The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12

,
Blanche was then according To the story
nctamorphOscd and appeared as the Devil. Dfdbi
bic1 d Afur, who took his place by the side Of III,
''Malediction" cried GILES hut tho demon. will
sinister laugh. said: Giles de Laval lRen
God hath given thee thy lust deserts Thou be
longest now 10 Iiades, and from this time on thou
wearest my livery. Al the same time he made q
sign, and the beard, heretofore red, took ON tint
81 blue. and the demon continued Thou wilt never
more be Giles dc Laval. thou viii, be Bluehra rd
and Tho most ftighuul Of men and the most terri
bic Tor infants Thy name will be accused thruug h
all eternity; thy ashes after thy death. will b,
delivered 70 the winds while thy wicked soul will
Giles ,S n sS In deph S S S
spoke Of his numerous victims, Of his seven wives,
the corpsca Of whom then lay in the caves Of tle
mcac whom accompanied under the appearance
81 Blnnchc dc Henni1icic. is at this moment com.
ny Of Rcdon TO revenge upon thee the death Of
those thou hast killed
| Then ! am lost"
| What then will arrest IT,
~ have need Of My succor and thy aid"
| And thou wilt do ths'"
Yes | will do IT, for. living. thou canst serve
| me- thousand times more than when dead And
now continued the Devil "au rcyoir, Giles dc
| longest TO me body and soul" And the blue
demon disappeared IN cloud Of sulphur.
lie Kept his word and prevented the inerven.
| ton Of the gentlemen then the way, but FROM
/ that moment, Giles was no more known in the
UG bc SSn Mar T ,b SsRH e 'SSEs
This Is one Of tho legends Of the country, aud
WIN others 2i me same ASPECT relating 10 the
the peasaniry. Giles de Rctz was the lord pro
pnetor oi large section OF that country lie
u his wish. different ,hateaux Champtocc was
near the present railway station uf OudOn midway
between Nantes aud Anglers Thence. his pos.
sessions 'rcndcd westward. principally south o. tho
Loire where lay the chaicauN Of Machccoul TIT
iauges and PouIauges Savcnay was on its
banks. while further To the south were CunfUlrns
gnatsHmN
IGugeS was his latcs, aud most usual dwnlling
place and here u supposed he carried on Ia the
greatest extent his nrfarious practices.
In the nriGhhorhood " all these chateauN,
the remains ~ ruins u which are stl in exist
Identity Of Mu.h"atd with Gillrs de Rev The
nurses repeat these stories To- their infants, tho
Standm.ihetS t'il them 10 The children about
Me Preside, The old men talk ~ them under tile
trees These are only traditions assigned to
different places but whether located at Tiifnugrs.
nous Ia III" primc proposition that the lord and
slgnrW 9' These various places Giles de Rcik.
These people ar" Ignorant ~ many things which
are n" common property ~ the world most II
them are poor peasants who have always dwrli
them hay" never been further from home than to
the market town. and they mix tho dates II their
one g" them in t%iT- "a wh hs nnh"T Wsn
asked IT, fix the historic period Of Blucbcard.
c?uid only say It Vas IN me long long agp times
Revolution, pcw c'rc draW. pc-haps before II.
Hut with all these differences u detail there Is
singular unnnimity in the stories a. to the den.
uty II Blurhrard With Giles de Rev
II on visits the ruined chateau 81 TtHaugcs
.oi which there remains only The tower he viii
md. ~ he would have found few years back an
old woman. nuns and guardian for the children
playing ON the green sward. and guide iot the uc-
that neighborhood, where her ancestors had
!i'rd hundreds OF years for the country people
~ ~, ina, part Of France are notable homestayrrs
This old peasant woman will recite Pcrraults
story nf Blu"teGrd and tell you how. and when.
and where II all happcncd will show YOU the tower
and point ont the chamber In which he conducted
his Iinhuiy Investigations and in which Ne slew
M victims And she points out, high NJ IN tue
tie chamber ON demand "A, 10 how She Knows
this fact, what authority she has for H. She will
reply That her aged parents have always told her
and that they knew We'll the truth Of What they
said. 81" says that, even within her renrm-
brahtc. t'ere was staircase On the ruins, which
sh" has herself mounted 10 ihi- dupr but IL had,
IN later wears, fallen sway. Therc was also
private staircase within the wall. which passed
above the main door % Nc entrance and led to
"a" secret chamber. A. told in the ecclesiastical
trial Of Giles. where he had n great fireplace in
which, i was said he had burned Tie bodies Of
Everything about this ruin compared with
NJ description "a given A. IN" trial satisfies
ih~ commission Of ue crimes THIS secret stair
case desc"nds 10 the bottom ~ the tower still
closed within the walls, and thence by under.
formed by the River Crumr The country pee.
p" h"lirve that this underground passage com
Der In which Biu"h-nrds seven wives were found
hanging for II Is So he understood that they have
been in,ruIa,ed with the truih Of the story as
told rs Pcrraut The ruined tower gives forth
an echo ana voices con be- transmitted from sidc
20 side a long distance. BY reason Of The pccu-
liar acoustics low conversation can b- carried
on across the tower IN the old hail ui the House
81 Representative in the Capitol AT Washing
ton " AZ the arch neHr The TorIonin Chapel in
the thurc! ~ S. John Latrran. Rome An
these things have 50 affected the Imagination uf
the people 81 he n"ighh9'hool mat they believe
the tower tu b" haunted
ON" 81 the variations Of Perrault story A. told
by ne peasants about 'riIaugcS isthat BlurhearG
condemned 70 death: the Judges dccrrrd Il at lie
should b" executed at the place where he had com
mi''"d his crimes; - h" was taken back To TIT
taugrS placed In cas- The slaves IT which we've
hll"I win knives and sharp nails. thr cAsk was
headed ~ and CAS- in pcUauits story ~ The
still Shown was rolled down into the valley
When II arrived a. the border Of the l,tle lake
lNu"bcard was dead, and according +" the story
81 such a bad man In tho Little church Of ST
Nicholas. In the n-ighl urhoud there MAS erected y
monumental tomb said tu have been in Commem
n..alion 81 III. seven murdered wives II Blucbcerd
The origin 81 his lost in tradition hut there hns
been enough interest in folklore to Justify n,trn
CHAPEL Tor religious purposes, this monument
was Transported 70 Nantes and installed in the
MuS"e ArchTiogiduc
There arr other places In tie nctghborhood uf
Nantes which commemorate the infamy 81 Giles
de R"n and associate his name with that Of Blue
"hI'l IIl'r' ~ n llltlf huueNuIt from the EplIn-
tain Sonnet al Artun near some Of the possessions
Of Giles dc RrN, and the ancient tradition con
cerning II IL that n girl Of the town demanded as
W" price Of her love hat construct this aquedur
lie accepted and built II In single night and IL is
called rs his name
VI Nantes the monument erected where hr WAS
executed l. called, not III" monument uf Giles
de lI"H but Of im"b-nrd Tho peasants say
that their parents always said 81 II. "Blurbcard
was burned here, and not "Glcs de Rct2"
There are similar traditions attached 10 the
immediate locality 81 many # the chatraux which
belonged 10 him. Al MaChccOul was shown the
sword oi bluehrnrd; nj Chhmptuce In a round stone
high W III tic wall that has received the name of
The Skull ni Burbcnrd." That these traditions
are accepted among N" people, WAS dcmOnStra
o. IN" author upon the occasion NJ u great fGt-
which he attended tho town II Montague near
llliaug"s On sept 81, 1882 called "Cayalrado
lliStunqur II represented, IA a living picture
IA" visit III Charles VII and his queen Margaret
# Aniuu To Margaret nf NalOis and her husband
Jean dc licll"vllle, Lord Of Montague and II IL
ol sufficient interest 10 warrant a description.
The Montague station IN the railway from
Nantes 10 La cndie is about one fourth II a mile
distant from the town. The last train tu arrive
was At II A. NJ. Al the passengers d."
scendcd, and they Wcrn requested 10 take their
departure for tn" town AT once, leaving tic prem
is"s about the railway station Tor the formation
81 !hc rayalCad" This whs accordingly, done
aud III due coHrs' the raSaI,adr MAS formed with