Texts written on the 5th of April 1887, by the teacher L'Espagnolles.

The etymology
Nobody knows the etymology of the word Grust but in Patois (the local language) grèts and grun means bursted rocks, with holes; ust, arassus, cardessus, catsus and abatsus mean on the top, next to the mountain. Well then the village was built on a schist height of which the rock each year crumbles more and more away, forming splits called grèts. At a certain time, nobody knows exactly when, the village was built a bit lower next to a ravine, called the Bignalet, who 's formed on the sloped of the top of Hitte and where is passing by a vivid stream. When the flanks were deforested, an avalanche has swept away the village. The village has been built a bit higher then, on the rock, far away from all danger. So Grust means "on top of a rock with holes".

The origin of the village
People think that the village is very old. We are sure that Cauterets existed during the roman time, so the valley of Barèges must have been populated at the same time.
An old man told me that the land had been populated by giants who mesured up to 3m10, this had been discovered for over 15 years, their tombs mesured 14 empans or 3m10. Those giants where called Roussous. History tells about a fight between Roland, a nephew of Charlemagne, and 3 giants from the environment of St Savin who where called Passamentos.

The population
The village of Grust had 189 inhabitants in 1861 and 152 in 1886. The population decreases each year. This decrease was attributed to the drop of marriages (1 each 2 or 3 years) and because of the sterility of the couples.
We mention the presence of a state policeman and of a teacher, who's also secretary of the town hall, and also a curate. The tax inspector and the postal office/telegraph service are in Luz.

The woods
The slopes of the tops of the mountains who dominate Grust where wooded before, but the shephers burnt them. Lots of them regret but don't want anyway to forest them again because of the nuisance for the flocks.
The woods aren't very vast. They are just large enough to furnish enough wood, about 15 to 20 loads of a mule per person.
All the woods are submit to the forest regimen and under the surveillance of a guard living at Viscos.
Each household possesses a mule that carries wood, that gives manure and that's used to go the market at Argelès and Luz.

The flocks
The cows are small, lean and almost allways black, the short horns not in the good direction, but very good dairy cows.
The ewes and the sheep have a very fine sheep's pelt and are small. The owners keep the lambs and each year, at the annual fair at Luz the 30th of September, they sell their elder sheeps and ewes which they won't be able to feed during the winter. This fair is much visited by foreign traders because the animals are at that moment very fat and the meat is very tasty. This thanks to the grass the flocks eat during the summer in the high mountains.

The road network
The village doesn't possess a road but a small path where pass only pedestrians and their flock, this path goes to Sazos. There the path becomes larger til Saint Sauveur.
Beneath the village you can find a small brick layed bridge. This was the time that people made a large road to go from St Sauveur to Cauterets passing by the top of Riou. The villages of Sazos and Grust didn't want to participate, so the road does't pass in their villages. This road was most of all used by tourists.

The trading
The village doesn't have a local trader. Everything happens at Luz or at Argelès. The inhabitants buy everything on credit and pay generally at the end of the year, on St Michaels, the taxes, the interests, the leases. The butter, which is excellent, is the daily food of the land. The traders buy the butter immediately by the families. With this money the families can pay their daily purchases : wheat, rye, maize, etc.

The measures
The only old measures still in use are the 'boisseau', the 'canne', the 'romaine', the 'lire' of 400 grams. The cloths and the brickwork are measured with the 'canne' and the 'empan'. The butter and the wool are measured with the old 'lire'.

The language
The 'patois' is the language of the land. She isn't fluent and poetic like the 'béarnais' but less rough than the 'Azun', which proves that the people of Barège don't came from Lavedan but from the Aure and Campan. They have some particular words like "garnatchou" that means the skirt, toy or toyâ to indicate a boy or a girl. Except for some words is the 'patois' the same all over the land, rich in expressions, coloured and revealing.

The inhabitants
They have gentle and honest customs; and generally they have a very strong goodwill. The population isn't much mixed with strangers and is excellent.

The church
Everybody is catholic and seams very devoted to the cult. On sundays and during the celebrations in the church, nobody misses a divine service. The church is poor like the people. She's old and miserable : a porch almost as large as the interior of the church is situated at the entry and on the door was engraved a St Andre cross with the letters A.P.S. This is the monogram of Christ and is meaning (first and last letter of the greek alphabet) : the beginning and the end of all things.

The clothing
The inhabitants are dressed with cloth spun of wool by the women during the long winters. The trousers and the cardigan are made of black cloth, or sometimes the natural colour of the animal, but the waistcoat is always made in a conspicuously colour, with red, bleu or black lines. The collar of the waistcoat and of the cardigan are never turned down, but are always straight. The shirt is unknown here. As well women as men are dressed with the wool of their flocks. They love vivid colours, also their dresses are lined with red, green or bleu. Their capulets are always red with a large black embroided ribbon.
When it rains or it snows, everybody is wearing a long woolen black cloak which covers the body entirely.

The food
The usual food is a sort of soup with milk and bread or a dough, or else the dough with butter or melt bacon. The meal only consists of one course.

The education
People think that it ware the priests who tought the children of the village Grust. When necessary, the presbytery or the church were transformed in a school. A register was opened at the town hall to receive the inscription or the demand for teachers who would show up, but very soon it was closed without any inscription.
About 1820, the sister of the priest of Sazos, has opened a school in Sazos and teached the children of Grust at a small contribution.
It was in 1852 that the first teacher of Grust was appointed. It was the curate LABBE Antrechosses. He worked like this for about 9 years. In 1861, a layman teacher, Mr Cantet, was appointed and the 16th October 1866, he retired and was replaced by Mr Soubervielle then Mr Labasse until 1872. Then the abbot Cantou has been appointed as curate and also teacher of Grust until 1876. Then a layman took over the school. It was the presbytery built in 1852 that became a school.

15 to 20 children go to school during the winter and the teacher lived upstairs.
From the 1st of December til the end of March, the children with the physical aptitude for it tended the flocks. The school was then filled with small children from 6 to 8 years old.
From the 1st of July until after the holidays, the school was deserted. This because of most of the people emigrated to the mountain sheds, at about one or two hours of the village to come to the village again when it starts to become colder the end of September. The children tend the flocks until the first snow falls and then the flocks are brought down to the village. Then the school is filled up again. So the children go to school for about 4 months of the year.
Even then, all persons below 30 read and write.

The village possesses a school library made in 1886 with 10 books for the credit of 15fr, made by the village. The number of loans were 17 for 51 readers.

The teacher receives 1200 franks. The village is very poor. She has invested in the presbytery and was very much taxed.

The production
Wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat and potatoes are the only grains cultivated at Grust, but the fields are small and not very productive. The corn never ripens because the snow still falls in May, even in June, and then begins again in October. The inhabitants buy their stock on the markets of Luz and Argelès.
To cultivate the fields, they use a plough on flat fields and the gash or the shovel on the steep fields.
The biggest earnings coming from the cattle, they specialise in the cattle breeding of cows and sheeps and ewes, the cultivation has only a second place. As the fruitful layer is very thin, they can only obtain a good crop of hay, by manuring and watering. The inhabitants of Grust and Barèges are very good doing this.
The water that passes into the village is very very cold and very bright of colour. It comes from the glaciers of Hitte and of Ardiden. The inhabitants are going to look for it at a distance of 3 or 4km, then lead it by means of small canals past the rocks, the ravines and the heights, with small tunnels or wooden pipes. The water enters into the interior of all the sheds, where is a water trough in stone for the cattle and a small cabin to place the buckets of milk, the fresh water makes the milk to cream faster.
To water the ground, each inhabitant has his hour and his day well marked and to make sure that the water moistens the whole field, one man and very often two lead the water all the time, then right, then left.
The field are always manured in autumn and again in springtime. It is good to know that, at Grust, during the winter, the cattle never has straw; the cows don't really need it, because behind them they make a deep canal which receives all the manure and urine, this canal is cleaned every day; but the most miserable to see are the ewes, the horses, the mules and the donkeys : those animals stand continuously in their own manure that heaps up during the whole winter. Because of that, the animals are very filthy and have an awful smell. The only reason not to put straw, is very simple, they don't have any straw.
To manure their fields, the inhabitants never use the manure of that winter, they always take the manure of the last year.
They use two methods : - Before manuring the fields, they use a portable manure mill in order to shatter the big lumps who coul roll down to the bottom of the field, because the fields were very steep. The mill is made of a wooden framework on 4 legs, 1 metre long and 60cm large. The two sides of the framework are furnished with iron teeth of about 20cm lenght on each side; in the empty interval, left by the teeth, they place a piece of wood, completely round, equipped with a handle, at one of the extremities, in order to make it turn and it is also foreseen of lots of iron teeth, like those from the frame; another frame is put on the mill, made of 4 boards in which is placed the manure; then one person makes turn the roller and so the manure passes and passes again between the teeth grind and pulverised. Afterwards it is spread on the fields with a light watering. The grass starts to grow very fast.
- The other method is a bit different. The manure is pulverised in the sheds and by means of the canals for the watering, they bring the pulverised manure to their fields. One person throws the pulverised manure bit by bit into the passing water. The water brings it to the canals in the fields, there a stone is places into the canals to stop the manure. Then, an other person who has a big rake spreads the manure on the fields. Then the stone is placed a bit further and it begins again.
On the fields around the village, each year the make 3 cuts : one of hay and two of the grass growing afterwards.