The Legend of Madame Grands Doigts

Madame Grands Doigts is "Mrs. Santa" to some

Madame Grands Doigts

The tradition of Madame Grands Doigts remains strong in south Louisiana, though her origins remain somewhat mysterious. Madame Grands Doigts (Lady Long Fingers) is a character known by locals sometimes as Mrs. Santa Claus. She "passes" on New Years Eve, leaving fruits, candy and small gifts in children's shoes or stockings. Madame Grands Doigts' gifts are simpler than Santa Claus', but it is always a treat to see the small yet thoughtful gifts la Madame has left. 


Madame Grands Doigts' origins in south Louisiana folklore remain mysterious to me. Who brought her here? Can she be found in other cultures' folklore? Even in South Louisiana, her identity changes and indeed sometimes she has a dual identity. 

Because of the different French populations in Louisiana, and also because of the borrowing between the cultures, sometimes MGD will appear as a bad witch, a good witch, or Madame Santa, all within the same area. In Evangeline Parish, she came to my family as Mrs. Santa at New Year and left fruit, nuts, candy and small toys. Later on she left useful items, such as toothbrushes and chap stick. Sometimes Mom called her MGD and sometimes Mrs. Clause. Sometimes it was even said that she accompanied Papa L'An or Papa Noel on his way back to the North Pole after passing for Christmas, but not always. Just down the road in Reddell, however, Papa L'An passed at my best friend's house alone, and in similar fashion to our Madame.

In certain areas of south Louisiana, however, Madame Grands Doigts does not come at holiday time, nor is she benevolent. She is a character used to frighten children into obedience, their families saying, "If you don't behave, Madame Grands Doigts va venir et tirer tes orteilles!(will come and pull your toes!). The story of bad Madame Grands Doigts is probably linked to the story "La Fille aux Belles Mains" (The Girl with the Beautiful Hands). Legend said that she was la belle de la ville and the other girls were jalouses of her, so they put a gris-gris on her hands, causing them to become gnarled and deformées. Beaucoup honte, she spent the rest of her life in seclusion and died in despair. After her death it is said she continued to haunt attics and other abandoned places, tormenting children by pulling their toes with her long, carbuncled fingers, sometimes stealing them away within her large sleeves. 

In some places, like Mamou, Madame Grands Doigts was said to take back the Christmas presents of naughty little "Yans"

 Some locals, such as Amanda LaFleur Giambrone, imagined Madame Grands Doigts as a "Glenda the Good Witch of the East" from the Wizard of Oz, with long, beautiful, slender fingers that could reach all the way to the bottom of their stockings. It wasn't until Giambrone taught in St. Martinville and saw a bulletin board with a "vilaine sorcière" on it labeled "Madame Grands Doigts" that she realized that there was more to the story. "She had never been a scary character in my personal experience," Giambrone says. This characterization makes MGD sound a lot like La Christkind:

Madame Grands Doigts, the Good Witch of Ville Platte

The Madame Grands Doigts appellation may have been taken from "La Fille aux Belles Mains" story and blended over the years (as things in our culture are so apt to do) with other Christmas folk characters,such as Le/a Christkind, Papa L'An, or le Petit Bonhomme Janvier, or in Avoyelles Parish, Santa Croupee, a type of fake Santa, who also seems to be a woman. Le Christkind (Christ Child) is a German folk character found now in many parts of the world, including south Louisiana. Le Christkind is a fairy-like child (sometimes depicted as a beautiful blonde woman) who dresses in white with a gold crown and delivers gifts. "She" is at the same time a representation of the child Jesus, and the spiritual child bearing gifts to Jesus at Christmastime. In some areas, the name has morphed into La Christkind, sometimes pronounced "La Christine" or "Greeshin."  According of Rocky McKeon of Terrebone Parish, "La Christkind" is the word for Santa Claus. Even though the article (la) is feminine, it's for the male Santa Claus. As far as I know, it's the only word that Louisiana French borrowed from German."

La Christkind looks a lot like the Good Witch of Ville Platte

 Le Petit Bonhomme Janvier (Little Man January), similarly to Madame Grands Doigts, delivers candy, nuts, toys and fruits to children on le Jour de l'An (New Year's Day). There may be another name for this character, Papa l'An (Father Year),who, according to Giambrone, came on the same night as Madame Grands Doigts, who assisted him. Whatever the origins of Madame Grands Doigts, her presence and the presence of other folk characters across South Louisiana enriches the lives of young and old, and, as legend is passed down, we can be assured that our customs will be continued with future generations, as evidenced in the following narration by Mr. and Mrs. Roland Hebert dit Milan of L'Anse Grise. Read in French as they discuss their family memories of Madame Grands Doigts. English translation follows. 

CLICK HERE FOR MADAME GRANDS  DOIGT SURVEY RESULTS.

 

MADAME GRAND DOIGTS CHEZ LES HEBERT dit MILAN

 

Madame Calvalene "Tist" Guillory Hebert dit Milan and daughter Marisha, Christmas 1974

Calvalene Hebert (Mom): Je me rappelle bien de Madame Grand Doigts. On avait tout le temps chacun une banane, chacun une pomme, chacun une orange, et deux ou trois paquets de pétards. C'est ça Madame Grands Doigts passait. Là Mom prendait les fruits et a faisait une salade avec les fruits et nous-autres on craquait les pétards. Mais on était tous contents contents! Là une année je me rappelle bien on s’est levé, on a couru 'oir qui alle avait passé, et y avait pas rien! On pouvait pas comprendre ça, on a été dans leur chambre on a reveillé Mom et eux-autres on a dit Madame Grands Doigts avait pas passée. So Daddy répond, il dit, "tu connais éyou, peut-être...alle a arrêté au char. Va regarder dans le char, peut-être alle a arrêté moitié chemin. Ça fait, on a couru dehors au char et le bag de pétards et de fruits étaient là. Ça fait plus tard quand j'étais plus vieille, j'ai compris que Madame Grands Doigts avait eu un drink de trop! Elle avait arrêté au char plutôt d’arriver à la maison! Et qui toi tu te rappelles, Dad? 

Roland Hebert (Dad): Je me rappelle que un matin j'allais au arbre, et je trouvais les bananes, et les oranges dans les 'tites branches, et oh, j'éspérais pour ça un tas, un tas pour Madame Grands Doigts, c'est une grosse affaire pour moi. Tous les jours de l'An, le matin, on allait pour 'oir qui Madame Grands Doigts avait ammené... 


Mom: Une fois j'avais demandé à Memere, qui est… si Madame Grands Doigts passait pour eux-autres quand elle, a était petite, et a m'a dit "nous-autres on était chanceux d'avoir un coton de maïs!" Je pouvais pas croire c'est vrai! Tu crois c'est réellement vrai ou c'est juste a était après bêtiser avec moi? 

Dad: J'crois c'est des bêtises... 

Mom: Mais, je souhaite ça. Là après ça on était après parler de ça encore et on a parlé de notres petits à nous-autres. Ils avaient un tas plus que juste des fruits! C'était pas des grosses boîtes des bébelles, mais c'était tout le temps des bébelles on aurait eu. Y avait des pétards, et peut-être un nombre des fruits, je me rappelle pas bien. Mais je connais y avait des bébelles, et ça espérait tous les ans pour quand Madame Grands Doigts aurait passé. 

 Dad: Je me rappelle un matin, Marisha et Michael et Mark, eux-autres, les petit, a couru au lit, et ça a dit, “Hey! Hey! Come see what the lady brought us!” Ça dit “la femme,” ça dit pas Madame Grands Doigts des fois. Juste “la femme.” 

Mom: Et ça que je suis contente pour, c’est que tous mes petits a été élevés à connaître pour Madame Grands Doigts et mes trois petits qui est mariés, Madame Grands Doigts passe à leur maison. Mes deux filles, leurs petites filles, la plus vieille, Marisha, ses filles, ses petits est après venir grand, so quinze and quatorze ans, mais éspère pour Madame Grands Doigts. Et l'autre 'tite jeune, elle aussite, et mon garçon qui reste à Pineville, son ti garçon a vu Madame Grands Doigts, lui aussite. Ça fait je suis bien contente pour ça. 

The Heberts

 
 ENGLISH TRANSLATION 

 Mom: I remember MGD well. We always each got a banana, each an apple and each an orange and two or three packs of firecrackers. That's what she brought. The Mom took the fruits and she made a salad with the fruit, and we popped the firecrackers. We were all happy, happy! Then, one year, I remember we got up and ran to see what she left, and there was nothing! We could not understand that. We went into their bedroom and we woke mom and said, "MGD didn't pass!" Daddy responded, he said, You know where...maybe...she stopped at the car. Go see in the car, maybe she stopped halfway. So, we ran outside to the car and the bag of firecrackers and fruit was there. So years later, when I was older, I understood that MGD had had one drink too many! She stopped at the car rather than make it all the way into the house. 

Dad: I remember that one morning I went to the tree and I found the bananas, the oranges in the little branches, and oh, I waited for that a lot a lot. It was a big thing for me, every New Years Day in the morning we went out to see what MGD had brought. 

Mom: One time I asked my Memère if MGD passed for them when she was little and she told me "We were lucky to get a corn cob!" I could not believe it was true! You think that was true or just her teasing me? Dad: I think it was teasing... 

Mom: Well, I hope so. We were all talking about this again, about our kids; they had a bunch more then just fruits! It wasn't big boxes of toys but it was always little toys that they got. There were firecrackers, and maybe some fruits, But I know there were little pretty toys, and they waited every year to see what MGD had brought. 

Dad:I remember one morning, Marisha and Michael and Mark, thee children ran to the bed and they said "Hey! Hey! Come see what the lady brought us! They say "the lady" they don't say MGD sometimes, just "the lady! 

Mom: And that's what I am happy about, that all my children were raised knowing MGD, and my three married children, MGD passes that their houses. My two girls, their girls, their children, they wait for MGD. And the other young one, my son who lives in Pineville, his boy saw MGD also, and I am very happy about that. 

Special thanks to Mme Amanda LaFleur Giambrone for her aide in the transcription of this piece, as well as for her personal memories. un GROS merci to the Hebert Family for their personal family photos and stories. Merci Mike!
 

THIS is Christmas in EVP as I remember it:)