Alan Beck:
Tradition has it that two townsmen, Paquet Sivière and Houzou Bénard, were condemned by the bishop for mocking the Virgin. Afterwards, transformed into wooden automaton sculptures, named the Jaquemarts, they tell the quarters of the hours, nodding their heads, and knocking on the bells with an extended hammer...
And they had to pay for the clock as a fine. There are similar cases - the clock at St. Francois at Le Havre, and the paving in front of the Church of St. Remy in Dieppe. In this latter case, a Protestent gentleman, M. de Crevecoeur, crossed a religious procession and did not take off his cap.