Many of the natives, and especially Los Montañeses and those who come from Las Montañas, the hills near Santander, keep the chandlers' and small grocery shops in other parts of Spain: many others seek employment in the large towns of the south, where they frequently become rich, for, like their ancestors (Astur avarus, Sil. Ital. i. 231; Mart. x. 16. 3), they are honest, thrifty, and careful of their hard-earned gains. Both male and female are much subject to bronchocele or goitre, papera, lamparon, and to the mal de rosa, a sort of erysipelatous scurvy. The Asturias, during the Peninsular War, produced many notorious personages, of whom the best was Jovellanos. From this, his native province, Toreno set sail, to crave that aid from England which he lived to try to write down. Riego, the leader of the constitutional rebellion in 1820, Arguelles el divino, Cayetano Valdés, and sundry stars of the Cadiz Cortes, rose also in these misty hills. Good roads now give access to all the larger towns in Asturias. The means of conveyance, however, for travellers are extremely limited. Excepting the diligence which plies from Oviedo to Santander, taking two long days for the journey, and the railway from the same city to Gijon, there are no public vehicles excepting small rickety omnibuses plying from one small town to another. A steam tramway is projected round the coast, 1882. Carriages to hire are very rarely met with. It is sometimes possible to engage an omnibus for the stranger's exclusive use, but at an exorbitant price. More frequently a carrito or small tartana, a cart without springs, but covered over at the top, may be found in country places; but the charges are very high. In the country inns the beds and bedding are tolerable; but the sleeping-place is very often a mere closet, opening on a passage or the dining-room, where country people remain until midnight. The cross communications are impracticable for carriages, though delightful to the young horseman or pedestrian, the artist,and the angler; whether he wanders inland, or coasts the Bay of Biscay, nothing can be more charming than this sweet interchange of Alpine hills and valleys, rivers, woods, and plains, now land, now sea. The antiquary and lover of romantic annals will remember that this corner to which the soldier remnant of the Goth fled, is the rude cradle from whence Pelayus sallied forth to reconstruct the shattered monarchy and religion of Don Roderick, and here the first blow was dealt which prevented Europe from being Mahomedan. Here will be found sites and churches of the highest interest. The extreme antiquity of the creed is evidenced by the primitive names of the parishes, and by the old quaint saints who are still their tutelars, although elsewhere either unknown or obsolete. Many of the original churches still remain, like fossils of an early ecclesiological strata; antiquarians should therefore especially notice the parish churches in the Asturias; many, particularly the rural districts, are of the remotest antiquity, and offer specimens of the primitive period. The patois spoken by the peasantry, which differs from the Galician, and is called Bable, was one of the first approaches of the Gotho-Spaniard to the Romance and present Castilian idiom. It is much to be lamented that no diligent German has collected its remains, whether in proverbs or in ballads, for in these, besides being the germs of language, many curious relics of early manners and history are doubtless preserved. This fault will be remedied by the publications of the Spanish Folk Lore Society.* The Asturias has hitherto given the title of prince to the Spanish heir *For some scanty remarks on this Bable, see Duran iv. 41. Some relics are preserved in the 'Coleccion de Poesias en dialecto Asturiano,' Oviedo, 8vo, 1839, and Coleccion de Poesias en el dialecto Asturiano,' José Caveda, 4to, Mad., 1849. 6 The antiquary may consult, for this province, El Viage de Morales,' published by Florez, in folio, Madrid, 1765; Crónica General de España,' by Morales; also the Esp. Sag.' vols. 37, 38, apparent, which was done in professed imitation of our Prince of Wales, and at the desire of the Duke of Lancaster in 1388, when his daughter Constance married Enrique, eldest son of Juan I. El Reino de Galicia. This once independent kingdom forms the N.W. angle of the Peninsula: it is bounded by the Bay of Biscay to the N., the Atlantic Ocean to the W., Portugal to the S., and by Asturias and Leon to the E. It contains about 1032 square leagues, with a Pop. of some 1,200,000 souls. This barrier of Europe against the Atlantic has a coast-line of upwards of 240 miles. The climate is rainy and temperate; the surface is mountainous, and the woody heights are still the haunts of wolves and wild boars. In the verdurous meadows of this Switzerland of Spain, any quantity of cattle might be reared; the bacon and hams (especially from the district of Candelas) rival those of Estremadura, the swine being fed upon the chestnuts and acorns which abound in this well-wooded country. The natural products are chiefly maize, rye, and flax, apples, pears, and nuts; the potatoes also are excellent. As the eastern mountain boundary is covered almost all the year with snow, especially the Pico de Ancares and the Peña Trevinca, while the sea-coasts and riverain valleys bask in a latitude of 42°, having scarcely any winter, the wide range of botany deserves to be better investigated. The warmer and lower valleys of the Miño, and the country about Tuy, Redondela, and Orense, are perfect gardens of plenty and delight. The best wines are those of Valdeorras, Amandi, Rivero, and the Tostado of Orense; they would rival the vintages of Portugal, were the commonest pains taken in the making; but everything is managed in the rudest and most wasteful manner. Galicia is almost unknown to the bulk of Spaniards, as few ever go there. Spaniards form their idea of Galicians from the specimens who emigrate, like the Swiss, into the plains, from poverty, not will. Many of these emigrants are absent four or five years; the majority, however, only go down for the harvest-time, returning, like the Auvergnats, with their hard-earned gains. A portion of those who settle at Madrid become reposteros, and managers in families, whilst others do the porters' work of Spain and Portugal; whence the term gallego is synonymous with a boor, ganapan, or mozo de cordel, a "hewer of wood and drawer of water." Good land is scarce in Galicia; much of the country is only adapted for pasturage, wide tracts or dehesas (called here gándaras, from their barrenness) are now abandoned to heaths and aromatic herbs. There is consequently a struggle for land in the valleys and favoured localities; the over-rented, overworked peasant toils day and night, to eat a scanty and bad bread made of maize or millet, pan de centeno, de borona, for corn is scarce. The cottages are full of dirt and damp; the same room does for nursery, stable, kitchen, pigsty, and parlour. The Ventas in the hills and out-of-the-way localities are miserable; attend to the provend, for even those who are not particular in their cuisine are badly off, much more so honest Christians; the fireplaces often have no chimneys, and the damp wood, which won't burn, and will smoke, distresses the visual organs as much as the prospect of no roast does the digestive ones. In the and 39; Antigüedades, &c., del Principado de Asturias,' Luis Alfonso de Carballo, folio, Mad., 1695; Asturias ilustrada,' José Trellez Villademoros, 11 vols., 8vo, Mad., 1760. There is an earlier edition in one folio. 'Recuerdos y Bellezas de España (vol. Asturias y Leon), Parcerisa,' Mad., 1854; Ensayo histórico sobre la Arquitectura,' José Caveda; Monumentos Arquitectónicos,' published at intervals. The natural history is described by Casal; and the German Professor Schultz prepared a geological and mineralogical survey and map, a résumé of which was printed in the Boletin,' in June and July, 1839. El Folk Lore Andaluz,'-Sevilla, 1882, monthly. plains and more favoured valleys the accommodation for travellers is not quite so bad, but Galicia is seldom visited, except by commercial travellers and muleteers, according to whose wants and demands these discomforts are regulated. It need not be said that where people cook without chimneys, and sleep without beds, vermin are plentiful. The females do all the drudgery both in the town and in the fields, consequently those among them who are born with any good looks retain their charms but a very short time; those who are thus employed age before thirty, and soon become ugly as witches, looking as if they never could have been young, or have had anything about them of the feminine gender. The men, however, are fine fellows, although, when seen in their wretched huts, they seem scarcely more intelligent that their Iberian ancestors, who were little better than beasts. Nevertheless, now as then, like true highlanders, they are proud of their breed, of their illustrious pedigrees. They claim Teucer of old as their original founder, who, they say, came from the East to select this damp remote province as his favourite dwelling-place. Amongst the well-todo villagers, one often sees faces of rare character; features compact and well chiselled, intellectual brow and finely modelled lips and chin, whilst many of the maidens of from 15 to 20 are strikingly handsome. The language of Galicia, a patois, harsh and uncouth to the ear, is harsh to Spaniards, who laugh at their use of the u for o; e. g. cuandu, pocu. It approaches nearer to the Portuguese than to the Spanish, and would have become the dominant language of the Peninsula, had not Alonso el Sabio drawn up his works in Castilian, by which that dialect was fixed, as the Tuscan was by Dante. This province, whose iron-bound coast is the terror of those who travel by sea, offered few facilities to wayfarers by land until the direct communication by Portugal rendered it accessible from Spain. The communications are few and tedious, and the carreteras are not as good or as numerous as in other parts of Spain: this provincial backwardness in the construction of roads has long been proverbial; thus, while in other provinces in Spain the star-paved milky way in heaven is called el Camino de Santiago, the Galicians, who know what their roads really have been for so long, and still are, the post-roads excepted, namely, the worst on earth, call the milky way el Camino de Jerusalem.* For a fishing tour the best months are April, May, and June, In autumn the waters are generally too low and clear to afford much chance of a heavy basket or large fish. Good general flies are duns, spinners, or March brown. The Population of Galicia and Asturias has been taken from the official census of 1877, published in 1879. The Population of the small towns and villages must always be understood to be that of the "Concejo" or district. 6 The curious ecclesiastical antiquities of Galicia occupy no less than nine volumes of the 'Esp. Sag. consult also 'Viaje de Morales;' the works of Felipe de la Gándara, his 'Nobiliario,' and Armas y Triunfos,' 4to., Mad., 1662; the metrical Descripcion,' by el Licenciado Molina, 4to., Mondonedo, 1551, and 4to., Mad. 1675; Descripcion Económica,' José Lucas Labrada, El Ferrol 1804; Ensayo sobre la Historia de Galicia,' José Verea y Aguiar ; Anales de el Reyno de Galicia.' F. X. M. de la Huerta y Vega, 2 vols., Santiago, 1740; Descripcion Geognóstica de Galicia,' thin 8vo, Guillermo Schulz, Mad. 1835. This useful work has a lithographic map of the kingdom. 'Historia de Galicia,' by Don Benito Vicetto, Ferrol, 1805; 'Reseña de la Historia Natural de Galicia,' by Don Victor Lopez Seoane, Lugo, 1866; Estudios sobre la Epoca Céltica en Galicia,' by Don Leandro de Saralegui y Medina, Ferrol, 1867; Rudimentos de Arqueologia Sagrada,' by Don José Villa-Amil y Castro, 1867. Manual del Viajero en la Catedral de Santiago, Mad. 1847; Historia de Galicia,' by Don Manuel Murguia, Lugo; Cantares Gallegos,' by Doña Rosalia Castro de Murguia, Lugo; Descripcion Histórico-Artístico-Arqueológica de la Catedral de Santiago,' by Don José Villa-Amil y Castro, Lugo, 1868; 'Historia y Descripcion Arqueológica de la Basilica Compostelana,' by Don José Maria Zepedano, Lugo, 1870; Reseña Histórica del Pórtico de la Gloria de la Catedral de Santiago,' Santiago, 1870. There is an excellent map by Fontan-now, however, rare. VENTA DE BAÑOS TO LEON, BY SAHAGUN. Two trains daily in 4 hrs. 905. The Canal de Castile is again crossed, and the village of Becerril is seen to the rt. 6 m. Paredes de Nava Stat. Pop. 4428. Here Alonso Berruguete the sculptor was born, about the year 1840. He introduced into Spain the cinquecento style from Italy, where he studied. He is mentioned by Vasari as copying Michael Angelo at Florence in 1503; he went with that master to Rome during the following year, and became-like him-sculptor, painter, and architect. He did not return to Spain until the year 1520, when he was patronised by Charles V., and employed all over the Peninsula. He died at Toledo in 1561. Obs. in the Church of Santa Eulalia, in this his Pop. native village, some of his carvings. Leaving Palencia the rly. to Santander branches to the rt. The Rio Carrion and the Canal of Castile are now crossed. 4 m. Grijota Stat. Pop. 1378. An industrial hamlet placed in the centre of a vast and fertile plain. 43 m. Villaumbroso Stat. Pop. 473. | three vaults supported by clusters of 4 m. Cisneros Stat. Pop. 1713. Situated near the Rio Sequillo. 63 m. Villada Stat. Pop. 1956. 6 m. Grajal Stat. Pop. 1279. Obs. its old Moorish Fort, and its elegant church. The Rio Valderaduey is here crossed. columns. A slab dated 1184, alluding to the consecration of one of the altars, may be seen on the wall. Look at the tower of the Church of San Tirso, 12th centy., with fine windows and Romanesque arches. Those of San Lorenzo and Trinidad,, although rather more modern, are interesting. The convent of nuns of San Francisco has some horseshoe arches and oriental reminiscences. Leaving Sahagun, the rly. crosses the Rio Cea, which here irrigates the numerous gardens and orchards which contribute to the prosperity of the place. 4 m. Calzada Stat. Pop. 743. 7 m. Santas Martas Stat. Pop. 1865. 5 m. Palanquinos Stat. Here the inhabitants of Leon come on Sundays and feast-days. The huerta of Palanquinos is watered by the Esla, and the Bernezga, and its gardens and orchards produce a great abundance of vegetables and fruit. 3 m. Sahagun Stat. Pop. 2597. 6 m. from Sahagun is the Romanesque This little town still possesses vestiges monastery of San Pedro de las Dueñas, of ancient walls and castle. Its neigh-in which are some very remarkable bouring vega is watered by the Cea columns and capitals. and the Valderaduey. The name Sahagun is a corruption of the name of an ancient and once venerated local Saint Facundo-San Fagunt. Alonso III. founded here, 905, the celebrated Benedictine Abbey of San Benito. He, however, is now superseded in his patronage by San Juan de Sahagun, a saint who lived about the end of the 15th centy. The Gothic Church was begun in 1121 by Alonso VI., and almost finished in 1183, for it is known that the works in the nave continued in the 14th centy. Alonso destined this abbey for the burial-place of himself and his five wives. This monastery became the asylum to which many early kings of Spain retired like Charles V., and died monks; e. g. Bermudo I. in 791, Alonso IV. in 931, Ramiro II. in 950, Sancho of Leon in 1067. The holiness and wealth was impaired in 1810, when it was plundered by the French. the invader began, Spanish sequestrators completed; for, after the departure of the French, the Spaniards set fire to the church and almost burnt it down. It was again on fire in 1835. The fine choir seats and retablo by Hernandez, and royal tombs were destroyed. The only thing that remains of the 12th centy. is the noble Chapel of St. Mancio, composed of What * For description of its former silver altars, treasures, relics, and library, consult Morales, 'Viaje,' 34; for its history, that written by Joseph Perez, Madrid, 1782, and augmented by Romualdo Escalona, a learned Benedictine of the convent. 5 m. Torneros Stat. Soon after passing this little hamlet, the Rio Bernezga is crossed by a fine bridge, and Leon with its cathedral is approached. LEON. 1. Hotels, Cafés, Club, Post-office, Pro- 62. Historical Notice 207 208 209 |