Les dolmens de l’Ismaël

It is difficult to tell the history of Courry at the time of the Camisard War, the archives having been destroyed in a fire in 1973. However, oral tradition includes an anecdote that made Courry famous in the late 18th century. Abbot Murjas brought back from Italy an infallible recipe for an omelette that cured rabies. Once the omelette had gained a reputation for efficacy, people came from very far away to eat it. It was extremely salty, and its secret was the three herbs it contained. But the remedy was only effective on one condition: to drink nothing for the three following days! This was very hard in Courry, where the weather is so hot that people say that “even snakes die of thirst”!

There is still a yearly pilgrimage to St-Sebastian’s Chapel, up the slope with its southern summer scents. The pilgrims do not come to ring the bells – which is reputed to make rain fall on this thirsty stony land – but to worship and bless the children.

The village escaped a powerful wave of the plague in 1720, which ravaged surrounding valleys. In 1722 the chapel was built on this promontory to thank God for His protection. Each year, the second Monday of September was dedicated to the pilgrimage. It has since been moved forward to the last Monday in August so as to take place during the school holidays. 

Juniper is a typical garrigue (arid shrubland) species which was used for centuries to produce oil by distilling its heartwood. Cade oil can treat dermatoses, kill parasites, heal sheep’s wounds and keep away flies. The cade oil producer would arrive in an area suggested by its owner and there build his own drystone hut (a capitelle) and oven. This oven demanded substantial know-how. Made of firebricks mortared with beaten clay, it had a vase shape about 1 ½ m high and was open at the top so that juniper branches could be thrown in. The distilled wood could be removed through a door at the bottom. The oil ran out from under the door. About 50 cm from this vase, the oilmaker would build a drystone wall, the circular space inside it being the hearth. The whole construction would then be covered in soil to make it airtight: a molehill with a diameter of 6 m!