Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/371

 ii s. v. APRIL 20, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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Briton, the " Nive " and the " Nivelle." The Nive is a little river flowing northward from the Pyrenees to Bayonne, and this five days' stern struggle would now be called the " Battle of Biarritz," raging, as it did, around the present site of the Negresse rail- way station. But in Wellington's time the town which straggles two miles inland was a village on the coast, and his " far-flung battle line " extended for some nine miles from the sea on that occasion. In the churchyard of the picturesque little Basque village of Arcangues all unchanged since those grim days of December, 1813 is a marble cross in the form of the Distinguished Service Order, bearing the inscription :

" A la M6moire des Soldats Anglais et Francais qui sont tombed sur le Champ d'Honneur dans les Batailles de la Nive le 10, 11, et 12 De"cembre, 1813, ensevelis dans ce Cimeti^re."

" To mark the resting-place of brave men, this cross was placed here by Lt.-Colonel W. Hill James, late 31st Regiment, April, 1897, the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria."

It appears that when her late Majesty visited this spot (during the winter of 1888 1889), she made a remark as to the absence of any such memorial, and the gallant and distinguished author of ' Battles round Biarritz ' chose the Diamond Jubilee year as a suitable date for paying this tactful, though tardy tribute to the great valour displayed on both sides during the struggle in the district which has long been his home and special study. Some humble contem- porary memorials, however, exist. The garden of the " Mayor's House," the quaint old Basque country mansion of Baroilhet, contains an ivy-grown cairn of stones, with a slab inscribed :

Ci-glt le Lieut.-Col. S. C. Martin les capitaines Thomson et Watson de la Garde Royale de S.M. Britannique

tu6s sur le champ de bataille le 14 Dec., 1813.

This house and garden, by the way, are still owned by a member of the same family as in 1813, Dr. Laborde being an indirect descendant of M. Jean Commamale, who (as a Royalist) gave what aid he could to the forces acting against the " Corsican usurper's " troops.

South-west from Baroilhet runs the road to Bidart church, a landmark familiar to every traveller on the Bayonne-Irun line. Under the walls of this little white fane is a large tomb surmounted by a sculptured urn, and inscribed on three faces :

A la M^moire de Lieut.-Colonel Rickard Lloyd

Tue au combat de la Nive le 10 D6cembre 1813

a la Tete du 84 e Regiment d'Infanterie Anglaise

Ag6 de 37 ans.

Admir6 et respect^ par sa Patrie reconnaissante- Honor6 et estime par ses Offlciers et ses Soldats Cheri et regrett6 par ses nombreux Amis.

Pour perpetuer le souvenir de ses Vertus Ce monument lui a 4t elev6

par sa Veuve

(Avec 1' approbation des Autorit^s FranQaises)

comme un Te'moignage de sa Felicit6 passed

Et dans I'humble Esp6rance d'une Reunion-

heureuse.

Lecteur A quelque Nation que tu appartiennes

Reflechis

En contemplant ce tribut de 1' Affection Conjugale- Que 1'Amour de la Patrie, 1'Honneur, la PhUan-

tbropie, et le Respect pour les Restes du M6rite et de la

Valeur Sont naturels dans tous les climats.

A further inscription on the base of the- pedestal explains the singularly satisfactory state of preservation of this century-old tomb :

" Restaur6 par souscription en Juin, 1904, la liste des souscripteurs est d6pose"e & la Mairie et au Presbytere."

The badge of the York and Lancaster Regiment (ex-65th and 84th Foot) engraved on this slab leads one to think that some officers of that corps suggested or supported this work of renovation.

The crossing of the Nivelle (a river run- ning into the Bay of Biscay at St. Jean de Luz, more or less parallel to the Bidassoa) on 30 Nov., 1813, cost Wellington 500 killed and 2,400 wounded ; but the numerous British graves which were dug in this pretty valley between the Great Rhune and the Pas de Roland seem all unmarked.

We now cross the Bidassoa and enter Spanish territory. The following notice appeared in the Paris Figaro at the time of King Edward VII. 's last sojourn at Biarritz :

" As the result of a visit made to-day by the King of England to Vera, a tiny Spanish Basque village in the Bidassoa valley, a monument is to be erected in honour of the officers and soldiers of the three regiments of Alten's division who, on 7 Oct., 1813, took, not without great loss, the Puerto de Vera from Soult's forces. This was one of the bloodiest episodes of Wellington's passage of the Bidassoa. The discovery of several aban- doned tombs of British officers has suggested to some noble families who winter in the Basque country this pious idea of raising a monument to the victims of the combat."

The notice concludes by mentioning the personages who greeted the King : the Rev. Fish, the local authorities, the Cur6 of

Vera, and M. Alfred Budd, British Vice- Consul at San Sebastian. His Majesty selected the square in front of the church as a suitable site, and said " he hoped to come