We shall see them
clever in making cider, and prone to drink it; we shall see plenty of
fine, strong, rather idle men and women in the fields carrying
tremendous burdens, but hardly any children; they are almost as rare in
the country as a lady, or a gentleman. Indeed, in all our country
wanderings the 'gentry' make little figure, and appear much less
frequently on the scene than we are accustomed to in England. There are,
of course, _proprietaires_ in this part of Normandy who spend both
their time and money in the country, and are spoken of with respect and
affection by the people; but they are _rarae aves_, men of mark, like the
founder of the protestant colony at Beuzeval on the sea.
Nearly every Sunday after harvest-time there will be a village wedding,
where we may see the bride and bridegroom coming to take 'the first
sacrament;' seated in a prominent place in front of the altar, and
receiving the elements before the rest of the congregation, the bride
placing a white favour on the basket which contains the consecrated
bread, and afterwards coming from the church, the bride with a cap
nearly a foot high, the bridegroom wearing a dress coat, with a
tremendous bouquet, and a wedding-ring on his fore-finger; and, if we
stand near the church porch, we may be deafened with a salute fired by
the villagers in honour of the occasion, and overwhelmed by the
eloquence of the 'best man,' who takes this opportunity of delivering a
speech; and finally, the bells will ring out with such familiar tone
that we can hardly realise that we are in France.
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