According to official sources, I have existed since about 1228. The exact date of birth is not known although I was listed as a parish in the old registers of the Lausanne diocese. Around the year 1150 the de Blonay noblemen, living at Chillon, started out on a Crusade. Upon their return they found the Savoy family had settled in the castle. The de Blonay family decided to build their own castle which was erected high above the lake. They gained esteem, holding prestigious positions in the Savoyan administration as bailiff of Vaud, Lord of Moudon, imperial judge in Lausanne, envoy to the Confederation. One member of the Savoy branch of the de Blonay family even became Viceroy of Sardinia. Blonay narrowly escaped the attack of the Bernese in 1476 when, on their way to Italy during the Burgundy wars, they were setting fire to the nearby Châtelard, marauding La Tour-de-Peilz and threatening the castle owner residing at the time. It was in 1801, August 6th, to be exact, when a terrible fire broke out in Tercier which, fanned by the strong local wind, the „bise“, destroyed about 60 houses while most of the inhabitants were busy with the hay harvest in the mountains. After the Reformation, the local branch of the de Blonay family became Protestant and reluctantly put up with the Bernese domination. They were always owners of the castle, with the exception of half a century when the heirs of this illustrious family were forced to sell their ancestral seat, which temporarily became the property of the Grafenrieds. Despite its advanced age, the castle, still the property of the de Blonay family, continues to be proudly cherished by the Blonaysan people.
Sobriquet donné aux habitants de Blonay. Plusieurs légendes se sont formées autour de ce nom.
Je ne citerai que des faits authentiques, dont le premier date du dix-huitième siècle. Un ours avait commis de nombreuses déprédations ; on avait organisé plusieurs battues, sans résultat.
Un dimanche matin, un sujet de L.L.E.E. de Berne se précipite dans le temple, plein de monde, et crie qu’on a vu la bête féroce et qu’il faut vite aller la tuer.
Grand émoi parmi les fidèles, qui ne tiennent plus en place. On déserte le temple, et chaque homme court chercher une arme. On se rend en nombre dans la forêt de Saudannaz, où l’on fusille la bête, qui n’a pas bougé. Ce n’était, hélas ! qu’un tronc d’arbre. La même mésaventure est arrivée à sieur X., il y a quelque trente ans.
Sur une simple illusion d’optique, il rassembla plusieurs tireurs de Tercier pour aller tuer un loup en Mouce.
Ce n’était qu’un tronc de sapin, non de châtaignier, comme on l’a écrit : le châtaignier ne croît pas si haut.
Tiré de Glossaire du Patois de Blonay - Mme Louise Odin - 1910
Historical events
