One end of the /echalier/ projects far
enough beyond the pivot to hold a weight, and this singular rustic
gate, the post of which rests in a hole made in the bank, is so easy
to work that a child can handle it. Sometimes the peasants economize
the stone which forms the weight by lengthening the trunk or branch
beyond the pivot. This method of enclosure varies with the genius of
each proprietor. Sometimes it consists of a single trunk or branch,
both ends of which are embedded in the bank. In other places it looks
like a gate, and is made of several slim branches placed at regular
distances like the steps of a ladder lying horizontally. The form
turns, like the /echalier/, on a pivot. These "hedges" and /echaliers/
give the region the appearance of a huge chess-board, each field
forming a square, perfectly isolated from the rest, closed like a
fortress and protected by ramparts. The gate, which is very easy to
defend, is a dangerous spot for assailants. The Breton peasant thinks
he improves his fallow land by encouraging the growth of gorse, a
shrub so well treated in these regions that it soon attains the height
of a man. This delusion, worthy of a population which puts its manure
on the highest spot in the courtyard, has covered the soil to a
proportion of one fourth with masses of gorse, in the midst of which a
thousand men might ambush.
Pages:
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312