244 THE CHEVAUCHEE DE ST. MICHEL. 



to Sohier, Les Landes, and along La Rue des Marais, where they 

 came out on La Grande Rue and passed between La Mare 

 San sonnet and Bordeaux Harbour. They then went through 

 another road now closed up, south of the Rocque Barree, and 

 then to Les Bordages across Le Grand Pont to the Ronde 

 Cheminee and thence to the Hougue a la Perre. One halting 

 place was at a small menhir, now destroyed, called La Pierre 

 Pointue, which was situated at Les Monts on the boundaries of 

 the Fief d'Anneville. There formerly existed a Cross, La 

 Croix des Monts, in its immediate vicinity. Round this stone 

 the procession passed, from East to West, and the pions danced. 



At Hougue a la Perre they entered Fief le Roi, and at the 

 sound of a bugle the pions rejoined the bridle reins of their 

 Cavaliers, and they were there met by His Majesty's Represent- 

 ative the Governor, with his Staff, the Bailiff of Guernsey, and 

 various Island gentlemen. In 1813 the Governor, Sir John 

 Doyle, had decorated his horses with red ribbons in honour of 

 the Chevauchee. 



The whole cavalcade then moved on, preceded by the band 

 of the town regiment who also met. them on the boundaries of 

 the Royal fief. These musicians were dressed in long white 

 smocks, or, as the local paper described them, " revetus d'un 

 surplis en forme de cheruise, ,,(1 ) and in large straw hats with 

 turned down brims. This very unmilitary costume must, I 

 think, haye been traditionally associated with the Chevauchee 

 as it is quite unlike all the uniforms of that date worn by our 

 local Militia ; it may have been a survival of some ancient, 

 perhaps rustic, possibly priestly, band of minstrels and musi- 

 cians. Six of our local cavalry or dragoons brought up the 

 rear and thus augmented they marched through the Pollet into 

 High Street, arriving at the Church of St. Peter-Port at noon. 



At the west door of the Church stood a round table, covered 

 with a white table cloth and supplied with bread and wine. 

 Here the King's Sheriff and the King's Sergeant dismounted 

 and the rest of the Cavalcade made a tour round the table taking 

 refreshments from the hands of these two King's Officers as they 

 did so. This old offering of bread and wine may have been a 

 feudal due voluntarily incurred by the King in gratitude for 

 having his highway kept in repair, but more probably it was a 

 survival of some primitive festival once held on this spot. For 

 just opposite this spot once stood the Fontaine St. Pierre and 

 next to it once stood an ancient stone marking the boundaries 

 of the Fief owned by the Abbot of Marmoutiers. On this stone 

 the Vavasseurs of this feudal Court used to call over the names 

 of the Yilleins at their triennial meetings. Probably the circu- 

 lar tour, which in later times was made round the table, ori- 

 ginally was made round the stone. 



(1) Le Miroir Politique, lOme Juki, 1813. 



