|
Along with hobby-horses in Languedoc we find a number of other animals, with men underneath working them. The tallest at Beziers represents a camel, there's a prickly one that is a hedgehog, at Gignac a donkey and at Meze an ox. Perhaps the largest is found in the old town of Pezenas made famous by Moliere. "Le Poulain" (the Pony) with two figures on its back is accompanied by the Devil (here called "The Carnival King"). After court proceedings, the Devil is ceremoniously set on fire and there follows the procession of "Le Poulain" through Pezenas. In 1964 Peter Kennedy went to the nearby village of Mont Blanc to film the local folk dances and hobby horse. In 1988-9 Claude Archard of Pezanas supplied black-and-white footage of the hobby horses at the port of Meze and the city of Montpellier together with the remarkable multi equestrian cavaliers known as "Chevaux Frus" (Colour & Black-and-white 1984/1988-9 lasting 45 mins)
|
