Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/357

Rh In France "La Bête" was taken very seriously. A proclamation was posted up all over Languedoc:—

On Jan. 9, 1765, an entire troop of French light horse was dispatched under Capt. Duhamel in quest of the animal, and on this occasion the Bishop of Mende said a solemn mass, and the consecrated Host was elevated in the cathedral, which was thronged by the devout for the entire day.

The most absurdly exaggerated stories were related of the "beast." We are told that it

On another occasion it was said to have snapped a woman's head off at one bite.

The career of "La Bête" came to an end on Sept. 20, 1765. On that day M. Antoine de Beauterne, who had come from another part of France on purpose to slay the beast, shot him in the eye at about fifty paces distant. The animal was finished off by Reinhard, the Duke of Orleans's gamekeeper. Beauterne set out for Versailles with the body, in order to present it to the King. Walpole wrote to Lady Hervey from Paris on Oct. 3, 1765, saying:—

On the same day Walpole wrote to John Chute:—

The work which refers to, called 'La Bête du Gévaudan,' was written by M. Élie Berthet and published in Paris first in 1858 (5 vols.), with a second edition in 1862. A poem on the subject, widely read at the time, was called 'Sur la Bête monstrueuse et cruelle du Gévaudan.' It was written by Baron de R, a certain "gentilhomme de Picardie." It may be found in Le Journal Encyclopédique for Oct. 1, 1765. Two most admirable articles upon "La Bête" appeared in English magazines: the first in Household Words, Nov. 20, 1858, and the second in The Argosy, vol. iv. pp. 54-62. Larousse's 'Grand Dictionnaire' also has some very interesting details under the heading 'Bête du Gévaudan.'

It is interesting to know that in 1632 the same part of France was terrorized by a monster of a similar kind to "La Bête." Particulars of this will be found in

This is referred to in 'Bibliographie des Traditions et de la Litt. Populaire de l'Auvergne,' par H. Gaidoz et Paul Sébillot, Clermont-Ferrand, 1885.

The beast was a very large and terrible wolf, as tall as a young calf, which, after many thrilling episodes, was killed on Sept. 21, 1765. Many details about the reputed havoc and the chase are to be found in the Archives of the Puy de Dôme; they have been repeatedly used in provincial publications. See 'Congrès archéologique de France,' 1858, p. 21; Bulletin de la Société d'agriculture de la Lozère, 1872, xxii. p. 91; 1884, xxxv. p. 189. I have also seen a very rare book on the subject, printed by the author himself, a village priest, but I do not remember the exact title.

(12 S. i. 207, 273).—The Patent Roll of 1411 records "Twysontheday,' [sic] showing that "Twisaday" is the proper spelling and meaning (11 S. x. 146). This surname is in the present 'P.O. London Directory' (Court Section).