Macías wrote a poem in which he upbraided Love. Here is the first verse of it--
“Amor cruel e briosa Mal aia a ta alteza, Pois non fazes iqualeza Seendo tal poderoso.”
“Ves, Amor por que o digo, Ser que es cruel e forte, Adversario ou enemigo Desamador de ta corte: Al vil deitas en tal sorte Que por prez lle das vileza! Quen te serve en gentileza Por galardon lle das morte.”
No doubt if he could but have foreseen his own tragic end, he would have reproached Cupid with even greater bitterness.
St. James’s Road--The legend of St. James--Landing at Padron--Abbot Ildefred--Alfonso el Casto--The town of Santiago--Diego Gelmirez--The _Historia Compostelana_--Another famous manuscript--The Codex of Calistus II.--Basque words--Origin of the Basques--Molina’s list of pilgrims--In the cathedral--Hymn of the Flemings--Relics of St. James--The scallop shell--Images of St. James--Jet workers--Money-changers--St. Bridget--Philip II--William of Rubruquis--Queen Matilda--An irreparable loss--A book on Galicia--Why the pilgrims wear a scallop shell--Crowding of pilgrims to the Mass--Beds in the cathedral--Incense in Christian worship--The great censer--Early references to the _botafumeiro_--The censer swings too far--Candlemas--An impressive ceremony--The _Chirimias_--English pilgrims to Santiago--An English hospital--The monastery of Sobrado
“The mediæval Spanish roads were the work of the clergy,” wrote Ford, “and the long-bearded monks, here as elsewhere, were the pioneers of civilisation.... In other provinces of Spain, the star-paved milky way in the heavens is called _El Camino de Santiago_ (“the road of St. James”); but the Galicians, who know what their roads really are, namely, the worst on earth, call the milky way _El Camino de Jerusalem_ (“the road to Jerusalem”).” And here is a passage that we find among the poetic writings of Daudet: A shepherdess has asked a young shepherd if he knows the names of all the stars, and he begins his reply with, “Why, yes, mistress. Look, straight above our heads. That is St. James’s Road. It runs from France straight over Spain. It was St. James of Galicia who traced it there, to show the brave Charlemagne his way when he was making war upon the Saracens.”