refuges may be referred.

A MS. account of this invasion, by a priest of Hiermont, named Claude
Godde, leaves this in no manner of doubt. He says: "The Spaniards
committed great outrages in Picardy, as they did later in 1658. These
wars compelled the inhabitants of Hiermont in 1647 to construct the
quarry which we now see. This quarry or cavern, which is a great
masterpiece, was first undertaken by five or six of the inhabitants "--
he gave their names. "They first of all dug out the entrance in 1647,
but owing to its having given way several times, had to be repaired,
and was not completed till 1648. The other inhabitants, seeing its
great utility, wanted also to have their chambers, but they were not
admitted unless they contributed to the cost of the undertaking, and to
this they willingly agreed. This quarry was of great service to the
inhabitants in the Wars of Louis XIV. against England, Holland, and the
Empire during the years 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711, which were the days
of Marlborough. It was accordingly made by the inhabitants of Hiermont,
to hide themselves, their cattle, their grain and their furniture, to
preserve them from pillage by the soldiers, whether of the enemy or
French. Each family had its own chamber."

In a proces of 1638, one of those interrogated, a nun named Martha
Tondu, stated that at Reneval and the neighbouring villages "the
peasants are on the look out, and if alarmed, retire and conceal their
cattle in ditches and quarries, without abandoning their houses or
neglecting their agricultural work."

Some, accordingly, of these subterranean refuges are of comparatively
late date; but this does not apply to all. At every period of danger,
instinctively the peasants would take advantage of the nature of the