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with very great nicety, and no change of fashion is suffered in their position; she is expected to wear a grave mien, and modest deportment; this is particularly enjoined. The guests are also expected to don the popular costume; the girls green, the married women black hats. On the way to the church the bridegroom's father and his nearest neighbour came forward, and with many ceremonies asked the bride of her friends, who went crying coyly with them. After the church ceremony, which concludes as in Zillerthal with the cup of S. Johannessegen, the bridesmaids hand in a basket decked with knots of ribbon, containing offerings for the priests and servers, and a wreath, which is fastened round the priest's arm who leads the bride out of church. The visit to the neighbouring inns follows; but at the wedding feast guests come in in masquerading dresses who bring all manner of comical presents. The dance here lasts till midnight, when the happy pair are led home by their friends to an accompaniment of music, for which they have a special melody. The next day again there are games, and the newly married go in procession with their friends to bear home the trousseau and wedding gifts, among which is always a bed and bedding. On their way back beggars are allowed to bar the way at intervals, who must be bought off with alms. On the Sunday following the bride is expected again to appear at church in the local costume, and in the afternoon all the guests of the wedding day again gather in the inn to present their final offering of good wishes and blessings. Girls who are fond of cats, they say are sure to marry early; perhaps an evidence that household virtues are appreciated in them by the men; but of men, the contrary is predicated, shewing that the other sex is expected to display hardihood in the various mountaineering and other out-door occupations.*

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EASTER WEEK AT PAU, 1867.

THE short notice in The Times of April 5th, 1867, that, 'at Pau races, three days back, the Prix de l'Empereur was won by Lavinia, Bagdad being second, and the steeple-chase by Billières with Praline second,' did not suggest the faintest idea of the excitement and interest which prevailed in the town of Pau on the occasion of these Easter races! It was a Derby day in miniature, excepting that the crowd was more picturesque, and the painful contrasts seen at great races were absent. No squalid beggars, no fortune-telling gipsies with pathetic and haggard faces, were there; all was apparent gaiety; the crowd well-dressed and

:

Its origin may be traced further back than this, perhaps the cat was held to be the sacred animal of Freia (Schrader, Germ. Myth.) and the word freien, to woo, to court, is derived from her name. (Nork.)

bent on being pleased. Indeed, good-humoured enjoyment of the pleasures provided was one of the most pleasing features of the place during this Easter week. The programme was attractive. Races at the Hippodrôme, a mile distant, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the intermediate days to be occupied by out-of-door Bals des Paysans, national games, masquerades, and illuminations, winding up on Saturday with a farewell Rendez-vous de la Chasse in the Bois de Pau. This certainly sounds more like holidays than Holy Days, especially as we have omitted all mention of the preceding Easter Sunday; but no one who saw the troops of bons Catholiques, who attended service after service, Office after Office, on that pouring wet Easter Sunday, would have doubted the holiness of the day to our pious Béarnais neighbours. The new Cathedral of St. Jacques, lately opened, and beautifully decorated for this Holy Season, was thronged by devout crowds whom neither rain nor storm could deter from their devotions. One felt very sorry that such weather should make even a stroll on the Haute Plante, or a friendly gossip at the doorstep after Church, impossible for these poor people.

We were

This Easter Day at Pau was indeed a Fête de Parapluies. beginning to feel sceptical as to Monday's races, for it was raining as hard at night as it had done all day; but we were encouraged to hope by the assurance of one of the jockeys that we should have good weather, for that 'le bon Dieu aime les courses.' We did not point out to Monsieur Larregain, that the same encouragement had not been given to the Offices of his Church, which might have been supposed to rank even higher in favour than races. Perhaps this argument might have had no weight with his jockey mind, and as he said he spoke from experience, we should have been unreasonable in rejecting his consolation. He certainly proved a true prophet, for Monday beamed out bright and beautiful, though cold. After the prolonged dry weather we had had, the race-course was improved by Sunday's rain. We rode to the Hippodrôme, the better to see the spectacle, of which the crowd formed as interesting a part to our English and somewhat critical eyes, as the races themselves. We, however, should have been ungracious as well as wilfully blind, had we not been gratified by these spirited races, got up, if not entirely for our amusement, yet in great measure in consequence of our supposed taste for le sport in every form. The French have an exaggerated idea of the universality and importance of this our national predilection.

Besides the Prix de l'Empereur of fifteen hundred francs, and that given by the Administration of the Haras of fifteen hundred francs, spoken of in The Times as won by Lavinia and Billières, sixteen hundred francs were given as a prize by the department, and one thousand francs by the Société d'Encouragement as a Prix du Fond, and one thousand francs by the town of Pau as a Prix Municipal. Two horses only ran in this last race, which was won by the same who later gained the Prix du Departement against two others. The owner of Praline and Billières also possesses the successful competitor for the Prix du Fond.

It was

The great interest of the day centred in the steeple-chase. quite an exciting race. Only two horses ran, but they were of the right sort and well-ridden. As both were grey, the jockeys' colours were the best guide in judging which came in first. This was not easy, as they kept exactly together till close to the goal, sixteen obstacles at precisely the same moment. horses, as well as the jockeys, being of Pau, the spectators' interest in their rival townsmen was extreme, and the shouts of encouragement incessant.

taking each of the The owner of the

As we were on horseback we rode round the outside of the course instead of entering the stand, and were thus able to station ourselves in turn by each of the principal leaps, which we saw taken, especially the Fosse Irlandaise, in good style. As we rode home by a circuitous route in order to avoid the crowds returning from the Hippodrôme, we met a number of young Paysans and Paysannes riding and walking to their village homes after an al fresco ball on the Haute Plante at Pau. Chaperones do not appear to be de rigueur on these occasions, and many a young cavalier was giving his fair partner a lift behind him on his raw-boned steed. Some were driving in gigs or carts, others were walking barefoot, the gentlemen carrying the ladies' stout dancing-shoes. All seemed merry and happy, exchanging in patois jokes, mixed with criticisms on their recent gaieties.

The principal feature in the second day's entertainment was what was called in the programmes Courses aux Taureaux,' and which many people in consequence believed would be a Spanish bull-fight. It was unfortunate that this report got abroad, for some of the English were discouraged by it from attending. However, the temporary theatre erected for the occasion on the Haute Plante, or as it is newly designated Place Napoléon, was quite full. The parallelogram for the theatre was said by connoisseurs to be placed the wrong way; the stalls in which the cows are kept should have been at the narrow end, while the spectators ought to have been at the other, so that the rush made by the cows at the men would necessarily be in one direction only, towards the principal spectators. As it was they rushed about in every direction. However, as the spectators lined the theatre on all sides a greater number of people were gratified than could have been, had the theatre been built in orthodox fashion. The eight boxes where the cows were confined were exactly opposite the grand tribune, where sat the Commissaires of the Société des Fêtes, who organize these public amusements. The military band played at intervals.

These cow-races are a favourite national game of the Landais peasants, who beguile the weary monotonous hours spent in watching their cattle, by inciting the young and sprightly among the beasts to make half playful half malicious runs at their keepers. Cows and bulls are said to make such runs differently; the former with their eyes open, so that their fury,

eyes

however great, is not so aimless as that of the bulls, who shut their before running, and trust to violence and speed to work mischief. The correct way of avoiding the attack of the cow, is by remaining immoveable till the animal is close upon his keeper, who should then, and not till then, make a single step aside. In this movement the man should merely describe with his foot a quarter of a circle, and never change his ground, leaving the cow to pursue her headlong course. From this step, écart, the men are called écarteurs. The effect of this manœuvre as well as its safety, depends on its being made at the right moment—neither too soon, when the cow, her eyes open, would have time to change her course, nor too late, when the danger is imminent. The only other legitimate evolution is a jump made either across the animal the instant the écart has been successfully executed, or over the whole length of the cow, who thus passes harmlessly under the man. The most accomplished écarteurs submit in this last case to have their feet tied together, they spring as the cow approaches, alight for a second between her horns, if they branch widely enough to allow of it, and then make the longer half of the leap. Not one, however, of the eight men we saw perform did this. A few made the correct jumps, but only one alighted between the cow's horns. Neither were their écarts, classiques, as I heard my French neighbours complaining. The men were prettily dressed, in white trousers, sandals, and embroidered velvet jackets.

The cows were introduced one at a time, and a cord was fastened to the horns, which was held very loosely by an attendant, so that in case of a cow throwing down an écarteur, she could immediately be pulled off, thus ensuring the man from being gored. The cord was only once required, when, the écarteur having waited a little too long before he made his escape, he was caught under the arms by the horns of the cow, and his jacket ripped open.

Great danger attends this game when it is performed in the open air, and when the shepherds are unaccustomed to it. A gentleman resident at Pau, and present on this occasion, left the theatre at the critical time of each performance, for though at a public exhibition like that we are describing, no real danger is incurred, still having seen shepherds gored by cows and seriously injured in similar games on three different occasions in the Landes country, his associations with such trials of skill were too sickening to allow of any pleasure in witnessing them.

On Tuesday there was, however, scarcely sufficient idea of danger to give spirit to the spectacle. The men and cows evidently knew one another, not indeed to the extent of making the performance a farce, but in such a manner that they were up to each other's tricks. The cows are fed on oats for some time previous to these public exhibitions, so that they are nearly wild with spirits. On first quitting their stalls some of the cows appeared almost mad, but this was partly the consequence of finding themselves in a strange place. The first rush was always the wildest; after this the cows required no little instigation, such as shouting

and flapping of pocket-handkerchiefs, to excite them to attack the écarteurs. The men did not as a rule keep their ground well. They generally trusted to their speed instead of to manœuvre to save them when the cow approached, escaping by rails placed for the purpose round the theatre. All the men attempted to attract the cow at once, an écarteur always contriving to place himself between the animal and the man who held her by the cord. As each cow on first coming out played for about seven minutes and performed a second time, the exhibition was somewhat monotonous; indeed, its principal attraction consisted in the national character of this game or trial of skill. At the end of the performance, the cows, with their keepers, all crowned with flowers and leaves, marched round the theatre in procession; and Tuesday's entertainment wound up by a Béarnais Quadrille, danced by the écarteurs. The figures of this dance somewhat resemble our Skating Quadrilles, with the addition of wild jumps and piercing cries.

Prizes were awarded to the men who were selected as having distinguished themselves most in the Courses aux Vaches. They were all from the Landes country-Dax, Mont de Marsan, Dumes, or Barcelona.

The farmer who contracted to bring cows and men, was guaranteed three thousand frances, by the spirited Société des Fêtes.

Of Wednesday's races we need scarcely speak, for they differed but little from those of Monday, excepting that they were not generally speaking so good, and that the day ended in rain. We amused ourselves best, as we thought, by remaining at home, and watching the crowds who passed our windows on their way to and from the races.

Wednesday's races appeared to be the most important in the eyes of the French, for private carriages and horses were more numerous than on Monday. All went to the race-course in sunshine, and very bright and joyous everyone looked, nor were they less joyous, as, the races over, they rushed home again about four o'clock in a pouring rain.

We saw indeed nothing from our window but closed carriages and open umbrellas, for every peasant even, in this changeable climate, has this latter luxury, and seldom stirs from home without his blue or red gigantic umbrella, to protect him from winter's rain or summer's sun. The poor man's costume for fête days generally consists of a short stuff blouse, lavender-coloured trousers, bright berêt, (a knitted cap, closely resembling the Scotch Lowland bonnet,) and a gay tie, while the girls are decked out in brilliant fichus, and cotton dresses of many colours. Taste is shown in the combination of these various hues, and an artist's eye is seldom or never shocked by the variegated Béarnais toilettes, while there is much to gratify, as the contrasts are striking, and happily chosen.

The tradespeople all shut up their shops for the day, and drove their womenkind to the Hippodrome. They formed a motley merry crowd, and shouts, jokes, and chaff were exchanged from under the red and

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