Show convict priest dragon started the rouen party the traditional fair of st romain remain Is a festival which has been cele berated off and on since the days ot of richard the lionhearted observes a rouen france correspondent in the detroit news the medieval pageantry widen which Is conceived as a background for the usual exchange of harvest produce from the fruitful farms and orchards of normandy nor mandy recalls an old story of a saint and a dragon which is ii still considered gospel by many of them the french peasants it seems that st remain bishop of rouen went forth one dayto conquer a great gargoyle which had been indulging an unpleasant appe bitite for human beings at the rate of two or three a meal the bishop took with him a condemned convict thinking perhaps that if the dragon were furnished with a satisfactory is hors it might be captured while enjoying this first course But things worked out better than expected for the gargoyle was so awed at the sight ot of the holy man that it immediately became weak enough tor for the convict to give it a quick push into the seine being strictly a land dragon it promptly drowned and rouen was saved 0 what is certainly true is that from the twelfth to the eighteenth cen tury a condemned criminal was set free from the dungeons of rouen every ascension day in memory of st romain remain and his courageous convict it involved a colorful procession including a stuffed dragon besides banquets and various solemn rites |