208 
Hillary 
and 
0f Caricature 
Grotwue 
fangs of an early date, fung at one of thefe "feafis " at Rouen, has been 
preferved, and contains the following lines, written in Latin and 
French 1- 
De qjina bone rwfiro, 
Meliori 2! optima, 
Debemu: fairs fete. 
En revenant dz Grwvinaria, 
Un gros chardon reperir in -via, 
I1 lui coupa la tete. 
Vir monaclzu: in menjk julia 
Egr'z_'j74: zji e manaficrio, 
C'est dom de la. Bucaill 
Egrgwzs 41' fine licenria, 
Pour aller voir dona. Vcnissiu, 
Et faire la ripaillc. 
TRANSLATION. 
For our good afs, 
T112 better and the bqfi, 
We ought to rejoice. 
In rerurning-from Graluinifre, 
A gr:-at tlzijilz kefhznd in rlze  
He cut if its llead. 
A monk in the montli of yuly 
P7011; out my" [til mor1a_[iery, 
It is dam de la Bucaille; 
He went out -without liceqfe, 
To pay a wfft to tlze dame de V:-niji, 
And make jovial cheer, 
lt appears that De la Bucaille was the prior of the abbey of St. Taurin, 
at Rouen, and that the dame de Veniffe was priorefs of St. Saviour, and 
thefe lines, no doubt, commemorate fome great fcandal of the day 
relating to the private relations between thefe two individuals. 
Thefe mock religious ceremonies are fuppofed to have been derived 
from the Roman Saturnalia; they were evidently of great antiquity in the 
mediaeval church, and were mofc prevalent in France and Italy. Under 
the name of " the feaft of the fub-deaccns" they are forbidden by the 
a6ts of the council of Toledo, in 633; at a later period, the French 
punned on the wordjbus-diacres, and called them Saouls-diacres (Drunken 
Deacons), words which had nearly the fame found. The "feati of the 
afs "