Nor is this the only miracle connected with the church. The monkish
historians descant with florid eloquence upon the white stag, which
pointed out to Duke Ansegirus the spot where the edifice was to be
erected; the mystic knife, inscribed "in nomine sanctae et individuae
trinitatis," thus declaring to whom the building should be dedicated;
and the roof, which, though prepared for a distant edifice, felt that it
would be best at Fecamp, and actually, of its own accord, undertook a
voyage by sea, and landed, without the displacing of a single nail, upon
the sea-coast near the town. All these _contes devots_, and many others,
you will find recorded in the _Neustria Pia_[31]. I will only detain you
with a few words more upon the subject of the _precious blood_, a matter
too important to be thus hastily dismissed. It was placed here by Duke
Richard I.; but was lost in the course of a long and turbulent period,
and was not found again till the year 1171, when it was discovered
within the substance of a column built in the wall.
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