Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/459

 The Chcvaiich(^c dc St. Michel. 425

The case was argued before the Court of St. Michel on the 9th July 1439, ^"<^ by " "'"' bo" ^^ loyal serment de douze prud'hommes de la dite paroisse de St. Michel du Valle" — who, of course, found it more profitable to agree with the abbot on the spot than with the King in the offing — unanimously decided that His Majesty owed these repasts "de droit et d'ancienne coustume." '*

As a matter of fact, in the Royal Extente or Rent Roll of 1 33 1 these meals were not included in the list of dues owed by the King to his subjects. On the contrary, it is there stated that the abbot owed the Royal Court " trois diners ou repas, au Baillif, au Clerq, au Prevost, et au Bedel, avec trois chevaulx et deux garcons, de coutume anciennc," and although the Chevauchee is not mentioned b)' name, this clause undoubtedly refers to it, as the significant proviso is made that due notice should be given to the abbot by the King's sheriff, and that a Saturday should intervene between the notice and the feast, "pour achapter les vitailles pour Ic dit disner" — which points to the abbot's feast being a movable one, whereas the Court of Chief Pleas, after which the King's dinners are always given, is held at a certain fixed date. Thus it is evident that the Norman abbots with great astuteness had managed to transfer these expenses from their own shoulders to those of an English king to whom they owed no allegiance.

An analysis of these different customs discloses various layers or strata built up by successive stages of civilization.

Beginning at the top, we find its latest and most obvious development, the inspection of the roads and the due main- tenance of the King's highways. A little deeper down we come to the feasting and the dancing at various points, all originally connected with boundary stones, along the route.

No actual record of the dances danced at the Chevauchee has come down to us, but the one traditional dance con-

'* This judgment was ratified by a decree of the Royal ('ourt dated i6th May 1572 {Jtigeiiiettts ei Records, 134 A. Guernsey Greffe).

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