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TRANSACT | QNS
La Société Guernesiaise
THE GUERNSEY SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE
AND LOCAL RESEARCH.
VOLUME IX.—1921-1995_
; Guernsey:
q THE GUERNSEY “STAR” AND “GAZETTE” CO., LTD.,
BORDAGE STREET.
1927,
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VOLUME IX.—1921-1925.
9 ——
Nore.—In the first section of the following classified index, the entries
between inverted commas refer to full articles on the subjects
named. Hntries not so denoted are, mostly, cross references of an
incidental nature to matters of interest in the longer articles which,
if unrecorded, would probably be lost sight of altogether.—B.T.R.
SUBJECT INDEX.
Age of Channel Islands in fiction and fact... 43 i ». 435
‘““Albini, Philip d’, Governor of the Islands. Tomb of, at Jerusalem.”’
Illustrated... ays oa, Oe
Alderney, Birds of : Major Thompson’ slist referred to... BO
ey ‘““Excavations in Alderney,’ with notes on its prehistoric
remains. by so site .. 424
. Farming dues, fifteenth century aft 5 3) Zoe
a Flowering plants, etc., found from 1902 to 1923 be Peltor bl
i “Geology of Alderney, iP with Petrological notes .. :4) 428
i “Sculptured stone found in a Dolmen.” Illustrated 273, 483
“Sketch of Alderney History.” oo ) POS
Alles, Nicholas, of Le Casrovge, Forest: Eighteenth Century diary of,
referred to .. 285
Archeology: Annual Report . (1921) 13, (1922) 87, (1923) 158, (1924)
209>(1925) .. a 5 Seow
y “Sculptured stone from Alderney.” - a eee ibs
Bailiff’s Cross legend and Gautier de la Salle. . I! _ sy AZ
Baltic : Lord de Saumarez Diplomatic work inthe .. bite a EEG
Bank, or cache, found in old house at the Vale.. ai: oe gee ees)
Basiel, native of Sarnia, granted Roman citizenship .. ae Sty ca oek
Bee Eater shot at Guernsey ay ; 305, 399
Bell-beaker folk and their remains. (“The Megalithic Culture of
Guernsey.’’).. . 456
Birds : Date of arrival of migrat ory birds in England and at Guer nsey,
compared : sieeies (IO
owe Alderney : “Major Thompson’s list referred to ote S si tO
5, See also under Ornithology
Botany : Additions to the Marine ee of Guernsey ie ay 2490
3 Annual Report. (1921) 1 eae 93 bee 161, (1924) 292,
(1925) . : be Le Sr ieoo2
Sy F lowering plants, ferns, Mosses, ete. - found from 1901 to
1923. A classified list ot eee LOE
#5 Notes on rare flowering plants observed in 1924. neiewe
‘“Vegetation of Small Islets.’ MATS
| Bouillon, Charles, of Guernsey, in. ane squabble at St. Malo, 1644.
In French at . 366
Brawl between Guernsey and J ersey sailors at St. Malo, 1744 is 5
*“‘Caretiers, Les’ [Quartiers]: With genealogical map .. .. 342
Castel Church: Stone figure in churchyard at .. wh bis spat Ai Oe
Castle Cornet :- Dedication of rampart, 1594... is int ga, 440
re Original fortifications of, referred to x) ie 219
oé P
i, INDEX.
Channel Islands: Age of, in fiction and fact
Charles II. His believed visit to Guernsey a fable
‘* Chateau des Marais.’’ Illustrated
Chevauchée a l’Ane : Some details of the,
Chevauchée de St. Michel: Some ceremonies
Churches: La Dédicace des I: qi ses a fabrication
“The Town Church.’ A Lecture. Illustrated
Church History : Fragments of early
Church Services: Old time observances
Cist : Stone cists exposed at Alderney
Coinage : “Currency of Guernsey in Historical Times”
a ‘Monnaies Gauloises des Iles de la Manche.
‘Coins : Roman coin found, 1923. Illustrated ..
Collenette, Adolphus, ‘In Memoriam.’
Consistory Court at St. Sampson’s Church obliterated
“Cornet Street.’ Illustrated
99
Council’s Annual Report. (1921) 6, (1922) 79 ), (1923), 15 D5 (1924) 285,
(1925) x. : Pe AS. ee ; Ms
Courts : Consistory Court at St. Sampson's Church obliterated
- Manorial Court of Sausmarez at St. Martin’s
Sketch ..
“Currency of Guernsey in Histor ic al Tintes”’
Customs : Old-time, at meals, festival gatherings, funerals, ete.
Creux des Fées dolmen, St. econ in-the-Wood
Malo, 1644. In French
De Carteret : “Succession of Madelaine, “Lady de Carter et.’
Deédicace des Eglises, La, a fabrication .
Dehus : L’Autel du Dehus. Great Allée Couverte
De la Marche, Jean, Seventeenth Century diary of,
De La Mare, Charles Gruchy, Obituary notice cf
De Beauvoir, Thomas, of phe in political squabble at St.
De Saum arez, First Lord, Diplomatic Work of in the Baltic ..
De SlamernNRER 2 See “TAVIS Sausmarez.
Diaries referred to :—
Seventeenth Century diary of Jean de la Marche.
Eighteenth Century diary of Nicholas Allés, of Le Casrouge,
Forest
“Diplomatic Work of Lord de Saumarez in the Baltic" ‘& sketch map
‘“Dolmens, Menhirs, and Sacred Rocks of Guernsey.”
Re Age of the, in fiction and fact
- os ‘Megalithic Culture of Guernsey.” Llustrated
Donation of money from the Guille-Allés Library
Drought : The remarkable drought of 1921
Earwig found: An addition to the Orthopterous fauna
Ecclesiastical and civil sketch of Guernsey, early fifteenth century ..
Ecclesiastical History : Fragments of early
Kdict of Nantes: “* French refugee in Guernsey.”
Entomology : Annual Report. (1925) ..
Karwig new to Guernsey
perons, Les, St. Andrews, visited. With illustration of the spurs.
ue Traditional visit of Charles IT, to,
Excavation at La Grande Hougue, L’Ancresse.
‘* Excavaticns in Alderney.
Ferns found from 1901 to 1923. )
)
9»
©
Ovum <1
N=
1Y. INDEX.
Insect pest : “The White Fly,” (Lrialeurodes vaporariorum, Westw.) 491
Insect pests incidentally referred to , 2@ .. 404
Insects : An addition (earw ig) to the Orthopterous fauna ae ,. ag
““ Insects new to Guernsey.’ ae ae ee Ms 3s. ee,
Ivy Castle. ‘“‘Chateau des Marais” a Bs ae 44 +0 > ee:
Jerbourg and its earthworks, with sketch- ae % se i a
Jerbourg Castle .. ; oA ae ., ae
Jerbourg schists. A geological discovery as 2 we -. 348
Jersey : Jubilee of La Société Jersiaise .. v7 ee ie oe, ee
Jersey silver tokens, with illustration .. 104
Jerusalem the burial place of a thirteenth century Governor of the
Channel Islands. Illustrated oe ee ste Rm):
Jethou examined for possible Megalithic remains oy a a 87
,, Botanical Notes, 1922 an a a er
See lowernne: plants, ete., found from 1902 to 1923... rn
Kingfisher’s nest and family. Local observations oe SOO
L’Ancresse Excavation at La Grande Hougue _.... 2s: .. -290
Library of the Société : Additions. (1921) 8, (1922) 80, (1923) 155,
(1924) 286, (1925) ee i aeied 2
Lihou Island : Additional plants, 1902-1923... ae — oof Se
Botanical Notes, 1922 .. : 3 ve eae 94
Lihou Stone at Les Adams. Llustration facing page ae 2a SLs
Longue Pierre menhir, Les Paysans, St. Peter’s ee i3 the 45
Mammoth’s tooth reported found at Millbrook Brickfield .. ve SR
Manners and Customs in old Guernsey 290.
Manorial Courts and Services: ‘“‘ Les Seigneurs ce Sausmarez et
leurs Tenants.”” In [english 5 d oo / ge Weer ea
Marche (Jean de la): See under De la Marche (Jean) : 3
Marine Algee of Guernsey. Further additions : 490
Mather, Imerease) 2 Sidelight on Guernsey in the seventeenth
century.’ Bs nb a at a atl tana
Biographical Note nee ie A, eo 263
a Megalithic Culture of Guernsey.” Illustrated A ine .» 456
** Megalithic Monuments of Guernsey.” a ve Tee
Age of in fiction and fae BA ee |
Members, List of : (1921) 2 , (1922) 66, (1923) 146, (1924) 2 8. (1925) 380
Membership : (1921) 7, (1922) 80, (1923) 154, (1924) iy ts 25) -3 OS
** Menhirs, Dolmens and Sacred Rocks of Guernsey.” oe oc eee
“Mermaid ” trough (Castel) presented to the States .. 13
" Eminent French antiquary’s opinion on, and
illustration a we : ig en
Meteorological records : Brief history of local uy 2 a oe 75
Meteorology : Annual Table of Statistics (Tee) 18, (1922). oR"
(1923) 194, (1924) 309, (1925) he os me =, 406
Money : “Currency of Guernsey in Historical Timés” a i
** Monnaies Gauloises des Isles de la Manche.’ uA s - sh ee
Mosses found from 1901 to 1923. with Genealogical Map
Ee a Outgoing Presidential Address, 1922 7?
3 3 'tPhaliplrd Alpini.” [A Thirteenth Century
Governor of the Channel Islands]
iA om ‘The Accounts of Thomas Guille, Esq., Captain
and Receiver to Richard Neville, Earl of
Warwick ” Ae yi ess
Ae a) ** The Town Church.’ ov Libs,
China (W. E.) “Insects new to Guernsey ”
Curtis (Major 8. Carey) *‘ The Currency of Guernsey in Historical
Times.’’ Illus. Hh
De Guérin (Lieut.-Col. T. W. M.) *‘‘ List of Dolmens, Menhirs, and
Sacred Rocks. Compiled from Guernsey Place-names,
with Legends, etc.”’ Illus. with Map
bs ‘** Sculptured Stone found in a Dolmen in Alderney.” ;
Illus.. ue
x “The “Megalithic Culture of Guernsey. i Tilus.
De Sausmarez (Sir Havilland W.), Kt. ‘‘ Les Seigneurs de Saus-
marez et leurs Tenants.” In English ; ie
ts ‘“Suceession of Madelaine, Lady de Carteret.”’
With Pedigree
Farquharson (D. J.) ‘‘ Geology of Southern Guernsey,” With
Maps and Sketch-plans a ae z se ha
Le Pelley (R. H.) ‘“‘ The White Fly.” (Trialeurodes vaporariorum,
Westw.) ae i is x Mid ‘S; he we
Lyle (Miss Lilian) ‘* Some further Additions to the Marine Alge of
Guernsey ”’ a ee ae a ae in ne
Marett (Dr. R. R.), D.Sc., and De Guérin (Lieut.-Col. T. W. M.)
“Excavations in Alderney.” [1925.] Illus. .. at #2
McCrea (Mrs. M. A.) “Supplement to Marquand’s ‘Flora of
Guernsey and the Lesser Channel Islands,’ Flowering Plants,
Ferns, Mosses, etc., found from 1901 to 1923.” ..
Parkes (J. W.) *“ The First Lord de Saumarez and his Diplomatic
Work in the Baltic, 1808 to 1813.” With Map. .
Plymen (George H.) ‘‘ Geology of Alderney.” With Petrological
Notes on the Rocks, a Map and Illus.
jos On the Occurrence of Pre-Cambrian Shale in Guernsey.”
Illus. Reprinted from the Geological Magazine
Vii.
424
167
116
128
96
Vill. INDEX.
Rolieston (W.), M.A. ‘‘ Sketch of Alderney History ”’ is .. s96
Rowswell (B. T.) ‘* In Memoriam—Adolphus Collenette ” .. 70
2 ‘* Increase Mather. A Sidelhght on Guernsey in the Seven-
teenth Century ” .. baie - i¢ a .. 208
Tomlin (J. R. le B.) “ Helix pisana Miller in Guernsey ” .. 486
“i ‘“The Vegetation of Small Islets ” .. ¥ e 266
PAPERS READ BUL NOT PRINT
‘Dolmen of La Hougue Bie ”’ [Jersey], by Mr. E. Toulmin Nicolle.
With electric lantern illustrations (1925). . te a 386, 388
e Extracts from the Diary (seventeenth century) of Jean de la
Marche,’ by Col. T. W. M. de Guérin (1924) by 286
“ xtracts from the Diary (eighteenth Ree of Nicholas Alles, of
Le Casrouge, Forest,’’ compiled by Mr. G. F, Allés (1924) oi 280
‘Fungi of Guernsey,” by Miss A. L. Mellish, M.A. (1921).. 5
“Guernsey Folklore,” by the Rev. J. A. F. Ozanne (1922) res
‘* Minor Unrecorded Antiquities ofSark,” by Major 8. C. Curtis (1921) 6
‘Relation of Guernsey Parishioners with Parish Churches in the
Middle Ages,’ by the Dean, the Very Rev. D. F. Carey, M.A.(1921) 5
‘‘ Studies in the Physical ig ere of le i Mr: dev?
Warren, B.Sc. (1924) 286
‘“‘ The Coccidae of Guernsey,” by Mr. E. E. Green (1925) we: se + 402
‘“ Witchcraft in Guernsey,” by the Rev. J. A. F. Ozanne (1923) .. 153 —
INDEX, 1x,
SUMMER EXCURSIONS.
Anneville. La Garenne d’Annenille (1925). . a i oo) Or
Castel Church and Les Fontaines (1921) ve ie ee Ae ‘i
Castle Cornet (1923) 154, (1925) ne -% a vA Pea 4)
Creux és Faies at L’E rée (OD). ay ee ae at Les
| Adams, where is the *“‘ Lihou Stone ”’ (1923) ae oe pee ted 5%
St. Peter-Port : A Ramble through the Town (1922).. a: ey ane GS.
St. Sampson’s Church (1925) _.. 387
St. Saviour’s Church, St. Apolline, Le Tr epied and Dom Hué (1924) .. 285
Tour Beauregard (Site) and Town Church (1921)... oe Ae 7
Town Church and Cornet Street (1924).. ae Pie a, ee Oe
Vale Castle, Russian Cemetery and L’Islet Dolmen(1925) .. estoy!
Vale Church and the L’Ancresse Dolmens (1924) sae as Paar to ns
Waterworks and Reservoirs at the King’s Mills(1925) Pe aen
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:
. 2. adies* College:
1913 —Aubert, Mr D2 A, .....°7 25 «. Beaulieu, Hautevile:
1914—Best, MissS.J. .. .. .. .. ~.. Brickfield Villa, St. Andrew’s.
1919—Bigge, Miss we ite ele, eens, Mees iGramees:
1904—Bishop, Mr. Julius, Jurat of the
Royal Court . ok . .. Albecqg, Cobo.
1903—Bishop, Dr. none apes MD.
MR.C:S., L.C.P. 2... .2 Cambridge Mark Road
1907—Bisson, Mr. TT. 05 2. ca oe. 0) Phe Maurels Vale
1904—Blampied, Mr. C. B... .. ...... la Fosse, St. Martin’s:
1912—Blocaille, Mr. E. ce Ia Chaumette, Forest.
1912—BOURDE DE LA ROGERIR,
REV. A. Po es ee eet eee, le reales
1921—Brock, Miss Mildred .. «. 2s Petit Bot House:
1921=Capper, Lady =... =. 2) 2) ldessPrenue
1889—Carey, Mr. F. .. .. ..... .. Summerland, Menunt: Dureaea
1897—CAREY, Miss EH. .. .. .. .. Castle Carey, Cambridge Park.
1908—Carey, Mr. T W. .. o« «.? .. Somerset Place, Queen’sukoag:
1920—Carey, Mr. W. W. .. .. .. | 5. Hatomieiace:
1921—Carey, Major W. Onslow.. .. .. Maison Blanche, Queen’s Road.
1921—Carey, Mr. A.de J. .. .. .. +.. Beechwood, Queen’s Road.
1921—Carey, Mr. Victor G aie M’s Receiver ~
(eneral)<: ee sx woes) os De Mallon, Sia Marius:
1907—Chalmers, Mr. re ibe sot a Cordier iis
1912—Clarke, Mrs. F. J... «s. «0s, Mount Durand:
:
1913—Dorey, Miss Claire
1921. | LIST OF MEMBERS.
1914—Cohu, Mr. E. O.
1913—Cohu, Rev. J. R.. Aes
1882—COLLENETTE, Mn. A. ss C. S,
1882—Collings, Col. A. H. ..
1890—Collings, Miss M. B. ..
1912—Collings, Miss Amy lied aes
1920—Collings, Mr. J. B., Jurat of the
Royal Court..
1882—Cole, Miss R. Salts Saehe Maa
1906—Corbin, Dr. E. K., M.R.C.S. ..
Mee —Corbin, Wiss RR... .. wwe
1912—CURTIS, Masor 8S. CAREY,
F.R.I.B.A.
1893—DE GUERIN, Lisvr. Soi. T. Ww.
My Jurat of the Royal Court ..
1893—DE GUERIN, Miss C. M.
Peewee oruchy, MroGor Bo... ..
1906—De Jersey, Colonel Grant, C.B.E. ..
1882—DE LA MARK, Mr. C. G.
1894—De Saumarez, Right Hon. Lord
1920 — De Sausmarez, Sir H., Kt.
1921—De Sausmarez, Mr. A. T St. V.
1921—De Sausmarez, Mrs....
1893—Durand, Colonel C. J.
1915—Durand, Miss EK. M. .
1906—Falla, Mr. A. i,
1921—Falla, Miss Marjorie . e
1904—Fleure, Dr. Herbert J., D.Sc...
1896—Foster, Miss F. A.
1921—Frere, Mrs, ..
1917—Gliddon, Mr. H. A.
1921—Goulding, Miss
1905—Guilbert, Mr. T. J. eihiees Eavevor
1912—Guille, Rev. H. G. de C. Stevens.
1882 —Guille, Miss 8S. :
1893—Harvey, General J. R.
1921--Hardman, Dr
1921—-Hardman, Mrs
1921—Hardman, Miss
1306—Henry, Mr. 8. M.
1917—Hichens, Mrs. EMA hah 5
1911—Hocart, Mr. A. J., Jurat of the
Royal Court ..
1920-—Jones, Capt B.
1920—Jones, Mr. W. H.
1914—Kinnersly, Dr. G. E., Hhodat of Bie
Royal Court ..
.. Strathmore House, Grange.
.. Aston Clinton Rectory, Tring.
. Lukis House, Grange.
. Les Collines, Cobo.
. 24, Saumarez Street.
. 24, Saumarez Street.
.. Bonamy House, Grange.
.. 39, Canichers.
. La Porte, Elm Grove.
. Stanley Road.
La Cotte, Fort Road.
Le Mont Durand, Mount Row.
. Le Mont Durand, Mount Row.
. Noirmont Manor, Jersey.
Cambridge Park.
. Crotites:
. 43, Grosvenor Place, London,S.W.
. Sausmarez Manor, St. Martin’s.
. Springfield, Queen’s Road.
.. Springfield, Queen’s Road.
.. htockmount, Delancey.
. The Villa, Grange.
at Lhe Villa Grange.
.. La Hauteur, Vale.
.. Les Hubits, St. Martin’s.
. University College, Aberystwyth.
.. Granville House.
.. Mount Row.
. Canterbury Villa, Rohais.
Casa Melita, Collings Road.
Colborne Villa, Rohais. «
. Cressington, Gravées.
. Oakleigh, Mount Durand.
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
.. Commercial Bank.
. 12, Brock Road.
.. Blane Bois, Castel.
. Chez Nous, Esplanade.
. Farmborough, Les Hubits,
. Calais, St. Martin’s.
4 : LIST OF
1920—-Kinnersly, Mr. W.
1921—Lainé, Miss ..
1915 —Leale, Mr. H.C...
1882 —Le Cocq, Mr. Saumarez
1920—Le Cornu, Miss Emily
1912—Le Messurier, Mr. H. C.
1903—Le Mottée, Colonel G. E., duxat of
. May Trees, Hauteville.
. Rozel Manor, Jersey.
the Royal Court...
1916—Lempriére, Mr. R. R...
1917—Littlewood, Mr. A., B.A...
PO Wott OA oe
1921—Maitland, Mrs. Grey ..
1896 —Marquand, Mr. H. E.
1914—Marett, Prof. R. R.
1921—McCrea, Miss F.
1900—-MELLISH, Miss A. L., M.A.
1905—Naftel, Mr. A. M.
sey) :
1916--OZANNE, Sir B. @.
Bailiff of Guernsey
1921—Ozanne, Rev. J. A. F.
1916--Palmer, Mrs. C. ..
13889 —~PENNEY, Rev. W.. Cy, Maa.
1921—Poat, Mr. W. E...
1906—Randell, Miss Clara
1896—Robilliard, Mr. P. E...
1921—Robin. Mr. 'Thomas
1914—ROILLESTON, Mr. W.,
1916 —Rowley, Major J.
1904--ROWSWELLI,
1921—Savage, Mrs. J. H.
1907—Sinel, Mr. Joseph
1909—Spencer, Mr. R. P.
ray ee ou the) Ean Dee Os ia
V.Z.8
1921 —Tahowrdin Mr R. Ef.
ee a
M.A.
Mr. B. T.
1893 —Yourtel, Rev. R. H., unieeee
Diya: (Ni aeanaride)
1918—TOURTEL, Miss M...
1917—Treherne, Mr. Hugh ..
1916—Vaudin, Mr. W.
MEMBERS.
.. Choisi Terrace.
.. Ladies’ College.
. Vale House, Vale.
.. Clifton Lodge.
. Chittony
Beauséant, St. Martin’s Road.
. Elizabeth College.
. Siantar, Brock Road.
.. Hauteville Cottage, ]’ Ancresse.
.. Star Office, Bordage Street.
. Exeter College, Oxford.
.. De Beauvoir Terrace.
. Ladies’ College
Yoon ae Ld, Georgedkewdr
1907—-Nicolle, Mr. E. T. aise of Jer-
. 3, Norfolk Terrace, Jersey.
- te Platone=
. St. Pierre-du-Bois Rectory.
.. 46, Hauteville.
. Elizabeth College.
.. Richmond, St. Sampson’s.
.. Grove End, Doyle Road.
». lia, Piette:
.. Les Camps, St. Martin’s
.., Bon Air, St. Jacques:
.. Les Blanches, St. Martin’s.
. 00, Hauteville.
. 12, Royal Crescent, Jersey.
. Brock Road.
.. Vauvert House.
. Woodcote, St. Andrew’s.
.. Torteval Rectory.
. Lea Crest, St. Martin’s Road.
. Pierre Percée Lodge
. Zeeland, Vale Road.
1921—Warren, Mr. J. P., B.Se., Tendon Les Gouies, St. Andrew’s.
1903 —Wild, Dr. H.S., M.R.C Sr L.R.O.P. Gravées.
1921—Williams, General O. de L ;. Grange:
1908—Woollcombe, Dr. Robert Lloyd, M.A.,
LL.D., F.R.G.S., M R.I.A. .. 14, Waterloo Road, Dublin.
TRANSAGTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
1921.
PATRACTIS FROM THE MINUTES FOR 1921.
Jan. 27.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Lady Capper, Miss Mildred Brock, Miss D. N.
Meee, Mrs. W. A. Frere, Mrs. J..H. Savage, Mr. W.
fe oat and Mr. J. P. Warren, B.Sc. (London); were
elected Members.
Mr. A. Collenette, F.C.S., read his Annual Report
on the Sunshine and Rainfall for 1920. It will be found
in the 7 vansactions for that year.
Feb. 17..-ORDINARY MEETING.
Rev. Bourde de la Rogerie read extracts from the
Police Archives at St. Malo, describing a brawl between
Guernsey and Jersey sailors in 1744.
Miss A. L. Mellish, M.A., read a short paper on
the Fungi of Guernsey, illustrated by lantern slides.
tot WwW. MM. de Guerin exhibited:the diary of
Jean de la Marche, one of the Presbyterian Ministers to
Guernsey, dating from 1606 to 1644.
March 17.—ORDINARY MEETING.
mol 1. WM. de Guerin/read\a paper, “Notes on
destroyed and existing Guernsey Megalithic Monu-
ments, Sacred Stones and Fountains, and Legends
attached to them,’ which will be found in _ these
Transactions.
April 28.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Rev. J. A. F. Ozanne was elected a Member.
Sir Havilland de Sausmarez exhibited a rare Book
dated 1737 on the Guernsey Lily.
The Very Rev. the Dean of Guernsey read a papet
on the Relation of Guernsey Parishioners with Parish
Churches in the Middle Ages.
May 19.—EXCURSION TO LA TOUR BEAUREGARD
AND TOWN CHURCH.
Beene 18. — EXCURSION TO CASTEL CHURCH AND
| Merve) TROUGH AT) DES PON
TAINES. |
my e2t. EXCURSION TO IVY CASTLE.
6 MEETINGS.
Aug. 6.—EXCURSION TO SARK.
Abandoned owing to bad weather.
sept. 22.—EXCURSION TO KINGS MiILDS saw
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Oct. 21.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Mr: A. Collenette, F.C.S., read a paper om™sqmme
Stone Implements, and also on a supposed Tooth of the
Great Cave Bear, all lately discovered at L’Ancresse.
Nov. 17.—ORDINARY MEETING.
} Dr. Hardman, Mrs. Hardman, Miss Hardman,
Mrs. Grey Maitland, Miss Goulding, General O. de L.
Williams, Mr. A. T. St. Vide Sausmarez Wagers vve
Onslow Carey, were elected Members. |
Rev. Bourde de la Rogerie read a paper on a Tablet
recently discovered in Corsica, recording the grant of
Roman citizenship to one Basiel, son of Turbel, a native
of Sarnia, m the year 71. It 1s produceagua wie
Transactions.
Major S. C. Curtis read a paper on some minor un-
recorded Antiquities of Sark.
Dec. 8.—-ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.
Mr. A. de J. Carey was elected a Member.
The Council Report was read by the President;
the Archzological Report by Major S. C. Curtis; the
Botanical (Marine) Report by Mr. A> Cetlementes
F.C.S.; the Folk-lore Report by Miss Edith F. Carey ;
the Ornithological Report (to follow) by Mr. B. T.
Rowswell. There were no Reports in the Botanical,
Entomological, Geological or Marine Zoology Sections.
Mr. G. F. Allés read the Treasurer’s Report.
A new Section, the Dialect Section, was appointed.
The Officers of the Society were re-elected ex Cloc,
there being no vacancies on the Council. The Auditors
were re-elected.
Report of the Council for the Year 1921.
The Winter Meetings were held with their usual regu-
larity, and interesting papers were read, notably by Col.
T. W. M. de Guérin, dealing with local Megalithic remains,
and one by Rev. Bourde de la Rogerie on a tablet discovered
in Corsica, both of which papers will be found in these
Transactions.
Interesting Summer Excursions also were held. On
May roth the Society met at the top of Cornet Street and
i)
1921.) . | : REPORTS. | %
investigated the site of the Tour de Beauregard under the
able auspices of Col. IT. W. M. de Guérin, who read a short
paper from hitherto unedited MS. on the past history of the
Castle. The members present afterwards visited the Town
Church. On June 19th the Castel Church was the venue,
and about 40 members inspected the Statue Menhir at
the West Door of the Church, and the President, Miss E.
F. Carey, read a short paper on its discovery under the
flooring of the Church during the last restoration, and its
great importance as a relic of vast antiquity. A visit was
paid to the stone on which the Cour St. Michel used to sit
whilst adjudicating on the causes of their tenants in the
“Hautes Paroisses.” The Old House of Les Fontaines, near
by, was next visited, and the well-known Granite Trough
sculptured with mermaids and built into the wall of the
kitchen was examined.* On July 2Ist a well-attended ex-
cursion took place to Ivy Castle, when the President and
Col. T. W. M. de Guérin read short papers on the past his-
fem sor the tuined edifice. The. Excursion to Sark fell
through owing to bad weather. On Sept. 22nd an interesting
survey under the guidance of Miss A. L. Mellish, M.A., was
made of various old houses at the King’s Mills—the Cohu
House, St. Anne’s, La Houguette—ending up at St. George.
The finances of the Society have caused the Council
much anxiety, and the year ends with an adverse balance.
The Society is not out, it is true, to make profits. Its aim
is to give all members the best value for their subscriptions,
and to do so, should make the 7vansactions as full of in-
terest and information as possible. Its field of work should
in theory be such that the annual subscriptions exactly meet
the expenses, but in practice it is difficult to arrange that
each year should be, so to speak, self-contained, when a year
without any expensive matter to publish in the 77ansactions,
on which the greater part of the income 1s spent, has to stand
on the same level as a year when much research has taken
place. The Council urges all members to do their utmost to
enrol as members any friends who are likely to be interested
in the work. It is by individual work only, that the Society
can hold together.
MEMBERSHIP.
There are 107 Members this year, against 93 last year.
* Since the visit, the heirs of the late John Carré have, owing to the represen-
tatious of many Members of the Society, and t> prevent any possibility of its loss
to the Island, patriotically presented the Trough, on the occasion of the sale of Les
Fontaines in November, 1921, to the States of Guernsey, to be preserved in the
Lukis Museum.
§ REPORTS.
OBITUARY.
rie following Members have died during the year: Mr.
F. J. Brownsey and Mr. J. A. Moon.
The Council as in former years has to express its obti-
gation to the Management of the Guille-Allés Library, on
behalf of the Members, for its continued interest in the affairs
of the Society, for the loan of the room for meetings and the
use of the lantern.
LIBRARY.
The Society’s Library has received the following add1-
tions by exchange and otherwise : —
From the Rev. Canon EE. Hill, M.A., of Cockfield Rectory,
Bury Sé. Edmunds.
Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Geological Society
of London, Nos. 929 to 1074. Sessions 1912-13 to
1920-21.
From the Soctété Jerstaise, Jersey :——
Quarante-sixieme Bulletin Annuel, 1920.
Cartulaire de Jersey, Guernesey, et les autres Iles Nor-
mandes: Recueil de Documents concernant lhistoire
de ces Iles. Fascicule de. 1927.
From the British Museum (Natural History) :—
Economic Series. Illustrated Pamphlets: :
No IJ.—Furniture Beetles: Their Life-history and
how to check or prevent the damage caused by the
Worm, by C. J. Gahan, 1920.
From the Torquay Natural History Society :—
Journal/of the. Society, Vol Tl: No. 1) wegae
From the Queensland Museum, Brisbane :—
Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Vol. VII., Part 2.
hO2E.
From the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia :—
Proceedings, Vol. LX XT) ePart ia) ose:
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10 REPORTS.
Report of the Ornithological Section, 1921.
In the November, 1920, No. of the Nzneteenth Century,
is a very charmingly written article entitled “Song-Birds in
Autumn,” to which [| wish to call the attention of all bird-
lovers, especially the workers in the Ornithological Section
of the Society. The author, Mr. Anthony Collet, blemds
together a wealth of knowledge of birds and their ways and
of the weather, into ten pages of fascinating reading. It
is hardly necessary for me to add that the Nineteenth Cen-
tury 1s taken in at the Guille-Alles Library, where this part
may be seen and borrowed.
Here is one extract from Mr. Collet’s article, one only
out of several | might quote equally true to nature and as
delightfully penned :—
‘‘October burns out in scarlet and orange among the beeches,
November lights a flame as brilliant, and almost as varied,
among the elms; the gales blow from the open doors ot the
south, the snap from the north-west with which they finish
bri ings a few hours’ br acing chill, and more brillaint sunlight ;
and while the shortening days and the scent of mould in the
fallen leaves tell of ebbing vitality, the song-birds insist that
it is the beginning of spring.”
How realistic a word picture this we who live in Guern-
sey and go about the country observing the birds and nature
generally, know. Winter by winter when the days are at their
shortest and frequently sunless, and mild south-west winds
are blowing in from the warm Atlantic, the birds, prominent
among them the thrush, burst into a rapture of song. They
greet the dawn with a chorus of music that those amongst
us who are fortunate enough to be out and about to hear is
soul haunting in its sweetness, and if (in vivid contrast to the |
leafless trees from which the music reaches us and the sodden
ground we tread under foot) sadly reminiscent of the past
summer, full of promise, too, of the summer that is coming
again.
In the preparation of this Report I have pleasure in
acknowledging much valued help received from a new mem-
ber of our Society, Miss Mildred A. Brock, of Petit Bot
House, the Forest, who has supplied me with a number of
particularly interesting notes of observations made during
this year. Miss Brock is a keen ornithologist and a careful
observer. To her as to all those who, for years past have
helped me with their notes, I am deeply grateful.
4
-
1921. ] REPORTS. 11
Chiff-chaff.—On March 17, a day earlier than last year, I heard
a chiff-chaff in full song in the Fermain Bay valley. Miss Brock
first heard the bird on the 22nd. This little migrant spread
inland sooner than usual and was with us in decidedly bigger
numbers than in recent years. I last heard the bird on October 5.
Wheatear.—lI first saw wheatears on April 15 in a field at the
Fort Road and throughout the summer chanced upon the bird
at different spots. Miss Brock saw some at Rocquaine Castle in
September and I last saw one on October 11 at Grandes Rocques.
Wryneck.—The exhilarating note of this always welcome spring
visitor was reported to me by the Rev. R. H. Tourtel, the Rector
of Torteval, as having been heard at St. Saviour’s on March 31
and by himself on April 1. Miss Brock first heard the note on
April 6 which was also the date on which I and others heard the
bird at St. Martin’s. I did not hear the song after June 11.
Mr. T. Robin noted the call at L’ Ancresse on the 18th, and, at
Torteval, Mr. Tourtel gives July 3 as the last date for that dis-
trict. This is a record early date for last hearing the Wryneck.
Cuckoo.—The cuckoo (as did also the wryneck) announced its ar-
rival well in advance of the average date. On April 10 Miss K.
Tardif saw one on the wing, and the following day the bird was
heard by Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Henry at Havilland Hall Farm,
Le Vauquiédor. On the 12th Miss Brock noted the call at Tor-
teval, as did also the Rev. R. H. Tourtel, and residents of both
St. Peter’s and St. Martin’s heard the bird the same day in those
parishes. All too soon the cuckoo’s brief singing interval came
to a close. Mr. S. M. Henry heard the bird up to June 28 and
the Rev. Tourtel to July 5. Miss Brock’s date is a record. She
wrote: ‘‘Last heard (two calls only) on July 19 at St. Peter’s.”’
For Guernsey the Jransactions co ntain no later date than July
13 (1907). At SARK this year the cuckoo was heard by Miss E.
Henry on July 2 and 9.
Swaliow and House Martin.—The Society’s Transactions
have yet to record a March swallow. The two earliest dates in
19 years’ observation come from the smaller islands of the Baili-
wick, viz., April 1, 1918, Herm, and April 4, 1919, Sark. Swal-
lows arrived very slowly this spring and in very small numbers.
For weeks one hardly ever saw more than one or two at a time
and only here and there, and they were never numerous. ‘The
summer was ideal as regards weather, but it was almost swallow-
less. Miss K. Tardif saw both swallows and house martins flying
about over the Fort Road fields for some considerable time on
the afternoon of April 11. I commenced seeing solitary birds on
the 22nd, and Miss Brock on the 24th. At the end of the season
Miss Tardif saw some twenty flying behind Le Friquet, St. Mar-
tin’s, on October 14, and on the 20th I saw two at Les Blanches.
This is a very early date for last seeing swallows, and the same
has to be said of house martins. I saw none after October 18.
This was at Le Frie, St. Peter’s.
Sand Martin.—On June 3, Miss Brock saw sand martins, house
“eileen and swifts, all together, hawking for flies off the Petit
ot cliffs.
Swift.—tIn the last days of April and very true to date, swifts
began arriving. Miss Tardif saw one at L’Erée on April 29.
The following day Mr. Edward Rammell saw 7 near St. Andrew’s
12 REPORTS.
brickfield and one was observed flying in the neighbourhood of
the Town Church, and on May 2 several were flying round and
about the Tower—a favourite occupation of some dozen and more
every summer. The swift makes a comparatvely short stay with
us. Towards the end of July the Town Church band disappears
(this year, as nearly as possible, on the 25th). About the country
l saw none after August 16. ‘In the afternoon of that day one
flew over Les Blanches.
Corncrake.—Besides myself, Mr. S. M. Henry was the only one
of our observers to note the croak of the corncrake and the ob-
servations were all made from June 1 to 9. Mr. Henry heard
the bird at the Rue a lOr, St. Peter-Port, and I (on three days)
at St. Martin’s. Summer in the country does not seem complete
without the elusive voice of the land rail and it is much to be re-
gretted that in recent years so very few of these birds have come
to the island.
Nightjar.—Miss Brock saw a nightjar at St. Peter’s on May 9.
This is the first reported occurrence of the nightjar since 1916.
Biackcap Warblier.—Mr. F. L. Tanner and Miss Brock have
each supplied me with notes on the occurrence of the blackcap.
Mr. Tanner saw one in his garden at Vauvert on March 6. The
bird was perched in one of “the trees and sang there for two or
three minutes. Miss Brock wrote: “Nirst heard May 5. Rare,
but heard in three different localities.’’ Other refer ences to the
blackcap will be found in the Transactions for 1904 and 1907.
Cecil Smith, author of ‘“Ite Birds of Guernsey,’”’ writing in 1878,
said: ‘‘The blackcap though a regular, is by no means a numei-
ous summer visitant.”’
N.ghtingale.—tThe, probably, most interesting note of the year
comes from St. Peter’s-in- the-Wood, where, at the Clos du
Coudré, the nightingale was heard singing by Dr. and Mrs. Felt-
ham. ‘This was in the month of May and “it sang every night
at about 10 o’clock and was noticed for about a week.” It is
particularly pleasing to record another occurrence of this exceed-
ingly rare bird visitor to Guernsey the last mention of which will
be found in the 1914 Transactions. In that number dates are
given of the few recorded oecasions when the bird has been ob-
served in this island and at Alderney.
Littie Bittern —A lttle bittern was shot at Le Marais, Vale, on
one of the first days of October, and presented to the Guille-Allés
Museum by Mr. G. Snell, of Victoria Avenue, St. Sampson’s.
The little bittern is a very rare visitor and until now there was
no specimen in the Museum. Cecil Smith wrote (1878) that he
knew of one occurrence only of the little bittern in the Channel
Islands. The specimen in question was caught alive in the Vale
Road in November, 1876.
Whimbrel.—Miss Brock reports that her brother, Wing-Com-
mander Brock, saw a whimbrel at Cobo, but mentions no date.
In September, 1865, Col. A. H. Collings saw large flocks at Vazon
To quote in full from Miss Brock’s interesting notes is
not possible in the space at my disposal, but I cannot con-
clude the Report without including the following extracts :—
‘
‘
‘
1921. | REPORTS. 13
Rock-Pipit.—‘‘In 1920 we found a pair of rock-pipits rearing a
cuckoo at Pleinmont.”’
Longtailed Tit..—‘‘I did not see a single specimen till Novem-
ber 12 when I saw a small flock of them all together amongst
trees in Petit Bot Valley. I believe this bird is not mentioned
by Mr. Cecil Smith. I have known it breed twice for certain in
the garden at St. Peter’s Rectory and both the blue and great
tit bred regularly there. The tits generally are recorded rare
and uncommon in the islands, but both the great and blue [
should have called fairly numerous. The longtailed is certainly
rarer, especially of late years. I have recorded the cole tit as
doubtful, but I believe I both saw and heard it this year.’’
Corncrake and Water Rail.—‘‘In 1920 I heard a corncrake
and saw a water rail, but I have not seen or heard either this
year. The water rail was in the same locality both in the
spring and autumn, and in the spring had a mate. They were
probably migrants as after a week or two they disappeared. On.
the second visit (Autumn, 1920) I feel fairly certain that it was
shot which would of course account for its non-appearance this
year. Unfortunately this is the almost inevitable fate of al] our
rarer visitors.’
BASIL IT. ROWSWELL,
Secretary, Ornithological Section.
Report of the Archaeological Section, 1921.
oe
The past year has not been a successful one for anti-
quarians, as there is little to report.
In the early summer, a scientist, Mr. Ludovic Mann,
who had come on from Jersey, where he had been studying
the Megalithic Monuments with a view to finding sculptured
figures on the stones, claimed to have been successful in
identifying many here, more especially at Dehus. These dis-
coveries were not received by the Section without scepticism,
which scepticism was later amply justified.
The heirs of the late Mr. John Carré have generously
presented the well-known granite trough, at Les Fontaines,
Castel, carved with mermaids and figures, to the States of
Guernsey. It has not actually yet been removed, and it will
probably eventually find its way to the entrance of the Lukis
Museum. :
S. CAREY CURTIS,
Secretary, Archzological Section.
14 REPORTS.
Report of the Folklore Section, 1921.
ew
Some months ago I went through the Report, dated
1844, of the evidence relative to the charges of conspiracy
and sedition, in the days when General Napier was Governor,
made against various residents in Guernsey.
Among the legal and personal details embodied in this
Report I found evidence of a curious old custom which was
not included in Sir Edgar MacCulloch’s “Guernsey Folk-
lore.” It transpired in the evidence of various countrymen,
while being questioned as to certain firing on the night in
question, that it was the custom for the neighbours to fire off
their muskets, charged with powder, not wrth ball, at vil-
lage festivals. Mr. G. Torode (p. 12) was asked “Est-on
dans lhabitude, de tirer ainsi dans les festins de com-
pagne?” And replied that he had known this firing to occur
in the Forest Parish twice during the year 1843, once at the
marriage of the son of Sieur Jean Lucas, and once at the
Douzenier’s feast, “traite de douzenier,” given by Mr. George
Allez on being elected to the Douzaine. Jean Priaulx, of
the Hatnaye, deposed (p. 18) that, after supper, his cousin,
Thomas Bourgaize, asked him to come and fire some shots
outside the house where Mr. Allez’s feast was _ being
held, “comme c’est la coutume en pareilles occasions,” which
they accordingly did, and the result was, also according to
custom, that some of the party were invited by Mr. Allez to
come in and finish the evening at his entertainment, and the
others were sent out a glass of wine. Mr. Allez, at whose
house the festival took place, was asked (p. 19): “Quand
on donne des festins a la Forét est-on dans l’habitude de
tirer?” And rephed yes, that it was the custom in the Forest
Parish. He deposed that the shooting, which began about
half-past nine, continued at intervals for about an hour, and
he thought that it was “Sieur Thomas Bourgaize, qui fait la
cour a la fille de mon. voisin Pierre Priaulx” who fired the
last shot.
1921. | _ - REPORTS. 15
Early man believed that, as unexpected noises fright-
ened him, so they would frighten away spirits and ghosts.
This is the origin of bells hung in church steeples and rung
before Divine Service. Therefore it is possible that these
shots were were a survival of some earlier form of noise
destined to frighten away spirits from the festive board;
and the custom survived owing to the fact that the makers
of the noise had established a claim to be either invited to
the feast or to have portions of it brought out to them. I
should like to find out when this custom of firing outside the
house where festivals were taking place was discontinued,
and also when the old “traite de Douzenter” fell into disuse.
The other item of folklore I wish to record is the annual
sailing of toy boats by Sark men and boys at the pond at
Beau-regard, of which Major Curtis showed us a photograph
at our November meeting. I was mistaken in thinking it had
any connection with the stones covering the well head. A
Sark man vaguely explained the custom to a friend of mine
by saying that the boats were sailed there “because the re-
flections were then beginning to be visible.” An interesting
comment was made by Mr. Stephen Graham the celebrated
traveller, who was in Sark on one Good Friday, that the
only other place where he had seen a similar custom was in
Palestine.
EDITH F. CAREY,
Sec. Folklore Section.
Report of the Botanical Section.
— ny
The only item reported to the Society during the year
was the acquisition, by the Museum, of a collection of
Seaweeds from Miss Lyle, of London, and made by her.
Miss Lyle in her list states that she has increased the
number of the Seaweeds, hitherto listed, from “257 species
to 350.” . Of these 93 additions 46 are new to the whole of
the Channel Islands, and 46 are new to Guernsey only. Be-
sides the Species there are 22 varieties and 4 forms new to
the C.]., and 6 varieties new to Guernsey. Miss Lyle also
lists 3 species and 2 forms new to Britain; and has enriched
the Seaweeds of the Island by 1 species and 1 form new to
science.
16 REPORTS.
We are able through the kindness of Miss Lyle, to illus-
trate the new species (see fig.). This valuable species appears
on the Guernsey list as Lorrvain-Smithiea Lyle.
Chantransia Lorrain-Smithiz Lyle, sp. n.
polyschides, W.2. (Fig. 1.)
On stipes of Saccorhiza
t
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h
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Fig. 1.—CHANTRANSIA LORRAIN-SMITHIA.
a Tuft of plants, natural size. c Thesame. X about 200.
b Base of plants, showing rhizoidal
filaments. 0
d Terminal branchlets. X 25.
e The same.
J Monosporangia.
X about 200.
X about 200.
STONE IMPLEMENT FOUND AT BON REPOS.
Dimensions: Diameter = 12 centimeters; thickness = 2 cm.; length of
handle = 6°5 em., width of handle = 4 cm. The implement is bevelled on
each side to bring the tool to an edge and is much worn by work. The
handle is bevelled on opposite sides and fits the hand comfortably.
1921.] | REPORTS. 17
Museum Notes.
By Tut Hon. CuRATOR.
Some important additions have been made to the
Museum, this year, not the least important of which is the
collection of Sea-weeds purchased from Miss Lyle, a Collec-
tor of note, who has sold one series of local Sea-weeds
to the British Museum also. (See Botanical Sectional Re-
port).
A very important addition to the Pre-historic imple-
ments has also been made to the Museum. These were
collected for the Museum by Mr. J. W. Sinel during the
summer. These are temporarily classified as follows :—
Eoliths.— About 25 of these very crude implements, obtained from
the 25ft. beach, have been secured. Some of them are duplicates
of forms already in the museum, but others are of forms not pre-
viously obtained. These Kolithic forms cannot be classified with
any Paleolithic culture and are evidently ‘‘Pre-Chellean.”
Stone keeled scrapers.—tThese are not new to the Society
for some seven had been already collected but they were wrongly
classified as Neolithic. At the time that they were first. col-
lected few of our members believed that Paloehthic man had left
any evidence of his presence in the island but the recent finds
show that this was a mistake and that almost all cultures exist
in the island. ‘These keeled scrapers agree in all respects with
the same implements classified on the continent as
‘“Aurignacian.’’ They are made in diorite and felsite.
Very rough stone artefacts.—Rough stone implement:
of very early neolithic culture, quite new to ‘the museum are now
on view. These show forms and detail which agree with the con-
tinental forms belonging to the ‘‘Ko-Neolithic ‘cultures. If this
is confirmed by a further study the find would go to prove that
the island was overrun by the same races, in the same crder, as
were occupying northern Kurope but probably at a later date.
These are of coarse grained granite. The culture which preceded
the Neolithic, called ‘“‘Azilian” is represented in the new finds by
a few broken pieces of implements made of quartz the best of
which is the cutting edge of an axe.
Mousterian Culture.—tThe period represented by some half
dozen implements found this year has been well illustrated by
former exhibites but we are nevertheless glad to have been able
to add to the collection a few very rough ‘‘Poings de Main,”’ etc.
Some of these are in stone (Granite) so may possibly be of later
date for the geogical evidence is not definite. In one case, how-
ever, there can be no doubt for the implement has been polished
by movement in the clay just as are the pebbles we find in clay.
These notes would be incomplete without a note on the
unique implement which Master Hugh John de Sausmarez
(aged 8) found. The implement is unique in shape and its
culture is not yet ascertained. We are able to give an illus-
tration. The implement is made in a stone which does not
appear to be strictly local and which is evidently from the
adjoining coast of Brittany. It is a speckled diorite,
B
18 REPORTS.
These additions are chiefly due to the energy and per-
sistence of Mr. J. W. Sinel, who besides having worked in
the Museum on routine work, gave up his long summer
evenings to search rambles.
THE WEATHER OF 1921 IN COMPARISON WITH
FORMER EXTRAORDINARY YEARS.
BY A, COLULENEDTE, E-Crs;
The past year has been, in most of the weather elements,
a most extraordinary one. In the temperature of both air
and soil it has left the averages far behind. In sunshine
there is a difference above the average of 265 hours, which is
equal to the average total of a summer month. In Rainfall
we have passed through what is very lkely to prove the
driest year for a century. Taking these elements in order
we find that the year has differed from the average in its
mean temperature, by 2.5 deg., only two years in the series
of 79 have given higher annual means. - The comparison
stands thus :—-1899: 53.8 deg.; 1846: 53.5 deg., amduiezi-
53.4 deg. The mean of the whole period: is 50.9 deg.
Another point to remark is that the mean is not, as is usual,
made up of some months being warm and others cold; but
this year every month has been warmer than its average, so
that there has been no break in the continuity of the heat.
The variation has been from plus 0.2 deg. to plus 6.5 deg.
July was the hottest month with a mean of 63.6 deg. and
March the coldest with 46.3 deg. The four months, July to
October, inclusive, had means which exceeded 60 deg.
The soil was heated to a remarkable degree. No fewer
than 30 daily records were broken, and the maximum read-
ing went as high as 75 deg. at the 1ft. depth. The soil was
so warm during the summer and autumn that it represented
a greenhouse soil more nearly than an outdoor soil.
In the element—sunshine—the year gave the second
highest total so far recorded. 1899 was the year which gave
the record of 2,214 hours, and this was run close this year
by a total of 2,170 hours. The month of October gave a
record and was 77 hours above its average.
The whole year exceeded the average by 265 hours. The
next year, in order of high totals was 1911, when the total
was 2,121. There have been, in the 28 years of sunshine
records, 8 with totals over 2,000 hours, and the average is
now 1,905 hours, .
1921. ] REPORTS. ; 19
The chief interest of the year is to be found in its ex-
treme dryness. The total rainfall for the year is 17.66, and
as the total in the averages is 360.46, we have had less than
half the average.
The deficit is thus 18.80in. But even that statement is
not as telling as the fact that since Guernsey has kept rain-
fall observations there has not occurred so dry a year. The
previous record for dryness was the total of 25.45 in the year
1858.
During the first six months of the year there was but
little cause to anticipate that the year would prove so dry.
Until last May the year 1858 was still the driest, the drier
of the two with the following figures, totals to date, 1858—
8.061in. and 1921—8.351n. Comparing these two years with
the previous record to the end of May we find that neither
of these years were the driest to date, for 1896 had a total
for the first five months of 5.831n. This latter year, how-
ever, lost its position in June and 1s no longer in the run-
ning. During the month of June, 1921 fell off and by June
the 30th the totals stood as 1921I—-8.72, and 1858—-8.62;
then the latter year lost its position and 1921 from that time
became the driest year on record. The year ended with the
following totals for these two years: 192I—17.66 ,and 1858
——25.45in. Thus 1921 gave a total which was 7.79 in. be-
low that of the previous driest year. It is interesting to note
that not a single month reached its average, and thus the
year from January to December was consistently dry. There
is one feature of the year which 1s worthy of note, viz.: the
month of October, usually the wettest month of the year,
this year gave the largest deficit of the months; and in doing
this made a new record for itself, for up to this year the
driest October had a total of 1.171n, whilst this October had
the small total of 0.66in.
It is to be regretted that no discussion on the effect of
this unprecedented want of rain will have on the water-
supply and the agiculture of the Island is possible, but if
undertaken at all it would require that the subject should
form the topic of a special paper.
COMPARISONS OF SUNSHINE.
ANNUAL TOTALS.
eee ee) ye 2174) Hastings 2.0 0... i. ae 2048
ee ee), 2088 .Rournemouth .... ..,. ... ... 1970
Seteeay (I.of W.)...... 1984| Brighton... ... ... .. ... 1942
Weymouth peers. 1926 | Clacton oy.) on as ase DEE
MeimOuta ... ... ... ..- -.. 1825
\
REPORTS.
20
: ‘p10osay MAN,
eget nat ee See a Se eee
—————_——————
=e | OT 6 = “ Sur Vitinéraire d’Antonin voir Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la
France. Recueil commencé au XVIIe siecle par les Bénédictins. On l'appelle
ordinairement DoM BOUQUET, du nom d’un des premiers rédacteurs.
Le ler Vol. a été réédité par PALME. Paris, 1869, info.
bo
reat. | UN HABITANT DE SARNIA. 7
férence sur un voyage qu'il avait fait en Algerie. J’assistais
a cette conférence qui fut fort interessante. Et, non sans
surprise, j’entendis le Rév. Colman dire que, dans un musée
d’ Afrique, 11 avait vu une pierre romaine portant ce mot:
SARNIA.
On peut tolérablement admettre que notre Guernesey
sest appelé SARNIA. Mais n’est-1l pas étrange de trouver ce
méme mot SARNIA sur un monument Africain?
N’y aurait-il pas eu une autre Sarnia en Afrique?
Et en ce cas, notre Basiel, fils de Turbel, loin d’étre un
enfant de Sarnia—Guernesey, ne serait-il pas un citoyen de
parma cd Afrique?
feiewemande des details au Rev. Colman. Il a bien
voulu me répondre: apres tant d’années, ses souvenirs sont
assez vagues. Ilse rappelait pourtant avoir vu cette inscrip-
tion SARNIA au musce de PHILIPPEVILLE.
Cela suffisait. Il y avait la une piste a suivre. I] fallait
chercher cette SARNIA.
Je me suis adressé au conservateur du musée de Philippe-
ville. Voici sa réponse:
SePMIMEIPPHV Wu, le 16 Aout 1921.
Monsieur,
En réponse 4 votre lettre du 30 Juillet, j'ai |’honneur de vous faire
connaitre que le Musée de Philippeville possede bien une inscription
portant le nom de
SARNIANT.
En voici la description :
Petit Sarcophage, avec son couvercle, présentant un médaillon dans
— Iéquel se voit un enfant nu assis sur une sorte de tabouret et gesti-
culant. ~ ll tient un oiseau dans la main gauche.
— §ur chacun des petits cdtés est sculptée a relief plat un trophée formé
de deux boucliers et de deux javelots.
Sous le médaillon, on a gravé le nom du mort: SARNIANT.
“AUX DIEUX MANES DE SARNIANUS.”’ ,
Il a été trouvé a proximité de la route de Philippeville a Stora.
Au cas ott une photographie de cette piece archéologique vous serait
utile, vous pourriez vous adresser & Mr. Pierre FIO, photographe,
rue Nationale, 42, que j’autoriserai excepticnnellement a faire.
Agsréez......5- etc.,
(Signe) F. BERTRAND,
Conservateur du Musée de Philippeville.”’
D’autre part, M. Camille Jullian ‘qui ne connaissait
d’autre Sarnia que Guernesey) s’adressait au savant M.
GSELL, spécialiste de l’archéologie Africaine. Il en rece-
vait la lettre ci-dessous qu'il a bien voulu me retourner, dans
la pensée qu'elle intéresserait la Guernsey Society of Local
Research :
28 é UN HABITANT DE SARNIA.
Pe rae OT MM ERT 16 Aott.
‘L’ inscription en question est gravée sur ~un sarcophage d’enfant,
trouvé a Philippeville (RUSICADE) et conservé au musée local
C.I.L., VIII., 8187; GSELL, Musée de Philippeville (Paris, 1898) ,
De ooe. Die Ve tie ee
On y lit, dans un cartouche, le nom du mort:
SARNIA
NI
Ce cognomen Sarnianus peut étre dérivé du nom du fleuve SARNUS,
qui arrosait NUCERIA, patrie de SITTIUS, qui fut le fondateur
du petit Etat de CIRTA, dont faisait partie RUSICADE, dont faisait
partie aussi MILEV, qualifié de SARNENSIS
Et voila tout ce qui concerne Guernesey en cette affaire.
(Signé) J. Golly
Ainsi, laffaire est éclaircie. A Philippeville, l’ancienne
Rusicade, en NUMIDIE, 11 y a une monument romain au nom
de Sarnia.
Mais ce mot ne désigne pas un pays, une localité.
C'est simplement un nom d’homme, le nom de l enfant
SARNIANUS. |
La seule, unique SARNIA connue est celle de l’Itinéraire
d’Antonin, tres probablement GUERNESEY.
Il n’est pas banal, ce coup de pioche d’Algaiola, qui
aprés 1850 années, rameéne a la lumiere le nom de Basiel, fils
de Turbel, natif de Sarnia.
Cet enfant de Sarnia a vécu dans le siécle le plus illustre
de l’histoire. Lorsque Basiel recevait, en l’an 71, son dipléme
de citoyen romain, l’auteur du dernier Evangile, l’apotre St.
Jean, vivait encore.
Lorsque, marin de Rome, il débarquait a Poestum, 11
existait en cette ville des vieillards qui, dans leur enfance,
avaient entendu raconter comment, pres de la, au PAUSI-
LIPPE, avaient été déposees les cendres du plus grand poéte
@e Rome, de VIRGILE (7 10 avant [.¢ ).
En supposant que Basiel fit 4gé de 30 ans en 70, 11 avait
vécu sous les empereurs CALIGULA, CLAUDE, NERON, VITEL-
LIUS et VESPASIEN.
Si son pére TURBEL était encore de ce monde en 70,
“ good old Turbel” avait vécu lorsque naissait le Christia-
nisme. )
Le pere de Turbel avait été contemporain de Jules César
Grad ave 7. C.)!
Turbel avait pu entendre ce vieux Gaulois raconter cet
été (an 57 avant notre ere) ob PUBLIUS CRASSUS LE JEUNE,
avec la VIle. LEGION, alla de NAMUR a ANGERS, fit 125
lieues a travers la Gaule sans rencontrer de résistance, tant
les Gaulois étaient alors peu hostiles a Rome!
7 ="
Poot. | UN HABITANT DE SARNIA. 29
Le vieux Celte racontait comment, cette méme année
(57), les UNELLES, peuple du COTENTIN ET DE SES ILES,
avaient envoyé au lieutenant de César une modeste ambas-
sade et avaient été recus, sur leur demande, dans sees de
Rome, “zz ditzonem potestatemque Popul "Romani.”1—C’est
le mot de César.
Sil est vrai que Sarnia est Guernesey, nous aimons a
remarquer que le premier du “noble petit peuple de la mer’’2
qui parait dans l’histoire est un marin qui, pour ses services,
avait recu cette récompense insigne: le titre de citoyen
Romain.
(1) Jules César, De Bello Gallico, IT., 34.
(2) Victor Hugo.
A. BouRDE DE LA ROGERIE.
LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS AND SACRED
ROCKS.
. COMPILED FROM GUERNSEY PLACEH-NAMES, WITH
LEGENDS, &c.
BY LIEUT.-COL. Tf. W. M. DE GUERIN.
IN this paper | have made an attempt to compile a list of
the Megalithic Monuments of Guernsey, which existed in his-
toric times, both of those which still remain, and of those,
by far the greater number, which have been destroyed but the
sites of which can still be traced by place names in the Ex-
tentes, or Livres de_Perchage (Terriers as they are calledam
England), of our old manors; and also in “ Lettres sous
Sceau ” recording the sale of land.
In all I have traced the existence in former days of no
less than 68 dolmens and cists, of which only fifteen remain,
and of 39 menhirs. Of the latter six still exist, namely,
'La Longue Roque,” at Les Paysans, “La” Fiemme ae
FE ssart ” at Le Crocq, “Le Perron du Rou,’ at Le Bouma, ana
the two statue-menhirs of the Castel and St. Martin’s, and a
very small menhir (the “ Weather” Stone) in a field opposite
La Moye, Vale.
The names we find most commonly used for dolmens in
Guernsey are “La Pouquelaye,’’ ~ Le Vrepied” ana a
Dehus,’ with its diminutive “Le Déhuset,”” cormupieagam
modern times into “Le Tus”’ and ~ Le Tuzet ” or eae ae
zée.” Menhirs were generally known as “La Longue Roque ”
or “La Longue Pierre,’’ but some bore distinctive names, such
as ‘La Roque a 1’Or,’’ “‘La Roque de la Varde,’ | 9aueeee
de l’Hyvreuse ’ in St. Peter-Port, “Le Perron du Ret) ame
‘“‘La Roque és Faies’’ in the Forest, ““La Roque qui Tourne,”’
La Roque au Follet”’ and *’La Palette es Fates” (imeam
Peter-in-the-Wood. Possibly also the names of “‘La
Blanche Pierre ’’ or ‘‘ Les Blanches Pierres,’’ found in St.
Martin’s, the Forest, St. Peter-in-the-Wood and the Castel
refer to similar megaliths. ‘‘ La Blanche Pierre’’ is a name
commonly given to menhirs both in Jersey and in Normandy.
—-) (ls
7 a
.
1921.) LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 31
The name ‘‘La Pouquelaye’’ is found in several
Seeiises SOUS Sceau’’ and “‘Extentes’’ of the fifteenth
century, and it is also a common name for dolmens in Jersey
and in the Cotentin, but so far as | am aware, it is not used in
Brittany. It is one of the few Celtic, or Gaulish, words
which has survived in Guernsey our Norman invasion and
the subsequent change of our language into Norman French.
According to Mr. G. Métivier it is derived from two Celtic
words, ** pok ”’ (to kiss), and “‘lec’h’’ (a stone), and sig-
nifies ‘‘ pierre ot l’homme adore.“ Another derivation is
from ‘‘ Pouck’lech,’’ fairy stone or goblin stone (compare
the Irish “*‘ Pukh,’’ a goblin, and our English Puck).
‘“Le Trépied,’’ the Tripod, is a name obviously des-
criptive of the appearance of a large flat capstone supported
by three upright stone props.
The name ‘‘ Le Déhus’’ can be traced in Guernsey as
far back as the fourteenth century, namely on the Rent Rolls
of the priory of St. Michel du Valle of 13:7.% This name
‘“Déhus’’ is also of Celtic origin and is derived from the
ola "Gaulish “‘dusius,’’ a demon or faun, of whom St.
Augustine wrote: demones guos Dusios Galli appellant.)
Métivier® says that in Brittany “‘le Theusig, ou déhuset
est un petit homme noir qui danse cen de ce qu’on
appelle aujourd’hu1 cromlech. _ MA. delaBorderie* also
traces the av aien en Peus oul Peuz™ quridesione ichez
les Bretons de nos jours un lutin rustique ou esprit follet,
parent plus ou moins proche du Korrik’’—back to ‘‘ce
Tuthe ou Tuz du moyen age . . . le méme aussi que le Duz
ou Dus Gaulois dont parlent St. Augustin . . . Isidore de
Seville, Hincmar, Thomas de Cantimpré et autres auteurs
cités dans du Cange au mot Dusu (edit: Didot t. I.
_p. 966-967).’’ It is curious to note that in Guernsey the word
Déhus followed the same etymological change as in Brittany,
and that in comparatively modern times. Mr. F. C. Lukis
states that the great dolmen of Le Déhus, Vale, was alterna-
tively called du Tus,’ while the “Déhusets’? of the
Patentes “of the ae and early sixteenth centuries
became the “‘ Tuzets’”’ PT lasers ef later times, ,
(1) Dictionnaire Franco-Normand, G. Metivier, p. 404. See also A. de Courson
' Histoire des Peuples Breton dans la Gaule et dans les Tles Britanniques. V.I
Glo-saire, mots * Lech ’—pierre, ‘ Poccan ’—baiser, Armoricain ‘ pok.’
(2) Authenticated copies of the originals in the Archives de la Manche, Fonds
Mont St. Michel, at St. Lo, are in the Greffe of the Royal Court.
(3) Soe. d’Emulation du Cotes du Nord, t. xxviii, p 235. Art. Saint Mandez, par
A. dela Borderie.
(4) Dict. F. N., p. 169.
(5) Saint Maudez, A. de la Borderie.
o2 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
The distribution of these names in the various parishes
is as follows: ‘‘ Les Pouquelayes’’ are only found in the
parishes of St. Peter-Port, St. Andrew, St. Peter-in-the-
Wood, St. Saviour and the Castel; ‘‘ Les Trépieds’’ in St.
St. Andrew’s, St. Peter-in-the-Wood, St. Saviour’s, the
Castel and. the Vale; and “‘ Les Déhus”’ and “ [es Waee
husets ’’ in the Vale, the Castel, St. Saviour’s and St. Peter-
in-the-Wood, and possibly its feminine form of ‘‘La
Touzée’’ in St. Peter-Port. None of these names are to be
found in St. Sampson’s, the Forest or in St. Martin’s;
although several dolmens were formerly known to have
existed in St. Sampson’s Parish, and probably one—‘“‘ La
Tombe’’—on Fief de Sausmarez in St. Martin’s. So far
no dolmens can be traced as having existed in the Forest
Parish. |
As my examination of our Livres de Perchage progressed
I discovered that there were several distinct groups of dol-
mens in different parts of the island. One group of eight
dolmens and four menhirs was scattered around the Foulon,
bounded on the South by “La Roque a-LOr’’ and=on the
North by “‘ Les Granges’’ (now known as de Beauvoir
Estate) in St.Peter-Port, and extending on the opposite side
of the Vauquiédor Valley behind Havilland Hall to Les
Fauconnaires in St. Andrew’s. Another group of six or
seven was situated around Les Marais Gouies and Les
Marchés in St. Peter-in-the-Wood. A third group centred
around L’E.rée and Le Catioroc. A fourth at the Castel
extended from the hills round St. George to Les Houmets
near Saumarez Park, Le Villiocq and Woodlands. A fifth
group was to be found at L’Islet and Grande Havre. A
sixth in the Clos du Valle from L’Ancresse Common to La
Roque qui Sonne, and among these are the principal sur-
vivors of our megalithic monuments. Lastly a small group
was situated at St. Sampson’s on the sites of La Vieille
Hougue and De Lancey Park.
I have also included the names of Holy Wells and
stones, natural rocks and localities to which old legends are
‘attached, or, which from their names, such as “‘ La Roque
qui Tourne,’’ ““La Rogue au Follet,” “La Roguemae
Tonnerre,’’ ‘‘ Le Pied du Beeuf,’’ etc., can be connected with
legends attached to stones with similar names in France.
For the last few years La Société Préhistorique Frangaise has
paid much attention to the study of Folk Lore connected
with sacred stones and fountains. It is recognised that the
worship of natural rocks having some peculiar appearance,
or on which natural basins, or hollows shaped like the
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LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 30
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| Beprints. of human feet or even of the hooves of animals,
are found is of very great antiquity and may even have
_ preceded the worship of menhirs deliberately set up by man,
and the allied cults of pediform cavities, cupmarks, or
basins artificially sculptured upon rocks. The worship of
stones and fountains is one of the earliest and most wide-
spread known in Western Europe. It has lasted on from
the days of Neolithic man down to the present day, for it
is still practiced in many out of the way parts of France,
Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere. Even among ourselves in
Guernsey were not the waters of our Holy Wells, ‘“‘La
Pontaine Fleury,’ “‘La Fontaine Notre Dame,’’ ‘‘La
Fontaine du Vau Laurens,’’ “St. George’’ and others used
within living memory as a cure for many ills to which the
flesh is heir? It is certain that the statue-menhir at St.
Martin’s Church was still an object of secret cult early in
the nineteenth century, and offerings were made by our
fishermen to ‘‘ Le Petit Boun Homme Andriou,’’ the menhir
shaped rock at St. Martin’s Point, only twenty years ago;
while the power of the weather stone at La Moye, to bring
rain if disturbed, was still feared up to a very few years
ago, and the grass around it was left uncut until all the hay
in the neighbourhood was carted.
I also found that localities to which were attached the
old legends of “‘La Béte,’’—the Dog of Death—were in
most instances situated in the neighbourhood of dolmens,
or groups of dolmens, showing that there must have been
_ originally some connection between the two. Also that fields
meee) = hk e.)6CCourtil”’. or “Les ‘Champs du” Varou,’’
“ Varouf ’’ or, in modern times, ‘‘ Variouf ’’—‘‘ Le Garou ’’
or Werewolf—were frequently to be found near, generally
in the West, of either dolmens or menhirs. But near them,
as well as near the “‘ Holy ’’ or Wishing Wells, we also find
records of old Crosses and of Ancient Chapels, showing
that our early missionaries found it advisable to guide their
converts to Christianity by erecting Christian shrines either
in the immediate neighbourhood, or, as in the case of the
churches on the very sites of pagan worship and prehistoric
sacrifices.
73
aa *
ss
¥
ST. PETER-PORT.
La Roaue de fa Varde.—A menhir which stood in a field on the
top of the hill of La Varde somewhere on the estate of Montville. It
is mentioned in Lettres sous Sceau of the 28th March 1478/9 and also
in the Fxtentes du fief le Roy en Ville of 1573 and 1595, and in the
**Rentales ” of the Town Church. (See Map, 1.)
Dolmen (?) of La Touzee Rozel.—The southern slopes of
what is now the estate of Rozel, and the adjoining alleys belonging
| C
o4+ LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
to the Charroterie Steam Mills, were called La Jaonniére de La
Touzée in the ‘‘ Partage de Vheritage”? de Dame Marie Renouf in
1616. As La Touzée is the feminine of ‘Le Touzet,”’ \¢tge tee
Déhuset,”’ it is most probable that a dolmen once existed on the top
of the hill. (See Map, 2.)
La Pierre Percee.—In all probability a menhir pierced with a
round hole once existed on this property. A similarly pierced menhir
is said, by Mr. F. C. Lukis, to have formerly existed in Alderney,
Analogous pierced menhirs are to be found at Drach, Indre et Loire,
Bouscas, Blcndas, Gard, and near Nantes in France and also in
England. On the other hand dolmens with an entrance stone pierced
with a round hole are also found in France, especially in the de-
partments of Oise and Seine et Oise.(1) Similar entrance stones are
also found in England, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, the Caucasus
and other parts of Asia Minor.(2) Pierced megaliths were considered
to possess medical virtues and in France have frequently been
Christianised by being dedicated to some Saint. They are resorted
to even at the present day in many parts by sufferers from various
maladies, who either rub the part affected against the stone, or pass
the diseased limb through the hole in hopes of cure. (3.)
La Roque a /l’Or.—A menhir situated in the Courtil de la Longue
Pierre, a field to the north of the Cricket Field of Elizabeth College.
The origin of the name is unknown. It may have been due to its
appearance had the stone been covered with golden coloured lichen.
On the other hand in Ireland some menhirs are said to have been
decorated with gold and silver. In the Life of St. Patrick the
famous menhir, called ‘‘Ceun Cruaich,’’ the principal idol in: Ire-
Jand, which stood on the plain’ of ‘‘ Mag Slecht,’’ on the borders
of Cavan and Leitrim, is said to have been covered with gold and
silver and surrounded by twelve other smaller idols covered with
bronze.(3) Another Irish menhir, the ‘‘Cermand Cestach,’’(4) was
also covered with gold and silver, and after it had been despoiled
of its ornaments it was for a long time preserved in the church of
Clogher, County Tyrone. La Roque a l’?Or was one of the four
menhirs associated with the group of dolmens which follow. (4.)
La Pouquelaye.—aA dolmen in the field adjoining La Roque a l’Or,
according to Mr. F. C. Lukis. (5.)
La Longue Roque des Granges.—Mentioned in Lettres sous
Sceau, 1519, also in the various Extentes of Fief Le Roy from 1573.
In that of 1793, ‘Le Jardin de la Longue Roque, belonging to Mr.
Richard de Beauvoir, is described as: ‘‘Au ouest du Carrefour des
Croutes et au sud du courtil des Roquettes de Nicolas Maingy,
Ecuier, la rue entr’eux.’? This menhir therefore stood either on the
site of St. Stephen’s Church or of De Beauvoir Terrace. (6.)
La Petite Longue Roque des Granges.—lIt stood in the
field to the east of the garden at the back of the old manor house of
Les Granges, now known as De Beauvoir Farm. Its site is described
in the Perchage du fief Le Roy, 1793, as a ‘‘piéce de terre partie en
courtil partie en jardin appellée La Petite Longue Roque a lest du
parterre.” Yh: Aden
La Pouquelaye de Haut, or La Grande Pouquelaye.
—-This dolmen stood in a field to the south of La Rue de la Pouque-
(1) Riletin Soc. Préhistorique Francaise, 1918, Allée Couverte des Pierres
Folles du Plessis.
(2. The dolmen of le Couperon, Jersey, has an entrance stone with a semi-
circular hollow on its upper edge.
(3) H. @’Arbois de Jublainville, Le Cultedes Menhirs. Revue Celtique, vxxvii..
No. 3, July-October, 1996.—Whitley Stokes, The Tripartite Life of Patrick, v. i. pp
90-91.
(4) Ibid, Whitley Stokes, Felire Oengusso De, pp. 186, 187, 378.
— -1921.] LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 35
laye—‘‘ et butant sur la Carrefour des Trois Vues.” (Ibid 1793). It
was therefore at the junction of the Rohais and Foulon Roads, the
latter having replaced the old ‘‘ Rue de la Pouquelaye.”’ (8.)
La Pouquelaye des Rohais, or La Pouquelaye de Bas.—A
dolmen which stood farther down the Foulon Road and gave its name
to three or four fields near the borders of St. Peter-Port and St.
Andrew’s. One of them forms the S.W. corner of the estate of
Swissville, and probably the site of the dolmen. It is mentioned in
all the Perchages of F. le R. from 1573 onwards, also in many
“Lettres sous Sceau,’’ and Billes de Partages of the Guilles des
Rohais to whom it belonged. (9.)
Les Trepieds.—Two or more dolmens situated in St. Andrew’s
Parish on the crest of the hills west of Le Vauquiédor Valley, oppo-
site La Roque a l’Or, gave their name to three fields now forming
part of the estate of Le Grand Courtil, to the west of Havilland
Hall. Ona map of the estate of Le Vauquiédor (as Havilland Hall
was then called), which belonged to Mr. Joshua Gosselin at the end
of the 18th century, these fields were called ‘‘La Jaonniére des Tré-
pieds,” ‘‘Le Trépied”’ and ‘‘ La Jaonniére des Trépieds ou des Fau-
Eoumaires,’ and, in the ‘‘ Livre de Perchage du fief Le Roi,” St.
Andrew’s, 1910, ‘‘Le Jardin, Courtil et Jaonniére des Trépieds.”
Mr. F. C. Lukis states in) his Note Book that the then owner of Le
Grand Courtil, Mr. Thomas Marquand, had informed him that from
time to time when breaking up the ground in these fields he had
come across masses of limpet shells mixed with black earth or ashes,
and also that scme of his men came across a stone hammer head
which they broke, and he likewise found when planting an apple-
tree the fine polished stone ring now in the Lukis Museum. The
largest stone hatchet, also in the Museum, was found at Le
Vauquiédor, and four others of the same Channel Island type were
found in a small cist at La Roque 4a 1’Or, evidently placed there as
an offering to the gods. (10-11.)
Le Trepied des Fauconnaires, another dolmen of the same
group stood somewhere near Les Fauconnaires, but its exact site is
uncertain. ‘‘ Le Courtil du Trépied des Fauconnaires’’ is mentioned
in the Bille de Partage of Thomas Ollivier of Le Mont Durant.
1749. (1127)
La Longue Pierre des Fauconnaires stood on the farm
belonging to Mr. James T. Mahy, and gave its name to ‘‘ Le Courtil
de La Longue Pierre.’’ It was nearly opposite to the house formerly
belonging to the de Jerseys des Fauconnaires. A cross, La Croix des
Fauconnaires, once stood near it. This menhir was the fourth and
most westerly. of the group. (13.)
Le Trepied.—Another dolmen of this name stood somewhere midway
between Les Fauconnaires and the Foulon. By ‘‘Lettres sous
Sceau”’ of 14th October, 1574, ‘‘ Martin Navetel fils Pierre de St.
André & cause de sa femme,” sold to ‘‘ Nicolas Caraie le plus viell fils
Collas,” ‘‘ le pendant du Trépy entre les Fauconnaires et le Foulon.”’
(14.)
La Petite Pouquelaye.—tThe last dolmen of this group, of which
we know, stood somewhere on the estate of Les Rohais. ‘‘ Une piéce
de terre appellée la petite Pouquelée,’”? being mentioned in the “‘ Bille
de Partage’’ of Jaques Guille, des Rohais, 15th January, 1668/9. (15.)
It will be seen from the above that scattered round the
hills of the valleys of Le Foulon and Le Vauquiédor,
extending from Les Fauconnaires to the West and to Les
Granges at the East, and covering in all little more than half
36 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
a mile square there was a group of no less than eight dolmens
and four menhirs connected with them, but of all these
megaliths not a trace remains.
According to our old Folk Lore Tales the south-eastern
and north-western approaches of the group were guarded by
the phantom Dog of Death, ‘Tchico,’’ as he was called in
our old legends,“ who as ‘‘ La Béte de la Ville au Roi,’’ a
headless dog, haunted the old road, called by the ominous
name of ‘‘La Rue de l?Ombre de la Mort,’’ which was a
narrow lane destroyed at the beginning of the last century,
which passed up the south side of the Pierre Percée valley,
turned at right angles, and went through the centre of the
field in front of my house of Le Mont Durant, joining
another lane coming from Mount Row near the large tree in
the centre of the field, and there turning west and joining the
Ville au Roi Road. The approach to the north-western side
of the group was guarded by ‘‘La Béte de la Devise des
Rohais,’”’ the “‘Dog of Death ’”’ which haunted the lower part
of the Rohais Road. In our survey of Guernsey dolmens
we will frequently meet with this legend in the vicinity of
dolmens or groups of dolmens.
Les Courtils du Varouf.—To the west of La Jaonniére des
Trépieds, St. Andrew’s, we find two fields in the Perchage du Fief
Le Roi, 1910, both called ‘‘ Le Courtil Variouf,’’ one forming part of
the Ruettes Farm, and the other formerly belonging to Messrs. Drake
and Wetherall. Fields named Le Varou, Varouf or Variouf, are fre-
quently found in the neighbourhood of dolmens and menhirs in
Guernsey. _ (18a.)
Les Roquettes.—“‘Lettre sous Sceau,’”’ 1442: ‘‘ John du Bot baille
a John Perrin ...une pieche de terre nommé la terre des Ro-
quettes seante divers le suc de la capelle Syt. Jaques en la paroisse
de Saint Pierre-Port.”—The name Les Roquettes was given to the
whole district from the Chapel of St. Jacques. which stood at the
S.E. corner of the estate of Monplaisir, to ‘‘ Les Roquettes,” the
property of the late General Mainguy. The close proximity of the
chapel to these stones suggests the possibility that they were either
small menhirs, a dolmen or a stone circle, and thus accounted sacred
by early man. (16.)
La Petite Pouquelaye, La Petite L‘Hyvreuse.—this
was a dolmen situated somewhere on, or near the estate of La Petite
l’?’Hyvreuse, of which the old house is now Mr. C. W. Perchard’s
Stables. It is mentioned in a ‘‘ Lettres sous Sceau”’ of 20th Sept..
1729, as lying to the north of *‘ Le Courtil du Port? (1%
La Pouquelaye a ia Grange Godel.—This dolmen is men-
tioned in ‘‘ Lettres sous Sceau,”’ 11th August, 1476, wherebv ‘‘ Guille
Estur fils Perrotin de Ja ville de St. Puierre-Port, por le present
demeurant en la cytey de Extre* au royaulme d’engleterre . . . baille
a Collyn Guille de St. Pierre-Port un petit courtil en la: dite paroisse
a la Grange Godel au dessus de la Pouqueleie.”” La Grange Godel °
is mentioned in several other ‘‘ Lettres’? about this date, and as far
(1) Tchico is curiously eomvounded of two Celtic words both meaning ‘dog.’
C’hi. the name for dog in the Cétes du Nord, and Co, or Coh, the plaee Gaulish wae
for dog, still nsed in the Morbihan.. :
* 7.¢e,, Exeter.
-
1921.) List OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, BTC. 37
as can be ascertained the dolmen stood somewhere at the top of
Smith Street not far from Forest Lane. (18.)
La Pierre de L’Hyvreuse.—A menhir which stood on, or near,
the site of the Queen’s Tower. It is first mentioned in a ‘‘ Lettres
sous Sceau”’ of 1442, by which John du Bot sells to john Perrin
“une pieche de terre par devers le norvouest de la Pierre de
| Hivreuse.’’ According to our old legends the fairies danced around
it each Friday night after their long flight from ‘‘ Le Creux és
Faies” near L’Erée. We will meet this legend of fairies dancing round
menhirs again in the course of our survey, and we will as well have
occasion to refer to the dancing round them of the ‘‘ pions”’ or foot-
men of the procession of ‘‘ La Chevauchée de St. Michel’ during
the triennial beating of the bounds. The seventh century chronicler
of the Life of St. Sampson also refers to this custom and relates :
how, the Saint as he journeyed from his monastery in Wales to the
coast, in order to embark on his mission to evangelise Brittany,
encountered a band of British heathen dancing ‘‘after the manner
of bacchantes round a high stone (simulacrum abominable) standing
on a hill,” and how he stopped to preach to them the ‘‘ True God.”
‘IT have been on that hill,” says the hagiographer, ‘‘and I have
adored the cross which the Saint had engraven on the high stone
(in lapi de stante) with an instrument of iron with his own hand,
with my own hand have I touched that cross.’’(1) Therefore follow-
ing the example of St. Sampson and the advice of Pope Gregory The
Great to St. Augustine ‘“‘to Christianise the old pagan sanctuaries,”
our forefathers erected a cross, ‘‘ La Croix de l’Hyvreuse,”’ near the
menhir, and in later times built a small chapel, Ndétre Dame de
Lorette, close to it, and situated somewhere about the site of the Town
Arsenal, or of the row of houses on the south side of Candie Road.(2)
(19.)
La Pouquelaye de Normanville.—tThis dolmen stood in a
field called ‘‘Le Courtil de la Pouquelaye’”’ on the South side of
‘* La Rue Maupas.”’ This field which now belongs to Messrs. Wheadon
is mentioned in all the ‘“‘ Extentes du fief Le Roy” from 1573 to 1793.
(20.)
La Longue Roque de ia Vrangue.—tThis menhir stood in
**Le Courtil de la Longue Roque,”’ to the East of ‘‘La Mare au
Chanteur”’ and to the South of the road opposite the Vrangue Manor.
he (2a)
This completes the list of megalithic monuments in the
parish of St. Peter-Port. There were, however, a few other
rocks, ‘‘ Les Roches de Havilland’’ at Les Croutes Havil-
mee) Les) 6Roquettes,” “‘La Roche au Cheval,’’ “La
Roche des Chévres ’’ and “‘ La Roque a |’Ane, near Fontaine
Fleurie and Fort George, of which we know too little to be
able to determine if any of them were megaliths or not.
Around the Town we also find a circle of Holy Wells.
“La Fontaine Fleurie’’ near Havelet, ‘‘ La Fontaine Saint
Pierre’’ at the bottom of Fountain Street, near le Pont
d’Orson (a large stone which spanned the mill stream to the
west of the Church of St. Peter-Port), “‘La Fontaine Notre
(1) H. d'Arbois de Jublainville, Le Culte des Menhirs dans le Monde Celtique.
ae Samsonis, e, 38; Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti. ‘TT. 1,
Pp
(2) La Pierre de l’Hyvreuse was destr paced in the reign of ene Elizabeth and a
windmill erected on its site.
38 LIST OK DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
Dame at the foot of Le Mont Gibel, ‘“ La Fontaine du Vau
Laurens’’ in the lane north- east of Candie Library, and
‘La fontaines des Corbins’’ half way down the steep hill
below Les Cotils. he waters of these Holy Wells were
considered by our old tolk to be a sovereign remedy for
“Les maux de la fontaine”—diseases of the eyes, of the
skin and glandular swellings. That of *‘La Fontaine des
Corbins’’ was even thought to cure consumption. The
worship of fountains, as has already been said, is one of the
most ancient cults in Western Europe; and in France, where
the sources of some of these Holy Wells have been excavated,
as at Fontaine Sauve, Commune de Vic-de-Chassenay
(Cétes d’Or},™ an unbroken sequence of votive offerings of
all ages has been found, going back to the flint knives and
stone axes of Neolithic man.
I think that the circles, first of sacred fountains, then
of menhirs, and lastly of dolmens upon the hills surrounding
the Town all point to the fact that a settlement of Neolithic
man existed either on the actual site of the old town of St.
Peter-Port surrounding the site where the church now stands,
or, upon the plain that must have existed, four to five
thousand years ago, extending seaward as far as Castle
Cornet, if not even much farther and probably bounded by,
and including, the rocky promontories which are now known
as the islands of Herm and Jethou; for we know there has
been a considerable subsidence of our island since Neolithic
times. The sequence of divinities points to such a settlement.
First the Holy Wells, sacred, we may suppose, as in France,
to the lesser pantheon nearest to it, then crowning the hills
the menhirs, which were, according to Dr. Marcel Baudouin,
and other French ‘‘préhistoriens’’ the symbols of the Sun
God and of the fertilising influence of nature, and then,
farthest away, the large group of dolmens sacred to the
dead, and also to the great mother goddess—the earth-
mother—whose features we find sculptured upon the cap-
stone of the dolmen of Déhus, and on the statue-menhirs of
the Castel and St. Martin’s.
ST. ANDREW’S.
La Grosse Roche.—Beyond the St. Andrew megaliths, already
mentioned in the Section dealing with St. Peter-Port as forming
part of the Foulon-Fauconnaire group, there is only one other place
name in the parish | which might have denoted a menhir, namely,
‘‘TLa Grosse Roche,” near Le Villiaze on the Fief de l’Abbesse de
Caen (Perchage, 1889).
Holy Wells.—tThere were also two Holy Wells in the parish. One,
‘‘La Fontaine de St. Clair,’ close to the church and on the opposite
(1) A. Bertrand, La Religion des Gaulois, p. 20F,
2921. | LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 39
side of the road ajoining the Estate of Ste. Héléne—which was once
a priory belonging to the Abbey of Cormery, near Tours—and the
other, ‘‘ La Fontaine de Gonnebec,’”’ which is in the valley above Le
Moulin de Haut.
ST. MARTIN’S.
Les Blanches Pierres.—Probably a group of menhirs; as the
name ‘‘ La Blanche Pierre’’ was so frequently given to them both
in Jersey and in France. ‘‘ Les Blanches Pierres”’ was the name of
a number of fields in the narrow lane at the back of Sausmarez
Manor situated on the Fiefs of Sausmarez, Le Roy, Beauvoir and
Hallia. (22, )
La Tombe.—Probably a dolmen, which gave its name to a group of
fields on Fief Sausmarez near Le Coin Fallaize and La Verbeuse.
(See Livre de Perchages 1655, etc.). (23.)
La Roque au Varclin (L. P. St. Martin’s, 1603-22) now called
“La Roque,’’ a name given to some fields at Le Varclin on the
Fiefs Hallia (1917) and Bruniaulx. There is nothing to prove
whether this was a menhir or not, but as a field near by was called
“le Courtil de la Croix,” it is probable that it was ‘* Une Pierre
Sainte” and required an antidote. In the same district near Calais
there was another ‘‘ Courtil de la Roque” situated on Fief Saus-
marez (Livre de Perchage 1602-22), and adjoining it was another
field called ‘‘ Le Vaurouf,” a name so frequently associated with
megalithic monuments in Guernsey. (24.)
La Roque Hamelin.—tThis in all probability was a menhir as
there is no natural outcrop of rock in the neighbourhood. It stood in
a field still called ‘‘ Le Courtil de la Roque Hamelin” on the North
side of La Rue Cauchés, and on the Fief Le Roy.(@) A few hundred
yards to the West of it lies the district called Les Vaurioufs to this
day. (25. |
La Ronde Roque.—wNear Icart on the Fief Le Roy.’ There is no
proof that it was a megalith, but as a field in its immediate neigh-
bourhood on the Fief of ‘‘ Vielleresse du Cété de la Fallaize’’ was
called ‘‘ Le Courtil Vauriouf’’(2) there is the same inference that
it was also an object of cult. (2603)
The Statue-Menhir.—tThis old statue, which now stands as a
gate-post between the two gates at the south of the church-yard of St.
Martin’s, suggests the existence in former days of a dolmen on the
site where the church now stands, as these statue-menhirs are always
found near burial places in the South-Eastern Departments of
France.(3) The skill with which the hard granite rock has been
fashioned, however, shows that it is probably of much later date than
the Neolithic period. It originally stood in the church-yard to the
south of the porch, and facing East, and it had at its foot a flat
scone on which were two small cup-shaped depressions. A most in-
teresting survival from prehistoric times was the cult paid secretly,
as late as the early nineteenth century, to this old statue, when the
old folk of the parish still thought that to strew a few flowers, or,
to make a libation of a few drops of wine or spirit, at the foot of
the stone would bring them good luck. A very similar custom existed
until quite recently in the Western Highlands and Islands of Scot-
land, where, in remote places, daily libations of milk were poured
over the Gruagach Stones—the old representatives of Celtic Divinity
—by the farmers, who believed that if they omitted to do so some
misfortune would surely happen.(4) (27.
(1) Hxtente, 1882.
(2) Livre de Perchage, 1906.
(3) Déchelette. Manuel Préhistorique. T. i. pp. 583-603; T. ii, pp. 485-492,
(4) M. E. M. Donaldson, Western Highlands and Islands, pp. 136-32!.
40 List OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, E'IC.
Le Petit Bon-Homme Andriou.—A natural pillar shaped
rock, very like a menhir, which stands on one of ‘‘ Les Tas de Pois
d’Amont,” or ‘* Pea Stacks ’ at St. Martin’s Point, was also an object
of veneration even within the last twenty years, when it was still
the custom for the fishermen to drop their ensign and to make an
offering of food or a libation of wine or cider to it at the beginning
of the fishing season; or, if anj old garment past use chanced to be
in the boat, this was also cast into the sea to bring ‘‘ good luck ”
to their fishing. ‘‘ Andriou tape tout’? (which may be translated
‘‘Andriou, watch all” or ‘‘over all’’) was formerly an old ‘‘dicton”’
among the children of the neighbourhood.(1) (28.)
The Devil’s Claw, at Jerbourg, is a large piece of white quartz
with a black splash right across it, which stands on the right hand
side of the road leading from the Town to Doyle’s Column at the
head of the second vallum, or dyke, in the direction of Petit Port.
This stone was the termination of the bounds at Jerbourg which were
beaten by the ‘*‘ Chevauchée de St. Michel.’? According to a legend
the Devil, disguised as a beautiful maiden, carried off Duke Richard
of Normandy in a boat from near Granville and bore him away to a
rock in the sea near Guernsey, where he was afterwards found.(2)
The Devil is then supposed to have anchored at Le Petit Port, leapt
up the cliff and landed on the stone near where Doyle’s Column now
stands at Jerbourg, and where the imprint of his claws is still seen.
(29.)
Dog of Death.—tThe old legend of the ‘‘Dog of Death” was
attached to three localities at St. Martin’s. ‘‘ La Béte de la Devise,”’’
a black dog, haunted ‘‘ La Rue de la Béte,’’ an old road now incor-
porated in the grounds of Sausmarez Manor. The legend may have
been associated with ‘‘ Les Blanches Pierres,” which stood at no
great distance from this road. ‘‘ La Béte de la Rue Maze,’’ haunted
the road of this name situated to the west of ‘‘ La Carrefour au
Lievre ”’ and it may have been connected with the megalithic remains
in. the neighbcurhood of St. Martin’s Church. “La Biche”—a
goat—frequented ‘‘ Le Coin de la Biche” in the lane between ‘‘ La
Fosse ’’ and ‘‘ La Villette’’ as well as the cross lanes from the ‘‘ Carre-
four David” to ‘‘Les Profonds Camps.’’(3)
Fioly Wells.—These were ‘‘La Fontaine des Navets,’’ situated on
the right hand side of the cliff above Saints Bay in the little lane
opposite Rose Farm. There are two wells in this lane, the most
southerly being the sacred one. ‘‘ La Fontaine de la Belleuse” lies
just east of the church below the farm house now belonging to Mr.
Tardif. This again is a double fountain, of which the southern one
is the ‘“‘ wishing” well.
FOREST.
The whole of the Forest Parish lies on the Fief du Roi,
but unfortunately I have been unable to find any “‘ Livre de
Perchage’’ of the fief of earlier date than 1877, when already
many of the old place names had been modernised. It is
curious to note that though there were at least three menhirs
in the parish in former days, so far in the Livres de Per-
chage, I have been unable to trace a single dolmen, the
typical names of Pouquelaye and Trépied being conspicuous
by their absence.
(1) Folk Lore, pp. 143-146.
(2) Folk Lore, p. 157. Cf. La Chronique de Normandie, printed at Rouen in
1576. Fol. 4, sur l’an 997.
3) Dict. Franco-Norm., p. 161. Folk Lore, p, 236.
4921. | LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 4]
Les Plats Pieds.—This name is given in the Livre de Perchage of
1577 to some land and a furze brake belonging to: Mx. Torode,: des
Pieces, and described as ‘‘la terre et jaonniere des Plats Pieds.” In
all probability the name is derived from the imprints of two human
_ feet on a rock in the vicinity. These ‘‘ pediform” hollows are some-
times natural, due to the weathering of the stone, or they were
sculptured by Neolithic man, but whether natural or artificial they
were objects cf cult, and even to this#day in out of the way parts of
France they are still thought to possess magical properties and are
resorted to for the cure of many diseases. (30.)
L’idole.—In the Livre de Perchage of 1877 are two fields near ‘‘ Les
Pieces’ on the border of St. Andrew’s parish called ‘‘le courtil de
Image,” or as it was called in ‘‘ Lettres’ of the 16th century, ‘‘ le
courtil de l’Idole.” (31.)
Le Ferron du Roi.—This small menhir still stands at Le Bourg
at the corner of the wall of the road leading down to Petit Bot. It
has three cupmarks sculptured on it. At the beginning of the 19th
century it stood at a little distance from its present position on the
oppcsite side of the road, and it was used as ‘“‘un perron,” or mount-
ing block, for the horsemen of the procession of ‘‘La Chevauchée de
la Cour de St. Michel du Valle.” (32.)
La Roque des Faies.—It was a menhir which stood in a field in
a small lane, or ‘‘cache,’”’ opposite the shop of Mr. de la Rue near
Le Bourg at the beginning of ‘‘La Rue des Landes.’ In former
days its neighbourhood was carefully avoided at night by the people
of the Forest, as the fairies were said to hold their nigitly revels
round the stone,(1) and every three years when ‘‘ La Chevauchée de
St. Michel ”? was held the ‘‘ pions,’’ or footmen, also danced around
it. Another legend states that where ‘‘ La Roque des Faies”’ stood
was the site originally chosen for the building of the church, but
when all the materials had been got together for the purpose of
laying the foundation stcne they were removed by the fairies in one
night to the place where the church now stands.(2) (33.)
La Blanche Roque.—tThis stone was probably a menhir and gave
its name to ‘“‘le courtil de la Blanche Roque,’’ at Les Landes, which
appears on the Livre de Perchage of Fief du Roi, 1877. Near.
it was ‘“‘le Courtil de la Croix Croquet,’? another of the many
instances in Guernsey of the erection of a cross in the neighbourhood
of a megalithic monument. (34.)
La Roque aux Pains.—tThis rock seems to have stood somewhere
near Le Bourg, but there is nothing to show whether it was a menhir
or a natural rock. It is mentioned in the following entry of the
Livre de Perchage of Fief Le Roy, 1877: ‘‘ George Torode du Bourg
en son courtil la Roque aux Pains.”’ (35.)
Le Desert des Variouvez.—I have been unable to discover the
exact situation of the district called ‘‘ Les Variouvez,” but as far as
I can judge by the following entries in the Livre de Perchage of
1877, it was somewhere near Le Bourg, possibly to the east of La
Roque des Faies: ‘‘James Gilmon du Bourg en son Desert des.
Variouvez, 1 v. 23 p.” ‘*‘ Thomas Tostevin fils Jean 4 cause de
Susanne Priaulx sa femme en sa jaonnieére des Variouvez qui fut a
~ Nicolas Priaulx son pere, 1/¥.\ 18 p.
Le Variouf is the name given to a district between Petit BO and
Les Fontenslles. In the Livre de Perchage of 1877 we find: ‘‘ Les
Hoirs de Jean Guilbert des Vallées en leur courtil du Viel Variouf,
3v.17p.” “Anne Wynne Aubrey, des Fontenelles, en ses masions,
etc. Item en son courtil le Viel. Variouf qui fut a Jean de la Rue,
2v. 22 p.” ‘Jean de la Rue, -des Fontenelles, en son courtil le
(1) Folk Lore. p. 127. (2) Ibid, p. 128.
42 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
Petit Variouf, 2 v. 27 p.” In this same district were three rocks,
La Grande Roque, La Petite Roque, and La Roque Massy, and at
the bend of the lane leading from the Gouffre to Les Fontenelles
stood a cross called ‘‘ La Croix Forest.’’ It is therefore very pro-
bably that the rocks, if they were not menhirs, were looked upon as
‘* Pierres Saintes,” or, that those having to cross the district haunted
by ‘‘Les Varous’ required Heavenly assistance before undertaking
their journey. &
Holy Vi elis.—There are cnly two Holy Wells at the Forest; one,
‘‘ La Fontaine St. Martin,’’ which rises on the cliffs to the westward
of the, point 101: (Wa Corbiére,” and the other, which seems to have
no particular name, lies midway between Le Gron and La Planque
at the point where the three parishes of the Forest, St. Saviour’s
and St. Andrew’s meet.
Stations.—A number of small flint implements have been discovered
from time to time in a hedge to the east of the point of La Corbiere,
also along the path and on the surface of some fields farther on
towards the Gouffre.
TORTAVAL.
Tumulus, La Varde ?—Lieutenant S. Olivier in his ‘ Roper on
the Present State and Condition of Prehistoric Remains in the
Channel Islands, 1870,’’ states that a tumulus or low cairn once
existed on the Summit of the high land at La Varde, Pleinmont,
which is supposed to have been destroyed when a flagstaff was
required io be erected on that point. This is the only record of the
existence of prehistoric remains that I have been able to discover in
Torteval.
Les Roques a I’Or.—These rocks were near Rouge Val and we
find on the Livre de Perchage du Villain Fief St. Michel, 1833:
Sr. Daniel Dorey, de la Mouranderie, en sa jaonniere des Roques a
Or, tivis2l pe
ST. PHTER-IN-THH-WOOD.
St. Peter-in-the-Wood was at one time one of the richest
in megalithic monuments of all our parishes. Unfortunately
they have all been destroyed with the exception of two, the
menhir of ‘“‘ La Pallette es Faiés’’ at Les Paysans and the
dolmen, or rather ‘allée couverte,’ of ‘‘Le Creux és Fées’’ at
L’Erée. In former days there were two groups of dolmens,
one, in the neighbourhood of Plaisance and Les Marchés,
and the other round L’Erée. Besides these there were a few
isolated dolmens and menhirs scattered over the parish. It
is is difficult to determine with absolute certainty the number
of dolmens in the Plaisance-Les Marchés group, owing to the
fact that the district lies on three fiefs, ‘‘ Les Huit Bouvées,”’
‘* Lihou ’’ and Becquepée,’’ and that several ‘‘ Courtils de la
Pouquelaye ’’ lie on each of them, which in some instances
may refer to land in the same field on different fiefs. The
difficulty is further increased by the fact that in many
instances the present owners of properties in the neighbour-
hood do not know the old names of their fields. However,
a far as I can ascertain they were eight in number as fol-
OWS :—
2
¥
= 1921.] LIS OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 43
La Grand Pouquelaye and Acccrding to the late Colonel
La Petite Pouquelaye Joseph Naftel these were the
names of two fields adjoining each other on the north side of the
high road at Les Marais Gouies, opposite the house of ‘‘ Passiflora’”’
belonging to Mr. Crousaz. I have been unable to identify them on
the Livres de Perchage of the above-mentioned three Fiefs, unless
the following entry in that of Les Huit Bouvée, 1896, refers to them :
‘“ Nicolas Tostevin, de Plaisance, en son courtil la Pouquelaye in-
corporé avec Le ‘repied qui fut a Nicolas Tostevin, son pére, 25 p.”’
(36, 37.)
La Grande Pouquelaye. These are names of three fields,
La Fetite Fouaueiaye. indicating the sites of three dol-
Le Trepied. mens, on the estate of Plaisance.
Le Courtil de la Petite Pouquelaye lies at the back of the house of
Plaisance adjoining ‘‘Le Courtil de la Grande Pouquelaye,” and
‘“Le Courtil du Trépied ”’ is the field at the corner of the lane lead-
ing to Plaisance on the left-hand side of the road to St. Peter’s
Church. (38, 39, 40.)
La Grande Pouquelaye des Marches.—Perchage du Fief
Becquepée, Fief au Crochon, 1914: ‘‘Frank J. C. Lilley, des Mesnages,
en son courtil de la Grande Pouquelaye, 3 v. 8 p.” Not far from
this dolmen stcod ‘*‘ La Croix des Marchéz.”’ (41.)
La Petite Fouqueiaye.—Perchage du Fief Becquepée, Fief au
Crochon, 1914: ‘‘ F. J. C. Lilley, des Mesnages, en son courtil de
la Fouquelaie, au nord des courtils de Bailiff qui fut a James Lang-
toms, 1 v.25 p.”’ (42.)
La Fouqueiaye au Ville Saimon.—tThis dolmen is mentioned
in Lettres sous Sceau, 1721, by which ‘‘Francoise Allez, fille
Samuel, de St. Martin, vende a Nicolas Langlois, de St. Pierre-du-
Bois, un courtil et jaonniére joignant ensembles appellés la Ville
Salmon a Saint Pierre-du-Bois au sud et joignant d’un courtil dit
la Pouquelaye appartenant a Nicolas Langlois, fils Pierre.’ In the
Livre de Perchage du Fief des Huit Bouvées, 1896, we find:
“Frederick W. Lilley et Charles T. [Lilley en leur courtil de la
Pouquelaye au Ville Salmon, 30 p.”’ (43.)
La Ville Herode..--This name is given to one of the fields to the north
of the house cf Plaisance as well as to the house and lands adjoining
it to the west. Inj the ‘‘ Livre de Perchage du Fief de Lihou,” 1835,
we find: ‘‘ Dille. Judith Le Ray, fille Matthieu, des Buttes, en son
courtil de la Ville Herode, 1 v. 2 p.’’; also ‘‘Sr. Pierre Tostevin
en sa maison nouvellement bdatie, jardin et courtil de la Ville
Herode,” and ‘‘Sr. Nicolas Tostevin, de Plaisance, en sa maison,
etc., et courtil de devant d’iceux, et aussi en son courtil a Vest des
dits edifices la rue entre deux, cet article en trois dans le precedant
livre, lesquelles terres s’appelaient le courtil Pouquelais et Ville
Herode.’’ Herode may be identified with the Breton H’eroek or
H’roeg ‘“‘La Vieille,” the ‘‘Hag,’(@) the He’ro-Dias of Mr. G.
Metivier,(2) whose sanctuary was the little island of Sain off Finis-
tere, where her priestesses, nine shrivelled hags, brewed storms and
whirlwinds, changing themselves into a variety of brutal forms.(1)
The derivation of our Guernsey Heroguiazes, the Queen of Hell, the
leader of the orgies at the witches’ ‘“‘ Sabbat ’? round the dolmen of
Le Catioroc, the raiser of storms and whirlwinds, from H’roeg “‘la
Vieille’ is obvious, as is also her identification with Herodias of
medieval legend, by whose evil councils John the Baptist was put
to death, condemned for her crime to dance for ever round the world
in storm and whirlwind.(2) (43a.)
(1) Carnac, Legendes—Traditions, Zacharie Le Rouzic, p. 58.
(2) Folk Lore, pp. 232-233, ©
44 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. rd
Les Pas.—tThe estate of Les Pas lies to the west of Plaisance in ‘the
narrow lane which runs from ‘‘ Les Héches ”’ to St. Peter’s Church.
In all probability a stone bearing the imprints of two human feet
existed there in former days and was the origin of the name. (44.)
Two crosses stood near the group of dolmens. ‘‘La
Croix des Marchés,” at a little distance in the south-west
and ‘‘ La Croix John Bréhaut ’’ to the north-west on the road
leading to St. Peter’s Church, a short distance perce La
Ville Herode.
La Pougquelaye Fief Beuval.—tThis dolmen seems to have
stcod near *‘ La Longue Veille.’”? In the Extente du fief dé Beuval,
1549, on ‘‘La Demie Bouvée et Acre Robert de Beuval,’’ we find:
‘‘ Les hers Martin Symon a la Pouquellaye au long du clos Peysson,
1 v. 24 p. Item Collin de Garis ving-trois perques en la ditte
poucoulleye, la ditte poucoulleye dedens.” (45.)
Le Hurell de la Bete.—The spectre of the Dog of Death haunted
the district round the Chapel of St. Brioc, and we find in the above-
mentioned Extente of 1549: ‘‘ Le Hurell de la Bette,’’’ on ‘‘ Les
Neuf vergées de la Craeste,’? while the adjoining division of Fief
Beuval on which the Chapel of St. Brioc stood was called ‘‘ L’Acre
du Hurell de la Bette.”
La Roque au Foilet.—tThis rock stood on Fief Beauval on the
boundaries of ‘‘La Bouvée es Pains’ and ‘‘La Bouvée Thomelin
de Lisle.’? On the latter we find, according to the Extente of 1549:
Pierre Gallienne a cause de sa femme fille de John Brehault des
Islets,’ holding ‘‘1 vergée devers le voest de la Roque au Follet en
la haulte Craeyne buttant sur la falleze.”’ ‘‘La Roque au Follet ”
was in all probability a menhir as ‘‘ Les Follets’’ were akin to
‘*Les Fades’ and ‘‘ Les Fadets ” elves or goblins, the Breton ‘‘ Kor-
riks’’? and ‘‘ Korrigans,’? who according to popular belief danced
around dolmens and menhirs. (46. )
La Roque qui Tourne.—tThis stone was also on Fief Beuval
on La Bouvée Guillome Dry and we find in the Extente of 1549:
‘‘ Jehan le Clercq en la corniere de son jardin devers la Roque qui
torne, 9 perques.”’ It was in all probability a megalithic monument,
but whether a menhir or a dolmen is difficult to say as in France
the name ‘‘La Pierre qui Tourne’’ is frequently used for both.
Though no legend concerning ‘‘ La Roque qui Tourne’’ has sur-
vived, it is very likely from its name that there was once attached
to it cne that is very wide spread in France, namely, how once a
year, most usually at midnight on Christmas Eve, menhirs and the
stones of certain dolmens go down to the streams or rivers to drink,
disclosing stores of fairy gold beneath their bases; but woe to him
who steps down into the hole to steal the treasure, for as the last
stroke of twelve sounds the stone returns and crushes him to death.
(47.)
La Roque Tranchefil.—This rock was also on the Fief de
Beuval, on ‘‘La Bouvée Thomelin de Lisle,’ near La Roque au
Follet, but there is nothing to show that it was a megalith. In the
Extente of 1549 we find: ‘‘Johan Le Lacheur 4 cause de sa femme”
holding 194 perches of land at Ila Roque ‘Tranchefil.
Le Trepied, Cantereyne.—This dolmen was situated not far
from the millpond of Cantereyne. In the ‘‘ Extente du fief de
Cantereyne,”’ 1672, we find ‘ Helier Mansel en son courtil de Tree
4 v. 6 p.”’ Lia ' (48.)
La Pouquelaye, near Le Longfrie.—In the Livre de Perchage du
Fief Suart, 1898, Fief des Reveaux, we find on La Demie Bouvée
P7921. | LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 45
_ de James Wilson chef en sa maison appelée la Neuve Maison du
Longfrie, Rachel Brouard, de la Magdelaine, holding ‘“‘ le courtil
de la Rue, lequel courtil fait partie de son courtil appelé La Pou-
quelaye, 28 p.’’? The dolmen stood at the junction of three ‘‘bouvées ”’
of this Fief which all met in Miss Brouard’s field. ~~ (49)
Le Mont Varouf.—A furze brake of this name was situated close
to the above-mentioned ‘‘ courtil de la Pouquelaye.’’ It is another
_ instance of the association of Le Varouf, with a dolmen. It was
- situated on La Bouvée de Pierre Tostevin, fils Pierre, de la Croix,
-.-and in the above-mentioned Livre de Perchage du Fief Suart, 1898,
-. we find: James Le Page, usufruitier de V’héritage de Nancy Falla,
sa. femme, en sa vallée ou jaonniere du Mont Varouf, 1 v. 2 p.’
tet Roque Pendante.—Livre de Perchage du Fief St. Michel,
1896, ‘‘ Nicolas Lenfestey, des Hamelins, en sa jaonniére de la Roque
Pendante. ” This rock was near Les Arquets.
Les Roques aux Caux.—Near Les Sarreries on Fief St.
Michel. In the Livre de Perchage of 1896 several fields called ‘‘ Le
Courtil des Roques aux Caux” which were near La Roque du Val
and were bordered by La Rue des Sarreries and La Rue des Paas.
Les Blanches Roques.—tThese rocks were Situated near Le
Catillon and from their name were in all probability a megalithic
monument. In the Extente du fieu de Lihou, 1503, we find: ‘‘ Pierres
Le Mesurier, junior, en la Croutte des Blanches Roques par devers
le nort du douvre, 59 p.’ (50. )
The Abbesses Feet.—tThis is the modern name given to a stone
_ bearing the imprint of two human feet, said by geologists to be
natural hollows, situated at Le Bourget near Le Catillon.
2%
1921. | LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 47
de Perchage des Trois Bouvées de L’Erée, 1920, on the first Demie
Bouvée, * Jean Queripel, du Braye, en sa maison nouvellement batie
dans a piece de terre du Champ Vaurouf, 19 p.” ‘ Item le dit
Queripel en partie de sa cléture du Champ Varouf, 24 p.” This is
another instance of the name of “Le Varouf” given to lands
in the neighbourhood of dolmens.
La Roque au Sermonier (60.)—This stone was situated some-
where near La Creux és Faies, in a locality now known as La Vallée
au Sermonier. It is first mentioned in the following entry in the
“‘Extente du fief de Lihou, 1503: ‘‘ La fille Pierre du Mont 4a la
Roque au Sermanier(1) 104 p.” (60.)
La Longue Roque de Claire Mare.—tThis menhir was
situated somewhere near Claire Mare and it is mentioned in the
‘‘Extente du fieu de Lihou,’’ 1503: ‘‘ Thomas Henry des Bouveys
- butant sur la Longue Roque de la Cleyremare, 36 p.”’ (61.)
La Grosse Roque de lia Bete.—tThe spectre of the Dog of
Death haunted the district between the dolmen of Le Creux és Faies
and the menhir of Claire Mare, and gave its name to ‘“‘ La Rue de
la Béte,” which runs from Les Adams to La Roque. In the “ Ex-
tente du fieu de Lihou,” 1503, we find ‘‘ Les hers Vincent Baptiste
a la Grosse Roque de la Bethe, 263 p.”
La Roque des Poullie.—tThis rocks seems to have been situated
near Claire Mare. It is mentioned in the ‘‘ Extente du fieu de
Lihou, 1503. ‘‘ Phillipe Pain a la Roque des Poullié au vouest des
hers Thcmas Guillebert, 15 p.” In the same district we find the
names of a number of other rocks, namely :—
La Roque Folie, which seems to have stocd near the Bay of La
Roque. In the ‘‘Livre de Perchage du Fief de Lihou,” 1834, we
find: ‘‘M. James Paint, des Fontaines, en son petit courtil de la
Rogue du Galet de Roque Folle, y comprins un camp par dehors,
1 v. 10 p.’? It may have been a megalith, but anyway it was pro-
bably ‘“‘une Pierre Sainte,” as in France ‘“‘ La Rocque Folle” is a
name often given to menhirs and dolmens.
La Pierre au Cucu a la Roquwe stood near Les Adams. We
find in the Livre de Perchage du Fief Lihou, 1834: ‘*Dlle. Mar-
guerite Paint, fille de Jean, des Sages, en sa cléture de la Pierre au
Cucu, a la Roque.”’
Les Pointes de la Roque.—tLivre de Perchage du Fief de
Lihou, 1834: M. Tean Le Messurier de la Claire Mare a cause de
Dame Marie de Garis, sa femme, en son courtil des Pointes de la
Roque, a Vest du Grand Hurel, la route entre deux, 25 p.”
Holy Wells.—As far as I am aware no Holy Wells have been re-
corded for St. Peter-in-the-Wood, but there was a fountain situated
near Les Roussillons called ‘‘ La Fontaine au Baiser,”’ a name which
rather suggests that some superstition was attached to it in olden
days. It is mentioned in the ‘‘Extente du Fief de Lihou.” 1503:
Collas Renouf és Roussillons, en sa pieche qui butte sur la Fontaine
au Basier, 49 p.’”’ Another entry close to the above mentions
‘* Pierre de France au courtil de la Croes, & au lone du courtil du
Boillon, 50 p.?? The existence of a cross in close proximity to the
fountain rather points to its having been a sacred spring.
Neolithic Stations.—tThere are traces of a Neolithic Station at
Fort Gray, where there is a midden containing much hand-made
pottery in the soil of the N.E. side of the cliff of the little islet.
On the island of Lihou have been found a considerable number of
flint flakes and implements, also a few have been found round the
point of L’Erée. These point to a settlement somewhere in the neigh-
(1) Sermoneur — discoureur, ou flatteur—Roquefort, Dictionnaire
48 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
hood. Also on the South Coast on the top of the cliffs to the West of
the point of Le Prevdété, there is a field, which, when I first discovered
it was thickly strewn with flint cores, flint implements and flakes. In
all I have picked up over 2,000 at this spot, which points to it having
_ been occupied by man for a considerable time, possibly by the
builders of the dolmens in the neighbourhood of Plaisance and Les
Marchés, which are no great distance off.
Mesting Places of Witches.—In the trial before the Raya
Court, in 1617, of Collette du Mont, widow of Jean Becquet, for
witchcraft, we are told that she confessed that at ‘the instigation of
the devil, who appeared in her in the form of a dog, she had gone
to a ‘‘ Sabbat ’ of the witches near ‘‘ Le Chasteau du Rocquaine ”
(now Fort Gray). As the other recorded meeting places of the witches
in Guernsey were usually in the neighbourhood of dolmens it is
possible that one may have existed on the little rocky islet on which
Fort Gray now stands.
ST. SAVIOUR’S,
The remaining megaliths of the L’Erée-Catioroc group
are in St. Saviour’s parish across “ Le Douit de l’Angulaire,”
which forms the boundary of the parish in the centre of the
plain near Claire Mare.
La Longue Pierre, near Les Fontenelles——A menhir which is
mentioned in the ‘‘Extente des Onze Bouvées Nord Est,” 1534, as
standing on ‘‘La Bouvée Thomas Blondel fils James,’? who is
described as holding ‘“‘ le courtil de la Longue Pierre, 1 vergée .34
perques. Item en son aultre ccurtil de la Longue Pierre nommez les
Fontenelles, 1 v. 34 p.” (62.)
Le Trepied.—tThis dcolmen was also situated near Les Fontenelles,
on the ‘S‘ Fief des Onze Bouvées Nord Fst,’? as we find in the ‘‘ Ex-
tente”’ of 1534 on ‘‘ La Bouvée Collas Blondel,’’ mention of ‘‘ Collas
Blondel sus lez Fontenelles butant sur la Croute, 1 v. 16 p. Item
en'scn camp du Trépi, 17 p.” This Trépied cannot have He the
dolmen still called ‘‘ Le Trépied’’? which stands on Mont Chinchon,
at the end of the point of Le Catioroc, as the latter was called La
Pouquelaye in this Fxtente of 1534. (63.)
We now come to Le Catioroc, or, as Sir Edgar Mac-
Culloch calls it, “‘ Le Castiau-Roc.’’ A name it is suggested
possibly derived from the Celtic—‘‘ Castel-ar-Roc’h ’’—the
Rock Castle, or from ‘‘ Castel-er-H’rock—the Devil’s
Castle, or the Castle of the Fairy. Sir Edgar MacCulloch
writing of what he remembered early in the nineteenth
century states that: ‘‘ As one approaches it one is struck by
the vestiges of Cromlechs with their circles and bits of
Longues Roques.’* Among the place names on Le
Catioroc mentioned in the old ‘‘ Livres de Perchage ”’
the three following which suggest possible megaliths :—
Les Portes du Catioroc.—Mentioned on the ‘‘ Extente des
Onze Bouvées Nord Est,” 1534, on La Demie Bouvée Collas Le
Sage. Its name is rather suggestive of some structure similar to that
of ‘‘Le Gibet des Faies”? at L’Ancresse, which Sir Edgar Mac-
Culloch describes as having consisted of a long capstone supported
by three high stone props.(1)
(1) Folk Lore, p. 122.
a
1921.) LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 49
_ ta Roque au Tonnerre.—0On the same Fief and Bouvée, had a
~~ name which would seem to connect it with the cult of the Sun God.
ta Roque Fendue, the Cleft Rock.—On the same Extente of
| 1534, on La Bouvée Thomas Henry, has rather a more doubtful
name and may have been a natural rock.
_ te Trepied, or La Pouquelaye du Mont Chichon (now
— Le Mont Chinchon).—This dolmen stands on the top of the hill at
” the end of the point of Le Catioroc. In the ‘‘ Extente des Onze
S Bouvées Nord Est,’’ 1534, we find it called ‘‘ La Pouquelée.”’ ‘‘ La
Bouvée és hers Collas de Garis. Item Simion de Guaris au Mont
Chichon au nott voest ‘de la pouquelée, 1 v. 7 p.” In all later
Livres de Perchages of this fief the dolmen is invariably called ‘‘ Le
Trépied.” It was the most famous of all our dolmens in old legends,
and in the trials for witchcraft held under Bailiff Amias de Car-
teret in the beginning of the seventeenth century it was noted as the
midnight haunt cf our witches and wizards. Here one of the chief
‘““Sabbats ” of the island was held each Friday night, when, accord-
ing to the confessions of the witches, the devil, in the form of a
black goat, called ‘‘ Baal Berith,’’ or ‘‘ Barberie,” sat on the centre
capstone of the dolmen, while the witches, warlocks and _ fairies
danced around in worship, Ied in their revels by the terrible
Heroguiazes, shouting in chorus as they danced :—
Qué, hou hou,
Marie Lihou,
in mockery of the Blessed Virgin, whose shrine of Notre Dame de
Lihou was on the little islet off the point of L’Erée.(1)
Even fifty years ago no respectable old lady of the neighbour-
hood of La Perelle would go near the Catioroc on a Friday after
nightfall.
The dolmen of Le Trépied was excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis
in 1839-40, and the vases and other objects found in it are in the
Lukis Museum. (64.)
The district of L’Erée-Catioroc was probably one of the
strongholds of paganism in the island. Anyway our fore-
fathers seem to have been at great pains in their endeavours
to Christianise it and erected no less than two chapels and
three crosses around it. There was first to the West the
church and priory of Nétre Dame de Lihou on the little islet
of Lihou to the west of L’Erée Point, then the ‘‘ Chapelle
Dom Hue.’’ a small open chapel-shrine, on the little islet
still called ‘‘Dom Hue”’ to the north of “‘La Bréche de
lAngulaire.’’ A cross, ‘‘La Croix de Martin,’’ stood on the
edge of the beach opposite the chapel at ‘‘La Bréche de
lAngulaire.’’ Another cross, ‘‘La Croix de Lihou,’’ stood
at the side of the road on the highest point of the hill to the
West of the dolmen of Le Creux és Faies, and a third, ‘‘ La
Croix,’’ was situated at I.es Adams, a short distance to the
South of ‘‘ La Longue Roque,’’ de Claire Mare.
La Longue Pierre, another menhir, was situated near Le Mont
Varouf on the Fief of Jean du Gaillard. In the ‘‘ Extente”’’ of this
Fief in 1603 we find the following entries: ‘‘ Les hers Marguerite
Le Mesurier fille Pierre en leur courtil de la Longue Pierre, 6 v.
4p.” Then immediately following: ‘‘ Pierre de Garis 4 cause de
sa mére fille de Jean Mancel en sa pieche de terre au Mont Varouf.”’
(65. )
(1) Folk Lore, p. 121-3.
a0 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
Le Trepied; near La Croix Paysans.—This dolmen has given its
name to the farm of ‘‘ Le Trépied,’ which is situated to the east,
and adjoining, ‘‘ La Croix Paysans,” a cross which formerly stood
in La Rue des Massies on a small waste piece of land at the corner
of ‘‘La Rue des Trépieds,” the narrow lane that runs North along
the top of the range of hills to the West of St. Saviour’s Church
and finally passing ‘‘La Terre Norgiot” joins ‘‘ La Grande Rue.”
, (66.)
Les Trepieds.—tThis name is given on the map of Guernsey of
1816 to a locality situated in ‘‘ La Rue des Trépieds,”’ a few hundred
yards to the north of the above-mentioned ‘‘Le Trépied,” and it
points to the existence of at least two dolmens there in former days.
| (67.)
La Longue Pierre, Les Flaquets.—tThis menhir is men-
tioned in ‘‘ Lettres Sous Sceau,” 1537, by which ‘‘ Collas Symon fils
John de St. Sauveur .. .-baille |... 4 John du Matesq mlz gma
le courtyl de la Longue Pierre ...en la dite parouesse°en ung
territoire nommée le Flaquaie.”’ (68. )
Le Dehus.—A dolmen of this name stcod in a field. on, or near,
Mont Saint. In the ‘“‘ Livre de Perchage du _ Fief St. Michel,”
1718, is mentioned ‘‘ Thomas David en son camp du Déhus qui fut
a Jean Brache, | v. 17 p.” The next entry refers to” Waseem te
du Mont Saint.” According to old Folk Lore the fairies danced
on Mont Saint on Friday nights. (69.)
La Longue Pierre, Le Crocq.—According to Sir Edgar Mac-
Culloch this menhir was also called ‘‘ La Pierre de l’Essart.’’ It is
the second largest of our existing menhirs and stands in line with
a low hedge between two fields near the end of the point of Le
Crocq. (70.)
Ruined Dolmen, Le Crocad.—aA few stones of this dolmen are
Métivier to Mr. F. C. Lukis, and to the latter’s notes, now in the
Lukis Museum, in the year 1814 a man named Samuel de la Rue, of
Le Crocq, dug up a long stone buried beneath the soil at a short
distance from his house. According io his description it must
originally have stood in the centre of a circle of stones, which was
paved with a floor of flat stones. The menhir and the other stones
were broken up by de la Rue for material to build his house. (71.)
Buried Dolmen, Le Crocaqg.—A few stones of this dolmen are
still to be seen in a field to the N.W. of the menhir. -Its site was
carefully excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis, who found only a few
fragments of pottery and a spindle whorl. These are now in the
Lukis Museum. (72)
La Longue Pierre des Arondes.—tThis menhir stood some-
where in the neighbourhood of La Hougue Fouque, and it is men-
tioned in the following entry in the Rent Roll of the Vale Priory,
' 1323-29: ‘‘ Bordagium Exclarabie—Ricardus Le Delivre ‘1p.: 1 cap:
de Longa Petra des Arondes.”? The name of ‘‘ Les Arondes ”’ seems
to have been given in the fourteenth century to several fields in the
vicinity of La Hougue Fouque, and they may possibly be the district
now called ‘‘ Les Ronchins.”’ (73.)
Holy Wells.—The only Holy Welf in the parish, mentioned by Sir
Edgar MacCulloch, is La Fontaine de Lesset, but he does not say
where it was situated. It is probably La Fontaine de Lessel, near
Mont Saint, which is mentioned in the Perchage du Fief St. Michel,
1917.
Stations, etc.—A number of flint implements were found, by Mr.
J. J. Carey and Mr. Derrick, on the little islet of Dom Hue
some years ago. There is also a prehistoric oven, or furnace, still
a i
a
i
\
921.]
to be seen in the soil of the northern face of the cliff of the Catioroc
Point, and fragments of hand-made pottery are frequently found in
the soil all round the point. These suggest the existence of a settle-
ment of Neolithic man somewhere in the neighbourhood, possibly on
the plain which is now covered by sea. Another settlement must have
existed in the vicinity of Fort Richmond and Le Crocq, as along the
edge of the coast round the point many flint implements and frag-
ments of hand-made pottery have been found; also a midden con-
taining pottery and hand-made bricks. Some of the fields round the
menhir are strewn with flint implements and chippings.
CASTEL.
La Roque ou le Coca Chante.—tThis rock stood on the highest
point of the range of hills overlooking Vazon Bay. Whether it was
a menhir or a natural rock is uncertain. Round it the fairies were
said to dance each Friday night, and according to Mr. G. Métivier,
in his youth it was the custom to perambulate the rock stamping the
feet.(1) The soil then gave out a reverberation like the knell of a dis-
tant bell, which imagination pictured as issuing from a subterranean
cavern filled with fairy gold. It was also from this hill that, accord-
ing to legend, came the voice bidding Thomas Dumaresq to tell his
fairy serving man, ‘‘ le Petit Colin,’’ of the death of his father, ‘‘ le
Grand Colin,” the king of the fairies.(2) (74.)
Le Trepied des Grantais.—aA dolmen that stood not far from
Le Moulin des Grantais overlooking the King’s Mills. It is mentioned
in the ‘‘Extente du Fief des Grantais,’? 1656: ‘‘ Huitieme Bouvée.
Les hers John Le Feyvre en leur terre du Trepy, 1 v. 26 p.”’ (75.)
La Roque Gohier.—This rock stood near Les Forgettes on Fief
Suart (Perchage 1898, La Bouvée du Groin, Fief des Gohiers). Not
far from this rock was another called La Roque a Eau, which is
described in the Perchage of Fief Le Roy, Castel, 1833, as ‘‘ buttant
au nord et sur la rue qui méne aux Choffins.’’ In all probability
these were both natural rocks.
La Longue Pierre.—A menhir which stood on the top of the hill
behind St. George, either on the site of the present White Tower, or
between it and the estate of La Masse near the Parish Schools. It was
at the junction of three Fiefs, Les Grangiers, L’Escachier and Les
Cherfs. In the ‘‘ Extente of Fief des Grangiers,” 1547, is the fol-
lowing entry: ‘‘ Pierres Estur fils Henry a la Longue Pierre, la
dite pierre estante dedans, 1 v.” (76. )
Le Trepied des Cherfs.—A dolmen not far from La Longue’
Pierre, on the same Fief des Grangiers. In the Extente of this Fief
for 1457 is mentioned ‘‘ Johan Estur du Moulin au trepy des Cherfs,
Seep. Ae)
La Roque au Comte.—tThis rock, possibly a menhir, was also
on the ‘‘ Fief des Cherfs’’ on La Hougue au Comte, and in the
Extente of 1548 we find: ‘‘ Les hers John Lestournel a la Hougue au
Compte la Rocque seante dedens, 1 v. 4 p.”’
La Roque au Roy was also on the same Fief des Cherfs and is
mentioned in the Extente of 1583. .
Les Blanches Roques, near St. Matthew’s Church, is on the
Fief des Coboes. The name is so often given to megaliths in Jersey
and France that in all probability some megalithic monument stood
on this property in former days. Near Les Blanches Roques is a
property called Les Rocquiers. (78. )
(1) Metivier. Dict. Franco-Norm., p, 102.
(2) Folk Lore, p. 213-4,
LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. Oo]
oe LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
La Pouquelaye des Ravonos.—On the ‘“ Extente du Fief
de Carteret,” 1551, ‘‘ Bouvée des Ravonos,” is the following entry :
‘* Item le Seigneur du fieu en sa pieche de la pouquelée, v. 4 p.” The
names of Les Blanches Roques and La Hougue au Comte are also
mentioned on this Bouvée, so it would seem that the dolmen stood on
the hills to the N.W. of Les Mourains. (79.)
La Pouquelaye des Houmets.—tThis dolmen gave its name
to the estate of La Pouquelaye at the back of Saumarez Park. The
following entry from the ‘‘ Extente du Fief de Carteret,” 1551, shows
that it was still in existence at that date: ‘‘ Premiers Bouvée des
Tenans. Pierre Henry en ses carios de la pouquelaie des Houmets
jouxte la dite pouquelaie par devers Vest, 15 p.” (80.)
Le Trepied, near Le Villiocq.—The site of this dolmen is described
in the ‘‘ Livre de Perchage du Fief Le Roy,” 1833, as follows :
** Nicolas Cohu, du Villiocq, en son Neuf courtil du Villiocq et en
son courtil du Trépied, presentement ensemble, le long de la Rue de
la Caneviére.” Close to it stood La Croix du Villioca. (81.)
Le Trepied de Bas, St. George.—tThis dolmen is said to have
stood between the Chapel of St. George and the High Road. In the
‘¢ Extente du Fief de la Chapelle de St. George,’’ 1614, is the fol-
lowing entry: ‘‘Item le dit Seigneur (Thomas Fashion) en son
Trépy de bas, 11 v.”? The name rather suggests the existence at one
time of another dolmen, ‘‘ Le Trépy de Haut,” not far from it. (82.)
La Roque es Boeufs.—tThis rock stood at a short distance from
St. George on the opposite side of the road. It was probably a
menhir, or a natural rock, on which was a mark like the imprint of
the hoof of an ox, either a natural hollow like ‘‘ Le Pied du Beeuf,”
L’ Ancresse, or sculptured by Neolithic man. Similarly sculptured
stones and rocks are common in France and in some parts are still
held in veneration and the water that gathers in the hollow is held
to be a cure for many diseases.(1) In the 15th century ‘‘ Extente de
la Seconde Bouvée des Grangiers’’ we find: ‘‘ Les hers Collas
Toulle (2) 4 la roque és beux la dite roque existante dedans, 1 v.”’ (83.)
La Fontaine Saint Georges.—tThis famous Holy Well is a
few yards below the ruins of the old Chapel of St. George, and just
outside the latter stood La Croix St. Georges. The Holy Well was
one of the most famous in the island and was resorted to by maidens
in search of husbands,—‘‘ and if the maiden visited it fasting and
in silence for nine consecutive mornings, carefully depositing a
piece of silver in the niche, at the back of the fountain, as an offer-
ing to the Saint, she is assured of matrimony within nine months,
and by looking into the well with an earnest desire to behold her
intended husband, his face will be mirrored in the water. And in
former times, when the man was identified the girl gave his name
to the priest, who summoned him before St. George, and, as destined
for each other by Heaven, they were solemnly united.’’(3)
According to another account it was also resorted to by childless
women, who, ‘‘on drinking the water of this well nine successive
morning’s fasting, without either accosting or being accosted by any
person in their way thither, they became as fruitful vines.”’(4)
Another legend tells us of the old woman who sought the heal-
ing virtue of the fountain: ‘‘ her eyes were dim with extreme age,
her limbs refused to perform their wanton functions,” but such was
her faith and the efficacy of her gifts, that, ‘‘in less than three
(1) Bnlletin, Société Préhistorique. 1917, n.n., 112-113. Tbid, Notes a propos de
Vutilisation Theranathique des Megalithes dans la Bretagne, p, 159
2) La Grande Maison de St. George belonged to the Toulleys in the 15th century
(3) Folk Lore, p. 192.
(4) The Strangers Guide in Guernsey. Supplement, p. 16.
-1921.] LIST OF DOLMENS,, MENHIRS, ETC. 53
months from a free use of the waters, she was completely renovated,
assumed an air of youth, had her vision, teeth and hair restored,
and returned home so metamorphosed that the beast on which she
rode scarce knew her, and what was worse, she was nearly disin-
herited by her next of kin, who had seized upon her patrimonial
precints of the Chapel.()
On tempestuous nights, especially during thunder and lightning,
the form of a white horse darting flames of fire from nostrils and
eyes, may be seen galloping thrice, and thrice only, round the ruined
precints of the Chapel. [2 |
We also gather from the evidence given in the trial before the
Royal Court in 1567, of Francoise Renouf and her son Martin Tulouff
for witchcraft, that the witches held their ‘‘Sabbats” in three places
in the immediate neighbourhood of St. George. In La Rue a la Fosse
au Courly, the lane which runs from the corner near the Beaucamp
Arsenal to the Wesleyan Chapel below St. George. La Fosse au
Courly was the name of the field in which is now a house and shop,
just opposite to the Arsenal. The second meeting place was in La
Rue des Esturs, somewhere in the high road from the corner near
Woodlands to the bottom of the hill below La Houguette. The third
was in La Rue de la Masse du Mculin, the lane to the north of St.
George near the Parish Schools and the estate of La Masse. There
was a fourth meeting place, which hardly concerns us at present, in
La Rue des Moulyns, now the high road leading from the King’s
Mills to Orange Lodge.
Can we gather anything from these legends? The horse was the
emblem of the Sun God, and as such dates back to the Bronze Age,
or even to late Neolithic times.(5) The Bull was also the symbol of
the Sun God of the old Mediterranean people. It is found in Crete
amd in the Aegean, and came from thence with the cult of the
mother goddess through Spain to the West in late Neolithic Times.(4)
Is it by accident we have at St. George in close juxtapposition the
fountain of fertility and rejuvenation, and the two symbols of the
Sun God, the source of hfe? Do they not rather suggest the exist-
ence of a High Place for the worship of the Sun God in prehistoric
times at St. George, or in its immediate neighbourhood ?
If Miss Murray is correct in her theory that the medieval witches
were in reality a confraternity initiated into old pagan mysteries,(1)
then in the three meeting places of the witches round St. George we
may see a continuance in the sixteenth century of heathen worship
as close to the site of an old pagan sanctuary as they could with
safety approach.(5)
La Fontaine Saint Germain, another Holy Well, was on La
Hougue Renouf to the north of St. George. Near it stood the Chapel
of St. Germain, which had a cross ‘‘ La Croix St. Germain” standing
just outside it.
La Fontaine Sainte Anne, also a famous Holy Well, is in a
field to the north of La Rue de la Porte opposite to the house now
called Ste. Anne. Near it was another small chapel, La Chapelle
de Sainte Anne, which has entirely disappeared.
Le Dehuset, La Rue es Gots.—A dolmen situated in a field
at the top of La Rue és Gots, the steep narrow lane which runs from
La Rue des Esturs down to the farm of La Porte. Mr. G. Métivier,
(1) Ibid, p. 16.
(2) Folk Lore, p. 192/3. Some accountof the spectral appearance speak only of
a horse’s head enveloped in flames without the accompaniment of a body. Note
p. 193
(3) Déchelette. Manuel Préhistorique IJ, p. 417.
(4) Ibid II,, pp. 470-479,
(5) Witchcraft in Western Europe. M. A. Murray.
54 LisT OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
who is the authority for the existence of this dolmen, gives the fol-
lowing extract from Livre de Perchage du Fief St. Michel, au
Castel, 1624(1): ‘‘ Abraham Collenette en sa maison, Jardin, Haut-
gard, ’Portiers, et en son courtil de Déhusez au haut de la Rue és
Gots.” (84.)
Les Dehusets.—Two or more dolmens which gave their name to a
number of fields on the estate of Les Déhusets, now called ‘‘ Wood-
lands,’’ and in its neighbourhood. These fields lay on the Fiefs of
‘“Le Comte,” *‘ Le Roy’ and “ Le Groignet.”” ((\We 7 meena
Extente du Hiet da Comte, 1583 : ‘‘ Bouvée des Vesiers. John Tiault
en sa buticre jouxte és courtils és dits Rousseaulx appellé le
Déhuset.”” Perchage Fief Le Roy, 1833: ‘‘Matthieu Tostevin fils
Matthieu des Déhuzets en sa maison hautgard jardin et portier et en
son courtil des Déhuzets le tout joignant ensemble, 1 v. 12 p.,” and
in Perchage du Fief du Groignet, 1915: ‘‘Deuxieme Bouvée. James
Gautier de Woodlands en son pré du Pommier des Déhuzées qui fut
a Frederick Charles Carey Ecuyer, 2 v. 17 p.,” ete: mecosdimease
a paper on Guernsey place names, by Mr. T. W. Carey, (2) two of the
fields on the estate of Woodlands were respectively named ‘‘ Le
Grand Tusées”? and ‘‘ Le Petit Tusées.’? These names rather sug-
gest the existence of two dolmens on this property. (85-86. )
According to an old legend Les Déhusets was the site first
chosen for the erection of the Castel Church, but every night the
fairies, cr goblins, carried away all that had been built by day and
deposited it on the spot where the church now stands.(3) This legend
has a close rsemblance to one recorded by M. A. de la Borderie in
his ‘‘Life of Saint Maudez,”’ where we are told that when the Saint
and his monks were buiiding their monastery on the island of Guelt
Enés, a demon called Le Teuz, or Le Tuthe, came each night and
destroyed all that the monks had built by day.(4) These legends
have their origin no doubt in some forgotten conflicts between the
heathen idolators and their Christian Evangelists who had wished
to build a church on the site of a Sanctuary of their gods. It is
interesting to note that Le Teuz, the demon of the Breton legend,
was akin to Les Déhusets who gave their name to the locality of the
Guernsey legend.
La Requelin Roque.—This rock was situated somewhere near Le
Préel at the back of Les Touillets. It was destroyed many years ago,
and it is uncertain whether it was a megalith or a natural rock;
but as ‘‘ La Croix au Beir’”’ stood close to it, it was evidently ‘‘ une
Pierre Sainte.”
La Roque Beaucamp.—In the Perchage du Fief Le Roy, 1833,
is the following entry: ‘‘ Michel Le Poidevin du Homet en sa ake
des meilles a Vest . . . de la Roque Beaucamp.”’
Les Plats Pieds.—Near Le Clos au Comte. Perchage du Fiat Le
Roy, 1833: ‘‘ Thomas Le Prevost, des Plats Pieds, en sa maison et
jardin, et en sa jaonniere des Clos au Comte, 6 v. 9 p.’’ Item en son
courtil des Grantez et joignant le Fief au Breton la rue entre deux,
3 v. 10 p.” A stone with pediform hollows on it, similar to those
at Le Catillon at St. Peter-in-the- Wood probably existed there and
was the origin of the name.
Statue-Menhir.—In the churchyard of the Castel Church under
a tree to the North of the Western porch is the statue-menhir which
was discovered during the restoration cf the church, in 1878, lying
with its foot pointing to the East, buried beneath the pavement at
(1) Métivier. Dictionnaire Franco-Normand, p. 170.
(2) Clarke’s Guernsey Magazine, October, 1894.
(3) Folk Lore, p. 220-221.
(4) Bulletin, Société d’Emulation des Cétes du Nord. T. 28 (1890) p. 235.
LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 39
the entrance of the chancel, where it had undoubtedly been placed
by our Christian Missionaries in the sixth or seventh century, when
the first Christian Church was erected on the site of an old heathen
sanciuary. ‘Lhis rudely sculptured female figure closely resembles
= those of the statue-menhirs of the South-Eastern Departments of
i France, which are thought by Déchelette and other French Archzolo-
gists to be of the Early Bronze Age and are invariably associated
with dolmens or places of burial. it is therefore very probable that
a dolmen was also in close proximity to the statue, and the many
large unhewn stones built into the foundations and wall of the west
end of the church, which look as if they had formed part of a
megalithic structure, rather confirm this. A figure of the same
goddess has recently been discovered sculptured on the under sur-
face of the second capstone of the central chamber of the dolmen
ei) Dehus, Vale. Similar sculptures are-found on the props of
several dolmens in the Departments of Oise, and Seine et Oise,
and also on two slabs of the dolmen of Colorgues, Gard. They are
also found sculptured on the sides of the ante-chambers of the art1-
ficial grotioces of Croizard, Courjeonnet and others in the valley of
Le Petit »iorin, Marne, as well as on slabs in dolmens and graves in
Spain and Portugal, from whence the cult of this goddess can be
traced to Crete and the A‘ gean. (86a. )
Settiements.—aA considerable number of flint implements and
flint flakes have been found from time to time scattered over the soil
near Albecq, and also near Les Grandes Roques and the little islets
G@ieerort So0if, These point to settlements of Neolithic man in the
neighbourhood of these two dolmens.
oT. SAMPSON’S.
Cists, Les Vardes.—In 1912 three small cists about 20 inches in
length, without cover stones, were discovered on the top of the hill
of Les Vardes, near the Signal Post. As they were at the edge of
the quarry and in danger of being destroyed they were removed and
placed in the path in front of the door of the Lukis Museum. Only
a few minute fragments of hand-made pottery and a few flint flakes
were found in them. (87.)
VALE.
Cists, on Beach at Rousse.—Two cists orientated N. and S.,
about 4 feet 6 inches long by 2 feet 2 inches broad, each surrounded
by a circle of stones, were found on the beach at Rousse to the N.W.
of the Tower in 1916.(2) Between the two stone circles was a very
small circle paved with flat stone, beneath which was found a frag-
ment of the base of a vase of hand-made pottery and a small piece
of bone. The Yorthern cist was below high tide level and had lost
its cover stone. It was still filled with black earth to within 3 inches
of the top of the side stones, but nothing was found in it. The
southern cist was intact, but only contained a few fragments of pot-
tery and a few flint flakes. (88-89. )
Cist, near Point of Les Piacquires.—In the Lukis Museum
is a note by Mr. F. C. Lukis recording the discovery of a few stones
of a small cist in, the centre of a circle of stones near the above-
mentioned point. He does not seem to have excavated the site and
all traces of the cist were destroyed when the row of cottages along
the road to L’Islet were built. (90. )
Menhir, L’islet.—The exact site of this menhir is unknown, but in
the Lukis Museum there is a sketch of it made by Mr. Lukis, who
represented it as standing in the middle of a furze brake. It was
destroyed about the middle of the last century. (91.)
(1) Déchelette, Manuel, T. I., p. 583-603. T. II., pp 485-492. Cf. Anthropologie,
ie SIIT., pp. 29-52.
ay See Transactions, Guernsey Society of Natural Science and Research, 1916,
56 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
Buried Menhir, L’Isiet.—When the row of houses were built some
years ago along the L’Islet Road, a menhir was discovered buried
beneath ihe saud. It was unfortunately broken up for building
material. At the same time several circles of dry stone masonry
(possibly hut circles) and a circle of large stones were discovered and
destroyed. (1) (92.)
Cist, near Arnoid’s Bridge.—tThis cist was destroyed between
the years 1806-1809 when the embankment called ‘‘ Arnold’s Bridge ”’
was built and Le Braye du Valle recovered from the sea. Accord-
ing to Lieutenant S. Pb. Oliver, R.A., its site was still well marked
in 1870(2) (93. )
ST. SAMPSON’S.
Cist in Garden, L’Iisiet.—This small cist, which still exists in
a garden on the left-hand side of the narrow road leading from
L’islet to Grande Havre, was discovered in 1874, but nothing was
found in it except blown sand. (93a. )
Dolmen, L’Iisiet.—This small dolmen, which was discovered in
1911(5) stands at the top of a furze brake on the left hand side of
the lane leading trom L’Islet to Sandy Hook. The dolmen is one
of the most interesting prehistoric monuments in the Channel
Islands on account of the unusual character of its surroundings. It
stands in the centre of a large circle of small stones which has four
small ci:cles adjoining it, two on the North and two on the South,
with a small stone cist in the Western circles of each group. The
vases and other objects found in it are now in the Museum of the
Guille-Alles Library. (94. )
Destroyed Dolmen, L’Iisiet.—Another dolmen said to have
been very similar in character to the above was discovered a few
years before 1911 in the field adjoining it to the North. Unfortu-
nately it was destroyed when the greenhouses in the field were *Ta8.}
CLOS-DU-VALLE.
DolImens, La Plate Mare.—tThese two small dolmens are situ-
ated in the centre of La Plate Mare, the part of L’Ancresse Common
between the Vale Church and the hill of La Varde. One is in a fair
state of preservation, and is still covered by one capstone. It was
excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis in 1838-40, and its contents are in the
Lukis Museum. To the east of it are a few stone of the second dol-
men, which was destroyed before 1838. Its site was also excavated
by Mr. Lukis. — (96-97.)
Allee Couverte, La Varde.—tThis is the largest megalithic
structure in the Channel Islands, and it stands on the top of the hill
of La Varde dominating the whole of the Western part of L’ Ancresse
Common. It was accidently discovered in 1811 by some soldiers of
the Regiment of the Duc de Mortemar, who were then encamped on
the Common, while digging trenches. It was excavated in 1837 by
Mr. F. C. Lukis, and the numerous vases and other objects found in
it are now in the Lukis Museum. (98. )
Dolmen, La Mare aux Mauves.—This dolmen stands in the
centre of the flat plain to the east of the hill of La Varde. It is
completely ruined, and all that remains is what seems to have been
a side chamber, covered with a capstone, and a few isolated stones.
The site was excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis in 1837, and again in
(1) Information given the Rev. G. E. Lee and myself in 1911 by an old man
named Ktienne Falla.
(2) Report on the Present State of the Prehistoric Remains of the Channel
Islands in 1870. 8S, P. Oliver.
(3) Transactions. Guernsey Society of Natural Science, &c., 1911, pp. 400-414.
‘g
1921.) Lisr OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 57
1844, who found a considerable number of fragments of thick hand-
made pottery which are now in the Lukis Museum. (9Y.)
y Cists, La Mare aux Mauves.—tThey are three in number; ihe
first stands on a little hillock to the N.E. of the above-mentioned
dolmen, and all its props and the stones of its surrounding circle
still remain, but the capstones have disappeared. A very short dis-
tance from it are a few props of the second cist. ‘Ihe sites of both
these cists were excavated by Mr. Lukis in 1837 and 1840, but only
a few small fragments of pottery were found in them. ‘The third
cist, of which only a few stones remain, is situated near the Mar-
tello ‘Lower about one hundred yards to the north of the dolmen ot
‘“La Mare aux Mauves.” It does not seem to have been excavated
by Mr. Lukis. (100-101-102.)
Rocking: Stone.—tThis stone is said to have stood a few hundred
yards to the east of the dolmen of ‘‘La Mare aux Mauves’’ near
‘La Koque Ballen.” It is said to have rocked at the slightest touch.
An account is given of it by Mr. Joshua Gosselin in his article on
‘““"The Discovery of Druidical Remains in the Island of Guernsey ’”’
Archeologia, V. xviil., p. 251 (1811) in which he states that it was
thrown down and destroyed in 1808. (103. )
La Roque Ballien.—tThis rock was evidently connected with the
cult of the ‘‘ Sun God” and at the beginning of the nineteenth
century it was still the custom each St. John’s Eve to light a large
bonfire on the top of it—‘‘ the fire of Beltane ’ as it was called—and
thither the young people of the island flocked to dance around the
fire. It is a high natural rock on the top of a small hill. (104. )
La Chaise au Pretre.—At the foot of La Hougue au Prétre,
Le
and at the edge of the beach on the Western side of the bay near the
large rocks at the point of Créve Coeur is a large sea-worn rock
called ‘‘ La Chaise au Prétre,’? having on its seaward side a natural
hollow, exactly like a rounded seat or chair, the back being as high
as a man’s shoulders, with just width enough to sit in comfort. A
legend states that a Holy Prior of the Priory of St. Michel du
Valle had once a conflict with the devil on this spot, and having
vanquished him sank back exhausted against the hard rock, which
miraculously oftening at his touch, provided him with a _ resting
place ! (105. )
Trepied, La Hougue Catelier.—A dolmen which was
situated somewhere near L’Angle du Trépied, and gave its name
to the ‘‘ Trépied ’? Tower—the Martello Tower which stands on the
top of La Hougue Catelier on the eastern side of L’Ancresse Bay
opposite Fort Le Marchant.(1) The dolmen evidently stood in the
centre of the top of the hill, for, as the soil has been gradually
thrown back by the quarrymen, a quantity of Neolithic pottery has
been exposed. A small vase from this spot and fragments of pottery
are now in the Museum of the Guille-Allés Library, and other frag-
ments of pottery and flint implements are in the Lukis Museum. (106.)
Le Gibet des Faies, La Hougue Patris, L’Ancresse.—This hill
is to the east of La Hougue Catelier, and on it stood at the beginning
of the nineteenth century ‘‘ Le Gibet des Faies,’? which is described
by Sir Edgar MacCulloch as having consisted of three large stone
props supporting a large horizontal stone. He conjectures that it
may have been a ‘“‘trilithon.’’(2) (107.)
_ La Fontaine des Faies.—A Holy Well on La Hougue Patris,
not far from ‘‘ Le Gibet des Faies,” which was fed by two streams
(t) Foran account of a Vue de Justice by the Royal Court on 9th October, 1883,
at L’Ancresse, concerning L’Angle du Trépied. see Clarké’s Guernsey Magazine.
December, 1883.
(2) Folk Lore, p. 128.
58 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
and never failed for water even in the driest summers. It has been
destroyed by quarrying.
Le Pied du Soeuf.—A natural hollow like the imprint of the hoof
' of an ox on a large sea worn boulder, on the sea side of the path
along the Common from Fort Le Marchant to Fort Doyle. Accord-
ing to an old legend it is the imprint of the devil’s hoot, who, being
worsted in an encounter with some Saint.at this spot, sprang from
the stone over the sea and alighted on one of the rocks of Les
Brayes, about a mile from the shore, which bears a similar mark
like the=imprint, of, aihoor.@) (108.)
weather stone, La iwvioye.—This stone, which has all the
appearance of a small menhir, is only two feet high and across its
top run two natural fissures which torm a cross. It stands in a
large field called La Houmiere, opposite ‘‘La Moye” on the righi
hand side of the road coming from the Eastern gate of L’Ancresse
Common. It was looked upon as ‘‘ une Pierre Sainte,’’ and in the
hay season the grass around it was always left uncut until all the
hay in the neighbourhood was carted. If by any chance this pre-
caution was omitted then invariably the moment the grass round
the stone was cut stormy weather and rain set in.(1) (109.)
Le Tombeau du Grand Sarrazin.—this small dolmen for-
merly stood in the centre of a furze brake on the estate of Paradis
belonging to Mr. Collas. It was partially destroyed by some work-
men in 1810, but its site was excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis in 1838,
who found some human remains under a fragment of the capstone
and about twenty vases, all with rounded bases, scattered around
the few stones that remained. ‘These objects are now in the Lukis
Museum. The remaining stones of the dolmen were destroyed about
the middle of the last century. (110.)
L’Autel du Dehus, or La Pierre du Dehus.—Both these
names are given to this great Allée Couverte, the second largest in
Guernsey, which stands on the top of the hill opposite La Hougue
de Noirmont. Mr. F. C. Lukis states that it was called ‘‘ ?Autel du
Tus” and ‘‘?Autel du Grand Sarrazin,’’ and he invariably styled
it the ‘‘Cromlech of Du Tus,” but in the Livres de Petchage du Piet
St. Michel au Clos du Valle, it is always called Déhus, and this
name figures on the Rent Rolls of the Vale Priory in I07-QyaGe
allée couverte”’ consists of a central chamber and gallery with four
secondary chambers, two on each side of the gallery. It stands, still
nearly completely covered with its tumulus, in the centre of a circle
of stones sixty teet in diameter. The second capstone of the central
chamber is sculptured with a rude representation of a human figure
(a face, two hands and part of the outline of both arms), also with
a crescent shaped symbol, and beneath it a band or girdle on which
rests a ring or disc. It is evident that the figure represents the
mother goddess. Similar figures are found sculptured on the props
of dolmens in France as has been already stated. The dolmen was
excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis on different occasions between 1838
and 1847, and the numerous vases and other objects he found in it
are in the Lukis Museum. (111.)
La Longue Roque, La Couture.—A menhir which formerly
stood in a field near La Hougue des Loriers, between the lands of the
Vale Rectory and the dolmen of La Roque qui Sonne. It is men-
tioned in ‘‘Lettres sous Sceau,” 12th February, 1494/5, whereby
‘“ John Capelle fils Collas”’ sells to ‘‘ John Cousin fils Raulin, trois
pieches de terre don lungne siet en la couture au _ vouest de la
Longue Roque.” Not far from this menhir was ‘‘ Le Courtil des
Varioufs,’? and also a calvary which gives its name to ‘‘ Le Courtil
dit Les Croix de Bois.” (112.)
(1) Folk Lore, p. 153.
(2) Folk Lore, p, 126, Note.
LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. Oo”
La Roque qui Sonne.—tThe remains of this dolmen are in the
playground of the Vale Parish Schools, which stands on the top of
the hill to the east of La Longue Roque, and the Vale Rectory, on
what was formerly called ‘‘La Hougue de la Roque qui Sonne.”
It is said to have been the largest dolmen in the island, and accord-
ing to tradition one of its capstones, when struck, gave out so loud
a sound that it could be heard all over the Clos du Valle. It was
nearly entirely destroyed by its owner at the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, with, according to the stcry, disastrous results. He used
scme of the stones to build his new house at Beuval, close to the dol-
men, and just when it was completed it was burnt to the ground and
two maidservants perished in the flames. It is also related that the
ship that Icaded the remainder of the stones was never heard of
again.(1) Since then no one has been daring enough to meddle with
the few remaining ‘‘ Pierres Saintes’? of ‘‘La Roque qui Sonne.’’
Its site was excavated in 1837 by Mr. F. C. Lukis, who found several
vases and a quantity cf fragments of pottery, etc. These are now
in the Lukis Museum. (113.)
Les Roques Barrees.— his estate lies to the north of the Vale
Castle. It is probable that a megalithic monument once stood
somewhere on it, as the name is suggestive of the appearance of the
capstones of a dolmen resting on their props or of some megalithic
structure similar to ‘‘ Le Gibet des Faies.”’ (114.)
La Roque au Varouf.—Livre de Perchage Clos du Valle, 1836:
‘‘La Vavassourie Marais. Le Sr. David Henry en son courtil a
Pest de la Reque au Varouf.’’ This rock was near Les Hougues
Perre, and La Hougue Jamblin. As the name ‘“‘ Varou’” is so often
associated with the neighbourhood of megalithic monuments in
Guernsey this rock may have been a menhir. If on the other hand
it was a natural rock it Fad.evidently been an object of cult. (115.)
La Roque Chardo.—It stocd on La Hougue Juasse not far from
| La Croix du Bois, on Le Bordage Becrel. |
Pierres Saintes.—In a field opposite the house of Sohier was a
natural rock shaped like a menhir which was looked upon as ‘‘ une
Pierre Sainte,’ and consequently certain to bring misfortune upon
its destroyer, so it was carefully preserved till about two years ago,
when the property was sold and the rock destroyed. For the same
reason a similarly shaped rock which stood on the top of a hill near
La Ville es Pies was left untouched, though the hill was quarried
away nearly all round it.
Le Chien Bodu.—tThe Dog of Death which haunted the neighbour-
hood of La Ville Bodu. Its name is derived from the Gaulish ‘‘Bodu,” —
which means the Abyss, and the mythological dog of Hades is our
Chien Bodu.(2) The localities haunted by the Dog of Death in
Guernsey are nearly all in the neighbourhood of dolmens, so it is
possible that one may have once existed at or near La Ville Bodu.
ST. SAMPSON’S.
La Chaise au Pretre, or La Chaire Saint Bonit; was
a natural pointed rock shaped like a menhir which stood on the top
of La Grosse Hougue, not far from the site of the old chapel of St.
Claire. At its foot was a projection of the rock exactly like a flat
seat. It was undoubtedly worshipped in prehistoric days for several
stone celts were found in the ground around it, two of them lying
close together at its base being suggestive of a votive offering. The
lands around the rock were called ‘‘ Les Terres de Dis,’’—‘‘Dis,’’ in
Celtic, meaning ‘‘ the earth.” La Chaise au Prétre” was unfortu-
(1) Folk Lore, p. 114. .
(2) Folk Lere, p. 237.
60 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
nately destroyed by quarrying about the middle of the last century,
but iwo sketches of it, by Mr. F. C. Lukis, taken from different
sides, are now in the Lukis Museum.(1) (115a.)
Semi-Doimen, La Grosse Hougue.—this is represented by
Mr. I. C. Lukis in his sketch, in the Lukis Museum, as consisting
of a fairly large capstone with one end resting on the ground and
the cther upon a single prop deeply embedded in the soii. It may
be possible that the structure was not a demi-dolmen at all, but the
remains of a ruined dolmen. Neolithic pottery was found near
this stone when the site was excavated by Mr. F. C. Lukis. It was
destroyed by quarrying about the middle of the last century. (116.)
La Pierre Pointue, also called La Pointue Roque.—aA
menhir which stood near a cottage on the top of the hill not far from
the western gate of Delancey Park. It was destroyed about sixty
years ago, but the locality is still called La Pointue Roque. A
sketch of it by Mr. F. C. Lukis is in the Lukis Museum. During
the ancient triennial procession of La Chevauchée de St. Michel,
when the Senechal of the Court of Fief St. Michel, accompanied by
all his cfficials, and the Crown Officers, viewed the King’s High
Roads; the ‘‘pions,’? or fooimen of the procession, used to dance
round La Pierre Pointue. Miss E. F. Carey in her paper on ‘“‘ La
Chevauchée de St. Michel,” suggests that the dancing of the
‘* pions ’’ round the menhir was a survival of some heathen cult which
had been Christianised by the Abbot of Mont St. Michel.(1) (127)
Menhir, Les Gigands.—This menhir stood in the centre of a field
at Les Gigands and was destroyed about the middle of the nine-
teenth century. A sketch of it by Mr. F. C. Lukis\is now inj the
Lukis Museum. (118.)
Ruined Dolmen, Delancey Park.—The remains of this
ruined dolmen were discovered in 1919 buried beneath the soil on
the north-east slope of the Park. All its capstones had disappeared
and the props, with one exception, had been thrown down in two
lines and buried beneath the ground. This had been probably done
wken the barracks were built on the top of the hill at the end of the
eighteenth century. A few fragments of hand-made pottery, some
of great thickness, flint implements and some bones, were found
when the site of the dolmen was excavated. These are now in the
Lukis Museum. It is thought that the remains of another dolmen
are buried beneath the soil to the West of the dolmen. ~— (119.)
This completes the information I have been able to
gather together on the sites of our dolmens and menhirs, but
it is possible that further search in old “‘ Lettres sous
Sceau” and also in the “Livres de Perchages” of the Fiefs
des Rohais, des Philippes, Vaugrat, and one or two others,
to which I have been unable to obtain access, might add a
few more to the number.
In conclusion I have to thank Miss E. F. Carey for all
the valuable information she has so kindly given me on
Guernsey megaliths, as well as on the Folk Lore connected
(1) See Oliver. Report on Prehistoric Remains in C.I. Folk Lore, p. 148.
(2) Transactions, Guernsey Society of Natural Science, 1915, p. 244.
NoTer.—Hist. of Guernsey. F. B. Tupper, 2nd EKd., p.d41. ‘‘ During this year (1873)
was erectcd, by the harbour Committee (of St. Sampson's), on the South-West
corner of the Crocq a massive stone 13 feet in height, formerly forming part of a
druicdal monument and welghing about eight tons. On the Southern face, in gilt
letters, is the inscription : ‘‘Hommage a De Lisle Brock, 1821, Bailiff, 1842, &c., &c.
1921.) LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 61
with them; also Major Carey Curtis for the map of Guernsey
showing the sites of dolmens, menhirs and Holy Wells.
NOTE I.
Ceremonies connected with stones during the triennial
procession of La Chevauchée de Saint Michel.
Besides the dancing of the “pions” round the menhirs
of “La Roque és Faies” and “La Roque Pointue,” and the
use of that of “Le Perron du Roi” as a mounting block, the
Chevauchée, when it reached Perelle Bay, had to march in
solemn procession round a stone which stood in a field called
“La Biloterie” on the opposite side of the road to the beach.
It was a small boulder two feet high, which has now entirely
disappeared under a mass of shingle. The procession then
went on to Les Jenemies, at Mont Saint, where at the door
of the old house was another small boulder two feet high
by two feet round, which was also used as a mounting block.
By immemorial custom this stone on the approach of the
‘“ Chevauchée’’ had to be rolled inside the building.
On their visit to the King’s Mills, after having set the
mill in motion, the miller placed himself on a large flat stone
which stood in the courtyard in front of the mill and the
procession made a tour round him. The stone “must
formerly have been a boundary stone and its sanctity may
be inferred from the fact that though it quite blocked the
way to the door, nevertheless, flat though it was, no cart
might go over it, but had to back round to discharge its
freight.’
Norte II.
LES VAROUFS.
Fields bearing the name of “Le Courtil Varouf,”
“Varou” and “Variouf,” are so often found in Guernsey
near the sites of dolmens and menhirs, or of prominent rocks,
that one is almost led to suppose there must have been some
connection between the two. We find “Les Courtils
Variouf” adjoining to the West the Foulon-Fauconnaires
croup of dolmens and menhirs. Then at St. Martin’s we
have “Les Vaurioufs” lying to the west of “La Roque
Hamelin,” “Le Vaurouf” adjoining “Le Courtil de la
Roque” between Calais and La Bouvée and another field
of the same name close to “Ia Ronde Roque” near Icart.
In the Forest we find “Le désert des Variouvez,” not far
from the menhirs of “Le Perron du Roi” and “La Roque
(1) Miss KE. F. Carey, La Chevauchée de St. Michel, Transactions, Guernsey
Society of Natural Science and Research, 1915, p. 247.
62 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
és Faies,” also the district of “Les Varioufs” between
Petit Bot and “Les Fontenelles,” in which wera
Grande’ Roque,” “La Petite- Rogue” and) Soa ema
Massey.” At St. Peter-in-the-Wood “La Jaonniere du
Mont Varouf” lay to the west of a dolmen near “La
Neuve Maison Longfrie” and “Les Champs Varout—
between the dolmens of Le Creux és Paies “"ameueree
Déhuset at L’Erée. Then we find at St. Saviours tigme
menhir, “La Longue Roque,” once stood on the estate of
Le Mont Varouf, and lastly at the Vale we have “La Roque
Varouf” near Les Hougues Perre, and “Le Courtil Varouf”
on the hill at the back of the Rectory near a menhir called
“La Longue Roque” and to the west of the dolmen of “La
Roque qui Sonne.”
ANCCOnG ING terol Eder MacCulloch, “Le Varou” was
derived from ‘the Breton “ Varw”—the dead ”._sionifying
the dead “‘ Heroes ’’ or ‘‘ beautiful Warriors." They were
allied to the “‘ Loup-Garous’’ of the French, the English
‘“Werewolves’’ who in Normandy were called “les
Varous’’ as they were in Guernsey. The only old Guernsey
legend connected with them that has come down to us is that
of “‘Le Char des Varous’’ which issued from ~ Le Cream
des Varous” at Hommet, “and was to be heard rolling over
the cliffs and rocks, on silver tyred wheels, between Hom-
met and the ‘Chateau d’Alkbecq’ before the death of any
of the great ones of the earth.’’ This supernatural warning
was sure to be followed by storms ard tempests.’’"™ Two
Guernsey dictons :—
‘“Il mange comme un Varou,’’® and
‘* Bere et mangier coumme un Varou,’’®)
would Bes: that ““ Les Varous ’’ were reputed to be great
eaters and drinkers. Further, in Normandy ‘“* Varouage ’’*@
signifies frequenting place of ill- -repute, and also in Guernsey
in the seventeenth century ‘“‘ Varouverie’’ or ‘“* Vouarou-
verie,’’®) was used when speaking of persons who met
together £ for purposes of debauchery | or other illicit practices.
By an Act of the Consistory of St. Martin’s parish, Ist
January, 1630/1, certain persons were ex-communicated for
having been heard to say as they returned from Town on the
evening of the preceding Sunday—‘‘qu’il faisait beau temps
pour aller en vouarouverie.’’)
(1) Folk Lore, p. 131.
(2) Folk Lore, p. 156. (3) Métivier, Dict. Franeco-Norm , p. 189.
(4) Ibid, p. 485. (5) Folk Lore, p. 139.
Cf. Richelets Dict; dela Langue Francoise Ancienne et Moderne, Amsterdam
1712—: Garou’ f.m. courir le garou, se dit par railierie d’un jeune homme qu’on
accuse d’avoir été en quelque lieu de débauche.
(6) Metivier Dict: F. N. p. 435. Folk Lore, p. 120. Actes du Consistoire de St-
Martin. Copy by Rev. G. E. Lee, Library, Royal Court.
/
LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 63
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| These traditions of the Guernsey Varous suggest: That
they were Werewolves—men who had the power of changing
themselves into animal forms, 7z.e., who disguised themselves
in the skins of animals; (2) that they were associated with
_ the dead or death, z.e., they were the representatives of the
god at the festival of the Dead; (3) that they indulged in
gluttonous feastings and bacchanal orgies of drunkenness
and debauchery. Further, the frequent association of ‘* Le
Courtil Varouf’’ near megalithic monuments in Guernsey
suggests that these orgies were celebrated near them.
According to Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, in
Prussia, Livonia and Lithuania, it was on Christmas Eve
that men changed into wolves committed their greatest
ravages among the shepherds and their flocks. They also
entered into houses and cellars and emptied casks of beer
and amused themselves by stacking the empty casks in the
middle of the cellar. The Archbishop adds that great
barons did not disdain joining themselves to the evil con-
Seeenmity, being initiated into it by one of the older
members. “)
‘This extract suggests that in the North of Europe, at
least, the Werewolves were a band of persons who dis-
guised themselves in the skins of beasts at certain seasons of
the year, particularly on Christmas Eve, which corresponded
with the date of the pagan festival of the winter solstice—
the death of the old year and the birth of the new.
If we turn to the “Homily ” of St. Cesarius of Arles,
A.D. 542, quoted by Mr. G. Métivier in his ‘‘Christianity in
Gaul’s Franco-Norman Isles,’ we find him rebuking his
flock for very similar practices :—
‘These miserable fellows,’’ he says, ‘‘ nay what is in-
tolerable, men born again in the waters of Holy Baptism
put on such monstrous shapes that it were hard to say
Whether they were more worthy of laughter or of tears.
They disguise themselves so skilfully, some with the head,
some with the skins of some beast or other, that, by their
showing, they are more beasts within than without.’’
An article in the Penitentiary of Angers condemned the
Same practices, which were universal in Gaul, and “‘ playing
the heifer and the stag’’ was also forbidden by the Synod
of Auxerre in 581.
In England we also find the mummers, who accompanied
the Lord of Misrule in his revels, represented in medieval
(1) Metivier, Dict. F, N., g. 185. Les Mceurs des Peuples du Nord, par Olaus
Magnus. VI., p. 46.
(2) MSS. Lukis Museum, Homilies, p. 237,
64 LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC.
drawings as disguised with masks representing stag’s horns,
goats, bulls and other animals. Also it was on All Soul’s
Eve the Lord of Misrule began his reign, which lasted until
Candlemas. ‘‘ Accompanied by many retainers, who all had
bells tied to their costumes, together with the hobby-horse
and some dragons, this boisterous party would enter the
church regardless of interrupting the preacher. After this
they felt free to erect their booths and banqueting houses in
the churchyard.’’
In Sark, as late as the beginning of the nineteenth
century, it was still the practice on the “veilles,” or eves,
cf certain festivals, particularly on Christmas Eve, for the
young folk to disguise themselves with the skulls and skins
of beasts and to parade the island in procession, and each
household kept a stock of horse skulls in hand for the
occasion. @)
The same customs existed formerly in Jersey and were
forbidden by a resolution of the States, 16th October,
1600. In Guernsey about the same period if not earlier,
‘““les masques et jeux illictes ’’ were also forbidden, but in
spite of prohibition some lingered on, such as the burning of
‘““Le Bout de l’an,’’ the efhgy of the dying year, which, as
late as the beginning of the last century was burnt each New
Year’s Eve on the beach, or in some unfrequented spot.
May not these survivals of old pagan rites suggest to us
a possible explanation of the Guernsey ‘‘ Varous’’? Is it not
possible that they were men dressed in the skins of beasts
who, as their name in Breton suggests, represented the dead
at the winter festivals of the death of the year, festivals cele-
brated with gluttonous feastings and obscene bacchanal
orgies; and may be even with human sacrifices, of which the
efigy of ‘‘Le Bout de l’an’’ burnt each New Year’s Eve
was the substitute. Festivals which, may be, took place near
our dolmens and menhirs, and the memory of them have been
perpetuated in the many Courtils, Clos and Champs des
Varous which we find in the neighbourhood of our Guernsey
megaliths.
(1) Vicountess Wolseley. The Countrymen’s Log Book, p. 277, 311.
(2) Kolk Lore, p. 509.
Cf. Metivier's Christianity in Gaul’s Franco-Normand Isles.
(3) Actes des Etats, 13e Publication. Société Jersiaise, p. 24.
(4) Le Marchant, Animadversions. Vol. I, p. 124.
(5) Folk Lore, pp. 36-37,
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1882—Collings, Col. A. H. ..
1890—Collings, Miss M. B. ..
1912—Collings, Miss Amy ..
fe20-—Collings, Mr. J. B....
1882—Cole, Miss R. ,
1906—Corbin, Dr. E. K.,
1922—Coulthard, Rev. R.
Nii © .S.
eae. A..
1922—De Coudenhove, Baron
1922—De Garis, Miss
1893—DE GUERIN, Lrevr. ue T. Ww.
M., Jurat of the Royal Court ..
1922—De Guérin, Mrs. T. W. M.
1917—De Gruchy, Mr. G. F. B...
1906—De Jersey, Colonel Grant, C.B.E. ..
1882—DE LA MARE, Mr. C. G. :
1894—De Saumarez, Right Hon. Lord
1920—DE
Bailiff of Guernsey ....
1921—De Sausmarez, Mr. A. F-. St. v.
1921—De SP aetnater, eae
1913—Dorey, Miss Claire
1893—Durand, Colonel C. J.
1913—Durand, Miss E. M. ..
1906—Falla, Mr. A.
1921—Falla, Miss Marjorie ..
1922—Falkener, Dr. L.
1922—Falkener, Mrs.. L. <<
1904—Fleure, Dr. Herbert J., D. ie me
_ 1896—Foster, Miss F. A.
megzi—Frere, Mrs... .. .. ..
_1922—Gibson, Mrs. ee ee
LIST OF MEMBERS.
67
..» Summerland, Mount Durand.
: Somerset Place, Queen’s Road.
. Seaholm, Dunbar, Scotland.
. Maison Blanche, Queen’s Road.
. Beechwood, Queen’s Road.
.. Les Gravées.
.. New Street.
. Les Merriennes, Forest.
. Colborne Terrace, Queen’s Road.
. Le Vallon, St. Martin’s.
. Cordier Hill.
.. Mount Durand.
.. Strathmore House, Grange.
.. Aston Clinton Rectory, Tring.
. Les Collines, Cobo.
. 24, Saumarez Street.
. 24, Saumarez Street.
.. Bonamy House, Grange.
.. of, Canichers.
. La Porte, Elm Grove.
St. Martin’s Rectory.
Masor “S. “OAREY,
.. La Cotte, Fort Road.
. La Fallaize, St. Martin’s.
Carrefour House, Fort Road.
Le Mont Durand, Mount Row.
. Le Mont Durand, Mount Row.
. Noirmont Manor, Jersey.
Cambridge Park.
. Crottes.
. 43, Grosvenor Place, London,S.W.
SPAUSMAREZ, -Sir H., Kt.,
.. Sausmarez Manor, St. Martin’s.
. Springfield, Queen’s Road.
. Springfield, Queen’s Road.
.. Rockmount, Delancey.
.. The Villa, Grange.
. The Villa, Grange.
.. La Hauteur, Vale.
.. Les Hubits, St. Martin’s.
.. La Marette, Icart.
.. La Marette, Icart.
. University College, Aberystwyth.
.. Granville House.
.. Mount Row.
,, Paradis, Grange,
68
1922—Gordon, Mr. Frank ..
1922—Gordon, Mrs. Frank ..
1922—Gordon, Mr. C. W.
1917—Gliddon, Mr. H. A.
1921—Goulding, Miss Tee we ee
1905—Guilbert, Mr. T. J., States Surveyor
1912—Guille, Rev. H. G. de C. Stevens.
1882—Guille, Miss 8. Se hee
Lol Hardman’, Dry; .. ik hess oe
1921—-Hardman, Mrs
1921—Hardman, Miss
1906—Henry, Mr. 8. M.
1917—Hichens, Mrs. Biot eva ntenes | deems
1911—Hocart, Mr. A. J., Jurat of the
Royal Court ..
1920-—Jones, Capt. B. Se ead ec
1920—Jones,’ Mri We A | as ca ese es
1914—Kinnersly, Dr. G. E., Jurat of the
Royal Court ..
1922—-Kinnersly, Mrs. ..
1920—Kinnersly, Mr. W.
1922—Kitts, Mrs. .. ss
1921—Lainé, Miss... .. ..
1922—Lawson, Colonel Eric
1922—Lawson, Mrs. ee nie
oo eale, Mars Gy 6s eee ws
1882 —Le Cocq, Mr. Saumarez
. Canterbury Villa, Rohais.
LIST OF MEMBERS.
Moulin Huet House, St. Martin’s.
do. do.
do. do.
Casa Melita, Collings Road.
Colborne Villa, Rohais.
. Cressington, Gravées.
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
9
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
’
. Friend’s House, Hauteville.
. Commercial Bank.
. Blanc Bois, Castel.
. Chez Nous, Esplanade.
Farnborough, Les Hubits.
. Calais, St. Martin’s.
. Choisi, Grange.
.. Choisi Terrace.
. George Road.
.. Ladies’ College.
.. The Hut, Saints Bay.
. The Hut, Saints Bay.
.- Newington Place, St. Sampson’s.
. Clifton Lodge.
1920—LE CORNU, Miss EMILY . Clifton:
1912—Le Messurier, Mr. H.C. .. . Beauséant, St. Martin’s Road.
1923—Le Tissier, Mr. N. . Vauvert.
1916—Lempriére, Mr. R. BR...
1917—Littlewood, Mr. A., B.A...
1911—Luff, Mr. E. A. ..
1922—Makings, Mr. J. J.
1922—Makings, Mrs. J.J. ..
1921—Maitland, Mrs. Grey .. Bs
1896—Marquand, Mr. H. E. ae Mee
1914—Marett, Prof. R. R.
1922—-Marshall, Mr. A.
1921—McCrea, Miss F. ..
1922—McCrea, Mrs. Rawdon
1900—MELLISH, Miss A. L., M.A.
1905—Naftel, Mr. A. M.
1907--Nicolle, Mr. E. T.
sey) AS UN? Son yea Mente
1916-—-OZANNE, Srr E. C.,K.B.E. ..
1921—Ozaine, Rev. J. A. F.
1916—--Palmer, Mrs. C. .. :
1922—Parkes, Mr. James ..0 os «oe ve
(Vicomte of Jer-
.. Rozel Manor, Jersey.
. Elizabeth College.
. Siantar, Brock Road.
.. La Fontaine, Clifton.
. La Fontaine, Clifton.
.. Hauteville Cottage, l’Ancresse.
.. Star Office, Bordage Street.
.. Exeter College, Oxford.
. Collings Road.
.. De Beauvoir Terrace.
.. King’s Road.
. Ladies’ College.
. 13, George Road.
.. 3, Norfolk Terrace, Jersey.
.« Lhe Platon:
St. Pierre-du-Bois Rectory.
40, Hauteville.
Les Fauconnaires Bungalow,
LIST OF MEMBERS. 69
1922 Parsons, Miss >t .. Porte de l’Est, King’s Road.
1889 —PENNEY, Rev. W. 0. Bs M. a .. Elizabeth College.
1921—Poat, Mr. W.E... .. .. .. .. Richmond, St. Sampson’s
1922—Pritchard, Mrs... .. .. .. ... Manhattan Lodge, Bailiff’s Cross.
1906—Randell, Miss Clara .. .. .. + .. Grove End, Doyle Road.
1696—Robilliard, Mr. P. E...--...-..--.+- La Piette.
1921—Robin, Mr. Thomas .. .. .. .. Les Camps, St. Martin’s
1914—ROI.LESTON, Mr. W., M.A. .. Bon Air, St. Jacques.
nic howley, Major J. ....... .. «. 2, Clifton.
1904--ROWSWELL, Mr. B.T. .. .. Les Blanches, St. Martin’s
1921—Savage, Mrs. J. H.
w70j-pinel, Mr. Joseph .. .. .. .. 12, Royal Crescent, Jersey.
1922—Smith, Miss oa, esi) isles | Melba Wille. Couture.
foo spencer, Mr. R.P. .. .. .. .. Brock Road.
1903—TANNER, Mr. #.L.,L.D8.,R.C.8.,
Ree? ae cM st ce! Mauvert House.
1921—Tahourdin, Mr. R.H.. .. .. .. Woodcote, St. Andrew’s.
1922—Tomlin, Mr. J. R.le B. .. .. .., Fairfield, 23, Boscobel Road, St
Leonards-on-Sea.
1893-—lourtel, Kev.-R. H., M.A., B.D.,
F.S.A. (Normandy) .. .. .. Torteval Rectory.
1913—TOURTEL, Miss M... .. .. .. Strathmore House, Grange.
1922—Tupper, Miss Bingham .. .. .. Verdala, Les Gravées.
1916—Vaudin, Mr. W... .. .. .. .. Zeeland, Vale Road.
mee seers ;CClonel .. ,.. .. .. .. Montville, Vardes.
1922—Vigers, Mrs. eee Ula PN ors yy hale 1 WOM WTLEC, |v eLOce.
1922—Walter, Mrs. .. . . Uplands, Upland Road.
1922—Walters, Colonel H. a i. 0. M. G.,
ee.) ds Sd A | mde!
1922—Walters, Mrs. H. de i fe wit airaps Dey Daas) 2
1921—Warren, Mr. J. P., B.Sc., London.. Les Gouies, St. Andrew’s.
1903 —Wild, Dr. H.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Gravées.
1921—Williams, General O.deL .. .. Grange.
fn Memoriam.
ADOLPHUS COLLENETTE,
Born 20TH JuLy, 1841; DiED 7TH May, 1922.
In the person of Adolphus Collenette who died on May
7th, 1922, in his 81st year, the Société Guernesiaise has
lost one of its few remaining organizers and a particularly
active worker. In its sketch of the life of the deceased the
Star of May 8th said that his death had ‘“‘ filled the whole
island with grief,’’ to which might have been added with
peculiar genuineness, ‘‘and thrown the Société Guerne-
siaise into mourning. ” Tt is not saying too much of our
friend, for it is certain that the Society has never claimed in
its ranks a member more energetic or more keenly interested
in all the branches of research undertaken during the 4o
years of its existence as the ‘‘ Guernsey Society of Natural
Science and Local Research.’’ I do no think it is an exag-
geration to say that for many years Mr. Collenette was the
life of the Society, for although a geologist first and fore-
most and a meteorologist next, he was an ali-reund scien-
tist of no mean order—a, savant Guernsey was proud to
claim as a true born son of the soil.
He was a brilliant conversationalist and popular lecturer
and was gifted with a wonderful memory, as those privi-
leged to listen to his last few papers on local weather will
remember. Handicapped very seriously by failing sight he
had to rely on his memory for the facts and figures, and
the ease and confidence with which he would tell the story
of the year’s sunshine and rainfall was so truly marvellous
as to win the unstinted admiration of his hearers.
Deceased was a widower. On the ist October, 1868,
at the Congregational Church, Camden-road, Islington,
London, he was married to Marie Louise, eldest daughter
of Mr. William Ozanne, of Upper Holloway, London. — Their
married life throughout was a happy union of hearts
extending to close on 51 years when, very suddenly, the
separation came. On July 18th, 1919, Mrs. Collenenees
apparently in her ordinary health, passed away, leaving a
grown up family of one son and four daughters to mourn a
i,
‘192
2 | IN MEMORIAM. _ 71
well-beloved mother. To the husband it was an irreparable
bereavement. |
Adolphus Collenette was born on july 2oth, 1841, the
eldest son of Benjamin Collenette, M.D., and Martha du
Frocg. He was educated at Elizabeth College, which he
left in 1857. Hus bent in early life seems to have been to
follow his father’s profession of doctor, for after leaving
school he studied medicine privately for a time, but indit-
ferent health compelled him to give this up and he adopted
the profession and business of a chemist; he also opened
and supervised a factory in the Rue des Freres for the
manufacture of sterilized mineral waters which soon deve-
loped into an important business of its own.
The chemical establishment and laboratory was situated
in the Commercial Arcade where also was exhibited, until
removed to a window at the Guille-Allés Library at the New
Year, 1903, the daily information about local weather for
which he became so famous. ‘Ihe morning sheet wita its
forecast of the day’s probable weather became quite an
institution—something to be read and digested as regularly
as the daily newspaper.
In 1902 Mr. Collenette retired from business as a chemist
but retained for years the mineral waters manufactory. His
was a nature that loathed inactivity——activity was as vital
to him as the breath of life. With his greater leisure he was
now able to give more time to the investigation of the cli-
mate of Guernsey as revealed in tne long series of observa-
tions in his possession, including statistics relating to the
distribution of rainfall over the island. In this latter study
he was ably assisted by a number of voluntary observers
whom his enthusiasm for the work had induced to offer their
services in the measurement of rainfall in different districts.
Some interesting and important facts were brought to light
by this co-operation which led to the publication in the
Society’s Transactions for 1917 of a map of the local dis-
tribution of rainfall.
Elected a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1883, Adol-
phus Collenette was ‘‘a recognized local authority on cul-
tural chemistry in its relation to hot-house culture, and
the author of Tomato Disease in (Guernsey, a paper
of original reasearch which led directly to the full
elucidation of the life history of the tomato fungus, known
as the ‘sleeping disease.’’’ As chef-de-famille of the
parish of St. Peter-Port,, he was elected a Douzenier of
Canton No. 4 in 1898, and served on the States Committees
for Sanitation, the Intermediate T'eachers’ Provident Fund,
the Lukis Museum, and the Advertising Committee. In 1905
he was appointed States Inspector of Explosives, and in
1914 Inspector of Mineral Oils.
72 IN. MEMORIAM.
Of Mr. Collenette’s important work as a member of the
Guernsey Society of Natural Science and Local Research
(since January, 1922, the Société Guernesiaise) the pages
of the Lransactions are the best proof. They bear testi-
mony to his zeal in the cause of science generally and of
geology perhaps in particular. In the opening remarks of
a paper he read before the Society in its early days he
struck the keynote of all his work when he said:
Peay country,’ said an American to me three
weeks ago, ‘1s the finest country in the world, and
it can produce every known thing.’ In something of
the same spirit we consider our island the finest in
the world, and would prove that all things necessary
to health and happiness are to be found here.’’
Yes, Adolphus Collenette loved Guernsey and loved to
demonstrate that it was a good place to live in. Many of
us do not doubt this, for it is a popular belief, but Mr. Col-
lenette, fenced about with scientific apparatus, could prove
it. With thermometers to right and left of him, under-
ground, on the ground and above ground, with instruments
for registering the sunshine, atmospheric pressure, the wind
mileage, the rainfall and goodness only knows what else be-
sides, not to speak of the many volumes of local records in
his possession—volumes of priceless value because irre-
placeable—he could speak with authority. Thus armed
who would dare to say him nay when he declared that
_ Guernsey was a good place to live in; better even than Jer-
sey where the temperature is lower 1 in winter and higher in
summer and weather phenomena in general more accen-
tuated than in this favoured island of ours.
Mr. Collenette occupied the Presidential Chair of our
Society in 1895 and 1896 and during his term of office read
two Presidential Addresses which were published in the 77an- ©
sacttons. For some years, too, he was the Honorary Secre-
tary of the Geological Section of the Society, in which work
he was ably seconded by Mr. C. G. de la Mare, a one-time
Treasurer, who has been associated with the Society from
its inception and is still, ] am happy to say, of our number,
and a valued member of the Council.
Some of the papers read before the Society by Mr. Col-
lenette were published in the Yvansactzons where will be
found the following : —
‘‘On the Occurrence of Calcite (Carbonate of wi in
Guernsey 2? Lie itd. La TR, ch bee hee ek ae 1883
“ Evolutiom of the Bee «23. 5..sekcpalecs tes des ade be tlle oe ee 1890
‘‘ Raised Beaches, Cliff and Rubble Heads of Guernsey’’... 1891 & 1892
‘‘Droughts in ‘Guernsey during the Fifty-year Period,
MBAS TOO 2) ok pta hs vce dawo ds teeeteaa ceo anti e ee ieee een tte aa 1893
‘‘ Note on the Temperature of September, 1895 ”’ .................05 1895
‘¢ Note on Luvarus Imperialis’’ (an excessively rare deep-sea
Peaees,| IN MEMORIAM. 73
aenienucht off St: Martin’s Point) ............:cccecscececscsceeneees ~ 1903
| “Note on a Deposit of Glacial Clay and its Contents”? ......... 1912
» “* Notes on Peat Deposits in Guernsey ”’ ........... Nite ee CE TEL tin Sf 1915
‘“ Geological Puzzle presented by the Moulin Huet and Ilcart
EL a oe ee eae ae ee re ere ee ae a 1916
Ee@he Picistocene Period in Guernsey 7? .........cceccsceeseesesesetsenes 1916
‘‘ Notes on the Geological results of the Summer I[xcur-
oo 4 ag 1c ath in ade ls Me ein En 8 TOLL TON, toi, role.
‘Sunshine and Rainfall of Guernsey ”’ ............6.... Annual Reports.
In the Plezstocene Period in Guernsey, a learned and
exhaustive paper with numerous illustrations and diagrams,
the letterpress of which occupies some 70 pages of the 1910
Transactions, we have enshrined Adolphus Collenette’s life
work asa geologist. In his own words it is “‘ an attempt
to place the superficial deposits of the island in orderly
sequence, and to correlate them with their equivalents in
the other islands and on the coast of the English Channel.’’
I'he monograph is a witness to his indefatigable zeal and
reveals much spade work and systematic research.
Of Mr. Collenette’s long association with the Guiulle-
Alles Library very much might be written did space
Memmit. tie was the last member left of the original
Council and Board of Management the officials com-
posing which had been chosen by the late Mr. Thomas
-Guille shortly before his death in December, 1896. Mr. Col-
lenette’s position, as defined by Mr. Guille, gave him a seat
on the Board of Management from the outset, for not only
was he named one of the Subscribers’ Representatives, but
the one to represent them on the Board. In October, 1898,
this seat (according to rule, held for two years only, unless
re-election is secured) became permanent by his election by
the Council to the important post of Honorary Curator of
the Museum in succession to Mr. John Whitehead, the first
Curator, who had died in June, 1897.
How admirably Adolphus Collenette cared for the De-
partment under his charge is well known. The Museum itself
is a living witness to his unfailing devotion, and to his pains-
taking labours to make of it an educative force. To further
this end, and at his own suggestion, the Council of our
Society agreed to the publication yearly in the pages of the
Transactions of Museum Notes. The first series of these
brief scientific notes appeared in last year’s Transactions.
Nor must his réle as a Guille-Allés Lecturer be forgotten.
Between the years 1890 and 1913 he occupied the platform
in the comfortable and well-found Lecture Hall of the
Library on no fewer than 36 occasions, his favourite sub-
__ jects of discourse being Astronomy, Geology, Meteorology,
_ ‘with, whenever possible, local applications.
Ever ready at the invitation of the then Managing Direc-
_. tor of the Library, the late Mr. John Linwood Pitts, to take
74 IN MEMORIAM.
up and lecture on some new discovery in science or on some
subject attracting public attention and of general interest,
we find him in 1890 speaking first on the Rongten X Rays
and afterwards on Living Photographs as the ‘Pictures ”
of to-day were first named, in 1899 on Wireless Telegraphy,
in 1908 on the so-called ‘‘Canals’’ of Mars, and in 1910 on
Halley’s Comet, the return of which in that year after an
absence of three-quarters of a century (75 years) was
exciting world-wide interest and not a little fear in the
minds of some people because of injudiciously penned news-
paper statements. Illustrating his remarks experimentally
and by lantern slides he was always listened to on these
occasions with a keen interest by big audiences.
In the Spring of 1892, Mr. Collenette delivered a series
of three lectures on Guernsey Rocks and What They Teach:
Part 1—Our Past Connections with the Continent; Part 2—=
The Coast of France and How we Left 1t; Part 3—Our
Raised Beaches, or Guernsey above and below Water. Given
in February and March, these lectures were afterwards pub-
lished in full in the Suz newspaper where they may be re-
ferred to at the Guille-Alles Library by anyone interested
in, or studying, the subject. These lectures were followed
by another in November, 1893, Submerged Guernsey, which
was also published in the Sux, and may be seen at the
Library.
But it was as ‘‘ weather prophet ’’ that Adolphus Col-
lenette bulked so largely in the public eye. In his own esti-
mation, and quite rightly too, as I think, the issue of a fore-
cast of the day’s probable weather was of small import
compared with the climatic record being steadily built up
from the growing years of observation. The public, how-
ever, looked to him every morning to say what the day’s
weather would be, and he did his best (a very good best,
as one who knows something of the difficulties by which the
‘“weather prophet’’ is confronted, can bear testimony) to
satisfy the demand.
In this respect I can well remember the time, now long
past, when Mr. Collenette was looked upon as a sort of
weather wizard by a section of the community—the more
orlessignorant. ‘T’o them he was a man gifted with super-
‘natural powers, at any rate as regarded the weather. He
could look into the future, so these people believed, and see,
while still a long way off and well beyond everybody else’s
sight, if rain, or a gale, or a drought, or anything else in
the way of weather was making for ‘Guernsey, and his name
was mentioned with a certain feeling of awe.
But we have happily outlived those old days. With the
flight of years the superstition died out and in its place,
as is the heritage of most public men of note, some ‘‘ good
eee
1922.) IN MEMORIAM. 75
stories,’’ in Mr. Collenette’s case about the weather, grew up
round his name, one of the best that I can remember being
to the effect that as long as the Almighty kept the control
of the weather in His own hands we had something like a
decent climate, but since entrusting it to Mr. Coillenette,
well—what could you expect!
Adoipnus Collenette’s local work in meteorology can-
not be over-estimated. Through his exertions and colla-
borating with the late Dr. Samuel Elliott Hoskins, M.D.,
F.R.S., who on January Ist, 1843, founded the first
Meteorological Station on the island (in New Street, St.
Peter-Port), Guernsey possesses an invaluable and un-
broken series of observations covering 80 years. ‘This
record of the meteorological elements of climate in the
island was carried on single-handed by Dr. Hoskins up to
the close of the year 1879. In 1880 Mr. Collenette asso-
ciated himself with Dr. Hoskins™, and presumably on April
Ist, 1881, took over the full charge of the Station which
was, apparently at this date, moved to Le Hechet, Ruettes
Brayes.
For the next 22 years (1881-1902) Mr. Collenette car-
ried on the Station at his own expense when, 1t becoming
known that for private reasons he cculd no longer continue
to do so, the States of Guernsey, in tardy acknowledgment
of the importance of the work, made a grant-in-aid of £50,
and the continuance of the records was thus fortunately
secured. ‘his grant was voted on December 17th, 1902,
was renewed yearly afterwards. and increased to 4100 in
February, 1920.
In 1917, Mr. Collenette, feeling the time had come for
making the necessary arrangements to secure the continuance
of the work when he should be no longer able to carry it on,
approached the States with an offer to pass the effects of the
Station and records over to that body by sale. This the
Mewes. on October 31, 1917, wisely decided to do, for the
sum of £150, and the transfer was effected as from January
Ist, 1918. This was followed on June 20, 1921, by the trans-
port of the Station after a permanency of close on 19 years
at the St. Martin’s road, to the garden of Lukis House,
Grange Road, St. Peter-Port,@ where a building had been
converted into an observatory with rooms for the housing of
the records and work of the Station. To this end the States
on February 11, 1921, had voted the sum of 4716 to effect
the necessary alterations and additions to the original build-
ing in order to adapt it to its new use. At this time, too, an
(1) Dr. Hoskins died in the autumn of 1888, aged 89 years.
(2) Mr. Collenette commenced observing at Le Hechet, top of Les Ruettes
Brayes, in, apparently, April, 1881. In December, 1892, he removed to Hauteville
and from there to the Fort Road on October 1st, "1902, finally moving the Station
_ to Lukis House in June, 1921, as stated above.
76 IN MEMORIAM.
important new instrument was added to ‘the Station—a
Dines’ anemo-biograph, a self-registering and up-to-date
anemometer for recording wind direction as well as mileage.
Adolphus Collenette lived just long enough to see the
new Station in working order, and to feel that his under-
study, Mr. H. V. W. Miles, the present Director, had quali-
hed to succeed him and continue without a break, which
would have been disastrous to the long climatological record,
the work he had had so much at heart. Had Mr. Collenette
lived a little longer, I know it was his intention to arrange
for an official opening of the Station with a public inspection
of the premises and equipment. That, however, was not to
be, but he passed away happy in the knowledge of the full
accomplishment of his life’s purpose—the establishment of
a State-supported Meteorological observatory.
A tower of strength to every cause he associated himself
with and thorough if anything in all he undertook, the pass-
ing of Adolphus Collenette 1s a great public loss. He has
crossed into that unexplored country from which no traveller
returns, but he lives in our memories and will continue so to
live. In the presence of sorrowing relatives and friends the
mortal remains were interred at Le Foulon on June roth—
the mortal remains only, for in sure and certain hope we
believe that the yielding up of this life is the kindling of that
larger, fuller life to which Adolphus Collenette has been
admitted.
Appreciations of the life and work of Adolphus Colle-
nette were published in the Guernsey Szav and the Guernsey
Evening Press of May 8, 1922, the Museums Journal of
June, Nature of June 17, and in the Meteorological Maga-
zine of July.
BASIL T. ROWSWELL.
““Les Blanches,’’ Guernsey.
December, 1922.
1922.
Extracts from the Minutes for 1922.
Jan. 26.—EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.
| it was proposed that Rule 1 of the Society’s
Peles pe, amended. to read “ That. this: Society
shall be called La SociETE GUERNESIAISE.”’
Carried unanimously.
ORDINARY MEETING.
Mrs. A. T. St. V. de Sausmarez, Miss Marjorie
Pew Mr. Victor Gi Carey, Mr. R. H: Tahourdin
and Mr. Thomas Robin were elected members.
Pee Oollencite, F.C.S..-read hist) Annual
mepert on the Sunshine and Rainfall for, 1921.
It will be found in the Transactions for that year.
_ March 2.—SOIREE AT LADIES’ COLLEGE.
March 16.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Mrs. Rawdon McCrea, Miss Smith, Mr. James
Parkes, Col. & Mrs. Vigers were elected Members.
Mierke, NF) Ozanne, read-a paper on
Guernsey Folklore.
April 20.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Mrs. B. Lawson, Miss Bingham Tupper, Miss
M. Parsons and Mrs. Barrow were elected Members.
Mr. J. Parkes read a paper on Lord de Sau-
marez’s Diplomatic Work in the Baltic in 1808-1812.
It will be found in these Transactions.
May 20.—EXCURSION TO ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH
Mrs. Kinnersly, Baron de Coudenhove, Mr.
Bord, Mr. & Mrs. J. J. Makings, Mrs. Kitts, Rev.
R. Coulthard and Col. Eric Lawson were elected
} Members.
mune 22—RAMBLE THROUGH THE TOWN.
| Mr. E. E. Carey and Mrs. Pritchard were
elected Members.
78 MEETINGS.
July 20.—EXCURSION TO JETHOU.
Miss Nellie Hawtrey, Miss Vera Carey, Mrs.
Gibson, Mr. Andrew Marshall and Mrs. Conrad
Carey were elected Members.
August 26.—EXCURSION TO LIHOU.
Mrs. Walters, Mrs. James Carey and Miss de
Garis were elected Members. :
Sept. 21.—EXCURSION TO DEHUS AND #0Ra
BO Oyauis,
Countess Lothair Bliicher, Mrs’) 17> Wai
Guérin, Col: and -Mrs. (Walters and’ Dr, Gai
Falkener were elected Members.
Oct. 12.— VISIT TO ELIZABETH COREE
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gordon and‘ Mr. Cy Ww:
Gordon were elected Members.
Nov. 16.—ORDINARY MEETING.
Rev. Bourde de la Rogerie read a paneer
Gaulish coins in the Channel Islands, and Major
>. C. Curtis one on the Currency of (G@tjetme caste
Historical Times. Both papers are printed in these
Transactions.
Dec. 14.—ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.
Mr. J. R. le B. Tomlin and Mrs. N. Le Tissier
were elected Members.
The Council Report was read by the Secretary :
the Archeological Report by Major S. C. Curtis :
Botanical notes by Mrs. R. McCrea and Mrs. Hit-
chens : Folk Lore Report by Miss Edith Pe Carey:
Geological Notes communicated by the Secretary :
Ornithological Report by the - Secretary\/for) Mr
B. T. Rowswell: the Treasurer’s Report by the
Secretary for Mr.G. F. Alles. There were no reports
in the Dialect, Entomological or Marine Zoology
Sections.
The outgoing President nominated Sir Havil-
land de Sausmarez as her successor.
All the retiring officers were reelected. Miss
Emily Le Cornu was elected to the vacancy on the
Council.
The Auditors were re-elected,
REPORTS. 19
Report of the Council for the year 1922.
The Council feels it can congratulate itself on a success-
ful year. Not a single meeting during the twelvemonth was
interfered with by rain or any untoward circumstance, and
the membership of the Society has increased by about 40
above the highest number hitherto recorded.
The Winter Meetings were held regularly; that of
February took the form of a Soirée at the Ladies’ College.
This was a revival of the Soirées which used to be so success-
ful before the War, but which had been suspended for many
years. The nett result to the funds of the Society was about
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1922.] REPOR'S. | 89
the old god of the woodlands and the forest, and of
the goddess of night and the underworld, has survived even
down to our own times as witchcraft among the uneducated,
as Satanism among the adepts. In spite “of the facts that
Pan’s horns and hoofs were transferred by the Christian
missionaries to Satan himself, and that Diana’s symbol of
the crescent moon was removed by the self-same teachers
from the brow of the goddess to the foot of the Madonna,
yet, through centuries of excommunication by the Church and
of persecution by the Law, of primitive creeds it may be said
—as of the Irish Irregular Army—‘‘ though they surrender
they never die.’’ Thus | think that the prevalence of our stone
monuments explains the great amount of witchcraft in our
Island in the 16th and 17th centuries, when, during the 76
years which elapsed between 1563 ‘and 1630, our Greffe
Records show that, in our relatively small population, no
less than 21 men and 70 women were elther banished or burnt
for sorcery and witchcraft.
Im connection’ with our menhirs, the Rev. J. A. F.
Ozanne reports to me that, up to the other day, when, as you
know, the ceremony was ‘abolished, the parishioners onee!
Pierre- du-Bois and St. Saviour’s burned their ‘ ‘Guy Fawkes’’
at the foot of the menhir at Les Paysans. There they danced
round the flames of the funeral pyre as their ancestors will
have done when that Egyptian King whose tomb has just
been discovered, was still on the throne. For the ‘‘Guy
Fawkes’’ festival over here was merely a survival of the old
Druid festival of burning the Yule Log, or ‘‘Bout de |’An’’
—and this explains the local name ‘‘Boudloue’’ for our
guy, which has puzzled so many people.
In Blackwood’s Magazine for September, 1922, I found
the following, in an article: by Edmund Vale, called ‘‘A
Welsh Ride.” He is talking of certain stone circles he passed
on his route and says: ‘‘I remember a farmer in Guernsey,
on whose land stood a huge dolmen, telling me that one
morning early, when he went to the field, he saw a tall
stranger with a great beard sitting on one of the capstones
of the dolmen. He rose on seeing the farmer and beckoned
him, when the farmer came near he poured out a strange
liquid into a tiny vessel and set it on the capstone. Neither
spoke. Presently the stranger lifted the cup and drank of
it, offering the remainder to the farmer. The latter, fasci-
nated, if not awed, partook. The host then bowed to his
guest and to Another not visible, and departed, never again
to be seen. ‘ And that,’ whispered the farmer into my ear _
“was the sign.” And although he was not clear in any way
_ what the sign was, it seemed to him a grave occasion, a
90. REPORTS.
momentous business.’’ Mr. Vale was, of course, an English-
man, and probably did not quite understand the Guernsey-
man. My impression is that what the farmer really said
was: ‘‘ C’était un avertissement ’’—‘‘ It was a warning ’’—
which is the invariable explanation in the country for any-
thing mysterious or inexplicable—and will have debited the
next misfortune which happened in the family to that
account !
Mrs. La Trobe Bateman writes from Sark that on St.
John’s Day—Midsummer Day—the custom over there is to
eat crab, as well as to deck the carts and horses with flowers
and to fly flags on the flagstaffs.
As we know it is at that date the sun enters the sign
Cancer—the Crab. But whether that has anything to do
with the custom I cannot say; the decoration of carts and
horses must be a relic of festival customs on the day of the
Summer Solstice showing that, as in Brittany and elsewhere,
the sun in his splendour was a symbol of God in His Heaven.
We all know that there was a trial and conviction for
witchcraft in Guernsey as recently as January, 1914. And
undoubtedly the belief in supernatural powers of evil is
widespread throughout the country, powers that can only be
fought by supernatural means. A friend of mine, a
Guernsey Jurat, reports to me: ‘“‘During the winter of 1913
I went to the farm of two old friends, and found both the
brothers looking very glum. I asked why? Dan said that
there was ‘sorcellerie’ about. I asked how they knew?
‘Because,’ he replied, ‘his brother had been nearly killed
that morning, and had one side very badly hurt.’ ‘How?’
“He went to feed his mare that morning, a quiet faithful
beast that he had fed for 20 years and who had never before
shewn any wickedness, but when he went up to her she
started kicking him like a demon and nearly killed him;
someone must have ‘ witched’ her—and what was to be
done? Please Sir, you ought to know.’ I said that ‘there
was only one thing to do, and that was to kill a black fowl
and put its heart, transfixed by a needle, to roast by the fire,
and then the witch would come to the door.’ For the first
time that morning they both smiled, and said they had
already done so! ’”’
In conclusion, Mr. Allés has kindly collected for me a
few records of chosts.
That part of the Forest Road bordering St. Peter’s is
known by the name of Farras, and just where the road makes
a dip a black-thorn stands in the hollow. Under this black-
thorn is said to stand a ghost—‘‘ Le Soudard sans Téte ’’—
a headless soldier who is said to have been buried under the
1922. | REPORTS. - 9]
thorn. Needless to say the neighbours do not care to pass
that way late at night. Reference to Major Curtis’ map,
illustrating Colonel de Guérin’s article, will show that that
neighbourhood was once the site of several dolmens; and it
is possible that the dolmen builders who erected so many
monuments in the neighbourhood of Plaisance at St. Peter’s,
may have resented the presence of a house in their domain, for
that also is said.to be haunted.
At Les Vinaires, a house belonging to a Mr. Brouard,
pots and pans in the dairy rattle as a warning before death.
This happened as recently as the early part of this year.
At Le Pré, noises, as if great cartloads of stone were
being tipped into the yard, are heard at certain times, and
are quite unaccounted for.
I shall be very grateful for any further items any of you
can collect for me in the forthcoming year.
Ppign Ff. CAREY,
Sec. Folklore. Section.
REPORTS.
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‘SSG!l ‘LUOdCHY YURAWHLWAM
BOTANICAL, NO PES.
Adonis autumnalis was brought to me on June 7th, 1917,
and found near Les Blanches on the Jerbourg Road, but I
have never found it. Marquand states that the first and
only instance of its occurrence of which he knew was at the
Vale in 1865.
The most interesting flower I have found in Guernsey is
Nicotiana rustica, and it was not until I was able to shew it
to Mr. George Claridge Druce, one of our most eminent
botanists, when he visited Guernsey two or three years ago,
that I knew definitely what it was.
This autumn my daughter found what appears to be a
variety of Doronicum pardalianches, but I need a further
opinion before classifying it.
Other varietzes are Matricaria inodora, double in all its
flowers, in a field near Blanchelande, a new variety of
Lychnis dioica, and a verv beautiful specimen of Orchzs
laxiflora of a delicate rose pink instead of the usual purple.
As regards localities, Asparagus officinalis, 1 found—
very stunted—-in the sand at IL’ Ancresse one plant, another
fine.one in the Grande Mare and two in different places near
Vazon, while Scutellaria galericulata has disappeared from
the ditch mentioned by Marquand where I[ saw it when I first
came here and also Hyoscyamus niger from its particular dis-
trict at L’ Ancresse where | picked it in 1919.
Guernsey is rich in white specimens of many of its
coloured flowers, e.g. :—
Armeria maritima, at Fort Le Marchant and Vazon.
Digitalis, Hubits (but probably an escape).
Endymion nutans, both white and pink, at the Pea Stacks.
Linaria cymbalaria, in the Varclin.
Prunella vulgaris, a large patch near Vazon.
Scilla autumnatis, L’ Ancresse.
Sedum album, St. Martm’s cliffs.
I am glad to be able to confirm Ca7duus eriophorus in
Gosselin’s list, which Marquand doubts being correct. I
found it on Icart Point in 1920.
Lychnis vespertina, 1 found one plant only, in the
Hubits.
94 BOTANICAL NOTES.
HERM.
I have been to Herm two or three times this year and saw
several trees of Pyrus malus and Crataegus oxyacantha,
which it seems strange were overlooked by Marquand as they
appear to be indigenous.
Of Euphorbia peplis (which is very rare, and extinct in
Guernsey and Jersey), | found about a dozen plants—not
large but beautiful in colouring (which colour has unfortu-
nately disappeared in pressing, as also that of Chenopodium
botryodes that | found at Lihou).
I gathered Echium plantagineum in Herm two or three
years ago and a fale pink echium vulgare there this year.
Mr. Leng gives me for Herm this year :—Fumaria officz-
nalis alba, Spiranthes autumnalis, Orchis morto and Orchis
maculata (the latter on Crevichon), and mentions the curious
fact that though Avzca cinerea 1s plentiful, there does not
appear to be a single plant of Calluna vulgaris. Marquand
gives no Orchidacea for Herm.
JETHOU. |
During our excursion to Jethou I found a very fine plant
of Hyoscyamus niger. | :
SARK. | 7
I have done but little botanising there. Scabzosa arvensis
however is to be found near the Bungalow Hotel and a w&ize
specimen of /aszone montana. |
JULIA HICHENS.
oeece et S Ae
At. the President’s. request I have prepared a short
Botanical Report supplemental to that of Mrs. Hichens.
To commence with the summer excursions :—
JETHOU, JULY 30TH. A great search was made to find
the White Pimpernel reputed to grow there; the red variety
was in full bloom everywhere but no white or blue Anagal-
lis could be found. A plant of Henbane in flower was dis-
covered by Mrs. Hichens, which is an addition to the list of
flowers for Jethou—and there was also found a variety cf
Sonchus aspera with very distinct and beautiful white
veining on the leaves. ue
LIHOU ISLAND, AUGUST 26TH. Plants were found of
Chenopodium botryodes.. Lihou is supposed - to be-the only
locality in these islands in which this rare plant. grows.
Solaneum nigrum (black Solaneum) and Glaucium luteum
~ (yellow horned poppy) were also found, which though com-
aes
1922.] GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 95
mon on the mainland are not included in the list for Lihou,
probably the seed has blown over or been carried by
birds, since Marquand made has list.
FoRT DOYLE, SEPT. 21ST. Not much opportunity to
look for plants. Noticeable on the Common were quaint
round patches of Sedum anglicum bearing masses of buds.
I brought some away ind the buds opened later, evidently
a distinct second crop of flowers, also growing near were
unusually long trails. of Ornitho pus per pusillus.
In August Mr. B. T. Rowswell found on the cliffs near
the Peastacks, St. Martin’s, a very pretty orange coloured
fungus growing in wide bands round the leat stems of
Holcus lanatus (soft meadow grass). The Fungus has
been identified by the Directors of the Royal “Botanic
Gardens, Kew, as Efichloe typhina. Tul. This Fungus is
not mentioned in Marquand’s list for Guernsey. Mr. Rows-
well is- to be congratulated on having added a new Fungus
to the list of F ungi for Guernsey. The specimens! on, view
this evening are to be placed in the Société’s Herbarium.
M. A. McCREA,:
Member of the Société Guernesiaise.
GEOLOGICAL NOTES:
The Rev. Canon E.. Hill, of Cockfield Rectory, Bury St.
Edmunds, (Hon. Member), communicates the following :—
“In the Geological Magazine for October, 1922, Dr.
G. H. Plymen describes an outcrop of Pre-Cambrian shale
discovered by him in the south-western extremity of Guern-
sey. It hes on the Torteval Road, near Westend Cottage,
and is only 37 yards long. As previously only one area of
sedimentary rock was known in the whole Island (also small,
_and also at the south-western corner, near Fort Pezeries), this
discovery 1s of much interest. The rock 1s compared with
certain Jersey shales.”’
Dr. Plymen makes the following observations : —
‘“Although very brief, the matter is very important, for
you have evidence that the mudstones of Pre-Cambrian Age
covered both Jersey and Guernsey—in fact all the Channel
Islands. ‘The prevailing dip to north—an effect also found
in western Jersey—suggests the northern slope of an east-
and-west mountain range of great height, ¢.g., 20,000 ft.
occurring apparently in both Pre-Cambrian and in Permian
times. In this range there was volcanic activity in both Sark
and Jersey. Guernsey can claim huge aa move-
ments along the direction of the ‘Russell’.’’ ,
The following is the article referred to above:
96 GROLOGICAL NOTES.
ON THE OCCURRENCE OF PRE-CAMPRT RS
SHALE IN GUERNSE®
By GEORGE HORACE PLYMEN, M.Sc., Ph.D., F.G.S.
/
It was noted by the Rev. C. Noury’ in 1886 that sedi-
mentary rocks were found in a small coastal area to the
south of Fort Pezerie, on the south-western extremity of
Guernsey. Professor T. G. Bonney® observed the same area
independently in September, 1910, after describing it in field
notes in 1888 as a close-jointed and rather schistose diabase.
The Rev. E. Hillé in 1884 had-also regarded the rock in this
area as constituting a dyke-formed diabase.
ee
—
Fig. 1.—Pre-Cambrian Shale, Torteval, Guernsey.
Professor Bonney, on submitting slices of the rock to
microscopical examination, defined it as a grit. He recog-
nized sub-angular and fairly rounded quartz, felspar with
(in cases) signs of plagioclase, and dark brown, barely
translucent, iron oxide in grains. The matrix was observed
to be a mozaic of quartz and reconstituted felspar, with films
of mica, varying in colour from green to colourless.
Although regarded as pre-Cambrian, this patch of sedi-
mentary rock has not a close similarity to the pre-Cambrian
shales of Jersey; but its occurrence in an area of intense
crushing and faulting, probably with accompanying meta-
morphism, gives reason for apparent dissimilarity. It may
well represent the quartzose ‘‘ greywacke’’ beds, which
alternate with more typical mudstones, familiar to observers
of the Jersey sedimentaries and of the ‘‘ Phyllades de St.
L6’’ in Normandy.
While examining this small area in the spring of 1920,
with a view to correlation with the Jersey sedimentary beds,
the present writer discovered another outcrop near by, which
had hitherto escaped the notice of earlier investigators. It
was re-examined in April of this year.
4. Géologie de Jersey, par R. P. Ch. Noury, S.J. 1886.
s Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. 1xviil., 1912, p. 47.
6 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol, xl.. 1884, p. 417,
1922.) GEOLOGICAL NOTES. y7
The section is a roadside exposure on the Torteval Road,
75 yards to the eastward of Westend Cottage (21in. Ordnance
Survey Sheet of Guernsey). |
Westend Cottage is about 2,500 yards $.S.E. of Fort
Pezerie, and 1,500 yards due east of Pleinmont Point.
The exposure 1s 37 yards in extent along the road, show-
ing a height above road level of at most 3 feet. A turf wall,
4 feet in height, has been constructed above it. Outcrop
occurs only on the south side of the road.
The rock is a fine mudstone, showing the distinctive
appearance, colouring, bedding, and fracture, of the Jersey
shales. A green satin-like surface 1s ge yernere on the bed-
ding-planes, as at St. Lo. Eastward, the beds cease by in-
trusion of a eneissic rock, which may be tentatively described
as of dioritic origin.
At the point. of igneous intrusion the beds dip to the
north at an angle of 10 degrees. This condition persists for
Beteet westward. For 7 yards, still to west, the shales are
broken and crushed, having no recognizable or reliable dip.
A further 4 yards westward shows a high dip to the east.
The remaining 24 yards exhibit a dip of 10 degrees to the
north. There is suggestion of shear through the middle of
the section. The exposure occurs along an east-west direc-
Moma. an altitude of 210 feet. To the south is nothing but
dioritic gneiss, with inadequate evidence of relationship. If
the beds continued according to their northward dip, they
would reach sea-level about 1,400 yards to the north, thus
providing a strike running through the Fort Pezerie area.
Faulting in an east-west direction, rather common in
this part of Guernsey, has apparently preserved these small
areas by down-throw; a north-south faulting, a very notice-
able feature in the south of Guernsey has restricted the out-
crop.
"The fact noted by Professor Bonney that ‘‘ diabase ”’
invades both sedimentary beds and the gneiss, and that all
three are invaded by a ‘‘red’’ dyke (the pre-Cambrian aplite,
common in all of the Channel Islands), appears to establish
the pre-Cambrian age of these beds.
| Reprinted by permission from the Geological Magazine,
Vol. LIX. pp. 408-9, October, 1922.
THE OUT-GOING PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS, 1922.
In this, my farewell speech, as President of the Société
Guernesiaise, | must attempt a short statement of our pre-
sent position.
When [ had the honour of becoming your President the
Membership of the Society was 93, 1t is now 140,-and I do
hope the numbers will increase in like proportion every year,
until, not only every States official, but every Guernseyman,
as well as the leading members of the English and French
Colonies, will belong as a matter of course; for I think our
new name implies a larger scope, and therefore 1 hope that
everyone interested in the Island will find help and instruc-
tion in the pages of our T7ansaciions.
When I came into office the Société was terribly hampered
by debt. The enormously increased costs of paper and
printing had led to a deficit in our accounts of no less than
£30. This, thanks, primarily to the munificence of the
Council of the Guille-Allés, who gave us a donation of 415;
then to the public spirit of the members and their friends
whose patronage of our Soirée resulted in a profit of £13;
and finally the accretion of so many new members, has now
been changed into a profit of about 433 instead of a deficit
of £30.
This 1s indeed a matter for congratulation, for we shall
now be able to make our 7vansactzous still more worthy of
the Société. We shall be able to print more articles, and to
include more illustrations. I am glad to say that our Meet-
ings, indoor as well as out, have been well attended, which
shows that more members are taking an active interest in the
Société, and I do hope that more will come forward and
co- operate in the active work which the Société means, and
will contribute papers, and show objects of interest at forth-
coming meetings. For, like everything of value the price
must be paid—and the price is—Work. Any method will do,
if there be but diligence, for our aims cannot be carried out,
as Kipling says :—
‘By saying ‘Oh how beautiful! ’
And sitting in the shade.’’
But every section of our interests, Archeology, History,
Botany, Ornithology, etc., mean hours of long aie patient
1922. | OUTGOING PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 99
study. But everyone who has attempted it knows the work
is worth while and is its own reward. If I may suggest, there
is one especial point to which I think the attention of the
Société should be drawn; and that is, to gather together re-
cords, pictures, and measurements of our Castles. Castle
Cornet, I presume, has been accurately surveyed by the Royal
Engineers, but there remains the Chateau des Marais, or Ivy
Castle, Vale Castle, the site of the old Chateau de Jerbourg,
and even a few remnants of the Tour de Beauregard at the
top of Cornet Street. These few walls and buttresses, such
as they are, should, I think, be taken in hand at once, for,
should the rebuilding of Cornet Street be carried out, they
‘would inevitably disappear. It is such a misfortune that no
survey was taken before St. Barnabas’ Church was built,
when so many old walls and doorways must have been de-
stroyed, and | appeal to all members of the Guernsey
Photographic Society who may be present to photograph
the many picturesque—if insanitary—corners of Cornet
Street and Rosemary Lane, before it 1s too late, and we will
gladly publish their photographs in forthcoming numbers of
the 7 zvansactions,; for now the Island is in such a state of
transition, the land passing out of the hands of Guernsey-
men, and old land-marks being daily swept away, I want the
Societé to collect, and our 7vansactious to record, as far as
possible, whatever of our birthright remains from the ‘‘ mess
of pottage’’ into which it is gradually being transformed.
1 am. glad to say that our Botanical Section has been
revived, and, in the capable hands of Mrs. Rawdon McCrea
and Mrs. Hichens, 1 feel sure it will be a great success.
I am afraid that the newly-formed Section devoted to
the study of our Guernsey French is in abeyance; I am no
longer able to give it a rendezvous, much to my regret, for
our meetings, where the old language was once more heard
and old island reminiscences interchanged, were wholly
enjoyable; and | must again emphasize the fact that no
knowledge of the past history of our Island can be acquired
without a knowledge of French, the language in which our
old Records were written, the origin of the names of our
families, of our lands and of our laws; and no one will ever
penetrate into the mind and the traditional lore and belief of
the Guernseyman without a knowledge of Guernsey French,
another birthright which I hope will never be allowed to
lapse.
z Since our last Annual Meeting five of our members have
passed away; Colonel Le Mottée and Miss Rose Corbin, who
always took such real interest in our meetings; General
Harvey, who died last week at an advanced age, having
100 OUTGOING PRESIDENT’S ADDBESS.
belonged to our Société for many years; Miss de Guerin,
who was for so long a most valued member of our Council
and an unfailing attendant at our meetings, and, finally,
Mr. Collenette, one of the few surviving original members of
our Société, whose life work, both Geological and Meteor-
ological is an invaluable contribution to our Records. We
can all testify to the marvellous way, he as an old man,
memorized on cur behalf long columns of facts and figures
when his eyesight was too bac for him to read them. It is
only those who have worked with them who can realize what
a loss such members are to us all.
And now, 1n conclusion, at the risk of repetition, I must
personally thank the Board of the Guille-Allés Library, not °
only for its gratuitous loan of a room and a lantern for our
meetings, but also for its liberal assistance in giving us “‘a
happy issue out of all our afflictions’’; also the members of
our Council for their unfailing help and support of a
President who was very new to her duties; and to you all for
having been such loyal attendants at our meetings.
It is the privilege of the outgoing President to nominate
his—-or her—successor, and | have much pleasure in telling
you that Sir Havilland de Sausmarez, our future Bailiff, has
consented to be our new President; 7 could not leave the
Societé in better hands. ?
THE CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY IN HISTORICAL
TIMES.
ny ps. CAREY. CURTIS
(Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects).
The fundamental currency of this Bailiwick is, of course,
the livre, sol and denier tournois, still used in the Court for
certain fines and for the value of real property. Its sub-
division are :—
12 deniers (denarius ) make 1 sol (solidus).
Bomaeise e822, make 1 livre (libra).
It may be observed that the initial letters of the livre,
sol and denier form the & s. d., the emblem to the present
day of pounds, shillings and pence.
mete livre, sol md denier were after the Conquest the
currency of France as it was then, and” also of England.
There were various mints functioning in France at Paris,
Tours, Anjou and other places, and the mint which gave its
name to and provided the Guernsey currency was that of
Tours, hence the term tournois, the livre, sol and denier of
Tours. The currency of England was ‘‘Parisis,’’ that of
A Sehake
At first the livre did represent what we know as a pound.
It represented so much silver or gold or commodities. But
the French Kings in order to raise money, soon commenced
to manipulate it by depreciating its value, and this gradually
reduced the value of it until in 1789 its actual value was
only one seventy-eighth of its nominal value.” In England,
however, the livre remained at its proper value. This depre-
ciation complicated affairs in Guernsey. After the loss of
Normandy to the English Crown, the feudal dues still con-
tinued to be paid in tournois, and from the end of Edward
I.’s reign (he died in 1307), to early in Edward III.’s reign,
there were constant disputes with the English Crown as to
whether these dues were to be paid in sterling, or in the de-
preciated French coin, which was, moreover, constantly
fluctuating in value. Finally the Crown consented to be
paid in T’ournois, ard is to this day so paid, but the rate of
exchange which stood at 4 to 1 in 1331 and 5 to I in 1362
finally rose to 14 to 1 temp. Queen Anne, at which figure
it was fixed for all time.
This ratio of 14 to 1 gives the actual value of the livre
tournois at about Is. 5d., that of the sol at 17-20d., and of a
denier at about 1-14d.
(1) Eneyclopoedia Britannica, art: Money,
102 CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, PTC.
There were never actual coins of the Tours currency, as
fixed in the reign of Queen Anne. It was a money of ac-
count, or perhaps it would be more correct to call it a legal
standard of value, a means of co-ordinating the medley of
coins which formed the currency of Guernsey at the com-
mencement of written history into some sort of comparative
monetary values. In early wills and documents in which
actual money is mentioned, hardly two refer to the same cur-
rency. Sometimes it 1s “ moidores, sometimes nobles, in
another document it 1s ducats, and it is not surprising that
the Royal Court found it necessary to publish Ordinances
from time to time regulating the values of the various foreign
coins current at the time.
In the 16th century the following coins appeared to
have been commonly in use, as they received legal recognition
by having their values fixed by Ordinance in 1581 :—
Feu of France{1), ditto of Planders(2)) 18 istoleuage
Double Duckat(4), Double Milleray(5), Noble Henry of
France(6), Croyzade, small cross(7), Croyzade, po-
tence(8), Poll head(g), Spanish real(io).
Later the following were added :—
Franc(11), and Tleston in 1586.
It 1s noteworthy that the corresponding value in Guern-
sey currency was fixed, not in livres, sols and deniers tour-
nois, but in gros d’argent, sols sterling, eros, and deniers
obole sterling. Now the word sterling (derived from the
word Easterling, “‘the men from the East” or the’ Flange
Merchants, who were privileged to coin money in England in
the 13th century) designates British currency, and this use
of the term qualifying the legal value of sols and deniers is
the first mention of the intrusion of British monetary terms
into our island currency.
Other coins or values are found in various histories and
books dealing with Guernsey. None of these, however, were
legally recognised by having their values fixed by the Royal
(1) ECU. Monnaie d’argent, ainsi dite parce que sur une des faces elle portait
comme un ecu de blason. trois fleurs de lis—-Littré.
(3) PISTOLET or PISTOLE. Terme de compte quise disait de dix livres tournois,
et qui se dit aujourd’hui de dix francs.
(4) DUCAT. Monnaie d’or fin dont la valeur varie de dix a douze francs. selon
les pays; il porte ordinairement d’un coté la téte du Prince dans les Etats duquel il
a été frapvé. et de l'autre cété ses armes.
(5) MILLEREY or MILREI. A Portuguese gold coin equal to 1000 reis.
(6) NOBLE. Ancienne mounaie d’ Angleterre et de France: la valeur en varie
de 20 4 24 francs.
(7) CROYZADE or CROISAT. Monnaie d’argent, marquée d’une croix, et d’une
image de la Sainte Vierge, qui se fabriquait 4 Génes et qui valait environ un ecu et
demi de France—Littré.
(8) The word ‘‘ potence” signifies a heraldic shape like our letter T. Probably
this replaced the cross referred to in (7).
(9) Probably the vulgar designation of some foreign coin.
(10) REAL. Monnaie (argent d’Espagne qui vaut un quart de france,
(11) Synonyme de la livre tournois valant 20 sous,
1922. | CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, ETC. 103
Court, but as they were apparently in common use it is not
out of place to include them.
Warburton thus gives :— Tournois.
| . liv. sol. den.
Mmmeomie,-parement d’ Angleterre ....,.....c0..+05 ie eek.
Meme paiement de Gucrnesey ............5 2 ty AO
BU IOUTIOIS oc. s cece cc eces ces ecciecauecs cece 2 hale
ee i Pee pus:
Un gros sterling, paiement d’Angleterre ........ Oo oD amt
OM MIOMTIOIS 5. e ec e ene eclednceacsenesteceenes Oy Oto
Lee eee ee eee O~, aa 6
Un sol sterling, paiement d’Angleterre ......... Ory 1 ee
Ho. patcment de Guernescy ....... © oie. Cie
Also Fardin™ sterling—Liard®), monnoie de France—Maille
sterling—denier sterling—noires Mailles—sterling monnoie
~—Carolus monnoie.
Berry adds the following coins :—
Florin d’Hollande—Florin d’or d’ Hollande—Luivre, sol
and denier de gros d’Hollande—Franc d’or—Noble d’or—
Ecu monée, rente seigneuriale—Denier sterling, payement
d’ Angleterre—Obolle °°),
There was a coin of Guernsey extraction which is often met
with in documents of the Middle Ages—the freluque or fur-
luque, and it seems to have been in general circulation, as in’
1619 an Ordinance was passed prohibiting the coinage of fre-
luques by unauthorized persons, and the circulation of those
not of proper standard was forbidden. This prohibition
evidently did not hit the intended mark, or rather I should
say, some unexpected result followed, as four years later“) the
Governor is petitioned to appoint a person to coin Freluques,
‘in order to preserve the ancient privilege of the Island,”’
showing that Guernsey even then claimed the privilege of a
Sovereign State to issue her own coinage, which right she
has preserved to the present day, though it is lmited to
copper coinage.
This is the last mention of these Freluques and one may
question the practical value of going to so much trouble as
to pass Ordinances for the circulation or prohibition of such
of a coin which was only worth 1-28th of a penny sterling,
or 4 denier.
The value of the denier, that is the denier sterling,
appears to have varied. In 1713 it was valued at 15 to the
sol tournois: in 1718 at 14: in 1723 at 16 and later in the
Same year at 20.
(1) Presumably a farthing. (2) The equivalent of the double,
(3) Apparently another name for the freluque,
(4) Receuil d’Ordonnances I. 149,
104 CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, EDO
It is not within the scope of this paper to discuss the whys
and the wherefores of these fluctuations in the values of the
various coins in use in Guernsey. We have seen and see
every day viclent movements in the value of the franc, the
mark, the rouble, the crown, the lira, and the peseta, which
arise from very subtle and little understood causes, and no
doubt these causes contributed to the difference in the value
of the local coins from year to year, and it could not have
been a pleasing or easy task for the Jurats of those days to
have to adjudicate on the values of various foreign coins,
some of which they could not have been familiar with.
Applying this remark to the present day, it is difficult to
imagine the Royal Court fixing equitably and without injus-
tice to any interest, commercial or financial, the value of the
franc, mark, rouble or crown.
Happily the Court is spared this responsibility, the
financial columns of the daily papers supplying the informa-
tion the Jurats of the 16th and 17th centuries were called on
to furnish.
The rest of the 18th century was a quiet one for the cur-
rency of Guernsey, until the outbreak of the war with France,
the only entries of Ordinances being in respect of the Liard
or Double which in that century began to come into circula-
tion. The Liard or-Double varied in value irom Gueire
‘the sol tournois or about 3-20d. In later times, the Double
was of course reckoned first at 8 to the 1d. Guernsey, and on
the change over to English currency in 1921 at 8 to the
British penny.
On the outbreak of the war with France in 1798, the French
coinage was the legal tender of the Island. It was obviously
most inconvenient that the current coin should be that of an
enemy, but the vogue had had too long an existence for it
to be lightly discarded and a change made. In 17097 Spanish
Dollars, valued at 4/9 sterling, were added to the current
coinage, but nothing, even the passing of an Ordinance in
1799 forbidding the export of specie, could prevent the dis-
appearance which seems to inv ariably take place on the out-
break of war of metal coinage, especially silver. In the
French war of the end of the 18th century and the early 19th
the scarcity of coin owing to our isolated position was felt
seriously. The States of Jersey in 1813 issued tokens in
silver of the value of 3/- and 1/6 to the extent of 410,000
worth, but to no avail, as the whole of it had disappeared in
two months’ time. The transaction was not without its com-
pensations, as the 3/- piece only contained 1/9 worth of
(1) We saw this ourselves in 1914. On the onutbrea’ of the war with Germany,
suddenly all silver coins disappeared, and this had ae be met by the issue by the
States of paper notes of small yalues, even down to 3/- notes being used,
GUERNSEY 5/- Si_tveER TOKEN, 1809.
Two FATTERNS OF CHANNEL ISLANDS COPPER 1D. TOKENS.
Nos. 7 and 10 in Addendum.
VARIATIONS IN PATTERN OF SHIELD ON OBVERSE
OF MODERN GUERNSEY COINAGE.
1922.] CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, ETC. 105
silver, and consequently the States of Jersey made a profit
of £3-4,000 on it.
The lack of current coin was met to some extent by the
issue of tokens and bank notes by private individuals. The
indiscriminate issue of bank notes by all and sundry was not
objected to by the authorities for some reason, but the issue
of tokens did not please them at all, and in 1809 an Ordi-
nance was passed forbidding the circulation of tokens, espe-
cially those of the value of 5/-, obviously referring to those
issued by the firm of Bishop, de Jersey & Co., who styled
themselves the Bank of Guernsey. These coins are interest-
ing. They were struck by Boulton and Watt, of Birming-
ham, on a Spanish Dollar. They are extremely rare, and a
fine specimen was a few months ago sold at Sotheby’ s for
#42 to Messrs. Spink, the well- known dealers, by whose
courtesy | am able to give a full size illustration of it.
In 1813 a series of copper tokens was put into circulation
by some enterprising individual in the Channel Islands.
They are of eight distinct patterns of penny and one of a
halfpenny “),
Needless to say, the circulation was at once Feiticiclnr, in
Guernsey by the Royal Court. These coins are also extremely
rare now. ‘he Museum of the Société Jersiaise has a spe-
-cimen of two kinds, and by the courtesy of Mr. E. T. Nicolle,
the Secretary, I am able to exhibit photographs by Mr. Guiton
of the two. In the Guille-Allés Museum is also a specimen,
but it 1s too worn to reproduce.
In the same year in which Jersey eed its silver tokens
of 3/- and 1/6 (1813), the States of Guernsey petitioned the
Privy Council for a licence to issue copper coins of the value
of one half-penny and one penny, with tokens of the value
of a grand double, three Brand doubles and a sou tournois
not to exceed 42,000 worth?)
The peace of 1815 found Guernsey coinage in a parlous
state: and it was many years before it resumed a normal con-
dition. The coinage of France during the wars which lasted
from 1790 until 181s was in process of change. The Milrey
Ducat, Croisat-and other antiquities gave -way to Ecus and
especially pieces of 24 and 12 sous, - But Guernsey also had
a quantity of British silver (then not-legal currency) in circu-
lation, especially light and worn coins then known as Irish
shillings and sixpences, and-in 1817 the British Government
sent over Commissary, General White to-exchange all worn-
out British silver coins, resulting in £8,455 worth being
handed in for exchange Between Bee 26 and April 6 of
the above year.
(1) See Addendum.
(2) This possibly explains the objections of the States to the issue of the copper
tokens referred to above, 3
(83) Ordinance of 1816,
106 - CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, ETC.
Tn 1829, on the issue of the new French coinage of francs
and centimes (such as we know it to-day), the old coinage
was called in, and it was about time it was, as the liards, or
doubles as we call them now, at that time ‘‘ were formed of
various sizes, thicknesses and materials, some of them being
old English farthings, some Dutch or Flemish, others French
‘or Spanish, many of them only very thin pieces of copper,
whilst a few of them are soldiers’ buttons, beaten flat.’’®).
Also in the ‘‘Billet d’Etat’’ of 17th Feb., 1830, attention
was called to the various coins in use in Guernsey, which were
quite obsolete in France, and pointing out that if steps were
not taken to call them in at once, serious inconvenience would
arise to the public, as they would only have bullion value.
The ancient coinage it appears®) became obsolete on Jan. Ist,
1834.
After the introduction of the new coinage in 1829 matters
went on very quietly. The franc was fixed at 10 pence
Guernsey and was legal tender to any amount, British being
in circulation, but not legal tender, except for a short time
in 1848, when gold and silver British money and also Bank
of England notes were made legal tender in the Island at
the rate of 41 1s. 3d. currency for each pound British, this
Ordinance being renealed in 1850 ‘‘ owing to the reasons for
which it was passed having ceased to exist,’’ referring to the
unsettled conditions on the Continent generally.
During the next twenty years, no startling changes took
place. In 1864, a change of pattern of the copper coins took
place, and the change necessitated the old ones being called
in. The new ones are of bronze, the old ones being of
copper, and though of more value intrinsically they were
inferior in wearing power to the newly issued coinage. In
1868 these old coins ceased to be legal tender.
In 1870 the war with Germany in which France was then
engaged resulted as in 1813, and later in 1914, in the mys-
terious disappearance from circulation of the greater part of
the silver coinage. The remedy was simple, and in 1870
British coin was made legal tender. equally with French,
followed in 1873 bv the legalising of Bank of England notes
in like manner, and this Ordinance has never been repealed.
The growth of trade with the United Kingdom, the de-
cline of traffic with France. and the inconvenience to com-
merce of having two currencies in the one Island. there being
two pounds, one of 252 Guernsey pennies, the other of 240,
spelt the doom of the old currency, and it is within the
memory of all of us that in March, 1921. the change over to
British currency entirely, took place. The old French silver
(1) Taenb’s Annals of Guernsey, p- 416,
(2) Ordinance of 1899,
(3) Ordinance of 1843.
1922.) ' CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, ETC. 107
coinage was accepted by the Banks never to be re-issued,
Bank Pass Books were re-reckoned in British sterling, and
Guernsey 8 double pieces were made equal to one penny Bri-
tish (to the advantage of the holders of these coins who pro-
fited to the extent of 5 per cent.). The disturbance to the
general public was practically nil, in spite of the gloomy
prognostications of those who fought for the old currency.
It was unfortunate that it had to come after lasting so many
years, but the position of the franc as regards the shilling in
exchange had become intolerable. As long as the exchange
of Paris and London remained stationary at about frs. 25.20
to the 4 sterling, the old currency was endurable, but the
value of the 4 rose to such an extent in comparison to the
franc, that for months together 65 francs or sometimes more
could be obtained for one English sovereign.
This was a direct incentive to smuggling. The proxi-
mity of the French coast, especially to Alderney, made it a
lucrative traffic for speculators to go to France, purchase
francs at 65 or more to the sovereign ‘and put them in circula-
tion in Guernsey and Alderney at a little over 2 5. Orders
were given that no French money above 410 could be im-
ported by any single person, a law which it was obviously
impossible to enforce without a large staff and great incon-
venience to the travelling public, as it would mean personally
searching every arrival in Guernsey or Alderney to effectively
carry out.
The time chosen to change from the dual currency was
thus opportune and when the British Government at the be-
ginning of 1921 proposed to exchange French francs for Bri-
tish shillings, on an agreed scale, the States showed a wise
resolve in accepting the offer.
The closing scene of the Guernsey currency appears in
the Billet @’Ezat of 13th September, 1922, in which the
figures connected with the conversion are set out as
follows :—
Silver received from British Government in
exchange for French coins was ............ £81,052 2 8
The value of the coins exported, 1.e., francs... £73,853 17 10
Export charges, presumably freight and insur-
AN ESM at An ae A FOyi ES wel
Commission to Banks, for the collection of the
old coinage and the putting in circulation
OS ee eee eee bj 500. O26
Balance, 7.¢., profit on the conversion ......... 5,079 8 9
| £81,052 2 8
108 CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY, ETC.
Thus ended a system of currency which had existed in
this Bailiwick for upwards of 500 years. In this article we
have traced it from the time when the currency was entirely
foreign, and a British coin was no doubt looked on as a
curiosity in the same way.as a strange foreign coin would be
looked on now, to the time when a war arose and the British
currency had to be tolerated, being accepted faute de mieux
with all its inconveniences and faults until the normal course
of the currency could be resumed. Then disturbances on the
Continent again forced its temporary adoption till things
righted themselves again. hen another war made it neces-
sary to make the British currency legal tender equally with
the French, until the greatest war a all brought home the
self-evident object lesson to the most conservative mind that
as a British dependency and in daily, almost hourly, contact
with Britain it was impossible to indefinitely maintain a cur-
rency which was based on that of a foreign country
Q@ni reflection, if 1s difiemi to fathom the object of the
States of Guernsey in not availing themselves of their un-
doubted right to issue coinage of ‘all kinds, not limiting it
as has been done to copper coins. No doubt there has been
some good reason for this, possibly the fear of complications
through forgery.
This right to issue comage has not been disputed, and
as late as 1870) the British Government suggested that the
Bronze coinage of Guernsey should be assimilated to that of
the United Kingdom, as had been carried out in Jersey”.
But the States would have none of it and held to their
8, 4, 2 and 1 double pieces.
In the spacious times before the Great War, when silver
was worth about 2/- to 2/6 per ounce and each ounce of silver
could be coined to correspond in weight and fineness with
British coins of the same value to give 5/- worth of coin,
what an unearned income would have accrued to the States if
they had not limited themselves to the issue of copper com
only, but had gone in for silver issues as well.
One might suitably designate it as a lost opportunity.
(1) Billet d@’Etat, 15th June, 1870.
(2) The penny of Jersey was then one-thirteenth of a shilling, and the new coin,
age made it one-twelfth.
1922.| CURRENCY OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. 109
ADDENDUM.
From “NINETEENTH CENTURY TOKEN COINAGE,”
| By W. J. Davis, London, 1904, for Spink & Sons.
(P. 240). THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.
Although the Channel Islands are not within the Constitution
of Great Britain, their insular tokens are sought after and included
in British collections.
The Islands were taken by Rolf, or Rollo, in the ninth century,
and William the Conqueror was the first monarch to unite them to
the Crown of Hngland.
GUERNSEY.
SILVER. FIVE SHILLINGS.
1.—Obverse. Arms of Jersey @) gules; three leopards passant
gardant in pale, in a circle. BisHor De Jersey & Co. A rose ornar
ment divides the legend.
Reverse. Token or Five SHinuines within a wreath of oak.
Legend, Bank or Guernsey, 1809, R.r.r. Plate 1, No. 23. T. Wyon.
This piece is struck on a Spanish dollar, by Boulton & Waitt, see
Introduction, page XxXi1l.
Bishop de Jersey & Co. also issued at their bank in Guernsey
one pound notes. The following notice is of interest :—
Crepmors Or Bishop Dr JERSEY «& Co., GUERNSEY.
“Notwithstanding Mr. Bishop has engaged to devote the profits
of his business to the liquidation of any defalcification that might
arrise in the concerns of the Bank, he is credibly informed that
several malicious persons mean to proceed against him, as soon as
the terms of the Royal Court opens, and endeavour to molest his
person and trade; he therefore takes this opportunity to request
those who wish to take advantage of the above engagement, to sign
or cause to be signed the agreement entered upon before the 18th of
October next, in default of which he will take the advantage of the
regulations ot the Laws of the Island, and shall not consider himself
bound to any person having neglected to close with this offer.
Guernsey, 7th September, 1811. (The Star, Sept. 14th, 1811).
JERSEY, GUERNSEY AND ALDERNEY.
COPPER.
__6.—Obveise. Laureated and draped bust to right (George IIT.),
within a wreath of oak.
Reverse. One Prnny Token in a circle. Legend, Jersey,
GUERNSEY AND ALDERNEY. RB. Halliday.
7.—Obvei'se. Karls krone
One NH
} ubec N
—— /Holstewy ‘
| Faussin | Laie
< \Hambovg
een
OLOEN DoR,,
Re i
by
1999.) ~=Firsr Lord DE SAUMAREZ. ETC. ‘Tt?
3
ing promotion and honours. One of the best known incidents
—
2
of this period is the escape of his three ships ‘‘Eurydice,
‘““Crescent’’ and ‘‘Druid’’ from a much larger French squad-
ron off the Channel Islands. A disaster was avoided only by
the brilliant tactics of Saumarez and the adroitness of the
local pilot Jean Breton, in whose honour was. struck the
medal now in the Guille-Alles Library.
Then followed more important engagements, the battle of
Cape St. Vincent in 1796, and the Nile two and a half years
later, where he was second in command and both he and
Nelson were wounded. In 1801 he was made a baronet and
Rear-Admiral and fought one of his most notable engage-
ments off Algeciras. He left Plymouth with three ships of
the line and five smaller vessels to blockade Cadiz, where he
received two other ships. After attacking unsuccessfully a
French squadron protected by the forts of the Spanish port
of Algeciras, he refitted in Gibraltar with unparalleled speed,
and attacking the same squadron reinforced by a powerful
Spanish fleet, obtained a signal victory, driving them into
the port of Cadiz, of which he resumed the blockade. For
this he received a magnificent sword and the freedom of the
City of London as well as the thanks of the King and Par-
lament.
PART kL,
The second, and perhaps most interesting, period of his
career opens in 1808 with his appointment as Admiral of
the Baltic Squadron; but before it can be described or appre-
ciated, it will be necessary to describe the general conditions
of the period in order that its value may be understood.
The first and most spectacular phase of the struggle on
the sea ended with Trafalgar, but that did not conclude the
work of the British fleet any more than in the last war the
activities of the fleet were concluded by the Battle of Jutland.
There was still blockade work, convoying, and maintenance
of communication.
In 1807, Napoleon concluded the treaty of Tilsit with
Russia, by which he secured Naples for his brother Joseph,
Holland for his brother Louis, while his third brother,
Jerome, received Westphalia, a kingdom created for him
He restored to Prussia half her territory and compelled thé
recognition by Russia of his Confederacy of the Rhine, which
consisted of France, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Saxony, West-
phalia, seven erand- duchies, six duchies and twenty princi-
palities.
In his message to the Senate in this year Napoleon re¢a-
pitulates the gains of the French Empire during the pre-
118 FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC.
ceding four years. He had conquered the strongest places
of Europe: little now separated him from the peace he
affected so ardently to desire. Austria and Prussia were
his subject allies. Russia he had led by the nose at the
treaty of Tilsit and would yoke more firmly to his chariot
when he had the leisure or the inclination. England alone
was the obstacle to the realisation of his schemes. In the
Berlin decrees he gave substantial form to what was hence-
torth to be his policy with regard to her. He would use his
power over all Europe to crush British commercial prosperity.
By the adherence of Russia he controlled the entire coast line
ot Europe except Sweden. At last he could put in practice
his famous continental system. All intercourse was for-
bidden between Great Britain and every foreign power. The
British replied with a far more moderate prohibition. By the
Orders in Council of 1807, all trade by enemies or neutrals
from one enemy port to another was prohibited.
It is from this moment that the Baltic assumes a vital
importance in the history of the War. Napoleon had the
control of France and Central Europe. On those coasts the
continental system could not be broken. In Spain and Por-
tugal, particularly after the revolt of the Juntas, a little more
direct trade might be undertaken. But those countries were
poor, and Spain was overrun by the French armies under
Soult. The really weak spot in the system was the Baltic.
Here was Russia, never more than a half-hearted adherent
- of a blockade which deprived her of British goods to the
sole advantage of her ally, France. Here also was Sweden,
who still defied Napoleon and traded freely with his enemy.
The Baltic became for Napoleon the keystone of success.
Could he close it to British trade his system would be com-
plete: if he failed, there would be a gap in his prohibitive
organisation all the more precious to his enemies from the
firmness of his grasp in other quarters.
Apart from the necessities of the economic situation,
another cause contributed to the emphasis on the importance
of Naval power in the Baltic. Sweden was the only ally
of Great Britain in her active opposition to Napoleon.
Napoleon tried to win her alliance by the cynical offer
of Norway which then formed part of the kingdom of Den-
mark. The King of Sweden chivalrously communicated this
kindly offer to Denmark but without stirring up in that
country the faintest sign of opposition to N apoleon. Sweden
refused the proposal. To conquer her Napoleon would have
to close the Baltic to the possibility of British aid. This
could probably be done by the Danish fleet on whose com-
pliance Napoleon could rely. The gains to Napoleon from
1922. ] FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC. 119
the conquest of Sweden might have been considerable. There
was a good Swedish fleet. This combined with the Danish
and Russian fleets would have more than compensated for
the loss of French fleets before and at Trafalgar. It would ©
certainly suffice to break the British blockade. It might even
allow him to contest again the supremacy of the sea. The
British Government, realising the possibility of this, coun-
tered it in the most effective and least costly fashion. Before
the enemy had time to realise what they were doing and take
action, they demanded the custody of the Danish fleet. It
was naturally refused. They blockaded Copenhagen by
{and and sea, and after six weeks of siege nearly the whole
Danish Navy and all the stores in Copenhagen were con-
ducted to England.
Although Russia declared war on England very shortly
afterwards, the Copenhagen expedition was of immense
value. For the rest of the war England could safely enter
the Baltic. The need for this appeared almost immediately.
‘In February, 1808, Russia declared war on Sweden and at
once invaded Finland, Sweden’s chief possession across the
Baltic, and at the same time the Danes also declared war
and admitted a French army to Holstein for the purpose of
invading Sweden. Early in the Spring a British fleet was
despatched to the Baltic under the command of Admiral Sir
James Saumarez with the ‘‘Victory’’ as his flag-ship. It con-
sisted of nine battleships of 74 and over and four 64’s. Its
duties included the protection of Sweden, the blockade of the
hostile coasts of Denmark, Prussia and Russia, the suppres-
sion of Danish privateers and the encouragement and pro-
tection of any British or Swedish ship which carried on a
smuggling trade on the hostile coasts.
Two English 64’s were sent on as soon as the weather per-
mitted and reached the Sound during March long before
they were expected by the enemy. Their arrival was
extremely opportune. The French army which the Danes
had admitted to Holstein intended to cross to Sweden before
the Spring. Their advance-guard of about 8,o00 Spaniards
had reached the Island of Funen (Fyen) protected by the
‘““Princess Christina Frederick,’’ one of the few ships of the
line left to Denmark, when the two British ships the
‘Stately ’’ and “‘ Nassau’’ appeared, and engaging the
Danish ship, drove it ashore and burnt it on Zealand and
isolated the French vanguard.
The effects of this victory were considerable. With Sir
James Saumarez was Sir John Moore and 10,000 men for the
defence of Sweden. But the Swedish King’s behaviour made
their co-operation impossible; and since the safety which
120 FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC.
naval supremacy had achieved rendered them unnecessary,
they returned to England, to find more scope for their acti-
vities in Spain, where Moore was destined to win immortality
at Corunna. Moreover the Spaniards on Funen were but
half-hearted allies of Napoleon and, isolated from French
influence, and in the presence of the visible power of the
British Navy, they decided to change sides and were trans-
ported back to Spain by Saumarez’s subordinate, Sir Richard
Keats, in transports captured from the Danes, there to join
their own countrymen now in revolt against their Buonaparte
king.
ee was the most important action of 1808 on the west
of the Baltic. On the East was Saumarez himself with a
much more difficult problem. With him was Rear-Admiral
Sir Samuel Hood, and about half the British fleet. He was
particularly hampered by three facts, the impossibility of
preventing the invasion of Finland with a naval force, the
shortcomings of the Swedish fleet, and the mass of islands
known as the Skerry Guard round the coast of Finland which
prevented his ships-of-the-line from approaching near enough
to the coastal towns to co-operate in their defence.
Matters were made worse by the surrender to the Rus-
sians in May of the whole of the Swedish fleet on the East
side of the Baltic, 97 ships including the coastal flotillas
which alone could navigate the channels of Skerry Guard.
In face of this the Swedes were compelled to abandon the
succour of Finland by sea. In July Saumarez temporarily
left the Eastern waters to assist Sir Richard Keats to trans-
port the Spaniards from Funen. On his return in August
he lent the Swedes two ships of 74 guns, the “‘Centaur,’’ com-
manded by Sir Samuel Hood, and Captain Byam-Martin in
the “‘Implacable.’’ These joined 11 sail-of-the-line off the
Gulf of Finland and on August 24th they met the Russians
with nine sail-of-the-line and a number of frigates. The
Russians retired. The British gave chase and captured one
ship, but to their disgust the Swedes were so slow that they
were unable to follow and the Russians easily gained Port
Baltic at the south-western corner of the Gulf of Finland.
Saumarez appeared three days later with four battle-
ships but was prevented from attacking Port Baltic for a
week by contrary winds. This gave the Russians time to
fortify the harbour; and when the wind changed again it was
impossible to attack them. After a month of blockade the
approach of winter and the freezing of the Baltic compelled
him to retire to Gothenburg, outside the Baltic, where he
found a fleet of 1,200 sail awaiting convoy to England, a
proof of the success of British presence in the Baltic and of
-
1922.) FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC. 121
the difficulty Napoleon had to compel compliance with the
Berlin decrees. he Danes were the most hostile nation on
th Baltic. The coast towns ot Prussia and Kussia were only
too ready to trade with the British and Swedes.
Sucn were the direct results ot the campaign of 1808.
Indirectiy it had a certain value. Movements were afoot .
which combined to shake the allegiance to France of Russia
and Prussia. JBlticher had already a Prussian army of
50,000 men, a fact which cannot have tailed to exert some
influence on Prussian opinion. Russia was also growing
restive. Saumarez had taken care to acquaint the Isar with
the British successes in Portugal. But a more potent cause
undermining his friendship with Napoleon was the latter’s
aggressive attitude in Poland. Here Russia first began to
perceive that what she had taken for an honest friendship
was merely the cloak for outrageous designs on the integrity
of her empire. In Austria too the spirit of revolt against
French military tyranny was spreading. Silent mobilisation
of men and ot material was in full swing. But before these
tendencies could combine into the premature revolt of 1809
or the Great War of Liberation of 1813, Sweden suffered her
defeat at the hands of Russia.
A triple Russian invasion was planned for the winter of
1808-9 while the ice closed the Gulf of Bothnia to British
ships and provided a bridge for the troops of the Tsar. The
first army moved round the north of the Gulf and defeated
the Swedes at Kalix. The second crossed the Gulf by way
of the Quarken Islands and took Umea. The third crossed
as far as the Aaland Islands, where the thaw caught it and
fererm stranded. ~Iheir objective, Stockholm, was for the
moment saved.
Meantime the Swedish King, Gustavus, had become
hopelessly insane and was deposed in favour of his uncle
Karl, who attempted to come to terms with the Tsar and.
Napoleon, but being unable to obtain favourable conditions
he turned to Saumarez for support, and as the Spring allowed
the fleet to move again he was able to preserve his indepen-
dence for another season. The presence of the British in
the Gulf of Bothnia lengthened the communications of the
Russian Army at Umea which could no longer use the sea.
It began to fall back unsuccessfully harrassed by the Swedes,
but still remained in Sweden. Concurrently with this the
Austrian revolt had been crushed by Napoleon and Russia
was reduced to silence. Under these conditions Karl of
Sweden made peace and the whole of the Baltic ports were
closed to the British. Saumarez still held the sea but in
deference to the request of Karl he retired to Karlskrona and
122 FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC.
thence to Gothenburg whence he convoyed a fleet of 1,000
merchant vessels, which had collected there, to the Downs.
This marks the high-water mark of Napoleon’s success.
Only in Spain and Portugal was there any aay military
resistance to his plans.
Early in 1810 Karl became incapacitated eee the ad-
herence of Sweden to France was shown by their choice of
a new Crown Prince, Bernadotte, Marshall of France, who
had been in command of the abortive attack on Sweden from
Holstein in 1808. Nevertheless as soon as navigation was
possible Saumarez returned to the Baltic. In spite of the
change in the situation produced by the fall of Sweden the
British fleet still had a great work to do in the Baltic. Per-
haps these two years, between the defeat of Sweden and the
outbreak of war between France and Russia, contain the
finest achievement of Saumarez. For during these years,
all that the British arms had failed to do in the seizure of
the Danish fleet, and in the support which was afforded to
Sweden, was won by economic pressure on hostile commerce,
by economic undermining of the continental system, and
above all by the superb tact and diplomacy of Saumarez.
For largely by his skilful exploitation of those events of
1810-12 which tended to widen the breach between the sym-
pathies and ambitions of France and Russia, and which
might be expected to raise the hopes of the party of Liberty
in those countries which were groaning under the tyranny of
Napoleon, there was built up a new order in Europe in which
there stood opposed to French aggression in conjunction with
England and Spain, that Northern Coalition which ever since
1806 it had been the stead fast purpose of the British Govern-
ment to establish.
His work, then, was diplomatic rather than naval. Sur-
rounded by nominally hostile countries, yet secure on his
own element, the sea, he had to foster in all the Baltic
nations those who were for one reason or another favourable
to England or disgusted with Napoleon. To effect this he
was armed with special diplomatic powers as the general
representative of Great Britain in those seas.
In Sweden particularly there never ceased to exist a
strong feeling of sympathy with England. ‘Though she had
made. peace With France she did not formally declare war
on England until June, 1810. Before that time Saumarez
made every effort to retain her trade with England at its
normal level while at the same time maintaining “such a dis-
play of naval force as would amply account “for Swedish
compliance. In the early summer he received Orders in
Council extending those of 1807 to Sweden and ordering
1922. | FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC. 123
him to capture and otherwise molest all ships engaged on the
Swedish coastal trade. He immediately pointed out to the
authorities that this would drive Sweden into the arms of
France. That Sweden preferred the friendship of England
is shown by the fact that the Swedish Government allowed
their Admiral to point out to Saumarez the best place to
shelter the convoys of merchant ships—convoys which were
assembling in direct contradiction to the orders of Napoleon
and the otficial policy of the Swedish Government. On the
Cia-ot june, in reply to the request of Saumarez, the orders
against shipping were rescinded and there seemed fair
prospect of friendly relations being maintained. But this
prospect was of short duration. Four days later Napoleon
compelled Sweden to declare war on England. Even so
Saumarez persisted in his courteous restraint and he shewed
it very shortly afterwards in a peculiarly dramatic and
spectacular fashion. Towards the close of the season
Saumarez had collected his usual convoy which still
amounted to about 1,000 ships to escort home to England.
While the whole fleet was in the narrow belt between Fitiner
and Zealand, Bernadotte proceeding to Sweden after hi
election as Crown Prince and heir to the throne, set out in his
yacht on his way to Sweden, and sailed into the midst of the
British fleet. Nothing shews more clearly the far-sighted
Pm@eeeencrous policy of Saumarez. A French marshall, a
nominee of Napoleon, sovran prince of a country at war with
Paelamcd. in every character he was aman the British
admiral might well have arrested. He might at least have
stopped him and compelled him to come to terms with Eng-
land. Saumarez did none of these things. Bernadotte was
allowed a free passage and as he passed through the great
fleet of merchantmen and men of war he must have realised
at once the impossibility of Sweden actively attacking the
British fleet, and her dependence on her trade with England.
More than that, he could hardly have helped contrasting the
generosity of the British admiral with the arrogant tyranny
of his late master Napoleon.
In this year there was very little active warfare. The
naval domination of the British was recognised, and all that
Saumarez had to deal with were the Danish pirates who
harassed the merchant shipping. Russia was treated in much
the same way as Sweden. The undermining of the con-
tinental system proceeded apace, and since Russia was at
peace with Sweden and diate flect remained in Kronstadt
there was no occasion for active warfare. Saumarez had
already tried to wean the Tsar from his allegiance to
Napoleon by his use of the Portugese liberation as. pro
124 FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC.
paganda in 1809; and as carly as 1808 he had taken the same
attitude when he ordered Sir Samuel Hood, who was
stationed at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland to take care
that he did not frighten the commerce in his neighbourhood.
This attitude of Saumarez in 1810 was unintentionally
assisted by Napoleon early in the next year. Furious with
the failure of his orders to close the Baltic to British trade
he decreed, in defiance of the treaty of Tilsit, the ammexaenam
of Hamburg, Lubeck and the duchy of Oldenburg. This
last particularly irritated the Tsar, whose sister was
Duchess of Oldenburg. Napoleon, however, shortly after
gave further cause of irritation to Russia. In the Milan
decrees early in 1811 he reinforced the famous Berlin decrees
and demanded that the Tsar should confiscate all goods in
Russian ports which came there even under a neutral flag.
The Tsar’s reply was an Imperial Ukase which, while pro-
fessing to adjust the balance of trade in Russia, actually
facilitated the importation of certain goods so long-as the
ships that entered his harbours did not fly the British flag.
The origin of the goods was not to be asked.
This almost amounted to open defiance of Napoleon, and
both Russia and France began to make preparations for the
struggle. France seized Poland and Prussia. For Saumarez
it was an anxious year. Still nominally at war with Sweden
and Russia he had to exercise the most skilful diplomacy; as
precipitate or forceful action on his part might throw Russia
into the arms of France, or bring about the struggle before
Russia was prepared. He could do nothing to accelerate
events and time was on the side of Napoleon. For the
British had to face an increasingly unfavourable exchange
in all the European countries which still traded with her.
The separation from Spain of the Spanish colonies led to
civil disturbance and the interruption of British trade. The
trade with America hardly existed. Saumarez could do
nothing but trust to the effects of his previous diplomacy,
and wait in hopes that the war would occur before the
collapse of British trade. Again Napoleon was within an
ace of success.
Shortly after the arrival of the British fleet in 1811,
Saumarez had an opportunity for the exercise of his
diplomacy. The Swedish admiral confiscated a quantity of
British merchandise in a Swedish harbour; and ordered
three new blockships to be fitted out for the defence of the
port. Saumarez refused to consider this an act of war and
continued to grant licences to Swedish ships. By a combi-
nation of firmness and diplomacy he eventually brought the
Swedish government to compensate for the loss of mer-
1922.] FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETC. 125
chandise, and yet avoided committing Sweden to an open
break with France. ‘This could only have been disastrous,
for the Swedes were traditional enemies of Russia, and in
this delicate situation the Russians might well have sup-
ported Napoleon in an attack on Sweden. On the other
hand, had he acted violently at the first, Sweden might have
been forced to join France and undone all his work. This
delicate diplomatic situation lasted through the summer, and
Saumarez fearing to leave the Baltic till his success was
assured, stayed longer than was safe and lost two ships on
his return yourney. But they were well compensated for in
the success of his work. He had set another year’s example
of generosity and tact into the scales against the arrogance
of Napoleon.
The British Government realising Saumarez’s unrivalled
knowledge of the Baltic situation now took the wise pre-
caution of submitting all correspondence on that subject to
his judgement before any action was taken.
The winter of 1812 was again critical. Sweden was in
an unhappy dilemma. Napoleon as a pledge of her alliance,
occupied the island of Rugen and Swedish Pomerania.
During the winter and in the previous year Bernadotte had
been building up a Swedish army and navy and Napoleon
was doubtless suspicious of its purpose. The scale was
shghtly turned against him by a secret message from the
Tsar that he intended to resist the demands of Napoleon in
the Milan decrees and that he hoped for the support of
England and Sweden. Against this Bernadotte had to set
the fact that British financial support would be needed to
put his fleet and army into action, and, as ne well knew,
British finances were not in a flourishing condition.
In this uncertain condition of affairs the ** Victory’’ with
Saumarez in command arrived again off Gothenburg in the
early Spring of 1812. ‘This year his chief purpose was to
prevent a French occupation of the Danish islands in the
Sound for the purpose of attacking Sweden. To effect this
his mere presence was sufficient. At the same time the Danes
were becoming less hostile, and in the Autumn they made
Peace. Thus the tact of Saumarez removed the bitterness
caused by the Copenhagen expeditions of 1801 and 1807 and
destroyed the hostility of fe Danes as it had won the
friendship of the Swedes.
But the central interest of the year was the conversion
@t the great Russian empire into an active enemy of
Napoleon. Britain had kept the seas for five years waiting
for a military ally who should enable her to complete on
Jand the great work which she had begun at sea. Now at last
126 FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, eT@
there arose a military power capable of sufficient exertion and
keyed up to the necessary pitch of determination to establish
a firm root of resistance to Napoleon, which was to blossom
forth in 1813 in the great war of Liberation.
The stages by which the coalition was built up followed
one another quickly in the Spring and early Summer of 1812.
On March 24th a treaty of alliance had already been signed
between Russia and Sweden, whereby the latter country once
more pledged herself to take part in a coalition against
Napoleon. The difficulty of Finland was surmounted with
characteristic ease by the Tsar, who simply offered the whole
territory of Norway in exchange. That it was not his to
give seems to have troubled his otherwise sensitive conscience
not at all; and it must be confessed that it appeared to affect
the British Government little more. This practically brought
the coalition into existence. The formal Peace was signed
at Orebro on July i8th between England, Russia and
Sweden.
Saumarez was in the Baltic again the following year,
and it was there that he heard the news of the retreat from
Moscow. It was fitting that he should hear of his triumph
on the scene of his labours, but his work was concluded in
1812, and in 1813 he was superseded 1n the Baltic command.
It had ceased to be of primary importance and he was no
longer needed there.
It was the peace of Orebro that marked the real triumph
of the British naval policy of 1810-1812 in the Baltic.
Saumarez’s diplomatic handling of the pseudo-enmity of
Sweden, and of what had lately become the purely formal
hostility of Russia had at last reaped its reward. “‘ Had
you fired one shot at us when we went to war with you,’’ wrote
the Swedish minister to Saumarez, ‘‘all had been ended and
Furope had been enslaved.’’ Bernadotte’s present of a
diamond-hilted sword was perhaps a less explicit way of
expressing the same idea. That this was no momentary ex-
pression of gratitude in the hour of relief, but that it was
the considered judgment of the Swedish Government has
been doubly shewn by the subsequent action of the Swedes.
In 1835, Bernadotte, now Charles XIV., presented a magni-
ficent portrait of himself to Saumarez with the inscription,
“Charles XTV. John to James Lord de Saumarez in the name
of the Swedish people, 1811 & 1812.’’ In 1910 the Swedish
Government sent two warships to Guernsey to place a wreath
on the Delancey monument to Saumarez. Attached to it
were two ribbons. On one was written the statement of the
Admiral: ‘“‘Nothing could shake my confidence in the
Swedes.’’ On the other was written, ‘‘A tribute of admira-
1922.) FIRST LORD DE SAUMAREZ, ETO. Tor
tion and gratitude to the memory of Vice-Admiral Lord de
Saumarez, Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic, 1808-1812.”’
The British similarly honoured him, and in 1831 he was
raised to the peerage, the first time that honour had been con-
ferred on a Guernseyman.
Although in many histories the name of Saumarez meets
but a passing mention or is entirely ignored, this view of his
services is by no means hyperbolical.. For it cannot be dis-
puted that the entry of Russia into the war led to the down-
fall of Napoleon. And Russia had been largely won over
to the Allies by the policy of Saumarez and his fleet in 1811
and 1812. It was in his effort to combat the attempt of the
Retisa fic) ruin his economic system in the Baltic that
Napoleon was misguided into challenging the Tsar. It was
in his determination not to carry out his last and most 1m-
possible demands in this single respect that the Tsar finally
challenged Napoleon. In their exchange of ultimata before
the outbreak of hostilities other demands and _ counter-
demands multiply and diminish, vanish and re-appear, the
one count which is always stated is the refusal to bar all
sea-borne traffic, English or neutral, from Russian ports.
The true cause of the Moscow campaign was the refusal of
the Tsar to deprive himself of the trade advantages which
were secured to him by the presence of Saumarez in the
Baltic.
THE GEOLOGY OF ALDERMIge
BY GEORGE HORACE PLYMEN, MSc., Pu.D., F.GS.
ALDERNEY 1s three and a half miles long, from N.E. to S.W..,
and its width 1s about one mile. The western portion reaches
a height of three hundred feet, sloping to one hundred and
forty feet to the south of Longy Bay. From this point,
northward and westward, the land inclines gently to the sea.
The geological succession is as follows :—
PERMO-CARBONIFEROUS :
Dolerite and Lamprophyre Dykes.
CAMBRIAN :
Grits, arkose, and conglomerate.
PRE-CAMBRIAN :
Granite porphyry.
Aplite veins and sills.
Granite and hornblende-granite.
Quartz-diorite.
Dolerite.
Gabbro.
The later dykes are best considered after the Cambrian
and pre-Cambrian rocks.
THE CAMBRIAN GRITS.
The grits occur in three areas, north-east, east, and
south-east. The first stretches from Corblets Bay to Longy
Bay. The second, separated from the former by modern
sands, reaches from Longy Bay to L’Etac a la Quoire. The
third, an isolated outlier, is a small patch opposite Coque
Lihou Island. ‘The complete series shows the following, a
succession of at least 1,200 feet of conglomerates, sandstones,
grits and arkose : —
Feet. LOCALITY.
10.—Faint pink arkose ............ 110
9.—White arkose................ AQ) Hommet Herbé.
8.—Dark purple arkose .......... 50 '
S. of Hommet Herbé, and
7.—White arkose .............0: a 400 Mannez Quarry, E. end
(90ft. seen).
G:=—-Pimk arkose Unt. 8a LS Mannez Quarry.
5.—Pink arkose, variegated
with green sandstone .... 575 Mannez Quarry, Berry’s
Quarry, Hanging Rocks
and north shore.
4.—White arkose with grit ... 40 La Quoire, Corblets Bay.
3.—Red arkose, variegated
with green ‘sandstone .... 48 Coque Lihou.
2.—Red grit, pebbly and sandy 10 Coque Lihou and Ta
Quoire.
1,—Conglomerate _....... Alert 5 Coque Lihou.
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