Welcome to all the English-speaking walkers, whether they come from Thouarsais or anywhere else.

Transcription

1 Wednesday 20th, 2014 s Walk : Once Upon a Time Thouarsais-Bouildroux 1. MAIRIE Welcome to all the English-speaking walkers, whether they come from Thouarsais or anywhere else. For 2 hours, we are going to discover the past of our commune, between history and legend, from Prehistoric times until now, with lots of details which, I hope, you will find useful and interesting. I will make comments in French, English and patois which was the only language people spoke for centuries as they did not have the opportunity to go to school. Nowadays fewer and fewer people can speak patois fluently. I was born here and my ancestors, like anybody else here, didn t speak French at all for hundreds and hundreds of years. This evening, while presenting the most interesting places of Thouarsais, I can t help thinking of them. We are going to leave the Mairie which was built in And from now on, let s start our 6 km walk and our long journey through centuries. I must tell you that I am not a historian but we are lucky here because we have got rich and interesting archives and what they call parish books where the priests recorded births, marriages and deaths. The oldest book dates back to 1577 ; it is one of the oldest in the Vendée. You probably know that Thouarsais inhabitants are called Thouarsaisiens even if British people find it difficult to pronounce. In 1832, 1312 people lived here, one thousand after the first World War and 740 in A little further down, on your right, you will see a panel to remind people of the Eurofestival which took place here in Thouarsais & St-Sulpice-en-Pareds, thanks to the Let s Go association, had the honour and the cost of course of organizing the Eurofestival. Here, 1,000 delegates from the 15 European Union countries met for a festive, cultural and sporty week, attracting thousands of visitors every day. In the Vendée, no one had ever seen anything like this unforgettable week. I will make my little presentation in English immediately after the French and the patois versions. So, you can improve both your French and your patois. Now, let s go to the church. 1

2 2. The Parish Church Before the church you see, built in the 14 th century during the 100 Years War (between you and us) and renovated in the middle of the 19 th century, we know that an older church existed in 922. There are very few churches like the one in Thouarsais, with its square-shaped tower. Unique actually in the area! Because of its shape and construction, it was used for guards and soldiers during the Wars of Religion (at the end of the 16 th century). At the beginning, the church was the chateau chapel and was the property of the lords of Thouarsais. In 1370, one of our most famous French Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army, whose name was Du Guesclin, fought against the English in the Poitou - our region - and tried to chase the English soldiers out of Normandy. Not an easy task! He was then helped by a loyal and faithful great soldier, called Olivier IV de Clisson, who, among other properties, owned the chateau of Thouarsais, from His daughter, Marguerite de Clisson, was Dame of Thouarsais. Olivier IV de Clisson, who fought against the English nearly all his life, was far from imagining that 630, his chateau would be owned and renovated by two English families. Funny, isn t it? In the years 1500, the chateau was given to the Gaborin, a noble family. A few of the Gaborins were buried in the church. At the end of the fifties, I remember seeing the engraved tomb stones bearing the names of some members of the Gaborin family. For example, René the third Gaborin was buried in Another one, René the Fifth. On his tomb, we could read : Here lies the body of Messire René Gaborin, Knight, Lord of Thouarsais. He was buried in the church on June 2 nd These tomb stones can no longer be seen since the local authorities decided that one inch of cement would be more beautiful. Strange decision indeed! As far as I am concerned, I wish I could manage to have the cement removed. One day perhaps! Last thing : inside the courtyard of the chateau, stone coffins with bones and pottery were found in La Tombe à Diane / Diane s Tomb Why do we stop here, in the middle of nowhere? There had been here, since the Gallo- Roman times, a legendary fountain, a sacred place, where young girls used to come and draw water.

3 Local hunters also came here more attracted by the young girls than by the cool water. The parents when they knew what was going on here began to get worried about their daughters. They took counsel together to decide what should be done. They finally decided that it would be better to fill up the fountain with stones and close it with thick paving stones forever. Who was that Diane? Was the place given the name of the Roman hunting goddess because of the hunters who regularly met here? Why not? Another legend says that a local lord wanted her daughter Diane to be buried here. We will probably never know and the legend will never die. You can see these square stones which have been here for at least two centuries. Next meeting point : at the Bouildroux church. 4. Eglise St-Martin de Bouildroux Bouildroux, Bouildroux! Why do French people invent such village names that only a few English people manage to pronounce correctly? Do they do it on purpose? You must know that it is as difficult to say for a Frenchman as for an Englishman! An English friend of mine, after trying hard told me one day : From now on, it ll be Thouarsais-Bx. I must tell you that Bouildroux is one of these rare village the name of which comes from the Gallic language and when we know that, we can be proud of it! It would mean : A little source of carbonated water in an oak grove. Imagine we are in Bouildroux, in Gaul twenty centuries ago ; there are vast oak groves and probably druids with their golden sickles looking for mistletoe. Wild boars wander about Life is peaceful. But let s come back to the 13 th century when the church was built. One century later, there will be a new church in Thouarsais. Although the two churches were very close to each other, they belonged to two different dioceses. Bouildroux was in the diocese of Luçon whose worldfamous bishop will be Richelieu in the 17 th c. And Thouarsais depended on the diocese of Maillezais and later on La Rochelle. From 1577 to 1792, we know all the names of the Bouildroux parish priests. In front of you, there was a churchyard where several stone coffins were discovered in the second half of the 20 th century. In 1950, after removing the whitewash coat, frescoes appeared on the walls. A journalist came, saw the paintings and wrote that he had seen a dragon or a horse. Could it be St 3

4 Martin on horseback since St Martin was the patron saint of the church? Difficult to say because very little of these frescoes can be seen now. Like in Thouarsais, several lords of Bouildroux were buried in the church. But unlike the Thouarsais church, there was not a bell-tower but only two bells outside the church. During the Revolution, in 1792, the priest left his parish for Spain because he would have probably been killed by the Republican army. Before his departure, the bells were buried and have never been found until now If you think you can find them, just let me know The church was abandoned and sold in 1804 to a farmer. Isn t it a shame! Now, we are going to walk to the old railway line. 5. The railway line The first debates about the railway line between the mayor and his counselors began in In 1878, the village Council officially expresses the wish to have the railway in Thouarsais. In 1882, the mayor thinks that the station should be built in Thouarsais and not in La Caillère. - Firstly because (I quote from the text) Thouarsais is, at that time, in the middle of a rich area, certainly one of the richest in the Vendée. There are loads of fruit produced here and fruit merchants have to export their own production of cherries, apples, pears, chestnuts, walnuts. Hundreds of people in Thouarsais make their own living out of fruit nearly 7 months a year. - There is another reason why the village Council wants to have the railway station built here. In Thouarsais, from 1865, there have been two important lime kilns which produce up to 45 cubic metres of lime every day. One of them can still be seen on the left-hand side when leaving Thouarsais on your way to La Châtaigneraie. Moreover, Thouarsais, being the biggest commune on the line, needs and wants the station not only to carry passengers but also cattle, wood and all other local productions. When the Railway board decided to build it between Thouarsais and La Caillère, the village council was deeply frustrated and very, yes, very angry to be polite. A footbridge, now disappeared - which was next to the private school - was built in Between 1845 and the end of the 19th century, because of the new roads which had to be built and because of the construction of the railways line which was a huge working site, employing here every day hundreds of workers coming from everywhere, people began to feel in danger, especially in remote villages.

5 The Council wants a more efficient country policeman and the gendarmes to come back to La Caillère because there are beggars, strangers everywhere who terrify people. Life wasn t so easy and calm in those days. 6. Stèle des Résistants In memory of the 4 members of the Resistance movement during the 2 nd World War who died in German concentration camps. The quotation: They only had one thought in mind : freedom was the password to warn the Resistance movement that weapons and arms were about to be dropped by parachutes. But unfortunately, in 1943, while the 4 men were trying to hide arms in the aqueduct just underneath, the Germans arrested them and they were sent to concentration camps where they all died. 7. Cacaudière Fifty years ago, the Logis and Château de La Cacaudière were one and sole property. Le Logis, also called the old chateau is from the 16 th 17 th centuries with a porch, a tower, vast outbuildings, an orangery. There is also the new chateau built in When they dug to lay the foundations of the chateau, they found interesting objects, such as - Prehistoric flint implements from the New Stone Age. - Coins from the Gallic period, made of electrum which is an alloy of gold and silver - Gallo-Roman tiles. 8. Village Hall Footbridge - School Calvary It s nearly the end of the walk. I would like to tell you a few things about 4 different places. First, the village hall. The communal life has benefited from the construction of the village hall at the end of the 80s. It has revitalized the local clubs. Then, after crossing the road (be careful, please, the circular road may be highly congested at this time of the day!!!). Immediately after the road, you will be in the Rue de la Passerelle: it was the place where the footbridge over the railway line was built in It was about 2 metres wide. Thirdly, the private school on the left. For nearly a century and a half, there was a state school (near the Mairie). But because of some parents, who kept quarreling for a few years, the school was closed down. But just let me tell what I have read in the communal archives. From 1839, the Mayor and his councilors felt quite concerned 5

6 about educating young people. The poorest parents were given a grant to enable their children to learn reading, writing and counting. In 1851, a woman was appointed as a schoolmistress at a time when very few women were allowed to teach. In 1867, the village council decided that education would be free for everybody. At last, before reaching the Mairie (where I will make my final and very short speech), you will see the Calvary erected in 1889 at the end of a period called a mission which lasted 2 or 3 weeks. For a few weeks, a priest came to Thouarsais and tried to preach, which was not always easy because a lot of people were reluctant to these long and probably boring sermons. 9. Outside the Mairie The bronze plate on the wall of the mairie commemorates the departure of Mathurin Morisset for the French-speaking Canada in He was born in Thouarsais in After arriving in Québec, he settled in a village called Cap Santé, near the Saint-Laurent River, he got married in 1690 and died in When I went to Canada in two thousand nine, I was shown his house which still exists. It is now a museum. Previously, in 2001, the Mayor asked me to welcome a coach of about 50 visitors, all bearing the same family name : Morissette. They all had the same ancestor, Mathurin Morisset. They wanted to see the church where he was christened. At the end of the visit, they were proud of unveiling the plaque you can see. When I started the walk, I told you I would present the different places of our local Heritage, in French, in English and in patois. And I am going to tell you why. When I attended the Book festival in Quebec in 2009, I spoke to a lot of people whose ancestors came from the Poitou in the 17th and 18th century. It was very moving to hear them speak because they had brought with them the very words and the accent we have when we speak patois. At that moment, I thought that my own forefathers, who were born here, had the same accent. Sometimes, I hear some petty French people saying they adore the French Canadian accent and at the same time, they despise the stubborn, rural people who speak patois. They find it horrible. They simply forget it is more or less the same accent with the same words So I wanted to pay a tribute to all those unknown fellow citizens who built patiently our local Heritage century after century, speaking the only language they knew and used : our patois!

7 Thank you for joining us. I greatly appreciate your being here and because of the links between our two countries, our two cultures, our two languages I wanted to make my comments in English. And there is another deep reason. A century ago, it was the beginning of the First World War : four years of sufferings, deaths and sorrow. From here, we can see the cemetery where some of our 56 young men who died in the war were buried. I don t forget the British soldiers who died in these horrible four years : nearly one million. Thank you very much for listening to me. And now, after my conclusion in French, it s time for a drink. If you want to join me : Jean-Claude LUMET La Franchebuchère Thouarsais-Bouildroux jeanclaudelumet@gmail.com 7