TRACOLS, ACCOLS & SACCOLS<\/p>\n
I've always wondered what Georges P\u00e9rec would have thought of the Club des Cents Cols, and of those sweetly mad cyclos who compile, compare, compile, count, tally, censor (censor?) and classify the passes (as well as crossing them!). Georges P\u00e9rec not only loved to play with words and language, he also loved bicycles.<\/p>\n
A list of a few hundred mountain passes, let alone THE list (the Chauvot), lends itself, like any mathematical series, to all sorts of manipulations and statistics. It's also often tempting to play with the words and names of the passes. Another angle of attack is to look at \"purely regionalist or even separatist names\" (1).<\/p>\n
For example, my department, the Ard\u00e8che, has a PERTUSOL with a transparent etymology, Pertusol, quite rightly approved by Robert Chauvot (07-0639).<\/p>\n
The Ard\u00e8che is also known for its COULETS. There are 16 \"Le Coulet\" passes in the Chauvot, 13 of which are in the Ard\u00e8che. If we add to these passes two \"Col de la Croix du Coulet\", one \"Les Coulets\" (my thousandth pass) and one \"Le Couletet\" (all these passes being in the Ard\u00e8che), we can see that 17 of the 22 passes in the Chauvot with the name \"Coulet\" are in the Ard\u00e8che. There are also 9 passes in the \"bible\" with the name \"Coulet\" (\"Coulet de xxx\"), 9 passes of which 5 are in the Ard\u00e8che.<\/p>\n
Le Coulet: F-04-1870, F-07-0370, F-07-0446, F-07-0479, F-07-0490, F-07-0517, F-07-0582b, F-07-0594, F-07-0650,
\nF-07-0729, F-07-0740a, F-07-0750, F-07-0855, F-07-0900, F-30-1063, F-84-0370
\nPas du Coulet F-34-0621
\nCol de la Croix du Coulet F-07-0540a
\nCol de la Croix du Coulet F-07-0551
\nLe Couletet F-07-0605
\nLes Coulets F-07-0892
\nLe Grand Coulet F-05-1869
\nCoulet de Nouron F-04-1132
\nCoulet d'Audi F-06-1657
\nCoulet de la Conquiste F-07-0604a
\nCoulet de Vernadel F-07-0684
\nCoulet d' Auzon F-07-0749
\nCoulet de la Souli\u00e8re F-07-0834
\nCoulet de Pecoyol F-07-1264
\nCoulets d' Estrets F-34-1015a
\nCoulet Redon F-84-1022<\/p>\n
The etymology of the word COULET poses no problem: it means \u00abpass\u00bb, \"little pass\", so COULET is the little little pass...<\/p>\n
This concentration of COULETs is found to a lesser degree in the family surnames: 63 of the 951 COULETs registered by telephone are from the Ard\u00e8che (but 136 from the H\u00e9rault, 80 from the Bouches du Rh\u00f4ne, 70 from the Gard, 62 from the Var...).<\/p>\n
This allows me to open a parenthesis to evoke my COULET ancestors: my great-great-grandmother Th\u00e9r\u00e8se COULET (1846 - 1916) from Lablach\u00e8re (07), and, going back up my direct line, Jean Fran\u00e7ois (son) (1813 - 98), Jean Fran\u00e7ois (father) (1788 - 1864), Jean (? - 1826), Pierre COULET (? - 1770) from Gravi\u00e8res (07)...<\/p>\n
This brings me to a second parenthesis: at a time when mountain pass signs are springing up in certain regions in the name of a \u00ablocal custom\u00bb (which most often comes as a surprise to the inhabitants of these regions), I think a more credible example of a \u00ablocal custom\u00bb can be found in the COULET family of Lablach\u00e8re; Their name, obviously derived from a geographical feature of the habitat of one of their (my) ancestors, was present in this (very) mid-mountain region long before the idea of a curious two-wheeled vehicle had occurred to Baron Drais, and even longer before the idea of a no less curious club had occurred to Jean PERDOUX. I'll close these brackets to mention another quasi-specificity of the Ard\u00e8che: the TRACOL.<\/p>\n
5 of the 8 TRACOLs at Le Chauvot are from the Ard\u00e8che :
\nF-07-0295, F-07-0400, 07-0640, 07-0740b, 07-0971, 38-1445b, 42-1083, 63-0362<\/p>\n
In terms of surnames, the concentration in the Ard\u00e8che is even greater than in the case of the COULETs: in 2000, 80 of the 399 TRACOLs listed in the directory in France were from the Ard\u00e8che (and 116 from the Dr\u00f4me). The 3617 RACINA genealogical database gives 5 references prior to 1820 to people named TRACOL, including 4 references from the Ard\u00e8che, one of which was located in Preaux in 1464! \u2019Lo Cercaire\u00ab, who carried out a study of the Ard\u00e8che directory ten years ago (2), also notes that, with the exception of one case, all the TRACOLs found at that time lived in the Haut Vivarais, which confirms the etymology: TRACOL should be understood as \u00bbtras col\u2019, literally beyond the pass, across the pass, over the pass; hence the Occitan verb \u00abtracolar \/ trecolar\u00bb, pronounced \u00abtrakoula, tr\u00e9koula, tr\u00e9kola\u00bb meaning \u00abto pass behind the mountain\u00bb: the sun \u00abtr\u00e8coule\u00bb... Or, in the figurative sense, to pass beyond, to disappear, to die. \u00abL'ome de la Loisa a trecolat...\u00bb. L'Occitan - Nord Vivarais\u00ab dictionary (similar to the expression used in our club \u00bbil a franchi son dernier col\u00ab, meaning \u00bbLouise's husband has gone over to the other side\u00ab). I've heard it used in a weakened sense of passing through, crossing: \u00bbj'ai tracoul\u00e9 vers Fabras...\u00ab. \u00bbLo Cercaire\u00ab adds: \u00bbwhat TRACOL evokes is the inhabitant of a house huddled near the pass, generally on the south side\u00ab. This is particularly clear in the case of TRACOLS 07-0400, 07-0640 and 07-0971, for which the 1\/25000\u00b0 map clearly shows that the locality is slightly below the pass itself; the same is true for the TRACOLS located 1 km below the Col de Mezilhac, the other 200 m from the Col de Juvenet, these two TRACOLS not being officially recognised as passes.<\/p>\n
The term TRACOL leads me to two other very similar Ard\u00e8che terms, ACCOL and SACCOL.<\/p>\n
The ACCOLS, sometimes known as \u00abaccou\u00bb, \u00abcouol\u00bb, or depending on the region, \u00abfa\u00efsse\u00bb, \u00abbancel\u00bb, \u00abescham\u00bb, \u00abchamba\u00bb, etc., are the terraces: these structures on the slopes, forming a sort of step, make it possible to grow crops where they were not possible before, thanks to a series of horizontal levels supported by dry stone walls (3). The ACCOLS bear witness to the perseverance and determination of our ancestors, who were faced with the problem of finding and developing arable land in the harsh Ard\u00e8che region. We are struck by the colossal amount of work involved in removing stones, filling in, channelling and building in order to establish and maintain agriculture, sometimes in very remote areas. When mountain-biking in the Ard\u00e8che, it's not uncommon to discover that a hill you thought was \u2019wild\u2018 was in fact entirely landscaped, having disappeared under the forest...<\/p>\n
Given the difficulty of accessing these hillsides, work was usually carried out on the backs of men, using the \u00abbesse\u00bb, a vast basket made of chestnut splints or wicker, slung over the neck with a cushion in between, the SACCOL or \u00abcoulassou\u00bb. Materials could also be transported directly in the saccol. Popular wisdom, playing on alliteration, thus said:
\nPer lou pa\u00efs d'en bas,
\nlou bat;
\nPer lou pa\u00efs d'accols,
\nlou saccol.
\n(For the lower country, the \"b\u00e2t\" - the donkey, the mule -; for the accol country, the \"saccol\" - hence the man...).<\/p>\n
What do accols, saccols and cols have to do with anything? Nothing, all this was intended to do was help you enjoy the scenery as you climb the passes of the Ard\u00e8che, and to highlight this heritage that is unfortunately slowly disappearing. It is, however, \u00abevidence of a rural civilisation that had perfect mastery of water and stone, to create a nourishing, harmonious landscape, a reflection of the successful alliance between man and his land\u2019 (3), I would add at the price of hard work.<\/p>\n
Bernard \"Biki lou biker\" Pommel
\nCycloTourisme Aubenas Vals<\/p>\n
References
\n(1) Laurent Laruaz, Cent Cols magazine no. 18, 1990, p. 23
\n(2) The story behind your name: TRACOL, Lo Cercaire, Le Dauphin\u00e9 Lib\u00e9r\u00e9, 3\/2\/90
\n(3) La Belle Lurette, dossier tradition : les terrasses, June 1996 (published by Savoirs de terroir, 07600 Vals les Bains)
\nOn the terraces, see the Internet<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TRACOLS, ACCOLS & SACCOLS Je me suis toujours demand\u00e9 ce que Georges P\u00e9rec, qui aimait triturer les mots et la langue et manipuler les listes et les compilations, mais aussi qui aimait la bicyclette, ce que Georges P\u00e9rec donc aurait pens\u00e9 du Club des Cents Cols, et de ces doux dingues de cyclos qui compulsent, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-toponymie"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n