‘Pas possible’ were the words spoken by Napoleon Bonaparte when, according to Dorset folk-lore, he stepped ashore in 1804 at Lulworth Cove. Translating as ‘it’s not possible’ this was said to be a judgment on the suitability of Lulworth as a landing-point for a French invasion of England. Author Thomas Hardy would later write a short story A Tradition of 1804 which would be loosely based on this report.
Legend has it that the French emperor was recognised by a Dorset farmer’s wife who was able to speak a little French. It was a language scarcely ever learned in England in those days but her father was a pottery merchant who had many dealings with France and she had helped him with the paperwork. She was able to recognise his distinctive features from the many caricatures of Napoleon Bonaparte published at the time. It was feared that some 160,000 men and 15,000 horses would make the Channel crossing in a French fleet of flat bottomed boats.
Her husband was too close to the sea to refrain from smuggling. One evening when he failed to return by the expected hour she left their house in search of him. She knew a special cargo of smuggled contraband was expected because a local landowner was entertaining the local customs officials to dinner that evening. The prospect of being taken by a Navy press gang was also a constant terror.
The farmer’s wife went on and on until she reached a hill running down to the sea. There she saw a suspicious-looking vessel standing off close to the shore which she initially assumed was a customs cutter. Lying down behind some rocks she saw a long-boat and stepping ashore from it to her horror she recognised Napoleon Bonaparte. Listening in, she realised he was discussing with one of his officers whether Lulworth Cove was a suitable place for the French army to land in order to invade England. They had a map over which they pored for several minutes. To her it felt like several hours. The French emperor shrugged his shoulders and folded his map. Napoleon Bonaparte and his officer returned to the longboat and were silently rowed out to the waiting French frigate. The men ascended the ship’s side and the vessel slipped away in the broad moonlight back towards France.
Whether this Napoleonic tale is one of fact or fiction will probably never be known. As to the French speaking farmer’s wife she lived a long time to tell her story, reputedly living to the ripe old age of 104 years.
(Source: Bridport News - 21st May 1909.)
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