130

RUE DE BASSELIN.

an angle of the road sat down on some felled trees by the side of a pretty bridge, opposite to a romantic-looking thatched cottage, which formed so pleasing an object with its background of high grey rocks festooned with grape vine, that I began to sketch it, the more interested on perceiving on a small tablet in front an inscription stating it to be the first house in the Rue de Basselin. There, then, I thought probably lived the poet of the Vaux, perhaps in this very house; but while I was musing on the subject, a traveller passing on horseback observed my occupation, and dismounting, with great politeness informed me that I had mistaken the spot, for though this picturesque Rue had its name from the poet, the mill and house where he was born and sung was at the other end of the lane. As he spoke, he pointed it out, and I then saw at once the difference in the age of the two buildings. A modern house has been added to the mill, the stream of which is wilder here than in any other part, as it rushes over stones, which form it into a little cataract. Part of the origistriped front, low

nal tenement remains with its doors, and projecting stories: immediately opposite rises a magnificent rock, and the road from that point becomes more and more precipitous, breaking into a thousand beauties at every ascent.

Behind the poet's mill, stretching far into the Vaux, is the Coteau des Cordéliers, where once stood the convent of his monkish enemies, who could overlook his movements rather more, probably, than he desired. Nothing can be more romantic and pretty than this situation, and our guide was as much pleased as ourselves at discovering a new feature in the tour, for though he had heard something of the mill, he was ignorant of the poet, and when I told him of the enmity between Basselin and the monks, his Spanish recollections of numerous peccadillos on the part of his old acquaintances of the fraternity revived, not in a manner peculiarly complimentary to the reve

132

THE LITTLE FAIRY.

rend fathers. As we sat enjoying this scene, the clear river rushing along beside us, the waterfalls murmuring on all sides, a bright clear sky, grey fantastic rocks and verdant coteaux surrounding us with beauty; the presence in this quiet place of a little fairy seemed all that was wanting, and as if to complete the picture, we were presently joined by a pretty innocent black-eyed child, of between two and three years old, who, with all the unsuspicious freedom of infancy, came to make acquaintance with us, and to tell us her little stories of new sabots and clean aprons. Such a little chatterbox as Therèse I have seldom seen, though with all her good will her tongue had not yet the power of her imagination. We found that both her father and mother were occupied in the mills, and during their absence she was left to the care of other little girls similarly situated, and thus they wandered about in the sunny valleys, some of their parents stealing occasionally a few minutes to look after them. The air of independence of "la petite Moriscoe," as our guide, who like most soldiers seemed very fond of children, called her, was peculiarly amusing, and her manners so interesting, that we parted from her with regret after giving her a bonbon and the kiss which she put up her pretty little mouth to receive. She was

POET OF THE VAUX.

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just the sort of being to live in the poet's valley and haunt the poet's mill.

But I must give a short account of the poet of the Vaux and his follower, which may perhaps be new to the general reader, as well as his poems, which have never been translated into English, and are but little known in France.

CHAPTER IX.

The Bocage and its Poets. -Basselin and Le Houx.

BASSELIN.

LIVIER BASSELIN lived about the middle of the fifteenth century. He was the proprietor

of a fulling mill amongst the deep valleys which have been already described, which was

his court, where flocked around him the subjects of his eloquence and the slaves of his verse. His mill flourished; that is, it produced enough for his moderate wants: and what cared he for the pettish murmurs of his relations, who urged him to increase his wealth and suspend his enjoyments? So long as his vine was fruitful, as his orchards yielded a constant supply of cider and perry, all beside was not worth a thought; and he laughed and sung, and sung and laughed

* The contents of this chapter were published originally in Fraser's Magazine for January, 1840.