546 CHATEAU DE COU11CY. 



amid the ruins ; and who holds out her dishrevelled hand, into which 

 the wanderer must deposit an offering, to escape her maledic- 

 tions. There, where the Chatelain de Courcy sighed his tender com- 

 plaints and his love for the Dame de Farel, you will hear but the 

 croakings of the raven, or the shrill cry of the owls, those ill-omened 

 minstrels, whom the noise of your footsteps frighten to their gloomy 

 retreats. Seek no more for traces of those lofty halls, of those im- 

 mense apartments, which the almost regal magnificence of the Sires 

 de Courcy, had embellished with feudal splendour ; for ruins, and no- 

 thing but ruins, covered with ivy, wild roses, and parasite plants, are 

 all that you will find. A single edifice, among this chaotic mass 

 still remains to attest its former magnificence. The strong tower, 

 that incomparable pile, rears proudly to the heavens a lofty front, as- 

 sailed in vain for centuries by the tempest, whitened with age, but 

 still majestic ; three of its sides were rent by an earthquake 200 

 years ago, but its walls, twenty-two feet thick, and its solid founda- 

 tions, will yet survive more than one generation. 



Like all other feudal manors, the chateau de Courcy has its le- 

 gends. One terrible catastrophe, known to every one, and which has 

 inspired more than one poet and romancer, is connected with this 

 spot, by the name of its hero. We allude to the ill-fated loves of 

 the Chatelain de Courcy and the Dame de la Farel. Who has not 

 felt horror-struck on reading this frightful drama? Who has not 

 been deeply affected, in dwelling upon the maddening grief of the 

 unfortunate mistress of the brave Chatelain, when her barbarous 

 husband informs her, that the dish she had found so delicious, was 

 the heart of her lover. This adventure has, for ages past, continued 

 to be related at Courcy; but distorted by fables, that do more honour 

 to the imagination than to the erudition of the inhabitants. Some 

 will shew, with the best faith in the world, the dungeon in which the 

 lady was confined ; others, with equal assurance, point out the very 

 stone upon which the cook prepared the horrible repast. The worthy 

 Picardians quite overlook the circumstance that the chateau de Farel, 

 the scene of the tragedy, is twelve leagues from de Courcy, near St. 

 Quentin. ec Et voila bien comme on ecrit Vhisloire!" 



But all the legends of de Courcy are not so sombre. We shall 

 give one, the details of which are full of " bizzarrerie." It is related, 

 that in the year 1120, Enguerrand, the second Sire de Courcy, was 

 one day informed that a lion was ravaging the environs of his castle. 

 How a lion found its way into Picardy, is a point that we shall not 

 stop to examine; but this lion devoured cattle, and sometimes men, 

 and spread terror through the country. In such a conjuncture, could 

 Enguerrand hesitate what course to pursue ? Without any other 

 companion than a peasant, who undertook to show him the lion's 

 den, armed only with his sword and shield, he set out. About two 

 leagues distant from de Courcy, in a wild and desolate spot, in the 

 middle of a thick forest, the peasant showed Enguerrand the lion, at 

 the moment that he was almost upon him. " Oh, oh," said le Sire 

 de Courcy, " Tu me I' as de pres montre! " and, attacking courageously 

 the animal, soon slew him, and shortly after, on the very spot, says the 

 Chronicle, in conjunction with Saint Norbert, founded the abbey of 



