36
Stone stories in some mountain lakes, in particular in the
Canigou Mountain (Pyrenees) during the Middle Age (See a
discussion in Chap. 3 ). However, when considering the 1551
Pavin event , the Jouan’s 1566 record and the accurate
description of Pavin’s area in Belleforest, his account of
Pavin seems reliable, even if the Thrown Stone part seems to
be a stereotypical presentation:
2.3.3.5 Lacus pavens , the Terrifying Lake, Is
the Original Pavin Name (Banc 1605 )
Pavin naming is found for the fi rst time in 1605, in the fi rst
census of Auvergne and Bourbonnais thermal waters, by
Jean Banc, medical doctor in Moulins (La Mémoire renou-
velée des merveilles des eaux naturelles 1605 ). In his general
chapter on thermal waters, he starts with two examples of
water-related marvels in Auvergne: the fi rst is a Lacus
pavens , as printed in the column margin (Fig. 2.3a ), the sec-
ond are the famous St. Alyre petrifying springs near
Clermont. Banc’s description, used here for the fi rst time
about Pavin, is presented as such:
There is one lake named the Pauen [Paven] Lake which looks
extremely black and is above the town of Besse. It is marvellous,
as they say, as the local peasants think that if a stone is thrown
into it, when the weather is fair and serene, the resulting agita-
tion excites eventually a big vapour in the air, from which soon
one receives an abundant rain on the back. I have seen a man
who ensured me that he had experienced this himself.According to Banc the Lacus pavens naming is clear:
Paven’s means “terrifying” in Latin and its origin is ancient,
possibly a legacy from Roman times, which has to be con-
fi rmed. Roman toponyms remained in use locally until the
Middle Age : the center of the Mont d’Or village was still
named Pantheon in 1420, in relation to the big temple estab-
lished during the fi rst–second century AD (Durand-Lefebvre
1926 ).
Banc is considered by hydrothermalism historians as a
prime historical source on Auvergne thermal waters and,
unlike many seventeenth century geographers, he has visited
this province and went to Besse. It is likely, although not
expressedly stated, that he visited the lake, and his descrip-
tion includes the statement of a trusted local witnes. It is
therefore probable that this particular characteristic was not
just a stereotype added by Belleforest a few years before and
borrowed from other lakes. Banc’s description is original and
clearly independent from the previous ones made in 1551,
1566 and 1575: he does not explicitly mention thunder and
lightning, as in Belleforest’s text. He describes the frequent
degassing, the “big vapour emitted in the air” , which results
in “rain” , as the hail triggered by the thrown stone. This
process is remarkable as it also happens here when the
weather is fair and serene, as during the 1551 event and as
suggested by the report to King Charles IX in 1566. It also
appears less violent than in previous descriptions.
Following Banc’s account, the second time the lake is
named, in our Pavin corpus, is in another general work, Les
Rivières de France by Louis Coulon ( 1644 ) as Pauen and
Pauin. We then fi nd Pauain (Du Bouchet ( 1645 ), Pavent
(Godivel II, mid-XVIIth) and Paven (Jaillot 1715 ; Cassini
1815 ; Donnet et al 1820 ). During the same period, the lake is
mapped for the fi rst time in Joan Blaeu’s (1598–1673) worldFig. 2.3 ( a ) Lacus pavens , the terrifying lake, mentioned for the fi rst
time by Banc (1605) (BCU library, Clermont-Ferrand). ( b ) “Paven”
Lake is mapped for the fi rst time, although not named, in Amsterdam by
Joan Blaeu ( 1663 ) in his world atlas featuring also Vassivière mountain
(Vaucinière), Mons Aurus baths (Bains de César, wrongly located), i.e.
Mont Dore mountain, and Besse city (Bresse). Other lakes of the region
are not featured. The lake is on the N-S watershed divide between
Dordogne and AllierM. Meybeck