I/ THE SPECIFICITY OF THE LAND AROUND FOUGEROLLES
Whenever our region is mentioned in conversation, the name of Fougerolles
is invariably associated with Kirsch. The reason for this is the dense
concentration of cherry trees planted and tended over the centuries
by man on our well-exposed slopes stretching from Le Grand Poirmont
to Aillevillers, from Les Granges du Bois to Saint-Bresson, passing
through the villages of La Vaivre, Saint-Valbert and the hamlet of Chapendu
which belongs to the district of Raddon.
This extremely limited area of cultivation is in fact the result of
various factors arising from the natural environment. The nature of
the subsoil in association with climatic factors combine to make a very
specific growing area which has also played a large part in forging
the character of the men who work the land. This is what gives our region
its character of unified originality; a small region dedicated to a
specific vocation with a slightly introverted feel to it.
Geographically speaking, the distinct features of the region can be
summed up by its abrupt relief, its fairly harsh climate and its heavy
but rich soil. However, in an attempt to understand the extent to which
the "human spirit" has been influenced by the land over the ages, a
final point must be made and this historically based factor is in reality
largely a consequence of the geographical location of the region.
The domain of Fougerolles, situated on the ill-defined boundaries between
the states of France, Burgundy and Lorraine, remained a land of reprieve
right up to the time it was conquered by Louis XIV. The present objective
is not to detail all of the events which gave rise to this situation,
but merely to remind the reader of the crucial points in order to understand
how this situation arose.
From the beginning to the state of reprieve :
There is some evidence of a Celtic settlement during the Neolithic period,
namely the presence of numerous menhirs which can be found all over
the area such as the "Pierre des Merles" in the Rôge stream. Much more
concrete evidence can be found however of the Gallo-Roman era in the
form of the Roman road linking Luxeuil-les-Bains to Plombières, which
passed via les Chavannes le Prédurupt, le Grand-Fahys and le Sarcenot
with a turn off leading to La Vaivre. The origin of the name Blanzey
(Blandicum) also bears testimony to the area's Roman past.
In the heart of the Middle Ages, the forest had reclaimed most of the
area when the Sire of Faucogney decided to establish one of his three
sons at Fougerolles-le-Château. Then in the XIIIth century, the domain
came under the tenure of the Abbey at Remiremont. Through the intermediary
of the Priory at Hérival, this Abbey continued to encroach on the Valley
of the Combeauté; hence the Lords of Fougerolles were originally from
the Val d'Ajol. In 1333 however, one of them sold the domain and the
castle to the Duke of Lorraine. Shortly after, Philippe le Bon, Duke
of Burgundy decided to act by pursuing the "Ecorcheurs" (bandits). Several
attempts at conciliation to fix the ill-defined boundaries between the
three states, France, Burgundy and Lorraine (Treaties were signed in
1437, 1440, 1477, 1564, 1614) produced no long-lasting peace. Thus our
region was considered as being "in a state of reprieve". The domain
of Fougerolles continued to be passed down from hand to hand, sold or
inherited by a few great lords who probably never lived there and in
some cases never even set foot in Fougerolles. Let us remember the most
famous amongst them, PAUL BERNARD, Count of Fontaine, Lord of Commercy,
Breuil, Réméréville and Fougerolles, War Councillor, Camp Master of
twenty infantry companies, Superintendent of the Police Force in the
Province of Flanders for his Catholic Majesty in the Netherlands. This
man bought the land on November 5th 1626 for 30,500 ecus. At that time,
the domain also included the inhabitants of Val d'Ajol, Cornimont and
Soulxe and in the words of the act, encompassed "the district of the
sovereignty of the said region, in Lorraine or in Burgundy without leaving
anything out or holding anything back."
Killed in Rocroi in 1643, when heading the Spanish infantry which was
beaten by the troops of the great leader Condé, he died without an heir.
His earthly goods thus passed into the hands of his adopted nephew,
Paul Bernard de Raigecourt, Count of Fontaine and of the Holy Empire.
This special status aroused many ambitions; as wars raged between neighbouring
states, both enemy and allied armies alike came to plunder and devastate.
In spite of these hardships however, the area benefited during the XVIIth
century from certain fiscal advantages and made use of certain freedoms
such as the smuggling of goods between Lorraine and the province of
Comté.
The French Conquest :
In 1681, after having annexed the province of Comté, Louis XIVth then
took possession of the Fougerolles area. The local inhabitants took
their vow of allegiance in 1683. In respect of one of the prerogatives
of the Sovereignty of Fougerolles, the Monarch decided that bailiwick
designations would be dealt with directly by the Parliament in Besançon.
However, in spite of prevarication, hesitation and protest, the fate
of Fougerolles was sealed by the Treaty of Besançon which was signed
on August 25th 1704 by the King's representatives and those of the Duke
of Lorraine.
It is curious to note that it was two lords of Fougerolles that marked,
through their separate defeats which occurred one hundred years apart,
the beginning and the end of the strategic and political supremacy of
France in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. In the first instance, the
defeat of PAUL BERNARD of Fontaine in Rocroi sounded the knell of the
supremacy of the Spanish over the French troops of Condé. Conversely,
it was the defeat of Charles de Rohan, prince of Soubise and lord of
Fougerolles, who capitulated before the numerically inferior army of
Frederic II in Rosbach in 1757, that ended the French army's reputation
of being invincible.
From the Revolution to the present day :
During the Revolution, our history becomes troubled once again. Fougerolles
rebelled against the fiscal agents of the Constituent Assembly (July
19th 1789), against the levying of volunteers under the Convention (August
29th 1793) and lastly against the priests who took their oath during
the Consulate. The people of Fougerolles paid a heavy price however
for their spirit of freedom. Having at first been appointed in 1790
as the main town in the district (Aillevillers, La Vaivre, Corbenay),
the area then found itself stripped of this title by Consular decree
on 17th Frimaire Year X. Fougerolles thus found itself under the jurisdiction
of Saint-Loup-Sur-Semouse, a small but very conformist town. Thus even
today, the district of Saint-Loup remains composed of two entities,
divided by their history and geography but above all by their economies,
who have little to do with each other. The majority of economic exchange
and human travel take place by following the RN57 towards the Vosges,
the Val d'Ajol and Remiremont in one direction and in particular towards
Luxeuil-les-Bains in the other direction.
II / LAND OF THE CHERRY: A LAND OF EXCEPTION
A stranger arriving
for the first time in our region is surprised by the density of fruit
trees, planted in close succession wherever arable land allows it. The
co-existence of ploughed land intended for cereal crops and potatoes
and meadows for reaping or for grazing was favourable to combining mixed
farming and tree cultivation, two very complementary activities. Nowadays,
the cherry trees tend to be set out in lines in the meadows, either
in the form of standard trees or are packed closely together in rows
in the modern orchards, scientifically planted as half-standard trees.
Cherry trees have existed in the area ever since the Middle Ages and
their presence has been noted in various writings including one note
which testifies that the cherry tree was "the most beautiful decoration
in the seigniorial garden.".
In the XVIth century, the production of "kirschwasser" (cherry brandy)
which originated in Germany, arrived in our region and was adopted as
an additional economic activity.
At the beginning of the XIXth century, Bonaparte instigated the " Régie
des Droits Réunis" (Common Law Regime) (1804). The biggest landowners
became commercial distillers and in addition to their own production
also commercialised that of home distillers. The pioneer in this was
Desle Nicolas LEMERCIER who obtained the first distiller's licence under
the regime of Common law introduced by Napoléon 1st in 1808. The blossoming
local economy was then to undergo a period of rapid growth between 1860
and 1914, helped along by the Industrial Revolution. During this time,
the number of distilleries multiplied and production became more diversified
including absinthe until production of the latter was prohibited in
1915. It was at this time that the Fougerolles orchards reached their
greatest extent, totalling an estimated 20 000 plants. The cherry picking
season in July became the high point of the year for all the inhabitants,
with manual workers, craftsmen and office staff, not forgetting the
children who were allowed out of school, working alongside the farmers
from dawn to dusk, perched up on special ladders with baskets slung
over their shoulders. The heavy baskets were packed together on wagons
and when evening came these were drawn by yoked oxen to the nearest
distillery.
The performances of the best pickers were the subject of much admiration.
Some were capable of nimbly picking between 100 and 150 kg of cherries
with their two bare hands in one day and of maintaining this rhythm
as long as the picking campaign lasted, namely over a period of three
to four weeks. The harvesting period was staggered due to the selection
of different varieties grafted depending on their earliness , their
flavour, their sugar content and their period of conservation on the
tree. During the harvesting season, the local factories would close
in order to allow the workers to benefit from this additional income
(these were known as the "cueilleurs de moitié"). In the same way, pickers
would arrive from outside the local community to participate in the
"cherry picking campaign". Brandies, which were not highly taxed at
that time, provided an additional income for all the local population,
which was a major factor in maintaining a very high rural population
density right up to the start of this century. It was the children and
the young people who most eagerly looked forward to the happy harvest
period and this in spite of the difficult and dangerous labour involved,
perched on the highest slopes ("le kik"), jostling from tree to tree
whilst yodelling and calling out "fyoves" (daring stories) to the young
girls.
However, the economic crisis in the thirties brought prices right down. This was followed by all the agricultural changes which occurred during the period known as the "Thirty Glorious Years" which dealt a harsh blow to the local economy and to the buzzing atmosphere of harvest times in the olden days.
When the alcohol control legislation was brought in (in particular the Mendès-France law in 1954), the number of home distillers decreased. In 1971, the introduction of mechanical picking marked the end of random planting of trees in the fields, which was instead replaced by the plantation of orchards technically adapted to the requirements of mechanisation. This phenomenon also brought about a reduction in the range of varieties, selected in terms of their capacity to be shaken and potential for coming to perfect ripeness. Only a few home distillers, for the most part retired people or non farming people but with strong links to the land, continue to cultivate their cherries on a small scale and at harvest time can still be seen skilfully perched on their ladders.
Distillation techniques
have also undergone radical change, from the still heated with a naked
flame and with a capacity of 50 litres to the present day 200 litre
capacity stills heated in double boilers. The distilling business itself
is now limited to a handful of large producers, who sell their brandies
either directly from their farms or by another channel of commercialisation.
Some belong to co-operatives, others sell their produce to industrial
distilleries. The latter are very often on the look out for genuine
kirsch aged in the lofts of the harvesters, as an addition to their
own increasingly more diversified range of products.
In honour of its world-wide reputation, the high points in the festive
calendar in Fougerolles now take place on the first Sunday in July,
which has become the Cherry Festival and on the third Sunday in September,
when the cherry doughnut festival takes place, and which includes the
presence of the Cherry Tasting Brotherhood.
Extracts from publications concerning the Fougerolles region
"Fougerolles, son patois, son folklore, ses traditions populaires, ses
costumes", 1979, Prix du livre Comtois 1980.
"Un amour de terroir", Edition A.D.E.F. 1994
"Entre Pierres de Roûge et Ru de Rôge": two nature trails in the Fougerolles
forest. Edition A.D.E.F. 1999
And with thanks to the author for his kind authorisation to reproduce
his texts here :
PIERRE
GRANDJEAN
"La Forge" route de Luxeuil
70220 Fougerolles