ST. I'lCTEFj-poKT IX r.V(;()Xi-: riMKs. ;5;>9 



so-called it is impossible to say for certain now. It may have 

 been built about fifty years before the wall, when one Ralph 

 Gancl was Bailiff, and may have taken its name from him* or it 

 may have been named after the town of Gand, or Ghent, then 

 playing a prominent part in European history ; or even after 

 the King's son, who was born in that old city, and l^ecame 

 known as Jean de Gand, or John of Gaunt. One is sorry to 

 notice that the name " La Tourgand " is no longer affixed to 

 one of the walls of the neighbourhood as formerly it was. 



But there cannot be a moment's doubt as to the origin of 

 the name of the fellow fortalice at the other extremity of the 

 town. Standing nearly upon the spot now occupied by St. 

 Barnabas' Church, the view which the Tour Beauregard 

 commanded, of both sea and land, was magnificent. No great 

 acquaintance with the science of fortification was needed to 

 perceive what an ideal situation for a fortress and watch-tower 

 it held, for from its summit every corner of the enceinte of 

 the town wall must have been visible. That it was an 

 important fortification is evident ; again and again we find "our 

 Tower of Beauregard " specially mentioned in the commissions 

 of Governors of Guernsey as being placed in their keeping. 

 The first such mention occurs in the commission of William 

 de Asthorpe, in December, 1373. When the Governor was not 

 resident, he appointed a Warden of the Tower, and I find that 

 this officer's salary, in the year 1439, was thirty-two crowns per 

 annum, the Bailiff at the same period receiving thirty francs. 

 As a crown seems to have been worth three francs at this time, 

 the Warden's salary was more than three times that of the 

 Bailiff. The last official notice of this Tower on record is 

 contained in one of these Warden's commissions, dated 

 December 1160, in which the Great Earl of Warwick, Richard 

 Xevill, the King-Maker, then Governor of Guernsey, appoints 

 Drouet Le Marchant the Warden. The fortress was surrounded 

 by a Belle, that is a Bailey or Yar<l, and within this Yard were 

 reared the Gallows, the Stake, and the Rack ; and in the cruel 

 old days the Tower and Tower Hill of St. Peter-Port must have 

 witnessed many tragedies, as did their greater and more famous 

 brethren, the ToAver and Tower Hill of London. I know that 

 the foot of Tower Hill in the Bordage is spoken of as the scene 

 of executions, but upon what authority I cannot find. 



On the ridge of the hill between Fountain and Cornet 

 Streets stood the barracks occupied by the Guard of the Tower, 

 and from the huts in which the3^ dwelt, the locality came to be 

 called Les Cottes, that is The Huts, a name by which it was 

 always known until about fifty years ago, when some wag 



This explanation must be put aside, as it is now ascertained to liave originated 

 in a mis-interpretation of abbreviations in an ancient document, where the name is 

 written " Rad : Gaut : " i.e. Radulphus Gaul ee^ Ralph Gautier. (Havet Cours 

 Royalos df;^ T^1fs Xormandcs, pa'r> ]{]?,. > 



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