Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/448

 41 6 The Clievauchdc dc St. Michel.

eacli sheriff approached his respective fief, he carried the wand and rode in front of the procession whilst his own domain was being traversed. During the procession the lance-bearer carried a wand of eleven and a quarter feet long, and any obstacle this wand encountered, stones,, branches, debris, etc., had to be cleared away and the pro- prietor fined, which helped to defray the day's expenses.

From time immemorial the especial and recognized privi- lege of the pions — who were chosen for their good looks — was that of kissing every woman they met, whether gentle or simple, married or single. Governor's wife or labourer's daughter, the only restriction being that only one pion was allowed to kiss the same lady. This privilege was, of course, invariably exercised.

After leaving the Court the procession entered the Braye du Valle, and there the seneschal freed the pions from their attendance on the bridle reins and gave them autho- rity to embrace any woman they might meet, recommend- ing good behaviour, and directing them to join their cavaliers at the Hougue-a-la-Perre. The route .followed was through the Braye by an old roadway now closed, bordered by sea-walls and terminating at the Rue du Vidcocq, then through la Rue des Mares Pelees 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