Legends and traditions

294 legends, nicknames and traditions taken from the entries, sorted by canton. They are stories handed down, not established facts. The sources are listed on each place's entry.

Vaud · Neuchâtel · Jura · Geneva · Valais · Fribourg · Bern

Vaud

Agiez

The Ewe-Roasters

According to tradition, a young shepherd is said to have put a rain-soaked ewe in an oven to dry; nothing confirms it. The story would explain the nickname of the people of Agiez, the Ritefailles («lè Rita-Fâïe»), meaning the Ewe-Roasters.

Aigle

The sprite of Salins

Until around 1820, several houses in Aigle still set aside a share for the «servant», the little household sprite. In the isolated building of Salins, at the edge of the Chenaux wood, the last maid used to say that an invisible sprite did most of her work, carrying water and scouring the shelves, in exchange for a few treats.

Arnex-sur-Nyon

The «Rédales»

The inhabitants are nicknamed the Rédales. According to one tradition, they tried to bring a tree down away from the road by clinging to one another from its top, and fell. Nothing confirms the story.

Arnex-sur-Orbe

The Foal-Killers

According to one tradition, a forest warden is said to have mistaken a foal that had escaped into a wood for a wolf, and the animal was killed during a beat. The story, which is not established, would explain the nickname of the people of Arnex, the Tue-Poulain («Tya-polain»).

Aubonne

Revire-Trouye, the nickname of the Aubonnois

The inhabitants of Aubonne are nicknamed, in Vaud patois, the Revire-Trouye, in other words the 'sow-turners'. The nickname is said to refer to an old story of a sow being punished by being turned on a kind of turnstile or pillory. The complete tale (date, circumstances, protagonists) has not been found: only the explanation of the nickname has come down to us.

Ballaigues

The «Donkey-Eaters»

The inhabitants, the Ballaguis, are nicknamed the Donkeys («lè z'Âno» in Vaud patois) or the Donkey-Eaters («lè Medze-Ano»). According to tradition, they reportedly mistook a donkey for a wild boar, shot it and then ate it.

Bassins

The «Sèche-Brebis»

According to local tradition, a young shepherd is said to have dried a rain-soaked ewe in an oven. This would explain the inhabitants' nicknames, «Sèche-Brebis» or «Mange-Brebis».

Baulmes

The «Roule-Chaudière»

The inhabitants, the Baulmérans, are nicknamed the Roule-Chaudière («lè Rebata-tsaudère» in Vaud patois). According to legend, a herdsman reportedly dropped a cauldron on the path to a mountain chalet. It rolled down the slope, driving the herds all the way to France.

The «Tue-Bourguignons»

Another nickname of the Baulmérans, which according to tradition reportedly goes back to the disputes over the line of the border between Baulmes and Franche-Comté.

Begnins

The treasure of Bioley

Of the vanished fortified castle of Bioley only a legend remains: that of a treasure buried beneath its ruins.

Bercher

The Hat-Burners

The inhabitants are nicknamed Brûle-Chapeaux, «hat-burners» («lè Bourlatsapi» in patois). According to legend, they seized all the hats they found in Vuarrens and made a bonfire of them. The municipal coat of arms of 1919 bears a hat alluding to this nickname.

Bettens

The Grands-Pantets

The inhabitants are nicknamed Grands-Pantets and Rufiants. According to tradition, the first nickname comes from their having worn long-tailed coats much longer than the inhabitants of other municipalities.

Bex

The laughing sprites

At the Collatel chalet above Bex, people told of a sprite that pulled the farmhand's blanket off on cold nights with peals of laughter, and tied two cows to the same chain. Another one plaited the horses' manes. The path from the village towards the cemetery is said to be called the Serveina, «the sprites' path», in memory of them.

Bière

The bishop carried on a bier

A local legend explains the village's name: it would come from the place where the body of a bishop of Lausanne, Saint Protais, was said to have been carried on a bière, that is, a funeral bier. Saint Protais was indeed bishop of Lausanne in the early Middle Ages, but no link between him and Bière is attested. This is very probably a folk etymology, born of the resemblance between the place name and the word bière.

Bioley-Orjulaz

Charles the Bold's camp

Local tradition holds that the Burgundian army of Charles the Bold set up camp in the Bois d'Orjulaz in 1476, between the battles of Grandson and Morat that marked the Burgundian Wars. This claim rests on a single source and is not confirmed.

Bioley

The treasure of Bioley

According to tradition, a treasure is buried beneath the rubble of the castle of Bioley.

Blonay

Les Tire-Tronc et les Mutz

The inhabitants of Blonay were nicknamed the «Tire-Tronc» and the «Mutz», that is, the «Bears». According to a local legend, they reportedly once mistook a tree trunk for a bear and shot at it.

Bonvillars

The night of Charles the Bold

According to a tradition handed down from generation to generation, Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy is said to have slept in a room on the third floor of La Cour before the Battle of Grandson in 1476. It is a legend that nothing confirms.

Borex

The «Pêcheurs-de-Lune» (Moon Fishers)

According to tradition, the inhabitants owe this nickname to a tipsy villager who is said to have tried to fish the moon out of a pond. They are reportedly also called «les Casseroles», though these nicknames are uncertain.

Bottens

The Ruffan and the Truffian

The inhabitants are nicknamed «lè Ruffan» and «lè Truffian» in patois. The second is said to refer to the potato, the village's staple food.

Boulens

The nickname «the Greens»

The inhabitants are nicknamed the Greens («lè Vè» in Vaud patois). According to a traditional, unverified story, a dyer asked a farmer whether a piece of cloth should be dyed black. The farmer reportedly answered yes («vâi»), but the dyer understood «vé» (green).

Bournens

The nickname «Argants»

The inhabitants are nicknamed the Argants, after a French general (D'Argang or d'Organd) who, according to tradition, reportedly stayed in the village.

Boussens

The nickname «Frogs»

The inhabitants, the Boussinois, are nicknamed the Frogs («lè Renaillé» in Vaud patois). The nickname reportedly comes from the many marshes the area once had.

Bretigny-sur-Morrens

The «Chèvres» (goats)

According to tradition, the inhabitants of Bretigny are nicknamed the «Chèvres» (goats). Where the nickname comes from is not known.

Bussy-sur-Moudon

The fugitives from Valangin

According to tradition, in 1498 inhabitants of a hamlet called Bussy, near Valangin, fled from their lord. Reaching a league (about 4 km) from Moudon, they found the place pleasant and built a village there, giving it the name of their former hamlet. The story appears, however, to be contradicted by history: «Buxi» is already recorded in the 12th century, and the place was inhabited long before.

Champvent

Queen Bertha's castle

A tradition wrongly attributes the building of the castle to Queen Bertha. It is a square Savoyard-type castle with four towers, built around 1295-1300.

«Bon vin, bonne terre, crouilles gens»

A saying in Vaud patois, «Champvent, bon vin, bonne terre, crouilles gens», praises the wine and soil of Champvent but judges its inhabitants harshly.

Chapelle-sur-Moudon

The «Rôtisseurs de brebis» (sheep-roasters)

The inhabitants' nickname is Rôtafayes, the «sheep-roasters». According to a legend, a young shepherd is said to have dried a rain-soaked ewe in an oven.

Château-d'Œx

The legend of La Pierreuse

At the foot of the Gummfluh, in the Gérine valley, the La Pierreuse pasture was once called la Verda and was one of the finest in the region. Two fairies lived there in a cave and drank a pail of milk every morning. To win the hand of a stranger who coveted the gold of the Rubly, Pierre d'Outrelègue climbed to the cave by night with a magic spell. The mountain shook, the fairies' rock needle crashed onto the pasture and Pierre vanished. Ever since, la Verda has been covered in scree.

Châtillens

Saint Pancras and children who died unbaptized

A tradition held that the image of Saint Pancras, venerated in the parish church and the object of a pilgrimage, could revive children who had died unbaptised long enough for them to be baptised. The practice ended with the Reformation: in 1538 the Bernese had the image burned.

Chêne-Pâquier

The mason and the carpenter

According to a local tradition, the oval shape of the church arose from a challenge between the mason and the carpenter, who considered the task impossible. The mason is said to have carved his initials on the building.

Chernex

Why the inhabitants are called « les Lanternes »

Local tradition gives two explanations for this nickname. According to the first, the inhabitants hunted wolves using lanterns for light. According to the second, after the great fire of 15 December 1814, villagers were forbidden to light candles anywhere but inside lanterns.

Chesières

The spinning fairy

A young girl with very harsh parents had to spin a whole distaff every day while minding the cattle. A fairy she had welcomed into a chalet came every evening, fixed the distaff to a cow's horn and spun by moonlight, sitting on the cow's back. By morning the yarn was ready.

Corbeyrier

Le Creux des Bourguignons

According to a local tradition, Burgundian mercenaries fleeing after the defeat of Charles le Téméraire in 1476 were plundering the region. The village's forebears are said to have massacred them and buried them pell-mell at la Praille, in a large pit called the Creux des Bourguignons.

The « Voleurs-de-Loup »

The inhabitants are nicknamed « Voleurs-de-Loup » (wolf thieves) or « Robaleux ». Tradition tells that a wounded wolf, hunted by hunters from Leysin, was killed at Corbeyrier and that the inhabitants refused to hand the carcass over to the hunters. A bounty was at stake.

Corcelles-près-Concise

The trophy of the battle of Grandson

According to a popular belief reported at the end of the 19th century, the menhirs of Corcelles were a trophy raised by the Swiss after their victory over Charles the Bold at Grandson in 1476. It was also said that the stones still bore the marks of the tools used to quarry them. Excavations have since shown that these menhirs date from the Neolithic.

Crans

The « Crows » of Crans

The inhabitants are nicknamed « Corbeaux » (crows) or « Fouette-Corbeaux » (crow-whippers). According to a locally handed-down story, crows are said to have flown towards Crans to show who owned a walnut tree on the boundary with a neighbouring municipality.

Croy

The «Bouilleurs de chats»

The inhabitants of Croy are nicknamed « Buya-tsa » in patois, the « Bouilleurs de chats » (cat boilers, or « Lessive-Chats »). According to legend, a cat hidden in sheets meant for the wash, done with ash and boiling water, met an unhappy end there. The sculptor Jean-Pierre Augier depicted this story with a washerwoman and her cat.

Cugy

The «Boucs» (billy goats)

According to tradition, the inhabitants of Cugy, the Cugiérans, are nicknamed the «Boucs» (billy goats). Where this nickname comes from is unknown.

The «village in the middle of the world»

The municipality presents itself as the «village du milieu du monde» (village in the middle of the world), because its waters flow both towards the Mediterranean and towards the North Sea, between the Rhône and Rhine basins.

The coat of arms

According to the municipality, the two wavy silver bars of the coat of arms represent the Talent and Mèbre streams, and the eagle recalls Saint John the Evangelist, patron saint of the village.

Daillens

The nickname of the Daillenais

The inhabitants of Daillens, the Daillenais, bear the patois nickname «Lè Radze-buli», the boiled-beef eaters.

Denens

The scarecrows

The Société de l'Epouvantail holds a scarecrow competition in Denens. It celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2015. Scarecrows reportedly ward off evil spells, according to a local tradition that is not confirmed.

The «Fouette-Grenouilles» and the «Choucas»

The inhabitants bear the patois nickname «Lè Fouta renaille» (the frog-whippers) and are also called «les Choucas» (the jackdaws). The municipal coat of arms, created in 1920, shows a black raven standing on a three-peaked mount.

Dommartin

The ordeal of the hot iron (908)

According to a document of 908, dated to the twentieth year of the reign of King Rudolph, a dispute over the rights of Bishop Boson of Lausanne to the forests of Dommartin was reportedly settled by an ordeal: Arulfe, a serf of the Church, had to hold a red-hot iron in his hand. As his hand was sound after three days, the judgement went in the bishop's favour.

Donatyre

The inhabitants' nicknames

The inhabitants of Donatyre bore the nicknames «Les Groseilles» (the Redcurrants) and «Les Pique-lune» (the Moon-pokers). No story explaining their origin is known, and their precise meaning remains unclear.

Duillier

The nuns of the castle

According to tradition, nuns are said to have found refuge in the castle and engraved on a window a thought that is reproduced on the façade of the barn: «Les plaisirs du monde sont trompeurs» (The pleasures of the world are deceptive).

Essert-Pittet

The «Fouette-Grenouilles» nickname

The inhabitants of Essert-Pittet are said to bear the nickname «Fouette-Grenouilles» (frog-whippers), shared with those of Chevilly and Denens. It reportedly recalls the practice of beating the water of ponds to silence the frogs at night, though this is not certain.

Ferlens

The legendary battle of La Rappettaz

The unusual size of the skeletons discovered at the place called «La Rappettaz» has fed a local tradition that the site was the scene of a battle at an unknown time. This tradition is not confirmed by archaeology.

Genolier

Justice under the three lime trees

According to tradition, justice in Genolier was dispensed under three lime trees planted in the middle of the village, though this is not certain. The three lime trees appear on the municipal flag.

Gingins

The Sèche-Chrétiens

The people of Gingins are nicknamed the Sèche-Chrétiens because of a legend: a poor vagrant, whom the innkeeper of the Croix-Blanche had invited to sleep in the still-warm communal bread oven, is said to have nearly been roasted inside it at dawn by the baker.

Gollion

The Moulin d'Amour

According to legend, a knight's son is said to have secretly married the miller's daughter. Preferring love to his rank, he reportedly gave up his inheritance and lived at the mill from then on.

Gryon

Pigs in the bed

On the larch-covered hill above the village, a sprite would come and eat a chalet's provisions, make a din at night and pull the sheets off the sleepers. An old man from La Forclaz said that at the Coufin alp, near the Col de la Croix, he twice found three of his black pigs lying in his bed «like three people».

La Forclaz

The fairies' hole

Near the village is a hollow known as the Trou aux fées (fairies' hole). In 1781, an old man of the place recalled, a local girl was helped in her work by a fairy who lived nearby. One day the fairy stopped coming: she reproached the girl for working on Sunday, the Lord's day.

La Sarraz

The «Rolye-Bo»

The inhabitants bear the nickname «Rolye-Bo», «toad-beaters» in Vaud patois. According to tradition it reportedly comes from those who struck the water of the ponds to silence the noisy amphibians at night, but this explanation is uncertain.

L'Abbaye

The Silver Bell (La Cloche d'Argent)

According to a locally transmitted tale, the monks leaving the abbey in 1536 are said to have taken a silver bell with them, which is said to have been lost in the Lac de Joux.

L'Abergement

The Wolves

The inhabitants are nicknamed the Wolves, reportedly «lè Lâo» in patois. Villagers are said to have met these animals near the forests of the area, but neither this explanation nor the patois form is confirmed. A wolf also appears in the municipal arms.

Lavigny

The «Grenouilles»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Grenouilles» (frogs), because of the Gouille pond east of the village, recognized as a site of biological value of prime importance at national level.

Le Lieu

Dom Poncet, the founding hermit

Tradition traces the origin of Le Lieu to a hermit named Poncet (Pontius), who is said to have founded the community between the 5th and 9th centuries as a staging post between the abbey of Saint-Oyend (Saint-Claude) and Romainmôtier. This hypothesis has never been verified: nothing is known of the man, neither where he came from nor what he actually achieved. The only certainty is that his name appears from 1155 in that of the village («place of Dom Poncet») and survives in several neighbouring place names (Combe à Poncet, fontaine à Poncet, bois à Poncet).

Le Solliat

The bear of the «souillard»

According to tradition, around 1554, a bear came to drink at a pond, a «souillard», east of the present settlement. The place is said to have taken the name «souillard de l'Or», then «Solliard à l'ours», hence Le Solliat. The bear's head in the village coat of arms recalls this origin of the name.

Les Clées

The «Bourdons»

The inhabitants are nicknamed the «Bourdons» (bumblebees). The nickname reportedly comes from the situation of the municipality, lying in a hollow like a bumblebees' nest.

Les Diablerets

The demons of the mountain

The name Les Diablerets, which came from the Valais, reflects an old tradition that these mountains were haunted by demons.

Les Monts-de-Pully

The Devil of the Mont-de-Pully

According to the confessions extracted under torture from Pernon Cherbaz, burned for witchcraft in 1638, the Devil, who allegedly called himself «Gabriel» and took human form, appeared to her some twelve years earlier as she was coming down from the barns of Moillebourquin, on the Mont-de-Pully, towards the «rio» of Mauxbosson. He allegedly appeared to her again three days later near the weathervane of Montmorrens. This account reflects the beliefs and procedure of the witch trials of the time.

L'Etivaz

The fox sprite of Les Martines

A mocking sprite haunted the house of Les Martines. A man from Château-d'Œx passing by at night saw through the window a fox calmly spinning at a distaff by lamplight. A hunter who took aim at it saw it grow until it was bigger than a horse. The shot went off and the vision vanished.

Leysin

Michel and Nérine

In a cave in the Tour d'Aï lived fairies who watched over the herds in return for a pail of cream. The young fairy Nérine fell in love with Michel, a herdsman from Leysin, and carried him through the air in a chariot drawn by swallows, offering him riches and distant lands. Michel always refused: nothing was worth more than his mountain, and he loved Salomé. Out of jealousy, another girl had the fairies' pail rubbed with gentian. The fairies left Aï for ever, and Michel married Salomé.

The sorcerer of Crettaz

An invisible spirit harassed passers-by at Crettaz, throwing stones at them. A soldier from Leysin, on his way home from a review at Le Sépey, took aim at it behind a plank and fired. A shadow fled howling, and the sorcerer never troubled the area again.

Lignerolle

The Pierre à glissoir

According to legend, barren women went to the Pierre à glissoir on certain nights in the hope of becoming fertile.

Luins

The malakoff

According to tradition, Swiss mercenaries from the Vaud Côte serving in the French army at the siege of the Malakoff fort, which defended Sevastopol during the Crimean War, fried slices of cheese at their bivouacs. The dish took the name of the fort. The malakoff is now a speciality of several villages of La Côte, including Luins.

Mex

The «Foulx»

According to tradition, the people of Mex are nicknamed the «Foulx», from a dialect word for the stunted fruit of the chestnut: they are said to have sold such fruit hidden in the husk.

Moiry

The «Epouéri»

The inhabitants of Moiry are nicknamed «lè z'Epouéri», said to mean the frightened ones in Vaud patois. According to tradition, this nickname comes from the fear of the wolves that roamed the forests a few centuries ago.

Montagny-près-Yverdon

The crayfish claw shared with Onnens

The arms of Montagny, a red crayfish claw, are said by tradition to recall an old division with Onnens under the Ancien Régime: Montagny kept the claw, while Onnens bears the mutilated crayfish.

The crow-whippers

The inhabitants' nickname, «lè fouetta-corbé» (the crow-whippers), is said to be linked to the old name of the village, Montagny-le-Corbe.

Montaubion-Chardonney

The brigands of the Jorat

The Jorat forest, where Montaubion-Chardonney lies, is linked in regional memory to the legend of the «brigands of the Jorat», bands said in popular tales to have plagued the area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nothing ties these brigands specifically to the village rather than to the Jorat in general, and the tradition itself is uncertain.

Montet (Cudrefin)

The count's ransom

According to a local tradition, Count Humbert of Savoy, held captive in Bulgaria during a crusade, was reportedly ransomed partly with funds from the lordship of Cudrefin and had the church built on the hill in gratitude. The tradition gives his death as 1374, whereas the church is attributed to Humbert of Savoy who died in 1443: the two statements do not agree.

Montreux

The lady of Saleuscex

Near the ruins of a tower on the Cubli, a veiled woman is said to appear at midnight, sighing. She would be Éléonore, daughter of the cruel Archibald d'Aigremont: sheltering with him in the tower, she loved her cousin Berthold de Blonay, but promised her dying father to enter a convent to save his soul.

Morcles

The departure of the fairy of the Tannes de Javerne

A collection of legends of the Vaud Alps links this story to Morcles: a fairy from the Tannes de Javerne (an alpine pasture neighbouring the territory of Bex) marries a mortal, Jean Guillat, on condition that he never say three specific insulting words to her. The condition is eventually broken, and the fairy leaves her husband and the life they shared, as in other alpine legends of unions between fairies and mortals. The legend comes from a single source. Its attachment to Morcles and its details are not confirmed.

Morrens

The «Bears»

According to tradition, the inhabitants of Morrens are nicknamed the «Bears». The story goes that a drunken villager fled from a supposed bear, which was in fact only a large yellow dog.

Ogens

The «Bocans»

According to tradition, the people of Ogens are nicknamed «lè Bocans», the billy goats in Vaud dialect: it is told that there was only a single billy goat at a village fair, though this explanation is not confirmed. A billy goat also appears in the municipal coat of arms.

Ollon

Farel driven out of Huémoz

According to popular tradition, the reformer Guillaume Farel was reportedly driven out of the village of Huémoz by volleys of stones and pans during his first sermon.

Onnens

The one-clawed crayfish

The coat of arms of Onnens shows a red crayfish missing its left claw. According to tradition, in an old division of property with Montagny, it was Montagny that received the missing claw.

Oppens

The nickname «Bagnolets»

The inhabitants of Oppens are nicknamed the Bagnolets, a nickname that tradition links to the milk containers used in the region's dairy economy.

Ormont-Dessous

The guardian sprite of Les Planches

At Les Planches people said a sprite guarded a chalet: if anyone touched the cheese, it rapped their fingers, so the house could be left unlocked.

Ormont-Dessus

The sprites and fairies of Isenau

At Ayerne and Isenau, sprites and fairies watched over the cows: the herdsman would say «go where I go» and no animal ever fell from the rocks. A pail of milk was set out for them on the chalet roof. But thoughtless people spoiled that milk, and since then, an old herdsman said, they have never been seen again.

Orny

The «Rupiants»

The inhabitants of Orny are nicknamed «les Rupiants». According to tradition, they earned this nickname at a gargantuan feast paid for, long ago, by the sale of a piece of forest in the Risoux.

Oulens-sous-Echallens

The nickname «Quicons»

The inhabitants of Oulens are nicknamed the Quicons. The origin of this nickname is not known.

Pailly

The nickname «Mulets»

The inhabitants of Pailly are nicknamed the Mulets (mules). According to a traditional explanation, the nickname comes from the village's role as a stopping place on old trade routes between Morges and Payerne, when merchants carried their goods by mule.

Payerne

Queen Bertha

Queen Bertha, mother of Adelaide of Burgundy, buried at Payerne before April 961, has remained in popular memory as a benevolent queen of the Pays de Vaud. This legend goes back to forged documents, the « testament of Queen Bertha », written by the monks in the first half of the 12th century to present her as the founder of Payerne. It became very popular when the canton was created. Tradition reportedly also links her to the saying « du temps que Berthe filait » (« in the days when Bertha spun »), which evokes a lost golden age.

Penthalaz

The «Cancaniers»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Cancaniers». Tradition links the nickname to ordinances from the early 17th century forbidding women to gather «pour cotter, caquasser et jaser».

Penthaz

The «Tartreux»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Tartreux», meaning «tart-eaters». The Tartreux festival takes place every year on the second weekend of June.

Penthéréaz

The «Buïa-Tsa» and the «Matous»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Lè Buïa-Tsa» (in patois, «cat-washers») and «Les Matous». According to a popular anecdote, a woman is said to have put a cat in a washtub, deliberately or by accident.

Poliez-Pittet

Les Croqua-Bleyssons

The inhabitants are nicknamed «les Croqua-Bleyssons», meaning the wild-pear eaters in Vaud patois.

Premier

The treasure of Lanfrey

According to tradition, a treasure was buried on the site of the old village of Lanfrey. Around 1842, digs were undertaken to find it. It is said that a pot of gold and a chest were uncovered, before mysteriously sinking into the ground.

The «Ricllia-laitia»

The people of Premier are nicknamed in patois «lè Ricllia-laitia» (the whey-shitters). The nickname is said to come from the fact that the whey produced in the chalet of the communal mountain pasture was shared among the burghers, who had considered laying pipes to bring it down to the village.

Rances

The Pierre à Bonchâteau

The Pierre à Bonchâteau lies along the road from Baulmes to Sergey-L'Abergement. According to tradition, a treasure lies buried beneath this huge rock, which on certain evenings, at the twelfth stroke of midnight, is said to turn on itself. It was also called the Pierre des sorciers (sorcerers' stone).

Ressudens

The capture of Bishop Boson

A legend tells that the Bishop of Lausanne, Boson, was captured by the Hungarians. It arose from the seizure of the episcopal estate of Ressudens by King Rudolph II, probably in 922. The estate was returned in 997.

Riex

Queen Bertha and the Tour de Gourze

According to a tradition reported by some historians, the Tour de Gourze was built in the 9th century by Queen Bertha to protect Lavaux from Saracen raids. Others attribute its construction to the bishops of Lausanne in the 11th century. The first written mention of the tower dates only from 1279.

Rivaz

The Tauredunum tidal wave

According to tradition, the original village, on the lakeshore near Glérolles castle, was devastated in 563 by a giant wave over 10 metres high caused by the rockfall of the Tauredunum, part of the Grammont. The inhabitants are said to have rebuilt it about 50 m above the lake, keeping the name « Ripa » (the shore), which became paradoxical for a village perched among the vineyards.

Romainmôtier

No clearly documented local legend

Despite its monastic past, Romainmôtier has no known folk legend of its own, no hidden treasure, underground passage or apparition. The only traditional accounts concern semi-legendary episodes already part of the site's history, such as the founding by Saint Romanus or the visit of Pope Stephen II in 753, which belong to tradition rather than to established fact.

Romanel-sur-Lausanne

Lè Buya-tsa, the « cat-washers »

The inhabitants of Romanel are nicknamed « Lè Buya-tsa » in patois, meaning « those who scald cats » or « the cat-washers ». According to tradition, a cat crept into a pile of dirty laundry for a nap and ended up being washed in the laundry cauldron.

Rougemont

The ghost of the Vanel

After the Vanel castle was destroyed, loud sneezes could be heard at midnight near the ruined tower: it was the spirit of a robber lord, condemned to wander until a living person wished him well. A young man from Rougemont bet he would go there, heard the sneeze and called out «Bless you!». «Many thanks», a voice replied, «I have waited more than six hundred years for that word!» The ghost was never seen again.

Rueyres

Les Bourriques

The inhabitants are nicknamed «les Bourriques».

Saint-Barthélemy

Les Agasses

The inhabitants are nicknamed «les Agasses», meaning the magpies in Vaud patois.

Saint-Cergue

The refuge of Charles the Bold

According to a local tradition, Duke Charles the Bold took refuge in Saint-Cergue after his defeat of 1476. Nothing confirms it.

La Ballade à Béatrix

Tale written by Frédéric-Jacques-Louis Rilliet (1794-1856), presented as taken from an old parchment found in a piece of furniture given by a villager. It tells the last episode in the life of the castle, with invented characters alongside Charles the Bold and the dukes of Savoy. A trail of 16 panels retraces it today.

Saint-Saphorin (Lavaux)

Bishop Marius, founder of the church

A tradition attributes the founding of the church of Saint-Saphorin to Bishop Marius; it is a legend.

Sergey

The «Ours» nickname

By tradition, the people of Sergey are nicknamed the «Ours» (bears). The nickname is linked to the bears that were numerous in the region around 1600: the archives repeatedly mention a bounty of 5 batz paid by the bailiffs for a bear or wolf skin. The bear has appeared on the municipal coat of arms since 1929.

Servion

The « Donkeys » of Servion

Since the early 20th century the inhabitants have borne the nickname « Ânes » (donkeys). According to tradition it comes from the donkeys that carried to Lausanne the molasse from the local quarries, worked since the Middle Ages.

Signy-Avenex

The tunnel from Nyon to Bonmont

According to a legend, an underground passage linked Nyon to the abbey of Bonmont and is said to have crossed the Roman aqueduct.

The Monkeys

According to tradition, the inhabitants are nicknamed the Monkeys (les Singes) because an inhabitant of Avenex is said to have owned a monkey.

Sullens

The nickname «Herbes»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Lè z'Herbe» («Herbes») or «Herbettes». According to tradition, the nickname comes from their large consumption of vegetables and greens.

Suscévaz

The inhabitants' nicknames

By tradition, the inhabitants are nicknamed the «Susçons», reportedly «the lollipops» in Vaud patois (meaning uncertain), and «lè Pilanta-lâma», «the wool-planters».

Valeyres-sous-Montagny

The legionary of Valeyres

According to a tradition, the village's name recalls a Roman villa founded by a retired legionary, who is said to have taught the inhabitants farming techniques.

Vallorbe

The Grotte aux Fées and Donat the blacksmith

According to a tale published in 1938, Donat, a young 25-year-old blacksmith who mocked the fairies, entered the great cave at midnight. A fairy welcomed him and promised him a pearl and a diamond every day, on condition that he never entered a forbidden cave. Driven by curiosity, he disobeyed and discovered that the fairy had goose feet hidden under her long dress. Driven out, he returned to the village where his treasures turned into dead leaves. Mocked by all, he left the country, and since then the caves of Vallorbe have no longer been inhabited by fairies.

The «Tire-Lune»

The people of Vallorbe bear the nickname «Tire-Lune». Tradition offers several explanations: a tipsy hunter is said to have shot at the reflection of the moon in the Orbe. A simpleton is said to have aimed at the moon thinking he would hit a shooting star; or else marksmen of the municipality are said to have wanted to test the range of their carbines.

Vaulion

The «Foueta-Lîvra»

The inhabitants of Vaulion bear the nickname «Foueta-Lîvra», the «hare-whippers» in Vaud patois. According to tradition, a hare caught gnawing a cabbage is said to have been publicly whipped, then escorted back to the border.

The three hearts of the coat of arms

The coat of arms bears a V surmounted by three hearts. Local tradition sees in them the expression of a virtue of love peculiar to the inhabitants.

Vers-l'Église

The three stakes

According to tradition, when a church was to be built in the upper part of the Ormonts valley, a stake was planted in three places to find the spot least exposed to avalanches. Two of these markers disappeared. The third held firm, and that is where the church was built.

Vevey

The sprite of the Boillet tower

According to the town archives quoted by Cérésole, a «mischievous spirit» was the talk of Vevey around 1551. It haunted the Boillet tower, behind today's rue du Simplon, playing all kinds of pranks and making a racket. The council decided to have every opening of the tower walled up, so that it could not get back in if it was outside, nor get out if it was inside.

Veytaux

François Bonivard and "The Prisoner of Chillon"

François Bonivard (1493-1570), prior of Saint-Victor in Geneva, really was imprisoned at Chillon Castle for supporting Geneva's independence from the Duke of Savoy: two years in relatively lenient conditions because of his rank, then four years in the lower dungeon, until his release by Bernese troops in 1536. In 1816 the poet Lord Byron drew on his story to write "The Prisoner of Chillon", a poem that heavily romanticises and exaggerates historical reality (chains, total isolation, stone worn down by the prisoner's steps). Excavations carried out in the dungeon in the 19th century notably found no archaeological trace confirming the famous grooves Bonivard claimed to have worn into the stone by pacing. This literary legend, born of Byron's poem rather than local oral tradition, is nonetheless well documented as to its origin and the gap between the poetic account and the known historical facts.

Villars-le-Terroir

The inhabitants' nicknames

The inhabitants, called Villardiers, are reportedly nicknamed «Molliets» (the wet ones, or lovers of good food), «Râpes» and «Noyés».

Villars-sous-Yens

The «Sécherons»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Sécherons», a name said to come from the dried apples and pears that were kept for times of scarcity in winter.

Vinzel

The «beignet de Vinzel»

According to tradition, the name of the malakoff, also called «beignet de Vinzel», recalls the capture of Fort Malakoff during the Crimean War in 1855, in which Swiss mercenaries are said to have taken part. One version holds that Swiss soldiers from Geneva and the Vaud Côte took to frying slices of cheese at their bivouac and kept meeting to eat them once back home.

Vuarrens

The nickname «Bâo»

The inhabitants are reportedly nicknamed «Lè Bâ» or «Bâo», meaning the Oxen in Vaud patois.

Vuitebœuf

The «Vuètevatses»

The inhabitants, the Vuitebolards, are nicknamed the Vuètevatses, said to mean «those who watch the cows» in Vaud patois, echoing the popular reading of the village name as «guette-bœuf».

The «Roman road»

According to popular tradition, the Côte de Vuitebœuf is a Roman road. Historical research has shown that it is a salt road laid out in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Yens

The «Fumas»

The inhabitants are nicknamed «Fumas» («smoked» in Vaud patois). According to tradition, the nickname comes from the smoke of the houses during the famine of 1628, when acorns were roasted to make bread. They are also said to be called «lè Tiu-Dzalâ» and «lè Tiu-Mi-Dzalâ», because the village is exposed to the bise wind.

Yvorne

The vouivre of the Torrent

When the place du Torrent was still a ravine, people claimed to see ghostly dances there and a «vouivre», the winged serpent of tradition. Two old men lay in wait and struck at the shadow: it was a fox that had come to rummage through the refuse thrown into the ravine.

The woman who gave warning, 1584

A few days before the landslide of 4 March 1584, a poor woman went from house to house without finding shelter. Only one family took her in, and she warned them of the disaster. According to legend, theirs was one of the few houses spared.

Neuchâtel

Buttes

The serpent of the Chaîne

A tradition reported by an old author, quoted by the Inventory of Historic Traffic Routes, tells that a « serpent monstrueux » (monstrous serpent) had settled in the rocks of the Combe à la Vuivra, at the Chaîne pass in Saint-Sulpice, and laid waste to the surroundings, so that the main road to France had to be diverted through Buttes, along a path called the « Vie Saunier » or salt road.

Champ-du-Moulin

The beast of the Areuse gorge

In the 17th century a beast lived in the precipices of the Areuse, near Champ-du-Moulin. An old chronicle gives it a cat's head, the size of a cat's, and a body about one and a half toises long. A man from the neighbourhood finally killed it, though not without difficulty.

Château de Rochefort

The destruction of the castle

Vauthier's tragic end gave rise to a tradition that the castle was destroyed at the time of his execution. The Association des Amis du Château considers this mistaken, since ruin through gradual abandonment is only confirmed in 1512. Another version, reported by the municipality, has it that lords annoyed by the occupants' behaviour may have burnt the castle.

Corcelles

The liars' bench

According to local tradition, the front steps of the house at Grand-Rue 19 were nicknamed « le banc des menteurs » (the liars' bench): the village elders reportedly gathered there to swap the news and gossip of the day, sometimes exaggerated.

Cortaillod

The legend of the Carcoies

The inhabitants of Cortaillod are nicknamed the « Carcoies », an old popular word for the cockchafer. According to local tradition, in a year when these insects invaded the region in huge numbers, the villagers are said to have considered fighting them with cannon. The nickname is proudly claimed today.

La Côte-aux-Fées

The fairies' abode

In 1763 Jean-Jacques Rousseau described this «lost country» above Buttes to the Maréchal de Luxembourg. It was claimed, he wrote, that the place had once been the abode of fairies, hence its name. Their assembly hall was supposedly a cave, the Grotte aux Fées, where a throne and seats carved in the rock could still be seen not long before. Rousseau had not visited it himself. The entrance was almost blocked by rubble and brushwood, and fear of snakes kept the curious away.

La Coudre

The niton's wife

To the Neuchâtel folk of old, the nightmare was the «niton», a creature that sat on a sleeper's chest at night. A man from La Coudre who was often visited by it found, between his bed and the stove, a small hole left in the panelling by a fallen knot. One night, sensing the niton in the room, he plugged the hole and made a light. On the stove sat a little woman. She wept so much that he ended up marrying her. The household thrived and three children were born. One day, while moving a chest, the husband knocked the plug loose. His wife seized the moment and vanished.

Lac des Taillères

The forest that became a lake

According to a legend, one evening in the 15th century the inhabitants of « Estaillères » were woken by a dreadful noise: the forest had turned into a stretch of water, said to be the origin of the Lac des Taillères.

Le Locle

Daniel JeanRichard and the horse dealer's watch

According to a traditional story, around 1690 an English horse dealer called "Peter" stopped at the JeanRichard home with a broken watch. Young Daniel, despite his father's scepticism, is said to have repaired it and so discovered his vocation as a watchmaker. Watchmaking historians explicitly describe this scene as a legend: Daniel's father was probably a farmer rather than a blacksmith, and the young man had probably already served a goldsmith's apprenticeship. The historical fact remains: Daniel JeanRichard, who settled in Le Locle in the early 18th century, is regarded as the pioneer of watchmaking in the Neuchâtel mountains.

Les Bayards

The Vuivra

A tradition reported by an old author, quoted by the Inventory of Historic Traffic Routes, holds that a « serpent monstrueux » (monstrous serpent) had settled in the rocks of the Chaîne pass and laid waste to the surroundings. According to another version, a Raymond de Saint-Sulpice is said to have killed this monster in 1273 in the Combe à la Vuivra. This account is not confirmed.

Les Hauts-Geneveys

The Sunday nose

A young man from Les Hauts-Geneveys accused an old woman of putting the devil into a pig, which then had to be slaughtered. She took her revenge. Every Saturday evening the lad's nose began to swell, and it only went down again on Monday morning. He had spent each week waiting to see his sweetheart on Sunday, and now had to give up evening gatherings and dances, while the village girls pointed at him.

Les Ponts-de-Martel

The devil of Les Ponts, 1809

Early in 1809, word spread through the Neuchâtel mountains that evil spirits had taken over Moïse Perrenod's house at the Combe-des-Glottes. Candlesticks, the Bible and watchmaker's tools fell by themselves, windowpanes shattered, and a stone struck the old man on the head. Onlookers flocked there every night, and healers came to lift the spell with herbs. After about ten days, Lieutenant Huguenin of Le Locle saw the household's godson, a 13-year-old servant boy, secretly throw a stone. The boy confessed everything. The Travers court sentenced him to a whipping and six months in prison, half of which the Council of State remitted. People went on calling him the Devil of Les Ponts.

Les Taillères

The forest that became a lake

According to a legend, one evening in the 15th century the inhabitants of « Estaillères » were woken by a dreadful noise: the forest had turned into a stretch of water, said to be the origin of the Lac des Taillères.

Peseux

The dragon and the shod dog

An old chronicle mentions a dragon-shaped serpent about one toise long above the village, with something like a crown of fire on its head. At dusk it gave off light like a candle. By the 19th century the beast had become a huge dog shod on all four feet, said to be met at night near the Perrière des Tombets, between Serrières and Peseux. It walked three paces ahead of passers-by with its shoes ringing, vanished, then showed itself further on. A little to the west, at the foot of the Fin de Peseux, the Creux aux Sorciers was said to lead walkers astray. The spell broke only if they met a pastor or someone from his household.

Saint-Blaise

The bottomless Loclat

The inhabitants of Saint-Blaise are nicknamed the Loqueux (« lé Léquia » in patois), after the Loclat, a small pond in the village which, according to tradition, is said to have no bottom.

Saint-Sulpice

The Vouivre and Sulpy Reymond

According to legend, in 1373 nobody dared any longer to go through the Combe à la Vuivra, for people believed that a vouivre, a monstrous serpent, devoured travellers there. The local hero Sulpy Reymond hid in a box pierced with a hole and ran the beast through with an arrow or a spear, depending on the version. He then burned the carcass, whose stench was so foul that he is said to have died of it a few days later. A vouivre appears in the village coat of arms.

Valangin

The damned of the gallows

The Valangin gallows stood in the forest above the Seyon gorge, and people avoided the spot at night. Some folk from Auvernier going up to the fair before sunrise believed they were being chased there by a band of the damned dragging the chains of hell. They ran screaming all the way down to the town. In front of the church, their pursuers turned out to be four «magnins», travelling tinkers with baskets full of scrap iron. The tinkers swore they had slept under the gallows and only ran after them to stretch their legs.

Vaumarcus

The castle's follaton

In the Béroche it was said that the castle was inhabited by a «follaton», an invisible household spirit that claimed the first fruits of the house: the first piece of each batch of bread, the first fruit from the orchard, the first egg before Easter. Thieves beware. A woman who took eggs from the castle henhouse is said to have died of it, her hands and body swollen. The follaton also watched over the family. A baron of Vaumarcus, bailiff for Bern, was about to leave for war when the spirit carried his mule to the top of a tower. The baron took it as a bad omen and stayed. Shortly afterwards, news came of a bloody clash. The castle still showed the mule's saddle and bridle in one of its towers.

Vernéaz

The construction attributed to Burgundian troops

The very name of the Redoute des Bourguignons, which overlooks the Vernéaz gorge, reflects a popular belief: that this earthwork was built by the troops of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, during the campaign that led to the nearby battle of Grandson in 1476. The inventories, however, regard it as a prehistoric enclosure of the Hallstatt period, much older than the Burgundian Wars. The site's name thus preserves a legend that scholarship has corrected, without erasing it from local memory.

Jura

Abbaye de Moutier-Grandval

The crosier of Saint Germanus

Tradition attributes to Saint Germanus, the first abbot, the richly decorated 7th-century crosier now kept in Delémont.

Alle

The pot of gold and the witches

Near the Roman ruins of Alle, tradition hid a pot full of gold coins that rose from the ground only once a century, between eleven and midnight, and vanished at the last stroke of the church bell. In the Champ-Françon combe at the edge of the plateau, the witches held their night-time gatherings.

Asuel

The glass mountain

The daughter of the lord of Asuel had had a snake as her companion since childhood and turned down every suitor. Her father had her shut in a tower on top of a glass mountain, promising her to whoever could reach her. The young lords of the neighbouring castles all slipped. The son of a poor cooper succeeded with the help of the snake, its old skin and a pair of magic clogs. But the young woman took her own life on the evening of the wedding.

Boncourt

The fairy Arie, Lady of Milandre

According to tradition, the deep caverns of the Milandre caves are the home of the fairy Arie. On summer evenings, hidden from view, she bathes in the waters of the Bâme and then turns into a vouivre to keep thieves away. Her iron chest is said to hold gold and diamonds.

The White Lady of the tower

Every hundred years a White Lady is said to appear at the top of the Milandre tower, watching for a rescuer who has never come.

Bonfol

The three destroyed villages

According to tradition, Bonfol replaced Bonfol-le-Vieux, Trunchéré and Vareroille, hamlets destroyed during the Burgundian Wars by Étienne de Hagenbach, in the service of Charles the Bold.

Saint Fromond

According to tradition, a hermit named Fromond lived in the 7th century in a hut deep in the forest. An ancient oak near the chapel is said to have grown from the staff he threw. Venerated since the early 17th century, especially against livestock epidemics, he is honoured with a pilgrimage and procession on the day after Ascension.

Chapelle de Chalière

The consecration by Emperor Henry II

A tradition holds that the chapel was consecrated in 1019 in the presence of Emperor Henry II, who is said to have paid for its paintings. No document confirms this: the consecration of 1019 that Henry II attended was that of Basel Cathedral.

The village carried off by the plague

According to tradition, the medieval village of Chalières disappeared because of the plague, leaving only its church.

Château et grottes de Milandre

The fairy Arie, Lady of Milandre

According to tradition, the fairy Arie lives in the deep caverns of Milandre. On summer evenings she is said to bathe in the Bâme, leaving her crown on the edge of the pool, and to take the form of a vouivre to keep thieves away. Her iron chest is said to hold gold and diamonds, awaiting a brave young man who will free her.

The White Lady of the tower

Every hundred years, a White Lady is said to appear at the top of the Milandre tower, watching for a rescuer who has never come.

Châtillon

The swallowed castle of Mont-Chaibeut

On Mont-Chaibeut, an isolated hill north-east of Châtillon, tradition placed the castle of Atticus, a 7th-century duke of Alsace. Because he had Saint Germanus, first abbot of Grandval, put to death, God is said to have swallowed up his castle in an earthquake. Quiquerez points out that the castle is legendary: Atticus was actually camped in the plain.

The horns and the witches

Another tradition held that signals were sent from the castle on Mont-Chaibeut to Soyhières with bronze horns. Witches were also said to hold their night-time gatherings there, perhaps because criminals had once been executed on the hill.

Chevenez

At the sabbath

A man from Chevenez, heading home rather merry from the Porrentruy fair, lost his way in the forest and fell asleep at the bottom of a sinkhole. At midnight he woke in the middle of a witches' sabbath, which he watched without being seen. In the morning he tried to get home faster with a witch's ointment he found on the ground, but used the wrong spell and arrived home in tatters, so that his wife barely recognised him.

Courfaivre

The sabbath on the Chételat

Local tradition and the records of witch trials named the Chételat rock at Courfaivre as a place where the witches' sabbath was held. According to Quiquerez, this was probably the memory of an old pagan place of worship, where some people still lit fires long after Christianity arrived.

Courgenay

Ariovistus's monument

In the 18th century the Pierre Percée was regarded as a monument erected in 58 BC by the Germanic leader Ariovistus after his victory over the Gauls.

The healing stone

Until fairly recently, the Pierre Percée had a reputation among local people for curing colic in those who passed through its hole.

Creugenat

The witches' hollow

According to a popular belief that is still alive, the Creugenat would be the « witches' hollow » (« Creû dè Djenâtches » in patois).

Delémont

The consecration of the Vorbourg by Pope Leo IX

According to tradition, the original chapel of the Vorbourg castle was consecrated in 1049 to Saints Imier and Othmar by Pope Leo IX, brother of Gerard I of Eguisheim.

Epiquerez

The devil's bride

At the «tirée-dehors», the custom by which young men from elsewhere had to pay for the right to marry a village girl, a young woman of Epiquerez told the local lads she would sooner marry the devil than any of them. Two years later a strikingly handsome stranger paid ten times the price asked. On the wedding night, when the bride made the sign of the cross with holy water, he let out a scream and fled through the window: she had indeed married the devil. The next day she entered a convent.

Ermitage de Saint-Ursanne

The hermit in his cave

According to tradition, the Irish monk Ursanne, a companion of Saint Columbanus, lived as a hermit in this cave above the Doubs. Shepherds and hunters are said to have settled near him, and the town grew up around his hermitage.

Saint Ursanne's bear

According to legend, a bear ate the donkey that helped Saint Ursanne with his daily tasks. The saint then asked the bear to take the donkey's place. A statue of a bear watches over that of the hermit in the cave.

Grotte de Sainte-Colombe

Saint Colombe and the bear

According to legend, Saint Colombe, a young Spanish princess who had taken refuge in the Jura mountains, stayed in the cave, where she came to fetch water under the protection of a bear. A local tradition also says she stayed in a cave of the same name at Frenois, above Soulce.

The « bonne fontaine »

The water dripping at the foot of a stalagmite is considered beneficial: the sick come to seek healing and mothers bring their sickly children. Local traditions tell of children healed at the spring, near the cross at the entrance.

La Bosse

Saint Jeanne of La Bosse

Having died in the odour of sanctity, Jeanne Froidevaux is venerated as a saint in the Jura without ever having been beatified or canonised. Her memory remained very much alive until the Revolution, which interrupted the efforts on her behalf. According to local tradition, her birthplace is reportedly the last house on the left on the way up to the chapel.

Le Peuchapatte

The men who went to buy some wit

Tired of being mocked for their foolishness all over the Jura, the people of Le Peuchapatte sent two lads to Morteau to buy some wit. The pair spent the day at the inn, and in the evening a butcher sold them sausages as wit. These were put in a cupboard for the night, and the mice ate the lot: that, says the tale, is why the people of Le Peuchapatte still have no wit. It is one of the teasing stories villages told about each other everywhere.

Les Bois

Jean Ruedin, the first settler

According to tradition, one of the first settlers, Jean Ruedin, gave his name to the place, long called « Les Bois Jean Ruedin ».

Les Enfers

The burning peat bog

According to a legend, land clearing in the 14th century set fire to a peat bog. It is said to have burned for several weeks, or even several years, and given the village its name. None of this is certain.

L'Envers de Montfaucon

According to another tradition, the name comes from a copyist's error: « L'Envers de Montfaucon » is said to have become « Les Enfers ».

Lugnez

Saint Imier, a son of Lugnez

According to tradition, Saint Imier was born at Lugnez. His Vita, whose authenticity is disputed, makes him a nobleman of Lugnez who, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, withdrew as a hermit to the Suze valley around the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century and spread the cult of Saint Martin there. A « cella sancti Himerii » is mentioned there in 884. His feast day is 12 November.

Mont-Terri

Julius Caesar's camp

The summit is known locally as « Camp de Jules César ». From the early 18th century, Caesar's camp of the campaign against Ariovistus was placed here.

Montsevelier

The « Independent Republic of Montsevelier »

Because the village escaped French occupation between 1792 and 1797, a tradition turned it into a « République indépendante de Montsevelier ». Historians regard this as a myth. In 1992, B. Prongué published « Bicentenaire de l'Indépendance de la République de Montsevelier ».

Moutier

The consecration of Chalière by the emperor

A tradition repeated by many authors holds that the Chalière chapel was consecrated in 1019 in the presence of Emperor Henry II, who is said to have paid for its paintings. No document confirms this: that year Henry II attended the consecration of Basel cathedral.

The crozier of Saint Germanus

A richly decorated 7th-century crozier, now kept in Delémont, is attributed by tradition to Saint Germanus, first abbot of Moutier-Grandval, murdered with Randoald around 675.

Muriaux

The goblins of the Creuses cave

According to tradition, kind-hearted goblins lived in the Creuses cave, near the Combe de la Rochette, and helped the farmers. Two curious women scattered ashes in front of the cave and discovered webbed footprints. Offended by this mockery, the spirits left the region.

The miraculous Rochette spring

Tradition credits the spring with the power to cure various illnesses and to rejuvenate: the Virgin is said to have made it gush forth to save a thirsty pilgrim. No document attests these virtues.

The Trou des Voleurs

According to legend, thieves hiding in the Baumatte cave, near the Deute, on the boundary with Saignelégier, bored through the floor of the tithe granaries of the Châtellenie of Saignelégier to steal grain. Their hideout was named Trou des Voleurs.

The cross of the Sommêtres

A cross carved into the rock near the castle is said, according to tradition, to mark the death of a person who fell into the nearby ravine.

Nécropole de Saint-Hubert

The chapel stone

A gravestone from the cemetery, kept in the Saint-Hubert chapel, was long mistaken for a menhir. Tradition credits it with healing powers.

Pierre Percée

Ariovistus's monument

In the 18th century, the Pierre Percée was seen as a monument raised in 58 BC by the Germanic leader Ariovistus after his victory over the Gauls.

The healing stone

Until recent times, the Pierre Percée was reputed to cure colic in people who passed through its hole.

Ruines de Spiegelberg

The cross of the Sommêtres

A cross carved in the rock near the castle entrance is said by tradition to mark the death of a man who fell into the nearby ravine.

The Château des Sots Maîtres

Local tradition explains this nickname of the castle by the bad conduct of its former owners.

Saint-Ursanne

The hermit Ursanne

According to legend, the town owes its origin to the Irish monk Ursanne (Ursicinus), who lived as a hermit in a cave above the Doubs. The Hermitage chapel was built in his honour beside this cave.

Undervelier

Saint Colombe and the bear

According to tradition, Saint Colombe, a princess of Spain, stayed in the cave that bears her name, protected by a bear. The spring that drips inside the cave is thought to be beneficial and still draws pilgrims.

Vorbourg

The consecration by Pope Leo IX

According to tradition, the castle's old chapel was consecrated in 1049 to Saints Imier and Othmar by Pope Leo IX. The pope came from the Eguisheim family, which reportedly also owned the castle, though this is not confirmed.

Geneva

Genève

Mère Royaume

According to the Escalade tradition, Mère Royaume threw projectiles at the Savoyard attackers on the night of 1602. She remains an emblematic figure of the Escalade festivities, along with the song « Cé qu'è lainô », composed shortly after the event and now the anthem of Genève.

Meinier

The White Lady of Rouelbeau

According to tradition, a White Lady haunts the castle of Rouelbeau. She is said to be the repudiated wife of Humbert de Cholay.

Prieuré de Saint-Jean

Saint Romanus and the lepers

According to a tradition, Saint Romanus is said to have healed two lepers in a cave near the site.

Ruines de Rouelbeau

The White Lady

According to a tradition, a White Lady haunts the ruins. She is said to have been the repudiated wife of Humbert de Cholay.

Sézegnin

Le renfort de Sézegnin

According to tradition, during the Escalade of 1602 the village of Sézegnin sent a reinforcement of three or four men, who arrived after the fighting. This is said to be the origin of the Genevan expression « renfort de Sézegnin » for modest, late help.

Villa Diodati

Milton's visit

A commemorative plaque recalls a visit by the poet John Milton in 1638. Since the villa was only built in 1710, this visit is probably merely a tradition.

Valais

Abbaye de Saint-Maurice

The martyrdom of the Theban Legion

According to tradition, around 300 the soldiers of the Theban Legion led by Maurice refused to obey the orders of Emperor Maximian and were put to death for their Christian faith. Their cult lies at the origin of the abbey.

Bovernier

The wasps and the vine

According to a local tradition, the devil sent wasps to the village, while Saint Theodul gave it the vine. The inhabitants are reportedly nicknamed « Vouipes », wasps in patois.

Chamoson

The fairies of Gru

Above Ardon and Chamoson, a ruined rampart set against the rock of Gru is said to have sheltered mischievous fairies who plundered vineyards and fields. They offered to dam the Rhône if left in peace. The people of Chamoson refused and besieged their lair. The fairies escaped behind a curtain of smoke and never returned, and from then on the harvests were spared.

Mariä Heimsuchung Chapel

The hollow fir

According to oral tradition, an image of the Virgin was once venerated in a hollow fir tree. Stillborn children were brought there in the hope of a sign of life that would allow them to be baptised.

Château de la Soie

The fall of Bishop Tavel

According to tradition, Bishop Guichard Tavel was reportedly thrown over the ramparts by the lords de la Tour.

Château de Mancapan

The capture of Mangepan

According to tradition, robber knights lived at Mangepan and oppressed the people. A secret tunnel is said to have led from the castle to a mountain path where they robbed travellers. Every household owed them grain and the best cut of meat, and young brides had to spend three days at the castle. One day the lord tried to carry off a bride. The groom pretended to agree and first invited him to the wedding feast, where he gripped his hand so hard that blood spurted from under his fingernails. Threatened with death by the peasants, the knight revealed how to take the castle: build a giant crossbow from a large larch and hurl heavy wooden blocks at the walls. The third shot breached the wall. The peasants took the castle, destroyed it and drove out the last lords.

Theodulpass

Saint Theodul and his brother

According to legend, Bishop Theodul crossed the pass to visit his sick brother in Aosta. The pass takes its name from this story.

Diogne

Barbe de Platea's bell

Barbe de Platea reportedly sold her silverware to pay for the great bell of the church of Lens. According to legend, the bell was to ring out in full peal each time the lady left Diogne to attend Mass in Lens.

Epinassey

Epinassey, the ancient Epaône

According to a tradition recorded in the 17th century, Epinassey is said to be the ancient Epaône, a city « détruite de fond en comble par un déluge d'eau » (destroyed from top to bottom by a flood of water) after the collapse of the Jorat, which reportedly pushed the Rhône back against the mountains on the Vaud side. This tradition links the disaster to the collapse of Mount Tauredunum in 563, which buried a fortified town and settlements in Valais. Most historians, however, place the Tauredunum at the Bois-Noir.

Evionnaz

The buried village of Epanum

According to tradition, the Roman place « Epanum » or « Eponnaz » was buried by the Tauredunum landslide, in 563 or 513 depending on the author. In 1923, laying a telephone cable is said to have revealed a shaft more than 30 m deep, attributed to this buried village and then filled in.

The Saint-Barthélemy torrent

According to tradition, after the ravages of the La Marre torrent, the inhabitants built a chapel at La Rasse and gave the torrent the name Saint-Barthélemy. A procession is reportedly still held there.

Fafleralp

The fiddler of the Blümlisalp

According to a Lötschental legend, a fiddler lived on the Blümlisalp, at the very head of the Innerfaflertal, an alp now partly covered by ice. In the evenings he often went to see his sweetheart on the Gugginenalp. One day, as he leapt the stream near the Talmauer, his foot left its print in the rock, but he ignored the warning. On his way back at night, a jealous rival pushed him over the cliff at the same spot. Badly hurt, he took his fiddle and played the song of the Way of the Cross. A narrow path then opened before him, and he was able to escape.

Meier Heim and his alp

It is said that Meier Heim of the Grindorf, the richest burgher in the valley with thirty cows, owned a large alp pasture in the Innerfaflertal, near the Blümlisalp. The site of his hut is still called « s'Meier Heims Ferrich ». His maid ate so much in summer that in autumn she had to be brought back to the village on a sledge. The priest of Kippel, it is said, began Mass only once Meier Heim sat in church in his red Sunday stockings.

Fiesch

The vow against the glacier

Since 1678 the people of Fiesch and Fieschertal have walked in procession every 31 July to pray against the advance of the Aletsch glacier, which threatened people, pastures and houses. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI approved changing this vow, and they now pray for the glacier to be preserved.

Grimentz

The Boconett

According to tradition, in 1348 girls who were herding the cattle are said to have escaped the plague. In remembrance, a share of cheese from the Torrent alpine pasture is reportedly handed out to the children every year.

Hérémence

The wyvern of the Val des Dix

The Val des Dix is said to owe its name to ten brigands who shod their mules backwards to fool their pursuers. Later a winged monster with green scales, the «Kwakua», devoured the cattle of the alpine pastures. Before diving it left the diamond it wore on its head on the edge of the pond. Prosper, a former soldier of Barbarossa, stole the diamond and hid in a barrel bristling with iron spikes, on which the monster wounded itself to death.

The witches' sabbath

In a hamlet of Hérémence, a woman vanished every Saturday night. Her husband, Gourdin, followed her: two black goats carried them up the chimney to a feast presided over by Satan. Instead of signing the devil's great book, Gourdin drew a cross in it and woke on a hillside one Sunday morning. The tale was collected from Antoine-Marie Seppey of Hérémence.

Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard

The flight of Bernard of Menthon

According to tradition, the son of the lord of Menthon, drawn to the ascetic life, is forced by his parents to marry. During the nuptial blessing he escapes through a window, falls into a precipice and lands unharmed, held up by his guardian angel. Withdrawing into the snows of Mont Joux, he founds two houses for pilgrims there, which still bear his name.

Le Châble

Charlemagne's gold plate

According to a tradition, the transfer of the rights of the House of Savoy to the abbey of Saint-Maurice in 1150 was made in exchange for a solid gold plate that the monks had supposedly received as a gift from Charlemagne.

Les Mayens-de-Sion

The stranger and the sand

According to tradition, as the founders hesitate to build their chapel on this spot, a poorly dressed stranger arrives, perhaps an angel, and shows them where to find the sand needed for the building. Marie de Riedmatten is the first to record the story, in her manuscript « Trois mois sur la montagne ». Jules Monod takes it up around 1900, then Maurice Zermatten in 1941.

Mex

The three heroes and the monster

According to a legend, three heroes are said to have rid the place of a monster and then founded three families. The three houses on the coat of arms of Mex, adopted in 1935, are said to recall this.

Mund

The legendary battle of 1212

A coat of arms bearing the date 1212 is said to commemorate a legendary battle fought above Mund. This link is not confirmed.

Naters

Saint Kummernis

Kummernis, a pious girl from Naters, refused to marry the local lord, a brutal man who never went to church. Promised to him by force, she spent a fortnight in prayer. On the wedding day the lord lifted her veil and found a long red beard. When she declared that Christ alone was her bridegroom, he had her nailed to a cross.

Ried

The people of the Winterbletschu

According to legend, people once lived in the Winterbletschu near Ried, as in other now empty places at the head of the valley, the Uiflengu, the Wüstenmatten or the Grindorf.

Saillon

Farinet, the counterfeiter

Joseph-Samuel Farinet, a counterfeiter born in 1845 in the Aosta Valley, is said to have handed out his fake coins to the population and to have died in 1880 in the Salentze gorge, pursued by the police. Popular tradition turned him into a legendary figure.

Saint-Luc

The two women of Saint-Luc

A poor, pious woman was gathering pine cones in the forest when a storm broke. A little man said to her: «What devilish weather!» She replied that the good Lord knows better than we do what weather we need. He carried her sack to the village cross, and at home it was full of gold. A jealous neighbour did the same but cursed the weather and «these wretched mountains»: her sack was full of beasts that devoured her.

The lost souls of the Garboula

On the Garboula alp above Saint-Luc, a young herdsman saw thousands of souls in procession, punished for small faults. They would be saved once a squirrel had carried a Swiss stone pine seed up there, the tree had grown and been made into a cradle, and the first child laid in it, having become a priest, said his first mass.

Saint-Maurice

The martyrdom of the Theban Legion

According to tradition, Saint Maurice and his companions of the Theban Legion were martyred at Agaune under the reign of Maximian (286-310). In their honour Bishop Theodore had a basilica built around 360-370, and in the 11th century the place took the name Saint-Maurice.

Salvan

The people of Salvan in Salvagny

According to a tradition, the inhabitants of the hamlet of Salvagny, in the Sixt valley in Haute-Savoie, came from Salvan in the 18th century after disputes with their authorities. Nothing confirms it.

Sarreyer

The two surviving brothers

A village tradition holds that the epidemic of 1639 spared only two brothers, Pierre and André Besse, who built the chapel in thanksgiving. The authentic records only show that their family was very hard hit.

Sierre

The serpent of Géronde

A young goatherd from Sierre, Théodulon, heard weeping in a cave near Lake Géronde. There he found Riborey's daughter, cursed by her father for refusing to marry a man from the Val d'Anniviers. To free her and win her treasure, he had to kiss her in her three forms, serpent, toad and dragon. At the last kiss the boy turned his head away. The cave vanished, and misfortune struck his family.

The brigand's stone

In the Pfyn-Finges forest, beside the road to Leuk, a boulder split in two is called the «brigand's stone». A murderer who robbed travellers tried to dash a child's head against it. The stone opened to let the child escape, and the brigand broke both his wrists.

Simplon

The women of Simplon and the spring of 1476

Tradition says that in 1476, as Lombard troops climbed towards Simplon, only one man, Marin, had stayed in the village. He armed the women and drove the enemy back at the place called «zu den Gräbern». Exhausted, he thrust his halberd into the ground and prayed for a spring: water gushed out, the Virgin appeared before the attackers, and they fled. The villagers are said to have built a chapel in thanks. The collection notes that the number of enemies is exaggerated.

The old village

Another tradition places the first village higher up, on the Bärenfumme at the Kastelberg, where a paved path and an old wall known as the «heathens' wall» (Heidenmauer) can be seen.

Sion

Saint Theodul's bell

According to legend, Bishop Theodul, warned that the pope was in danger, promised his soul to the fastest of three devils if it carried him to Rome and back to Sion before cockcrow. The grateful pope gave him a bell, which the devil also had to carry. But the bishop's white cockerel crowed first, as they reached the Planta. In a rage, the devil hurled the bell to the ground so hard that it sank deep into it. At the saint's call it rose again, ringing. This is why Saint Theodul is shown with a bell carried by the devil.

St. Niklaus

Saint Nicholas and the landslide

According to tradition, two kobolds tried to topple the Dorftossen to bury the valley, but Saint Nicholas stopped them and saved the village. St. Niklaus Dorf itself is said to stand on a buried village.

Troistorrents

Ashes against the Saracens

According to a tradition recalled by the woman and child on the coat of arms, the women and children of the village are said to have blinded Saracen invaders by throwing ashes at them.

The child who survived the plague

Another tradition, linked to the same coat of arms, tells that the village, emptied by the plague, is said to have been repopulated from a single surviving child.

Ulrichen

Thomas Riedi and the spring of 1419

The giant Thomas Riedi is the hero of Ulrichen's tradition. When the Bernese crossed the Grimsel in 1419, he led the men of the upper villages against them between Obergesteln and Ulrichen. Mortally wounded by treachery, he asked God for a sip of water: a spring burst out at his feet, he fought on, and died just as reinforcements from Münster put the enemy to flight. The «Riedibrunnen» is said to flow still, «as long as the Valais is free».

The tree on the Waldbüel

On the Waldbüel a tree is said to have held an image of the Virgin «not made by human hand». At night bells, singing and an organ could be heard there. The clergy saw it as superstition, the bishop forbade a chapel to be built, and two young theologians felled the tree. Since then the night-time mass has fallen silent.

Val Ferret

The Ferret chapel and the monsters

According to tradition, the building of the Grand Ferret chapel freed the land of monsters and serpents.

Vérolliez

The slab of the martyrdom

According to local tradition, Saint Maurice and his companions were executed on the large stone slab kept in the chapel. A standing stone may have served as the first memorial of the place and given rise to this tradition.

The « vrai lieu »

For popular belief, the name Vérolliez means the « vrai lieu », the « true place » of the martyrdom of Saint Maurice.

Vérossaz

The refuge of Saint Sigismund

According to tradition, Sigismund, king of the Burgundians and founder of the abbey of Saint-Maurice, withdrew to Vérossaz in 523 after his defeat. A « grotte à saint Sigismond » in the Mauvoisin gorges keeps this memory alive in oral tradition. Nothing confirms the story.

The druid stone of Combrevoux

North of the plateau, a so-called « druid » stone is said by tradition to have been used for sacrifices. Nothing confirms it.

Vouvry

The witch of En Praux

Legend places the gallows of the lords of Vouvry on the island of En Praux, where people accused of witchcraft were hanged. The mother of Tanneguy, a freed serf envied for his skill as a hunter, was taken there as a witch. At the moment of the hanging a wounded partridge, a hare pierced by an arrow and then a pack of greyhounds appeared: the executioners fled. Tanneguy freed his mother, threw the gallows into the pond and settled with her near the priory of Vionnaz.

Fribourg

Belfaux

The crucifix spared by the fire

Tradition tells that the crucifix remained « complètement indemne au milieu et au-dessus des tisons enflammés ». The bishop of Lausanne recognised the miracle, and the sick came here seeking healing. Some of the faithful walked from Fribourg carrying large crosses as penance. The pilgrimages declined in the 19th century.

Bionnens

The soup of the poor

In memory of the founder of the annuity, a soup of beans or peas, with bread and wine, was handed out to the poor on the day of the founder's death and on its anniversary, as well as the day before and the day after. The custom disappeared long ago.

Bösingen

The largest bell in the district

After their great bell cracked in 1816, the people of Bösingen wanted one larger than that of Tafers, the largest in the district, whose measurements nobody would give them. Two men crept into the Tafers belfry and measured the rim of the bell with a string marked by a knot. Spotted on the square, they were invited to the St Martin inn, where they were made to talk while a Tafers man secretly cut off a piece of the string. Home with the shortened measure, they added a margin and ordered the bell. Parish priest Moritz Schwaller wrote down this oral tradition. The Bösingen bell, slightly smaller in girth, is taller than the one in Tafers.

The founders of St Syrus

Tradition has it that King Rudolf and Queen Bertha of Burgundy, who had built Laupen castle across the Sense around 930, also had St Syrus's church built around 935.

Champ de bataille de Morat (1476)

The saying of the three defeats

A saying handed down through the generations sums up the duke's fate: at Grandson he lost his goods, at Murten his courage and at Nancy his blood.

Château d'Illens

Conon and Isaure

A romantic legend, that of Conon and Isaure, inspired a popular song by Abbé Bovet.

The tunnel

A tunnel is said to have linked Illens to the castle of Rue or that of Oron, more than 25 km away.

The treasure

A treasure is said to be hidden near the site.

Château de Bossonnens

Empress Adelaide

People in Bossonnens like to think that Empress Adelaide, daughter of Queen Bertha, rested here in 999, on her way from Selz in Alsace to Vevey and the abbey of Saint-Maurice. Charles-Albert Cingria told the story of this journey.

Château de Gruyères

Gruérius and the crane

Legend has it that the first count, Gruérius I, saw a crane circling above the hill and chose the bird as his emblem. In the 19th century the Bovys and Louis-Émile Balland nurtured the castle's legend, which stories, guidebooks, postcards and popular festivals spread at the end of the century.

Düdingen

The apparitions of St Wolfgang

St Wolfgang's chapel is said to have been founded by Hans Vogt, Willy Wagner and Willy Jeckelmann at the spot where St Wolfgang had appeared three times.

The ox and the shrine

In the 14th century, during the wars between Fribourg and Bern, the Bernese invaded the Sense country. The people of Düdingen tied the reliquary shrine between the horns of an ox and drove the animal away. The shrine was later found unharmed in a meadow near the village, and a large church was built there. One of the horns is said to have been turned into a musical instrument, now lost. A large old black horn kept in the parish archives may be the horn of the legend.

Queen Bertha and the church

In the 10th century Queen Bertha of Burgundy was travelling from Payerne in an ox cart. One ox collapsed below St. Wolfgang, a second at the Sagerain, and the animal died on the climb beyond the Düdingerbach. Bertha had a church built on that spot. In another version the queen, out hunting, struck a wild bull three times with her spear, the last blow killing it, and the church was built there. The three spears are said to explain the three roses in the municipal arms.

Fribourg

The runner of Murten

Legend has it that a messenger sent from Murten to announce the victory over Charles the Bold ran 17 km and died of exhaustion in front of the town hall. A linden branch is said to have been planted in his memory. The weakened tree was knocked down by a lorry in 1985. A shoot grows on the town hall square, and a sculpture by Emile Angéloz and Bruno Baeriswyl (1989), made from the props and supports of the old tree, depicts the runner.

Gruyères

Chalamala, the count's jester

Tradition holds that the house in the Rue du Bourg belonged to Girard, known as Chalamala, jester to Count Peter IV of Gruyère, who died around 1349. His house was reproduced in the Swiss Village of the National Exhibition in Geneva in 1896.

Middes

The witches' cross

West of the château, by the roadside, a cross called the « croix aux sorcières » recalls the many witchcraft trials of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Promasens

Saint Theodulus for dried pears

At the time of the Reformation, a statue of Saint Theodulus is said to have changed hands between the Vaud commune of Lutry and Promasens, for four measures of dried pears and with a clause for its return.

Romont

Rudolph II as founder

A tradition credits King Rudolph II of Burgundy with founding Romont in 921. It is only a legend.

The squirrels

The people of Romont are nicknamed « écureuils », squirrels. The nickname is said to come from the great wheel of the castle well, in which people walked to raise the water.

The Wild Man

A hairy, bearded creature lived in the woods and came out in spring to chase young girls. The Tour du Sauvage is named after him.

Rueyres-les-Prés

The « Brise-Pentores »

The lords of Estavayer, who owned the pastures around the village, wanted to fence them in to draw revenue from them, as in other places of the mandement. Most communities accepted, but the people of Rueyres tore out all the newly set boundary stones in a single night. After some threats they confessed and asked mercy of Humbert, the Bastard of Savoy, who ordered them to put the barriers back within six days. Hence, it is said, their nickname « Brise-Pentores », the barrier breakers.

Schwarzsee

Bernhard Riggi and the dwarfs

Many centuries ago a rich and kindly man, Bernhard Riggi, lived here. Every summer dwarfs helped him milk and make cheese and watched his herd at night. In return he left them a bowl of cream every evening. After his death his proud and greedy son Ubald drove the dwarfs out of the valley, and the family's prosperity left with them.

The dragon and the birth of the lake

One day a violent storm broke over the valley. The mountain split and huge rocks tumbled down the slope. A dragon came out of a gorge and devoured everything in its path. The masses of stone blocked the water's outflow, and the black lake was formed.

Gargantua's feet

According to another tradition, the lake owes its name to the giant Gargantua, who is said to have washed his dirty feet in it.

Sommentier

The plague dead

When plague struck the region in the 16th and 17th centuries, Sommentier is said to have been wiped out except for a single family. Tradition holds that the victims were buried near the present chapel of Sainte-Anne.

Surpierre

The white lady

It is said that a white lady, rejected by a knight, threw herself into the ravine below the castle. A similar story is told about the keep of La Molière.

Tafers

The gallows miracle

A dishonest innkeeper hides a gold cup in the luggage of a father and son on their way to Santiago de Compostela, then accuses them of theft. The son is hanged. The father goes on with his pilgrimage and, on the way back, finds his son alive on the gallows, held up by St James. The judge, who is roasting chickens, refuses to believe it: a hanged man can no more come back to life than his chickens. The chickens then stand up and fly away. Father and son return home, and the innkeeper is executed. The legend is painted on the St James chapel.

Treyvaux

Saint Peter's donkey

Tradition tells that after the Black Death, in the 14th century, the survivors refused to rebuild the old village and wanted to settle in a hollow where three valleys meet. They carried the statue of Saint Peter there, but it returned by itself to the old church. The choice was then left to a donkey: it stopped and knelt at the place called En Frontin, where the church was built. The nickname « les ânes » (the donkeys), given to the people of Treyvaux, is said to come from this miracle.

The duel under the great walnut tree

An account by Joseph Yerly relates that in 1798, during the French occupation, the innkeeper Joseph Papaux, a former fencing master, fought a duel with a French officer who had insulted the miller Sciboz. He killed him under the « grand noyer » on the chemin du Chêne.

Ueberstorf

The lion in the coat of arms

Ueberstorf's coat of arms shows a red rampant lion on a field barry of silver and blue. Two origins are given for it. In one, the lion comes from the Englisberg arms. In the other, Murten is said to have allowed the village to bear its red lion, without a crown, after the battle of 1476.

Villaraboud

The statuette in the hollow tree

Before the sanctuary was built, the wood was believed to be haunted by « the world of darkness ». A pilgrim returning from Einsiedeln is said to have placed a statuette of Our Lady of Einsiedeln in a hollow tree, the origin of the place of worship.

Villars-sous-Mont

Claremboz and Bras de Fer

Tradition holds that in 1349 two men, Claremboz and Bras de Fer, defended the county of Gruyère on their own against a Bernese troop.

Villars-sur-Glâne

Saint Apollonia's teeth

The dedication of the chapel is linked to decayed teeth found around the building. Saint Apollonia, virgin and martyr, is said to have been burnt at Alexandria in 248 after her teeth were pulled out, and she is the saint invoked against toothache.

Bern

Abbaye de Bellelay

Siginand's vow

Legend has it that Siginand, provost of the chapter of Moutier-Grandval, founded the abbey to fulfil a vow made during a hunting accident.

Champoz

The Roman post

According to tradition, Champoz is said to have been a Roman observation post on a road linking Pierre-Pertuis to Moutier.

Château d'Erguël

The White Lady

Philippine, daughter of Jean d'Erguël, loved Pierre de Gliers, lord of Chauviller, but their marriage was refused. One Christmas night, during an attempted abduction, Pierre was killed by an arrow shot from the tower, and Philippine starved herself to death. Her ghost wanders the ruins every Christmas night at midnight.

The castle in fiction

In 1909 Louise Châtelain published the novel « Les deux trésors ou le château d'Erguël », reissued in 1955, and a story entitled « La légende du château d'Erguël ».

Collégiale de Saint-Imier

Queen Bertha as founder

A tradition recorded since the 15th century attributes the founding of the collegiate church to Queen Bertha, wife of Rudolph II. Auguste Quiquerez took it up in 1852. Neither written records nor archaeology confirm it.

Diesse

The witches of the Montagne

Tradition dresses the devil in red, black or green. The witches are said to have used a magic powder, the «pusset», turned coins into oak leaves, made hail with a white stick and held their sabbaths at a spring on the mountain, where Satan played the violin.

La Crêtche

On the third day of the new year, young people in costume went from house to house, one carrying a basket, another dressed as a bear, collecting drinks and sausages. The custom died out during the war years.

Grandval

Farel under the lime tree

According to tradition, the reformer Guillaume Farel preached under the lime tree beside the church when the provostship adopted the Reformation in 1531.

Orvin

Or, vin !

A hunter, facing a bear below the Roche, is said to have called out « Or, vin ! », meaning « Bear, come! » in the local dialect, before killing it with his spear. Tradition uses this to explain the village's name, and the scene appears in its coat of arms.

Prêles

The witches' grimoire

It is said that some people still own a grimoire from the time of the witches, which would let them cast spells.

Saint-Imier

The hermit Imier

Legend has it that Saint Imier settled in the Suze valley at the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century. The town bears his name.

Sapran

The Black Death

According to tradition, Sapran is said to have been decimated by the Black Death, and the church abandoned after the epidemic.

The three houses

Legend has it that three houses of the village survived: the Balmer house, a former forge, the Gloor house and the old Monible mill, now destroyed.

Saules

The millers' wheat

The coat of arms of Saules refers to a tradition: the wheat grown in the area was, for its quality, preferred by millers.

Sornetan

The plague cemetery

An old cemetery of plague victims, shrouded in mystery, is said to lie at Semplain.

Tour Saint-Martin

Queen Bertha

Tradition, recorded since the 15th century, links Queen Bertha to Saint-Imier and credits her with the tower. The queen, who married Rudolph II in 922, has no known link with the place. The legend probably goes back to the forged documents of the priory of Payerne, which in the early 12th century credited her with religious foundations. Tradition also places at the foot of the tower the spot where Saint Imier is said to have lived.