Sinclair de la Behottiere, Normandy
<labehotierre@wanadoo.fr> 		[prev][next] [index to photographs] [Clan Sinclair]

My farm in France

This is a picture of La Behottiere, my farm in France. The farm lies 40 km from St-Clair-sur-Epte. St-Clair-sur-Epte is the town in which Rollo the Viking met Charles the Simple, King of Fr in 911 and created the Dukedom of Normandy on a handshake.
The Epte forms the boundary of the Dukedom of Normandy. This handshake is commonly known as the treaty of St-Clair-sur-Epte. Rollo, although a barbarian, was an honourable man and the treaty remained in effect until the terror of the French Revolution. La Behottiere was originally built as a mill by the monks of Le Bec Hellouin in the 12th Century. A mill stream was created by a cairn of rocks. Today there is a mill on the site. The property acquired its name at the time of the French R when the Behot family obtained the property. For historical reasons, the real river remains entirely in private hands. The Duc Valencay acquired La Behottiere and surrounding lands at the turn of the Century. He reconstructed the house for his mistress. His chateau lies within view of the house save for the planting of trees he did to keep his wife's prying eyes away from him and his mistress. It's reputed that she stood on the roof of the chateau with a telescope in hand.

The Risle valley is where many Scots fled after Culloden, one of the more famous was Sir William Gordon, who died in Brionne, never seeing Cornhill, Scotland again. The current guardian of La Behottiere, in Scotland the Factor, is A. J. Harris, a former Royal Marine. Above the gate "Commit thy work to God" rises. In the pavement stones of the two and a half acre formal garden, it says "Ici est Ecosse" (Here is Scotland). There is no Scot quite as Scot as a Scot abroad. Are we Norwegians, Frenchmen, some rumour us to be the descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. What we are, my cousins, are a band a brothers, from one of the most ancient and proudest families. Our family will live forever. We will live forever.

Last changed: 99/09/01 06:52:14