Les Vieux Temps
By Floyd Knott
Grandparents were great storytellers and demanding disciplinarians. It was common for some to use storytelling to get good discipline. The elders expected their families, especially grandchildren, to follow instructions and used many imaginary people or animal to get one’s attention. During the day youngsters were entertained with frightening stories about headless horsemen, spine-chilling ghosts, and imaginary animals, usually mice, “petite souris” (French for little mouse). So naturally when children went to bed, imaginations went wild.
Many families lived in poorly constructed and creepy farm houses. Wind going through cracks in the walls made scary sounds. In the early 1900s, homes had no electricity and the source of light at night was a candle or a kerosene lamp. Kerosene was somewhat expensive and people went to bed early at night in order to wake up at dawn to do the chores and to preserve valuable fuel.
There was a need to get everyone to go to bed early and a grandmother used every trick at her disposal to entice the kids to be quiet. In a very soft voice one could hear “Go to sleep, children, or Madame Grand Dois will get you.” Madame Grand Dois, French for Madame Long Fingers, was a fabled figure with long fingers and pointed fingernails. Those long fingers could be stretched as far as needed to reach someone across a room, even when Madame Grand Dois was outside the house. On a dark, dreary night she would stick her fingers through the cracks in the walls and tickle children who were not sleeping. Any racket in the attic was surely a result of Madame Grand Dois and it was time for silence.
Most of the time the strategy worked and children were sleeping soundly right after dark.