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soldiers   waiting    outside.                                          one  threw   a  cauldron   with-
              However,   before   they   were                                         orit    mentioning     Dame
              able  to  do  so  someone   fired                                       Royaurne,   as  follows:


              a shot  which    raised    the            '1,V


              alarm.   Dame   Royaume                    479ff                        A   Savoyard   round   about
              was  one  of   the  people   to            !I   )")'i                   La   Monnaie
              see   the    Savoyards                                                  %S   killed   by  a  great   blow
              approaching    the   Porte   de  la                                    from  a  cookirxgpot

              Monnaie-from    within    the                                           Thrown from  an ttpstairs


              city.   Another    gate,   the                                          window.
              Porte   Neuve,   was  going   to                                        He  fell    stone   dead,
              be  blown   open   with   explo-                                        stretched   out.
              sives,  but  the  guard,   Isaac
              Mercier,    reacted    quickly                                          Nevertheless,    in   his  will   of
              by    dropping     the    iron                                          1676,   the   grandson    of
              portcullis.   The   troops   wait-                                      Cath6rine     and    Pierre
              ing  outside   quickly   real-                                          Royaume-also    known   as
              ized   that   the   alaim   had                                         Pierre-left   to  his   descen-
              been   given,   the   situation                                         dants   in  his  will   various
              was   hopeless   and  retreated,                                        objects,   including   "the   pot
              but  the   Savoyards    inside                                          named   after   tl'ie  Escalade
              the   city   wall    were    now                                        [...]   made   of   pewter   and
              trapped.                                                                engraved   in  the  manner   of
                                                                                      Piei're    Royaume,     my
                                      attack   tlie  assailants   from  Dame    Royaume     or    a
              Lanterns     were    lit    and                                         ancestor".    This   pot   was
                                      the  rear.  Nevertheless,    it  is  pewter   pot.  It  does  say  that
              church   bells   ning.   There                                          then   kept   at  the  Arsenal   in
                                      Dame    Royaume     who  a  woman    threw    some

              was   great   commotion     as                                          Geneva   for  a number   of
                                      became   famous.       stones  and  a barrel   from

              the    entire    population                                             years,   but   disappeared   dur-
                                                             her  window.   Written   some
              turned    out   to   fight    the                                       ing  the  French   occupation
                                      It  is  therefore   perplexing  tiine   later,   the  twenty-ninth
              intniders.   The  next   moi'n-                                         of  Geneva   in  1798.
                                      that  the   earliest   existing  verse   of   the  song   recount-
              ing  fifty-four    enemy   bod-
                                      text   about    the   Escalade  ing  the  Escalade,   C6  qu'e
              ies  were   counted   and   eight-                                      HAYWARD    BEYWOOD
                                      makes   no  mention   of   the  lain6   [That   which   is  above,
              een   Genevans    had   lost
                                      Porte  de  la  Monnaie,    or  i.e.  God]   tells   us  that   some-
              their   lives.   Thirteen   prison-
              ers,  many   of  them   from   the
              Savoyard   aristocracy,   were
              tried,   found   guilty    and
              lianged   that   same   day.
              Cath6rine    Royarurie    was
              not   tlie   only   householder    to
              take   action   against   the
              invaders,   for   many   people
              threw    tables,   chairs   and
              tableware   onto  tlie  attack-
              ers  in  the  city's   st'eets   that
              night.   Nor  was   slie  the   only
              lieroine     of    tliis    cold
              December   night   for   anoth-
              er   lady,   Jeanne   Piaget,
              threw   a  key   from   lier   win-
              dow   to  the  city's   defenders
              allowing   tliem   to  open  a
              door   to  an  alleyway   and


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