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The spring and the cave owe their name to the
Occitan word "clamousa" (a woman who shouts or screams), because of the
noise the underground river makes when in flood.
There is also a legend about a young shepherd on the Causse who used to
send a sheep to his poor mother by throwing it into a ravine on the
Causse, where the underground river carried it downstream to the
resurgence.
One day, it was the body of her son that the mother found. It is said
that, crazed by grief, she wandered for a long time the cave screaming
all her despair.
This sort of legend, with a few variations, is very common in limestone
areas with underground river networks. It confirms that people who live in these areas have long been aware of
the direct link between resurgences in valleys and caves and the points
where water filters into the surrounding plateaux and hills.
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