Source note

TONSARD (Mere), a peasant woman of Bourgogne, born in 1745, was one of the most formidable enemies of Montcornet, the owner of Aigues, and of his head-keeper, Justine Michaud. She had killed the keeper's favorite hound and she encroached upon the forest trees, so as to kill them and take the dead wood off. A reward of a thousand francs having been offered to the person who should discover the perpetrator of these wrongs, Mere Tonsard had herself denounced by her granddaughter, Marie Tonsard, in order to secure this sum of money to her family, and she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, though she probably did not serve her term. Mere Bonnebault committed the same offences as Mere Tonsard; they had a quarrel, each wishing to profit by the advantages of a denunciation, and had ended by referring the matter to the casting of lots, which resulted in favor of Mere Tonsard. [The Peasantry.]