ought
to be. So the worthy on whose land
the strait exists is booked by the Gretfier
as a gentle incentive to the future use of
the spade, and as reminder of I" Une
Visite Royale" to his demesne.-Loa-
DIM GIOHe