He loves immensely well to dance, too, the Roussillonnais, and he often carries it to excess. It is his national amusement, as is that of the Italian the singing of serenades beneath your window. On all great gala occasions throughout Roussillon a place is set apart for dancing, usually on the bare or paved ground in the open air, not only in the country villages but in the towns and cities as well.
The dances are most original. Ordinarily the men will dance by themselves, a species of muscular activity which they call "_lo batl_." A _contrepas_ finally brings in a mixture of women, the whole forming a mélange of all the gyrations of a dervish, the swirls of the Spanish dancing girl and the quicksteps of a Virginia reel.
The music of these dances is equally bizarre. A flute called _lo flaviol_, a _tamborin_, a _hautboy_, _prima_ and _tenor_, and a _cornemeuse_, or _borrassa_, usually compose the orchestra, and the music is more agreeable than might be supposed.
In Roussillon the religious fêtes and ceremonies are conducted in much the flowery, ostentatious manner that they are in Spain, and not at all after the manner of the simple, devout fêtes and _pardons_ of Bretagne. The Fête de Jeudi-Saint, and the Fête-Dieu in Roussillon are gorgeous indeed; sanctuaries become as theatres and tapers and incense and gay vestments and chants make the pageants as much pagan as they are Christian.
The coiffure of the women of Roussillon is a handkerchief hanging as a veil on the back of the head, and fastened by the ends beneath the chin, with a knot of black ribbon at each temple.
[Illustration: _The Women of Roussillon_]
Their waist line is tightly drawn, and their bodice is usually laced down the front like those of the German or Tyrolean peasant maid. A short skirt, in ample and multifarious pleats, and coloured stockings finish off a costume as _unlike_ anything else seen in France as it is _like_ those of Catalonia in Spain.
The great Spanish cloak, or _capuchon_, is also an indispensable article of dress for the men as well as for the women.
The men wear a tall, red, liberty-cap sort of a bonnet, its top-knot hanging down to the shoulder--always to the left. A short vest and wide bodied pantaloons, joined together with yards of red sash, wound many times tightly around the waist, complete the men's costume, all except their shoes, which are of a special variety known as _spardilles_, or _espadrilles_, another Spanish affectation.