POPULAR BELIEFS. 



2 47 



We cannot attempt to give even a summary description of the extrava- 

 gances to which the celebration of the festival of the Buffoons, orof the Innocents, 

 gave rise in the various localities where they were carried on. At Noyon, 

 Senlis, Corbie, Rheims, Toul, Bayeux, Rouen, Vienne in Dauphiny, Viviers 

 in Provence, &c., the reign of Folly was annually proclaimed, and lasted a 

 more or less considerable period. The processions, the cavalcades, the 

 mummeries, the parodies of the most solemn actions, and of the most staid 

 personages, made up this popular festival, which, when it had been excluded 



L,e Monde eft-pleinJeTous, ct tjui nen.veutpouavou> 

 I>oit Jemciirer tout feul, ct cafler fon. miroir. 



Fig. 176. Chariot of the Mire Folk, which figured at Dijon in 1610. Fac-simile of Design 

 communicated by M. Euggieri. 



from the sanctuary, was kept up amidst debauchery and riot in the highways. 

 At that period each town had its own special procession or show : that of the 

 Spinet at Lille; of the Mere Folk at Dijon; of the Prince of Love at 

 Touruay ; of the Prince of Youth at Soissons ; of the Caritats at Beziers ; 

 and they were all imitations of the Feast of Buffoons, foreshadowing, so to 

 speak, the coming of the theatre, for these processions were accompanied 

 by scenes enacted in dumb-show, or with the accompaniment of dialogue, 



