FRENCH COLOMBIER 



building with foundations firmly planted in the 

 ground, and with its nests, called ^o«/fW, cover- 

 ing the interior of the walls from floor to roof. 

 The law did not concern itself with the mere 

 fuie orvokere,hoth. of which were of the nature 

 of the wooden structures often seen attached 

 to English stable-walls and gable-ends. 



Standing apparently on a somewhat de- 

 batable ground between these two extremes 

 was the colombier surpiliers, built upon stone 

 pillars, or sometimes on wooden posts. Gener- 

 ally such a structure was held to be exempt 

 from restrictions, but in Brittany, as also in 

 Touraine, it ranked as a colombier a pied. 



Too numerous to be mentioned are the 

 many local variations of this general law. In 

 some districts a member of the privileged 

 orders could, were he of the noblesse, erect 

 his dovecote with no questions asked; as a 

 roturier he must first obtain permission from 

 authority. The evil of numerous dovecotes 

 was not long in being felt; and from time to 

 time various measures were taken to minimise 

 the wrong. In some parts of France a dove- 

 cote could not be maintained, even by those 



19 



