Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/449

 The Chcz'auchcc dc St. JMichcl. 417

sound of a buckle the pions rejoined the bridle reins of their cavaliers, and they were there met by His Majesty's repre- sentative, the Governor, with his staff, the baiUff of Guern- sey, and various island gentlemen. In 18 13 the Governor, Sir John Doyle, had decorated his horses with red ribbons in honour of the Chevauchce.

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 de- scribed them, " revetus d'un surplis en forme de chemise,"^ and in large straw hats with turned down brims. This very unmilitary costume must, I think, have been tradi- tionally associated with the Chevauchce, 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 musicians. 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 ciuirch stood a round table, covered with a white tablecloth and supplied with bread and wine. Here the King's sheriiT and the King's ser- geant dismounted, and the rest of the cavalcade made a tour round the table, taking refreshment from the hands of these two King's officers as they did so. This old offer- ing of bread and wine may have been a feudal due volun- tarily 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 site once stood the Fontaine St. Pierre, and next to it once stood an ancient stone marking the boun- daries of the fief owned by the abbot of Marmoutiers. On this stone the vavasseurs of this feudal Court used to call

'^ Le Miroir politique, lo'"* Juin, 1813.