Sans mât, sans ancre, sans timon,
Sans aliment, sans aviron;
Allez, faire un triste naufrage!
Retirez-vous d’ici, laissez-nous en repoz,
Allez, crever parmi les flots.
Guided by Providence, the bark at length stranded on the isle of Camargue, in Provence; and the exiles, thus miraculously delivered from the perils of the sea, dispersed over Gaul, and became its first evangelists. Mary Magdalene retired to the desert of La Sainte Baume, to weep over her sins. The other two Maries—the mother of St. James the Less, and Mary Salome, mother of St. John the Evangelist and St. James the Great—accompanied by their maid Sara, converted to the new faith some of the neighboring people, and then returned to the place of their landing to die. (See Canto XI.)
“It is reported that a prince whose name is unknown, learning that the bodies of the holy Maries were interred on this spot, built a church over it in the form of a citadel, that it might be safe from piratical invasion. He also built houses round the church and ramparts, for the safety of the inhabitants. The buildings that remain bear out this tradition.” ↩
The choir of the church presents the peculiarity of being composed of three stories—a crypt, which is pointed out as the very site of the ancient oratory of the saints; a sanctuary, raised higher than usual; and a chapel above, where the reliquaries are exposed. A chain is attached to the latter, so that, by the unwinding of a capstan, they may be let down into the church. The moment when they descend is the one propitious to miracles, like that which Vincen describes. ↩
John of Cossa, a Neapolitan noble who had followed King René. He was Grand Seneschal of Provence, and died in 1476. John of Cossa is very popular at Tarascon, where the people ascribe to him the building of St. Martha’s steeple. He is interred in the crypt of that church; and his statue, in a recumbent attitude, surmounts the tomb. ↩
The chivaus-frus, or painted cardboard horses, used in Provence at public rejoicings, and particularly at Aix in the Fête Dieu. The seeming riders attach them to the waist, and prance the streets to the sound of the tambourine. ↩
Magnarello are women silkworm rearers. Magnan are silkworms. ↩
Silkworms live in the larva state about thirty-four days; and, in this interval, moult, or shed their skin, four times. At the approach of each of these periods, they become, as it were, paralyzed, and cease eating—dormon. They say in Provençal dourmi de la proumiero, di doz, di tres, di quatre, which means, literally, sleeping the first, second, third, fourth (moult). ↩
A gray-crested lark—the Alauda cristata. ↩
“The muslin of thy cap.” The Crau women wear their hair tightly enveloped in a kerchief of fine, transparent linen or muslin, around which is passed a band of velvet, usually of a blue-black, at a distance of about one-third from the top of the muslin, leaving, therefore, so much of it visible. Another turn is then passed immediately below the first, and then another, until two-thirds of the muslin are concealed. The black band is finally fastened at the back of the head with a large gold pin; while the other end, to the length of about a foot, is left pendant. On either side of the forehead, the hair is suffered to fall as low as the cheekbone, where it is gracefully curved back, and gathered under the muslin. ↩
“Cooked wine.” The grape-juice, on being removed from the press, is boiled in a cauldron, and, after one year’s bottle, has the color and flavor of the best Spanish wines. The Provençaux drink it at feasts, galas, and always at Christmas. ↩
Vultures. The Vultur percnoptus. ↩
Gregali, gregau, and gre are all words used to signify the Grelk, or northeast wind. ↩
“The golden goat,” la cabro d’or, is a phrase used to signify some treasure or talisman, that the people imagine to have been buried by the Saracens, under some one or other of the antique monuments of Provence. Some allege that it lies under the Mausoleum of Saint Rémy; others, under the Baux rocks. “This tradition,” says George Sand (in Les Visions de la Nuit dans les Campagnes), “is universal. There are few ruins, castles, or monasteries, few Celtic monuments, that have not their treasure hidden away somewhere, and guarded by some diabolic animal. M. Jules Canonge, in a charming collection of Southern tales, has rendered graceful and beneficent the poetical apparition of the golden goat, the guardian of the riches hidden in the bosom of the earth.” ↩
The cocooning, or gathering of the cocoons, described in the seventh stanza of this canto. ↩
The Ferigoulet is an excellent wine grown on one of the hillsides of Graveson. Ferigoulo is thyme, and the wine recalls the perfume of that plant. ↩
“The Baume Muscat.” Baume is a village in the department of Vaucluse. The environs produce a Muscat that is much esteemed. ↩
“Turned white.” The canela, or whitening, is the term used to describe the silkworms suffering from the terrible disease called the muscardine, due to the development of a sort of mouldiness, and which gives them a plaster-like appearance. ↩
“You’ve still your caul on,”—as ta crespino. Crespino, a cap, is also used for the membrane some children have upon their heads at birth, and which is supposed to be a sign of good
