Ascertained, this oval plate (about 1/4 of an
inch in thickness) was rolled up and contained a few coins and some
documents; the first cannot be traced and are spoken of as "quelques
sous;" the latter, they say, crumbled into dust at once.
The inscription, as well as can be deciphered, is as follows: -
I.H.S. M.I.A.
LAN 1634 LE
NTE
25 IVILET.IE.ETE-PLA
PREMIERE.P.C.GIFART
SEIGNEVR.DE CE.LIEV
This is rudely but deeply cut into the plate, and underneath may be
seen in patches, traces of a fainter etching, part of which may be a
coat of arms, but this is uncertain; underneath can be seen a heart
reversed, with flames springing from it upwards. All these are
enclosed in a larger heart, point downwards.
The enclosed rough simile may give an idea of the lettering at the top
of the circle, the plate itself being about nine inches in diameter."
(With Mrs. Gugy's compliments.)
Darnoc, 26th March, 1881.
THE BEAUPORT MANOR INSCRIPTION.
(To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle.)
"Whilst regretting the loss of the coins and document accompanying the
inscription of the Beauport Manor, on account of the light it might
have thrown on this remote incident of Canadian history, let us
examine the case as it stands.
This rude inscription of 25th July, 1634, gives priority as to date to
the Beauport Manor over any ancient structure extant in Canada this
day. The erection of the manor would seem to have preceded by three
years the foundation of the Jesuits' Sillery residence, now owned by
Messrs. Dobell and Beckett, which dates of July, 1637. Who prepared
the inscription? Who engraved the letters? Who cut on the lead the
figure of the "flaming heart?" The stars? Are they heraldic? What did
they typify? Did the plate come out, ready prepared from France? Had
the Academie des Inscriptions, etc., or any other academie, any
hand in the business? No, for obvious reasons.
The lead-plate was imbedded in solid masonry. It is too rude to be the
work of an engraver. Could it have been designed by Surgeon Gifart,
the Laird of Beauport and cut on the lead-plate by the scribe and
savant of the settlement, Jean Guion (Dion?) whose penmanship
in the wording of two marriage contracts, dating from 1636, has been
brought to light by an indefatigable searcher of the past - the Abbe
Ferland? probably.
But if the lettered Beauport stone mason, who never rose to be a Hugh
Miller, whatever were his abilities, did utilize his talents in 1634,
to produce a durable record in order to perpetuate the date of
foundation of this manor, he subsequently got at loggerheads with his
worth seignieur, probably owing to the litigious tastes which
his native Perche had instilled in him. Perche, we all know, is not
very distant from Normandy, the hot-bed of feuds and litigation, and
might have caught the infection from this neighborhood:
Governor Montmagny, in the space of eight short years, had been called
on to adjudicate on six controversies which had arisen between Gifart
and his vassals, touching boundaries and seigniorial rights, though
the learned historian Ferland, has failed to particularize, whether
among those controverted rights, was included the Droit de Chapons
and Droit de Seigneur; could the latter unchaste, but cherished
right of some Scotch and German feudal lords, by a misapprehension of
our law, in the dark days of the colony, have been claimed by such an
exacting seignior as M. de Gifart? One hopes not.
Be that as it may, the stone mason and savant Jean Guion had refused
to do feudal homage to "Monsieur de Beauport," and on the 30th July,
1640, six years after the date of the inscription, under sentence
rendered by Governor de Montmagny, he was made to do so.
Who will decipher the I.H.S. - M.I.A. the letters at the top of the
plate? Is there no defendant of the haughty Seignior of Beauport, Rob.
Gifart, to give us his biography, and tell us of his sporting days; of
the black and grey ducks, brant, widgeon, teal, snipe, and curlew,
etc., which infested the marshy banks of the stream - the Ruisseau de
l'Ours, on which he had located, first his shooting box, and
afterwards his little fort or block-house, against Iroquois
aggression? Dr. Gifart was a keen sportsman, tradition repeats. Did
the locality get the name of Canardiere on account of the Canards,
the ducks, he had bagged in his time? Who will enlighten us on all
these points?
ENQUIRER.
Quebec, 8th April, 1881.
QUERY. - Would I. H. S. stand for Jesus Hominum Salvator? and M.I.A.
for Maria-Josephus-Anna? - the Holy Family - asks Dr W. Marsden.
COUNT D'ORSONNENS LETTER
A monsieur J. M. LeMoine, president de la Societe Litteraire et
Historique de Quebec, etc., etc, etc.
CHER MONSIEUR,. - Votre lettre du 1er avril, publiee dans le Morning
Chronicle, en groupant, autour du premier Manoir canadien, des
grands noms canadiens, des faits historiques et des traditions, semble
vouloir nous faire regretter encore plus la perte d'un monument dont
il ne reste plus qu'une plaque de plomb gravee sans art, avec une
inscription sans orthographe. Je suis alle, comme bien d'autres, voir
ce morceau de plomb, qui contient, autant que l'imprimerie peut le
representer, l'inscription suivante:
I.H.S. M.I.A.
LAN 1634 LE
NTE
25 IVILET.IE.ETE-PLA
PREMIERE.P.C.GIFART
SEIGNEVR.DE CE.LIEV
La premiere ligne a ete, sans doute, gravee avec une pointe,
l'incision plus indecise est aussi moins profonde, de meme que les
lettres NTE ajoutees au-dessus de PLA, pour faire le mot plante, que
l'art du graveur ou la largeur du ciseau n'avait pas su contenir dans
la troisieme ligne.
