ape, color, or materials.--The records of Gournay begin in the
reign of Rollo. That prince gave the town, together with the Norman
portion of the Pays de Bray, to Eudes[19], a nobleman of his own nation,
to be held as a fief of the duchy, under the usual military tenure. In
one of the earliest rolls of Norman chieftains[20], the Lord of Gournay
is bound, in case of war, to supply the duke with twelve soldiers from
among his vassals, and to arm his dependants for the defence of his
portion of the marches. Hugh, the son of Eudes de Gournay, erected a
castle in the vicinity of the church of St. Hildebert, and the whole
town was surrounded with a triple wall and double fosse. The place was
inaccessible to an invading enemy, when these fosses were filled with
the waters of the Epte; but Philip Augustus caused the protecting
element to become his most powerful auxiliary. Willelmus Brito
relates his siege with minuteness in his _Philippiad_, an heroic poem,
devoted to the acts and deeds of the French monarch.--After advancing
through Lions and Mortemer, Philip encamped before Gournay, thus
described by the historical bard;--

"Non procul hinc vicum populosa genta superbum,
Divitiis plenum variis, famaque celebrem,
Rure situm piano, munitum triplice muro,
Deliciosa nimis speciosaque vallis habebat.
Nomine GORNACUM, situ inexpugnabilis ipso,
Etsi nullus ei defensor ab intus adesset;
Cui multisque aliis praeerat Gornacius HUGO.
Fossae cujus erant amplae nimis atque profundae
Quas sic Epta suo repleret flumine, posset
Nullus ut ad muros per eas accessus haberi.
Arte tamen sibi REX tali pessundedit ipsum.
Haud procul a muris stagnum pergrande tumebat,
Cujus aquam, pelagi stagnantis more, refusam
Urget stare lacu sinuoso terreus agger,
Quadris compactus saxis et cespite multo.
Hunc REX obrumpi medium facit, effluit inde
Diluvium immensum, subitaque voragine tota
Vallis abit maris in speciem, ruit impete vasto
Eluvies damnosa satis, damnosa colonis.
* * * * *
Municipes fugiunt ne submergantur, et omnis
Se populus villa viduat, vacuamque relinquit.
* * * * *
Armis villa potens, muris munita virisque,
Arte capi nulla metuens aut viribus ullis,
Diluvio capitur inopino...............
* * * * *
REX ubi GORNACUM sic in sua jura rede