Lac de Barrenc et légende du bélier noir

Rennes-les-Bains

Above Rennes-les-Bains, in a round hollow surrounded by hills, a small lake of clear water keeps two old stories. In 1849 a travel account described it: an almost perfect basin, deep, of a transparent green, whose level drops very little, even in midsummer. Not far away, in the heather, a hole 25 metres deep had opened a few years earlier, and the shepherds say they hear noises under the ground. The traveller also tells that a shepherd had fallen asleep at this spot. His dog whined, he leapt up to gather his ewes, and the ground collapsed at the place he had just left. His satchel and staff were swallowed up, but he was saved. In the 20th century abbé Paul Montagné, who studied the superstitions of the Aude, published another legend, told at the evening gathering in the hamlet of Montferrand. On a stormy night a jet-black ram came out of the lake and reassured belated peasants: ‘N'ayez pas peur, ce ne sera rien.’ Later it warned the people of Les Bans, who were digging to empty the lake: if they continued, their village would be drowned and Montferrand would disappear. They gave up. A note in the article states, however, that the lake was emptied in his time, for a sewer study.

Abbé Paul Montagné, « Les superstitions populaires audoises » (5e article), Folklore, Carcassonne, t. IV, n° 2, juillet 1942 (Internet Archive) ↗

Getting there: The lake is about 4 km east of Rennes-les-Bains, on a plateau near the state forest (Montagné, 1942). OpenStreetMap places a ‘Lac de Barrenc’ at these coordinates and a sign on the ‘sentier de la Coume’, on the Sougraigne side. A text of 1942 says that the lake was emptied for a sewer study for the spa; its present state and the exact access were not verified.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound