A Link with the Past: Ah! Mon beau laurier!

Guernsey Post Europa stamps showing a hurdy-gurdy or chifournie
Guernsey's favourite dance, the rather flirtatious 'Ah! mon beau laurier!.' The illustration is of a modern hurdy-gurdy, or 'chifournie,' used in the old days to accompany the dancing: with thanks to Guernsey Post Office, who also produced a superb video of the chifournie being played in Le Hurel barn in Guernsey. The chifournie has been replaced in Guernsey by the fiddle or accordion in modern times.

March 1811: from the newspapers

News from March 1811, 200 years ago in Guernsey. Action needs to be taken: flour, and therefore rents, are becoming too expensive and the poor are suffering; ships are being captured by the enemy in local waters and no defence is being offered. If this made you depressed, you could always go to the theatre—if you could afford it.

Pages

Categories