Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-10-25
A ROMANTIC FRENCHMAN.
He WILL BUILD A FEUDAL CASTLE
IN THIS COUNTRY.

A Modern Don Ouixote--The Days of
Chivalry to BE Revived-A Stronghold
to Perch Above NarraGansett Bay.
Ernest Grammont, of France, has re-
Gently arrived in this country. His OBJ
Ject is to purchase suitable lands for the
erection of a feudal castle, in which he
proposes to lead the life and follow the
pursuits of baron of the middle ages.
He is very wealthy man and is fully
able to spend million dollars on any
caprice.
Mr.. Grammont is an American by
birth, but was taken to France when he
was few months old, and this is his
first visit TO the United States, of which
he knows little. His original purpose
was to carry out his quaint whim by
erecting his feudal fortress on the soil of
France, and on an estate near the Ger
man frontier he began and almost COM
pleted the erection of one, but was COM
PEELED to stop operations because the
French government disliked the idea of
having fortified place which in time of
war might be occupied by Germans,
since the castle was in that section of the
frontier along which France, by the
terms of her treaty, has had to dismantle
her forts
Il am fully satisfied, said Mr. Gram
mont, that America is the only place
in which | can put my project into
practice without causing alarm on the
part of the government. l am told that
already some of your wealthy men have
constructed castle like dwellings along
Al, Al l,n -, 10
improve upon theirs and to plant right
in the heart of a land of industry castle
snch as only the age of feudalism pro-
duced. 1t will be a costly caprice, and
l suppose I shall be regarded by the
press as the legitimate successor to George
Francis Train; but no amount of ridi-
cule will turn me from my purpose.
Mr.. Grammont said that he first Sc
lected the South for his castle because
he had an idea that among her sons he
could find some knightly fellows for a
garrison, but when told he would get
none but colored men to take service
under his banner he changed his plans
and concluded to secure site overlook
ing Narragansett Bay.
lie wants commanding position, as
high above the sea level as possible, with
good approaches and with land enough
to dig moat. He intends to play the
feudal baron to the top of his bent, and
will have in his service body of retain
ers in the capacity of knights, esquires,
pages, men at arms, etc.
The castle will be turreted and pierced
for archers, after the style of the twelfth
century, with sallyports, posterns, and
portcullis, battlements, keep, and all the
medieval specialties The banquet hall
will be like those in which feudal barons
dined with all their servants and vassals,
and if Mr.. Grammont is as good as his
word the welkn will ring as often as his
neighbors choose to lay siege to his for
tress, for he will be as hospitable as those
whom he will initiate; but he will not
replenish his larder by incursions among
the fat beeves and bucks of his brother
barons. His establishment will contain
troubadours for the revival of minstrelsy.
The men at arms will be uniformed ac-
cording to the style that prevailed dur
ing the time of Charles the Bold, the
Burgundian costume being the most pict-
uresque, according to Mr. Grammont's
thinking.
What land remains unused for castle
purposes he will divide into holdings and
distribute among the knights who will
hold them in fief from him, subject to
forfeiture for any unknightly deed or
transgression of the laws of chivalry.
The knights fee will be 81 a day, but he
will have his spurs hacked from his heels
if he is caught wassailing when on duty.
Esquires will receive rs cents day, and
pages so cents, with subsistence accord
ing to their degree. Falconry will be
included among the pleasures of the
chase, and hooded hawks will be seen on
the wrists of danes who come down from
the castle to hunt their quarry.
Within the castle everything will be on
a war footing, and the banner of Gram
mont will be unfurled to the breeze every
day except when the Governor of the
State is guest in which case the ban
ner will give place to the standard of his
excelIency, the overload
"And how much do you expect to pay
annually for this fun?" inquired the re-
porter.
Il shall spend probably S5O, 900 year,
and l shall get the worth of my money
out of it.
"Have you any heirs?"
81 have, seven or eight.
Living in this country?"
"No; in Germany; why?"
"Lure them over here as soon as your
castle is completed and secure them in
fDr Il
they will run you down when they hear
of your feudal fancies, and any court in
Rhode Island would sign an order for
your committal to an insane asylum.
"Ill take my chances ON that, replied
Mr.. Grammont. "A man may possess
odd whims without being lunatic. The
towers of my castle will pierce the sky
hefore Won are a wear older "