reach of
any town or tower worthy of notice, except the Priory of Longueville,
situate to the right of the road, about twelve miles from Dieppe. I did
not see Longueville, and I am told that the ruins are quite
insignificant, yet I regret that I did not visit them. The French can
never be made to believe that an old rubble wall is really and truly
worth a day's journey: hence their reports respecting the notability of
any given ruin can seldom be depended upon. And at least I should have
had the satisfaction of ascertaining the actual state of the remains of
a building, known to have been founded and partly built in the year
1084, by Walter Giffard[22], one of the relations and companions of the
Conqueror, in his descent upon England, and therefore created Earl of
Buckingham, or, as the French sometimes write it, _Bou Kin Kan_. The
title was held by his family only till 1164 when, upon the decease of
his son without issue, the lands of his barony were shared among the
collateral female heirs. He himself died in 1102, and by his will
directed that his body should be brought here, which was accordingly
done; and he was buried, as Ordericus Vitalis[23] tells us, near the
entrance of the church, having over him an epitaph of eight lines, "in
maceria picturis decorata." You will find the epitaph, wherein he is
styled "templi fundator et aedificator," copied both in the _Neustria
Pia_ and in _Ducarel's Anglo-Norman Antiquities_. The latter speaks of
it as if it existed in his time; but the doctor seldom states the extent
of his obligations towards his predecessors. And in consequence of this
his silent gratitude, we can never tell with any degree of certainty
whether we are perusing his observations or his transcripts. If he
really saw the inscriptions with his own eyes, it is greatly to be
regretted that he has given us no information respecting the paintings:
did they still exist, they would afford a most genuine and curious
proof of the state of Norman art at that remote period; and possibly, a
search after them among the cottages in the neighborhood might even now
repay the industry of some keen antiquary; for the French revolution may
well he compared to an earthquake: it swallowed up every thing,
ingulphing some so deep that they are lost for ever, but leaving others,
like hidden treasures, buried near the surface of the soil, whence
accident and labor are daily bringing them to light. The descendants of
Walter Giffard