(1877) Through Britanny: Author of "Through Normandy"
December 12, 2016 | Author: Herbert Hillary Booker 2nd | Category: N/A
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1877 - Katharine Sarah Gadsen-MacQuoid, 1824-1917 & Thomas Robert MacQuoid...
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£
THROUGH BRITTANY
TRAVEL BOOKS. Square 8vo, cloth extra,
7s. 6d.
S. Macby T. R. Macquoid. " One of the few books which can be read as a piece of literature, whilst British at the same time handy and serviceable in the knapsack."— Quarterly Review.
By Katharine
THROUGH NORMANDY. quoid.
With
90 Illustrations
Square 8vo, cloth extra,
7s. 6d.
S. Macquoid. by Thomas R. Macquoid. " Tourists who propose visiting Brittany this summer may be advised Gazette. to take Airs. Macquoid's volume with them." Pall Mall
By Katharine
THROUGH BRITTANY. With numerous
Illustrations
Square 8vo, cloth
gilt,
profusely illustrated, 10s. 6d.
PICTURES AND LEGENDS FROM
NORMANDY AND
With numerous Illusby Thomas R. Macquoid. "An attractive volume, which is neither a work of travel nor a colleceach of tion of stories, but a book partaking almost in equal degree of as these characters. The illustrations, which are numerous, are drawn,"— a rule, with remarkable delicacy as well as with true artistic feeling Daily News.
BRITTANY. By Katharine
S.
Macquoid.
trations
Square 8vo, cloth extra, with numerous
NORTH ITALIAN FOLK.
Illustrations, 9S.J
By Mrs. Comyns Carr.
Illus-
trated by Randolph Caldecott. " delightful book, of a kind which is far too rare. If anyone wants to really know the North Italian folk, we can honestly advise him to omit . the journey, and sit down to read Mrs. Carr's pages instead. Description with Mrs. Carr is a real gift. .... It is rarely that a book is so happily illustrated." Contemporary Review.
A
.
CHATTO
&
WINDUS, PICCADILLY, W.
.
.
OLD HOUSES, QUIMPER.
THROUGH BRITTANY By KATHARINE
S.
MACQUOID
AUTHOR OF "THROUGH NORMANDY"
ILLUSTRATED BY THOMAS
R.
MACQUOID
SOUTH BRITTANY
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY
TO
CUTHBERT
Lar
d'in,
E.
PEEK,
ESQ.
anaout a rez ar vro
Lec'h, war ar garrek, sao derd
Lec'h 'kan ar barz war dreuz he zor, Ha war ann aod e trouz ar mor ? Ja, ar vro-ze eo Breiz-Izell War ar hed pa daolan eur zell, ;
En neb
lec'h
na welan
hini,
A c'houlen ken braz meuleudi. Luzel.
CONTENTS. PAGE
Introductory Chapter
l
NANTES AND THE PENINSULA OF LE
CROISIC.
IAP. I.
II.
Nantes
La Guerande—Le Bourg de Batz—Le Croisic—Le
Pouli-
47
guen
MORBIHAN. III.
La Roche Bernard— Blain—Redon—Rochefort— Lande "5
ofLanvaux IV. Vannes
73
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES. 94
V. Elven—Tredion
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS. I0 3
VI. Sarzeau— St. Gildas— Sucinio
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES. VII. Malestroit—Josselin—Ploermel— St. Jean Brevelai
THE MOB.BIHAN, OR LITTLE .
.
117
SEA.
The Islands—Locmariaker— Gavr' Inis IX. St. Anne d'Auray—The Chartreuse— Auray X. Carnac— Plouharnel— Erdeven XI. St. Nicholas des Eaux
VIII.
.
.
.
.
.
.13° .147 l6 5 l
77
CONTENTS.
X
PAGE
THAP.
XII.
Baud— The
" Venus " of Quinipily— Pontivy
.
.
186
XIII. The Fair of St. Nicodeme
198
XIV. Hennebont — L'Orient
217
FINISTERE. XV.
Quimperle
226
MORBIHAN. XVI. Le Faouet — Sainte Barbe
— Saint Fiacre—Kernascleden
237
FINISTERE.
—Rustefan—Tregunc—Concarneau
XVII. Pont Aven XVIII. Quimper
.
.
250 265
THE WEST COAST OF BRITTANY. XrX. Pont 1' Abbe— Penmarc'h
XX. XXI.
278
—Pointe du Raz —Pont Croix Douarnenez — Locronan — Crozon — Chateaulin — Rumengol — Daoulas
Audierne
.
.
.
285
305
OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
LIST
Frontispiece,
— Old Houses, Quimper. PAGE
1.
Breton Beggar Children
2.
Cathedral and Castle, Nantes
27
3.
Castle of Clisson
44
4.
Porte St. Michel,
5.
Old Walls and Gateway, La Guerande
51
6.
Le
56
7.
Salt-sellers
8.
Chateau de Blain
65
9.
Tour de Clisson
78
Tour d'Elven
96
10.
I
La Guerande
49
Croisic
(Bourg de Batz)
58
11. Josselin
124
12.
The Port Vannes
13.
Dol-ar-Marchadouan, Table des Marchands
14.
Grotto of Gavr' Inis
144
15.
Auray
162
16.
Stones of Carnac
167
17.
Dolmen
175
18.
Cottage Door, St. Nicholas
179
19.
The " Venus "
190
of Corconno
20. Castle of
of Quinipily
Pontivy
....
131
140
196
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Xli
PAGE 21.
Church of
200
Nicodeme
St.
22. Cap-seller
206
Quimperle
228
23.
24. Outside Quimperle"
233
Barbe
25.
Church of
Ste.
26.
Church of
St. Fiacre
27.
The
28.
Rustefan
River,
245
Pont Aven
251
253
29. Washing-place on 30.
241
the River
259
Onion Heads
Girl gathering
263
31.
Quimper
270
32.
A Street in Quimper
275
Pont l'Abbe"
280
33. Cloister, 34. Pointe
The
du Raz
illustrations
marked *
The accompanying map reader.
292
is
are from sketches
by Percy Macquoid.
only to be taken as a general guide to the themselves with a good
Travellers are advised to provide
—published by Augte. Logerot,
map, for instance, Carte de la Bretagne 55, Quai des Augustins, Paris.
LIST
OF DISTANCES. Miles,
Kilometres.
55
88
Le Mans
60
123
Angers
60
97
55
88
40
64
12
19
8
13
41
67
33
54
English
Paris to Chartres
Chartres to
Le Mans Angers
to
Nantes
to
Nantes to St.
St.
Nazaire to Guerande
Guerande St.
...... ...... ...... .......
Nazaire
to
Le
Nazaire to
Redon
Croisic
Redon
Vannes
to
Elven
Vannes
to
Vannes
to St. Gildas
Vannes
to
Zarzeau
Vannes
to
Ploermel via Malestroit
7
...
Ploermel to Josselin Josselin to
Vannes
Vannes
Auray
to
Auray
to
Auray
to Pontivy St.
i8£
30
15
24
36
58
7^
Jean Brevelay
Carnac
Pontivy to St.
via. St.
Nicholas
Nicholas to St. Nicodeme
....
1
12
26
42
12
19
8
13
34
55
9h 3
1
S
5
LIST OF DISTANCES.
XIV
English Miles. St.
Nicodeme
Baud
to
to
Baud
.
Hennebont
Hennebont
Quimperle
to
Quimperle to Pont Aven
Pont Aven
to
Concarneau
Quimperle to Le Faouet
Le Faouet
to
Kernascleden
Quimperle
to
Quimper
.
Quimper
to
Pont l'Abbe"
Quimper
to
Penmarc'h
.
Quimper
to
Pont Croix
.
Pont Croix
Audierne
to
.
Audieme
to
La Pointe du Raz
Audierne
to
Douarnenez
Douarnenez
Quimper
to
Quimper
to Chateaulin
Chateaulin to Brest
.
INDEX FOR TRAVELLERS
IN
SOUTH BRITTANY. TT
is
always more prudent to write and order rooms a day or two
Except in a few towns, the charge
beforehand.
two francs a night.
A
In some towns the charge
bottle of vin ordinaire is almost always
charge.
is
for a
bedroom
included in the dinner
In South Brittany the best places to stop at and make excur-
sions from are
—Vannes,
Aven, and Douarnenez.
Auray, Carnac, Quimperle, Quimper, Pont
Small carriages with one horse can be hired
readily at the chaige of ten francs per day, with pourboire;
The high
equals five English miles.
f.
roads are excellent, but by-roads
wet weather are sometimes very bad. for francs, c. for centimes.
that those stated can only
Nantes
but a
A distance of eight kilometres almost
bargain should always be made.
in
The
K.
stands for kilometres,
railway fares seem to be so variable,
be taken as an average
calculation.
(Loire Inferieure), page 25.
Railwaj' omnibus, 60c.
;
town omnibus,
20c.
Buffet at station.
Hotel de France, Place Graslin, has a cafe and excellent restaurant table d'hote breakfast, 3f.
;
dinner, 4f.
Hotel de Bretagne, Place du Port Communeau.
—
Theatres
Grand Theatre, Place
Graslin.
Theatre de la Renaissance, Place de Brancas.
Post
is
one franc per bed.
Office,
Telegraph,
Rue du Chapeau Rouge, near Rue Boileau. 1, Rue St. Julien, near Place Royale.
INDEX FOR TRAVELLERS.
xvi Money
changer, Monsieur Pabet,
Bookseller,
Madame
VeloppS,
Place Royale.
3,
Quai de
I,
la Fosse.
Baths at— Hotel de France. Floating Baths, Quai
Duguay Trouin and Quai Turenne, &c.
Rail to Clisson, one hour,
1st class, 2f. 50c.
;
2nd
class, 2f.
;
3rd
class, if. 50c.
Rail to St. Nazaire about two hours, 4f.
;
3rd class,
Nantes time trains start
is
31*.
1st class,
50c.
51".
;
2nd
class,
25c.
seventeen minutes slower than Paris time, but the
by Paris time.
Diligences to Pornic start from 2 and 6 Quai Turenne.
Diligence to Blain starts from
Rue
1,
Talensac.
Diligence to Chateaubriand starts from
Rue
de PErdre.
Steamers to Bordeaux twice a week.
Steamer
to
Angers,
daily, at 7 A.M.,
Quai Maillard.
Steamers to St. Nazaire and Paimbceuf twice a day
de
Steamer St.
;
from Quai
la Fosse, 7 a.m., 3 p.m.
to
Nazaire
Nort Quai Ceineray,
(Loire Inferieure), page 45.
Hotel Bely.
Hotel de
daily, 7
Breakfast,
2f.
Marine on the
la
Rail to Vannes,
50c.
;
A.M.
Buffet.
dinner,
3C
port.
1st class,
I3f.
75c.
;
2nd
class,
nf. 50c.
;
3rd
class, 6f. 50c.
Diligence by Escoublac to
La Guerande,
32k., 8.30 a.m.,
7.45 p.m.,
Le Nazaire from Le
Croisic,
Guerande
for
Croisic,
Guerande and Escoublac. Croisic, via
La Guerande
2f.
80c.
and
19k., 3f.
9.45 A.M., 9 P.M.
5.30 a.m.,
A
I
and Le Croisic,
90c.
;
leaves
St.
P.M., calling at
La Le
carriage from St. Nazaire to
Guerande and Bourg de Batz,
La
returns to
;
i8f.
(Loire Inferieure), page 49.
Hotel du Commerce.
Le Croisic
(Loire Inferieure), page 56.
Bathing-place.
Hotel and Etablissement des Bains.
pathic establishment.
house, Pension Jeanne.
A hydro-
In the town a small cheap boarding-
INDEX FOR TRAVELLER Le Pouliguen
(Loire Inierieure), page 62.
Lodgings may be had both
Bathing-place, Hotel des Etrangers. at
Le
xvii
.
Croisic
and Le Pouliguen.
La Roche Bernard, small inn, but
page
it is
La Guerande.
26k. from
64.
Diligence to Pont Chateau station, 19k., 7.30 A.M.
Pont Chateau
Redon
to
There
is
a
sometimes shut up.
La Roche
Bernard, 5.20 p.m.,
(Hie et Vilaine), page 66.
;
2f.
returns from 25c.
Buffet.
Hotel de Bretagne.
Rochefort-en-Terre (Morbihan), page station or
67.
Reached from Malansac
by carriage from Vannes.
Diligence leaves Malansac, 5k., 9.25 a.m.,
348
p.m., 50c.
leaves
;
Rochefort for Malansac, 7.30 a.m., 2.55 p.m.
Vannes
Omnibus, 30c.
(Morbihan), page 73.
Hotel du Dauphin, Place Napoleon table d'hote, breakfast, 2f. 50c.
A carriage may be hired I5f.
;
to
St.
Locmariaker, Gavr
Rail if.
to Auray,
if.
I2f.
;
good
Hotel de France.
just opposite
to Elven, 8f.
Anne, &c,
Hotel de
the peninsula of
;
Jean Picard's boat to
&c, 15L
'Inis,
1st class,
2f.
50c.
2nd
;
class,
2f.
;
3rd
class,
50c.
Diligence to Sarzeau,
Post
Grand, comfortable
le
dinner, 3f.
(Rue du Mene,
Commerce,) with one horse,
Rhuys,
;
24k.,
4 p.m.
;
leaves
Sarzeau, 7 a.m.,
25c. Office,
Place Napoleon.
Photographer, Place Napoleon. Booksellers,
Cauderan,
Madame Rue de la
Galles,
Rue
de
la Prefecture;
Monsieur
Prefecture.
Sarzeau (Morbihan), page
104.
Hotel des Voyageurs. St. Gildas, page 105. able rate.
There
The is
Sisters take boarders at a very reason-
good bathing
at St. Gildas.
INDEX FOR TRAVELLERS.
Xviii
Port Navalo, page Hotel de
116.
The
Marine.
la
sengers on
Ploermel, page
way
its
to
He steamer
Belle
stops here for pas-
and from Auray.
118.
Hotel des Voyageurs about 50k.
by way
bert station
;
;
can be reached by carriage from Vannes,
of Malestroit, or by diligence from Questem-
diligence leaves Questembert at 10 a.m., 4 P.M.
A diligence runs between Ploermel and Josselin, Josselin (Morbihan), page 123. Hotel Grande Maison Croix d'Or.
by
St.
From
12k.
Josselin to Vannes,
Jean de Brevelai, 42k.
Locmariaker
(Morbihan), page 137.
Hotel Marchand. St.
d' Auray (Morbihan),
Anne
page 149
Omnibus, 50c. Hotel Lion d'Or.
Auray
(Morbihan), page 162.
Buffet.
—
Hotels
Pavilion d'en Haut, extremely clean, well-served, and comfortable,
but more expensive than either Vannes or Quimper.
De
la
Poste
;
a carriage with one horse
may be had
for
about
iof.
per day.
Steamer leaves Auray three times a week Rail to Baud,
Carnac
1st class, 2f.
;
2nd
for Belle
class, if. 50c.
;
He.
3rd
class, if. 25c.
(Morbihan), page 165.
Hotel des Voyageurs.
Plouharnel
(Morbihan), page 172.
Hotel des Voyageurs.
Baud
(Morbihan), page 186.
Inn Chapeau Rouge, dinner excellent.
Omnibus,
50c.
Rail to Pontivy,
1st class, 4f. 50c.
;
2nd
class, 4f.
;
3rd
class, 3f.
index fur travellers. St.
Ntcolas des Eaux (Morbihan), page
Pontivy (Morbihan), page
No
177.
xix inn.
195.
Hotel Grosset, good; breakfast,
2f.
bottle of wine,
:
if.
Carriage to Hennebont, via St. Nicodeme, 2of.
Hennebont
(Morbihan), page 217.
Rail to L'Orient,
Inn.
1st class, if. 50c.
Rail to Quimperle,
1st
class,
;
2nd 50c.
3f.
class, if.
2nd
;
;
3rd class, 75c.
class, 2f. 75c.
;
3rd
class, if. 95c.
L'Orient (Morbihan), page Omnibus,
Buffet.
225.
25c.
Hotel de France.
Quimperle
(Finistere),
page 226.
Omnibus. Hotel des Voyageurs, the only good one. Carriage to
Le
Faouet, Ste. Barbe, and St. Fiacre, 24k.,
iof.
Carriage to Pont Aven.
Rail to Quimper,
1st class, 5f. 75c.
;
2nd
class, 4f. 25c.
;
3rd
class,
3f. ioc.
Le Faouet
(Morbihan), page 238.
Inn, Lion d'Or.
Pont Aven
(Finistere),
page 250.
Hotel des Voyageurs (Mdlle Julia Guillou), very good and cheap.
Concarneau Quimper
(Finistere),
(Finistere),
page 257.
page 265.
Omnibus, 60c. Hotel de l'Epee, comfortable and moderate. Diligence to Pont i'Abbe,
18k.,
5 p.m.,
if.
25c.
;
from Pont
l'Abbe to Quimper, 8 A.M.
LJigence
to
Douarnenez, 23k., and Audierne, 44k., 2.30 p.m.
from Audierne to Quimper, 4 p.m., 3f. Rail to Chateaulin, 1st class, 3f. 75c. class, 2f. 25c.
b
;
2nd
class,
2f.
80c.
;
;
3rd
INDEX FOR TRAVELLERS.
XX
Carriages, Rancillac
Rue.
Bookseller, Salaun.
Post Office, Quai du Telegraph,
6,
Pont L'Abbe
Rue
Steir.
Sainte Ther&se.
(Finistere),
page 279.
Hotel Duhamel,
Audierne
(Finistere),
page 287.
Hotel du Commerce.
Breakfast,
21*.
50c.
;
nenez
A carriage
dinner, 3f.
Pont Croix and Douar-
can be hired here for Pointe du Raz. for I5f.
Douarnenez
(Finistere),
page 305.
Bathing-place.
Hotel des Voyageurs, good table d'hote
;
expenses
30c. to
6f.
7f.
per day.
Boat
to Crozon.
Carriage to Crozon and Chateaulin.
Crozon
(Finistere),
page 311.
Hotel Renoult.
Camaret
(Finistere),
Chateaulin Omnibus, Hotel de
(Finistere),
Inn.
page 314.
50c. la
Grande Maison.
Rail to Brest, 5f.
page 312.
1st class, 8f. 50c.
;
2nd
40c.
Carriages, Guedas.
Brest
(Finistere),
page 320.
Omnibus, 50c. Hotels
—
Grand Hotel, good and expensive. Hotel des Voyageurs,
Rue
de Siam.
class, 6f. 80c.
;
3rd
class,
w
Up d'Ouessant
fi.SlMattfiied-
M
T.deSeins
j\
QiubeTorL
BMITUUIY Belle -lleX^t! «»=*»««•
Railways open. „
ccnstiiictiruf
Authors Roujte Enelish 2
..
i,
1
1
i
u.
—
Miles
4 6 8 10
Kilometres 4
47
8
12
16
20
40
•
Longitude 'Vest of Greenwich.
london.; Ch
3
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. RITING
a book on
Normandy
any
of
moderate dimensions
seemed a presumptuous and almost impossible task
—
it
and
unsatisfactory
hint
to
tantalising
was
only at subjects of
interest,
show corners
and
full
to
instead
many places worthy a much of the whole of
closer
vestigation than I
had space or science
feeling of hopelessness
Brittany,
becomes
and deeper
to give
;
but this
far stronger in writing
where perhaps one can say
in-
about
truthfully every barren
plain bears, either visibly or beneath
its
brown
soil,
some
mysterious token of an epoch before history began, and frequently also
of
one or other of the various invaders,
who, though they have impressed their presence on the
THROUGH BRITTANY.
t
hills
and
and barren heaths, yet have
riversides
much as they found them. now surmounts the menhir, and
the
left
ancient people
The
cross
the Virgin
niched over the fountain of remote date,
is
where once the Korrigan reigned supreme is still
the statue of
but the worship
;
of dark superstition, a strange mixture of Chris-
full
and of the paganism of the weird days when the
tianity
sacred vervain could work miracles and the mistletoe was the
emblem
sacrifices
seem, according to
on the Druids
libels
The many
of the priests.
;
but
the monstrous misshapen
it
is
old
writers,
have been
to
impossible to contemplate
blocks of stone, scattered over
and breadth of the province of
the length
human
of
stories
Brittany, without
an intense conviction that these stones have witnessed ful rites, in
fear-
which probably demons have been worshipped
and called on
to consecrate the tombs,
if
they are tombs,
of departed chiefs honoured by these colossal memorials. After the prehistoric period
and
its
to venture
seem
remains, which
to be involved in such a sea of dispute that
is
useless
an opinion thereon, we come to traces of
Roman
and Gallic occupation. quent than
in
and Gallo-Roman
villas
these are far less
It is true
Normandy
;
but
and
still
tiles,
there are
many
Roman
fre-
roads
&c, that have museums of the larger
while coins,
been unearthed are to be seen in the towns, besides the
it
interesting relics in private local
collections.
Then
there are the marvellous legends of
or Gradlon, an emigrant from Great Britain,
King
and
Grallon,
his
wicked
daughter, Ahes or Dahut, and the submersion of the
of Is
;
city
legends of the Bluebeard of Cornouaille, the fierce
Comorre, of the marvellous SS. Corentin, Gildas, Ronan,
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. and
others,
whose words seem
Then we come
Round
Table, whose
chroniclers,
happened
Avalon, the
He de
where Merlin
chief
exploits,
and the
Sein,
the Knights of the
according to Breton
and not
Brittany,
in
forest
Britain
in
of Broce'liande,
sleeping, being all in Brittany.
still lies
Then come
have been law in the land.
to
King Arthur and
to
3
records of wars with the Frankish Kings of
France, against
whom
Brittany maintained her independ-
ence as a nation, as she also did
finally against the
Norman
invaders of the ninth century; and next, most deeply interesting to us English, the struggle
and
of Montfort
lives in all
Guesclin
for
houses central
its
;
the annexation, which has provoked a lament,
living in
the
heart of
French," they country."
more
Du
rival
Then comes good Duchess Anne, whose memory stone in some of the towns of her duchy and last
figure.
of
Blois, with
between the
tell
we
are the people
It is this special nationality that
interesting
country by
itself,
"We
Bretons.
true
all
you, "
and
its
people
are
This
is
ments of Morbihan,
are
not
our
own
makes Brittany
than any other part of France
;
it
is
a
more unlike the
French than the Welsh or Scotch are unlike neighbours.
of
still
their English
especially the case in the three departFinistere,
and the Cotes du Nord,
although the north-east portions of this
last are
becoming
very French.
The tion,
struggles of the
Chouans during the French Revolu-
although chiefly occurring in
into Brittany,
La
Vende'e,
still
reached
and every now and then we are reminded
of them.
In Finistere the most striking scenery, both inland and seacoast,
is
to
be found.
Here, too, are some of the
finest
THROUGH BRITTANY.
4
churches
— the cathedrals of Quimper and Le Folgoet and
the churches of
Costume
Creizker.
most surprising manner
varies in the
throughout the province of Brittany
same main
features
—the
there are always the
j
and
square-cut bodies
women, the
of the
falling skirts
Pol de Le'on,
St.
Pont Croix and of the
of
straight-
and
short jackets
large
black hats of the men, and the black velvet and silver button trimmings every
commune
—but
;
and
the caps and collars vary almost in
and takes service
leaves her native place
distance she
still
a Breton girl of the peasant class
if
a town at some
in
wears the cap of her country
and
;
for this
reason market-day in the larger towns offers a most composite display of costumes
—
in Finistere
caps and collars, in the Cotes du
and Morbihan of
Nord of
the neckerchief
and bibbed apron. In Morbihan
we
that
felt
we were among and other
race to the inhabitants of Nantes
Loire Inferieure, but
is
it
one understands the
Sunday or market-day
not
till
parts of the
one enters Finistere that
phrase Bretofi in
a different
Either
bretonnante.
Quimper shows one the true Breton,
with his long tangled hair, his trunk hose, his gaily em-
broidered garments, his immense black hat, and his fierce
black eyes gleaming beneath
and has very
little
it.
He
speaks Breton too,
comprehension of French; he drinks
whenever he can get the chance, though he only at the Pardons
he seems often But he
is
;
he
to treat
is
his
do
this
very rough and impulsive, and wife like a beast of burden.
dignified
manner
contrasts as strangely with the dirt lives as
said to
the most picturesque-looking creature possible,
and has a certain grand he
is
the
at times
and squalor
in
which which
handsome old carved beds and presses
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. and chests
his
in
5
house contrast with the uneven
mud
and the proximity of the cow-house and the pigs and
floors,
poultry,
which
mingle with the children on the dirty
last
ground.
The Loire Inferieure and Ille et Vilaine are for the most It is in Morbihan part more like France than Brittany. and Finistere that those who wish to make acquaintance
The
with the Celtic Bretons should chiefly travel. feature of
Pardons and fete-days
of brilliant colour in the rally
women's
good and harmonious,
own
and
when
its effects
is
;
a
the variety this is
little
for,
gene-
wear in
judging by
months of July and August are
experience, the
one uninterrupted glow
dresses,
especially
the intense sunshine has toned
our
in Finistere
great
ot
fine weather,
although Nantes
has the reputation of having a hundred and
thirty
rainy
days in the year.
The should
traveller, then, visit
who
seeks for novelty and originality
the three departments of Morbihan, Finistere,
and Cotes du Nord, which Breton
writers agree in dividing,
according to the ancient bishoprics, into the countries of
Vannes, of Cornouaille, of Le'on, and of Treguier.
Vannes, which
is
entirely Celtic
in
its
features, repre-
The Vannetais were the fighting men of Caesar said, when he tried to conquer them, that Brittany. they had bodies of iron and hearts of steel. They are graver than the men of Cornouaille, more sombre and self-possents Morbihan.
a sternness in their legends and tradi-
sessed,
and there
tions.
The Vannetais played
after
it
is
the fearful
game
of Soule long
had been given up by the other provinces.
is
with legends of hideous dwarfs
near Vannes that
we meet
who
dolmens and cromlechs, and
inhabit the
It
of malicious
THROUGH BRITTANY.
6
who haunt the fountains and it is chiefly in Morbihan that we find the special and most interesting Korrigans
;
features of Brittany,
ordinary
how soon
power of
fascination, a
one
to
it
is
extra-
kind of weird influence, which makes
wherever menhirs and
be seen and examined.
Cornouaille, with
This
part of Brittany
Finistere, but reaches
and as
to Brest northwards,
Quimper, does not
chief city of
its
embrace the whole of
eastwards.
—
these uncouth blocks of stone exert a
after a while inclined to travel
dolmens are
remains
megalithic
its
from Quimperle
Morlaix and to Pontivy
far as
perhaps, as a whole, the most interesting
is
la vraie
Bretagne bretonna?iie ; and we very
soon notice the difference in character between the Kernewotes and the Vannetais
much
gayer, so
are incessant
much more
Quimper
the market at ;
there
which repelled us
on the
the
:
coast, with
at St.
its
spars
sea,
to
solemn aspect
Nicodeme.
and the bones of
be overshadowed by the
But
their crews to
spirits of
perils
lurk around the iron-bound coast, in the
and laughter
where every year so many
whiten on the brown " goemont," the
seem
so
In
turbulent.
talk
less of the silent,
dirtier,
cruel rocks jagged and torn by the
frightful violence of the
vessels leave their
much
and
excitable
Vannes and
at
are so
Quimperle the
or
much
is
first
and
the people
disasters that
and which are hinted
at
weird legends of the Baie des Trepasse's and of the
Druidesses of Se'ne.
The men silent as the
of Penmarc'h and Douarnenez are almost as
Leonnais.
wildly beautiful, even
jagged and terrible
The
country, too, of Cornouaille
grand, at
rocks
and
its
lofty
seacoast
—
is
a series of
headlands, between
which sandy bays encourage stretches of foam-fringed blue
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. The two ranges
sea.
of
hills
ing from Carhaix to the
—
hills
Montagnes Noires, reach-
Menez Horn,
Chateaulin, and on to the sea, a range of
les
also
many charming
rivers
—the
—are both
in Finistere
Morbihan, the old custom of asking a
this also in
marriage by means of the Bazvalan
Next comes
Montagnes
d'Arre'e, of
which
capital.
If
St.
we
the difference between
felt
of Comouaille,
change from the Kernewote to the Leonnais
At Landiviziau,
a driver for contrast
some
between
those of the
days, and were constantly struck by the his rough,
quiet,
passed through.
It
Huelgoat,
till
ways
impulsive
noisy,
and
decorous peasants in the villages we
soon came out
that
our
was a Kernewote, and had been brought up at
more
far
is
the
we engaged
the Leonnais,
in
and of the
Pol de Leon, the ancient
men
of Morbihan and the
in
girl
still exists.
Le'on, the country north of Brest
Occismor, was the
striking.
j
Elle, the Odet, the Elorn,
In Comouaille especially, although we heard of
others.
men
d'Arre'e,
stretching across the country from east to
between Morlaix and Huelgoat
the
Menehom, near
or
and the Montagnes
west,
and
7
his love
for
horses
coachman
in the
made him
mines take
a
situation in a stable at Landiviziau.
The Leonnais religion
and
are said to be extremely devout, but their
their superstitions are
of a darker, gloomier
character than those of their neighbours of Tre'guier.
marriages are the most improvident in Brittany. as the
matter
is
people go round and invite
of food,
flax,
As soon
arranged and the marriage day settled
between a very poor young
acquaintances.
Their
man and woman, all
their friends
Each guest brings a present furniture,
sometimes money
;
the
young
and chance in the
shape
and these
pre-
THROUGH BRITTANY.
%
^ents form the marriage feast for sometimes
two or three
hundred wedding
up the house-
and
guests,
also help to set
hold of the young pair, who, in some cases, would not have a bed to
The At
St.
on without the help of
lie
their friends.
reverence of the Le'onnais for children Pol, Souvestre says,
no woman
without crossing herself, and child in her
arms you must
says that a
man
will
say, "
an infant
will suckle
you pass a
if
remarkable.
is
woman
God bless you
!
with a
He
"
not strike even his worst enemy
also
if
he
has a child in his arms.
Throughout Brittany beggars are not only are treated with
much
Le'on the beggar
is
he relates
all
wanderings
an honoured
the local
— news
and
kindness
tolerated, but
hospitality
guest,
and
in
but in
;
recompense
news which he has collected
in his
of births, marriages, and deaths, of the
cures effected at a Pardon or by the water of a fountain
when
these are exhausted he recites
some of the
;
and
ballads
and poems which, handed down from father to son, and per-
added
petually
belongs to
do
by the
to
many
talent
for improvisation
of these strange people, have
in preserving the nationality of Brittany
which
had much
to
and keeping out
the inroads of civilisation.
The Breton news or
and
dislikes strangers
;
he dees not care
for politics, unless these relate to his
valleys
he inhabits
and ;
but he loves to hear laments for
Le Combat des Trente "
more
Morbihan than
in
hills
which
temps passe, u or Jeanne la le
recall the valour of his ancestors
these would be
this quiet
beloved
landes, or to the storm-beaten coast
or ballads such as "
Flamme," which
for foreign
;
although
likely to find favour in Cornouaille or
Leon.
There
sombre province than
is
less
ballad-making in
in Treguier or Cornouaille
j
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
9
some of the saddest of the charming poems
yet
Dame du
Satan," " Notre
Folgoet," " L'He'ritiere de Ke'rou-
and " Le Marquis de Gue'rand."
laz,"
No one Breiz
j
"
should travel in Brittany without the " Barzaz
seems to open one's eyes to the inner
it
mystic, half devout character,
—which
and which
will
is
an
and
of railways
legend,
is
their idiosyncrasy against
"
founded her
Le
many
labours of love,
been made
be
earlier
than the thirteenth
Monsieur de Villemarque began
till
it
of these lays are
Rossignol," on which Marie de France
lay, is said to
century; and yet,
Every event, every
tourists.
chronicled in verse, and
very ancient.
much
does not appear that
to chronicle these dramatic ballads
which have lived in the memories and on the people.
The
subject of the Breton bards
and yet so far-reaching
especially
effort
his
had
and poems, lips
of the
so very interest-
is
dare not dwell on
that I
Monsieur de Villemarque has treated
as
—half
the essence of the Breton
some time
influx
life
probably enable the Bretons as a
nation to preserve for
ing
the
in
Leon — " La Fiancee de
" Barzaz Breiz " are in the dialect of
it,
ex-
it
haustively in others of his books besides the interesting
preface to the " Barzaz Breiz."
Mr.
Tom
Taylor* has admirably translated several of
these very remarkable still
many
who
have
others
and
of great
become
spirited
beauty, and
acquainted
Bretons, are most vivid and
with
gives
pictures of the
most
which, to those Brittany
and the
lifelike.
But Brizeux, the poet of Brittany, other works,
poems, but there are
realistic
in "
Les Bretons
as well as
manners and customs of
his
"
and
most poetic
countrymen.
* " Ballads and Songs of Brittany."
THROUGH BRITTANY.
io
The
province
last
sight
which answers as nearly
Tre'guier,
the Cotes
as possible to first
is
du Nord.
Vannes, of Leon, or of Cornouailie. special,
and French |
country
is
in Treguier, life is
Leon,
more
gentle,
One cannot
travel without
the coasts of Cornouailie
France, so Treguier
to
Here
priesthood. for
;
and there
and nowhere
holy orders
is
becoming aware
for long
panions
among
and of
so paramount.
As
of this fact.
sailors
Taken from a poor
summer and
all,
even by
;
and when he
winter holidays
his parents,
and
treated
is
it
often
during these idle hours spent with old com-
that,
the orchards and in the harvest-fields, he
some maiden whose good looks tempt him
The
not even
the great nursery of the Breton
over the country.
all
happens
and
to rebel against the
Brizeux has shown
celibacy.
squalid
chiefly the kloar or kloarek, as the student
with reverence by
vocation,
his
fortresses
and Le'on furnish the best
peasant home, he lives and lodges hardly
sees
of
less
is
less
else,
at
called, studies his vocation, although there
is
are seminaries
comes home
is
the power of the priesthood
is
man
His costume
more manor-houses than
poverty than in Cornouailie in
Tre'gorrois
more generally spoken throughout
there are also
;
The
intensely national than either the
is less
life
to regret his
which dooms him to
this in " Loic."
Tregorrois have a special talent for improvisation,
their voices
are said to be
more musical than those
neighbours when they sing their ballads at the
their
Pardons. Leonnais.
Their religion
One
is
less
gloomy than
should, perhaps, go
to
that of the
a wedding or a
wrestling-match in Cornouailie, a funeral in Leon, and a festival
or
a pilgrimage
in
Treguier, where
processions
and hymns, songs and dances, replace the rougher
sports
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
n
enacted at the Pardons of the Kernewote, although dancing
seems
be a popular amusement everywhere.
to
popular
tany, give a colour
and
interest to
Middle Ages as he gazes
and violent
sports
ot
stalwart
to
the
garbed processions
dark-eyed people, so
A
uncouth, yet so indescribably picturesque.
Breton
back
traveller
at the quaintly
the
Brit-
towns and villages as
its
and take the
special as attractive,
These
and Pardons of
especially the weddings
rites,
knowledge of
very helpful in listening to the ballads oi the
is
mendicants or old women, who in some parts of the country
make a profession of story-telling. The religious plays of the Bretons were still acted a There are many interesting few years ago in Treguier. churches and chateaux to be seen in this part of the still
Besides the ruined abbey of Beauport, Treguier
country.
possesses two most interesting cathedrals, those of
Dol and
Treguier.
At
first
sight the Bretons appear cold, sullen,
and
ling; but they are really a very interesting people,
very unlike their
Norman
They
neighbours.
repel-
and yet
are sadly ad-
dicted to drink, and are very dirty in their habits, especially
they are obstinate, but they
in out-of-the-way districts;
seem
fairly
honest and sincere, and the
independent
and
;
men
are brave
they seem too to be a religious, thoughtful,
self-respecting race.
Their language
is
troublesome
to learn, as there are several different dialects. villages
French. Britons
men
;
in
In
many
Finistere only a few of the inhabitants speak
There
is
perhaps
more
resemblance
between
and Bretons than between Bretons and French-
one special point of resemblance
sailors.
and
The French navy
is
chiefly
is
that of being
composed
good
of Bretons.
THROUGH BRITTANY.
12
Brittany has also a special attraction for English people, for
if,
as the
French people
say,
Duke of Normandy, and are Norman colony, we certainly
we were conquered by
therefore, after
all,
the
only a
colonised Brittany, and the
reputed king of that country was born in Troynovant,
first
London,
the ancient It
in the time of the
Emperor
Gratian.
seems to be certain that in the century preceding the
birth of Christ Great Britain
by the same
race,
who
provinces of France, ture of
two
at that
or, to
and Ireland were inhabited time peopled the north-west
speak more correctly, by a mix-
Romans invaded Armorican
When
and the Cymri.
races, the Gaels
the
Britain, or Brittany, the western
portion of Celtic Gaul consisted of six provinces, inhabited
by people who spoke the same language, but each possess-
The Romans
ing an independent form of government.
people
called these
or Malouins),
Diablinthes (afterwards Madonienses
Rhedones
(or people of Nantes),
Nannetes
(or people of Rennes),
Curiosolites (afterwards people of
Treguier), and people of St. Brieuc, under the
names Tre-
corenses and Briocenses, Veneti and Ossismienses.
and
part of the territory of the Veneti
of the Curiosolites was pitenses,
or
merged
The
of
diocese
of
which remained
in the diocese of Coriso-
Quimper, the Ossismiens
Legionenses or Le'onnais, a
Romans.
that
When
name
called
given
themselves
them
by the
Quimper went by the name
Cornu-Gallise, or Cornouaille
;
and the northern part
of Breton Armorica, comprising the dioceses of Leon, St. Brieuc,
and Dol, by
There Druids,
no authentic history of ancient Brittany; the
is
who
bards have
that of Donnone'e.
still
left
and
their
linger in
some
existed in the seventh century,
no records but those which
still
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. of the more ancient ballads
;
and, although there were
have been too busy in weaning the people from
to
their
occupy themselves with chronicling the
to
ancient faith
many
monks seem
the
time,
that
monasteries at
Christian
13
events of their time.
According to some
the history of Brittany
authorities,
who founded
begins with Brutus, grandson of Ascanius, city of
Occismor before he landed
Troynovant, while
there.
M. de
periods
:
la
from
Gomer, the son of
that
Borderie divides Breton history into three
B.C.
56 to a.d. 938, that
to Alain
Barbe Torte, the
to 1532,
when,
was annexed
Great Britain and built
Armorica, and begot the Celtic race
in
Japhet, settled
say
others
in
the
after the
to
first
Duke
is
from Julius Caesar
of Brittany
;
from 938
death of Duchess Anne, Brittany
And
France; and from 1532 to 1789.
56 to a.d. 455,
these periods he again subdivides into b.c.
Gallo-Roman period; 455 to 753, the immigration from Great Britain under Conan Meriadech, the subversion of the Druids, and
the
Carlovingians
;
struggles
of the Breton kings
753 to 938, during which period
with
the
the exist-
ence of Brittany as a separate nation was severely menaced.
The
first
real
war undertaken by resistance
we come
history Julius
Caesar
to
on the occasion
which the warlike Veneti offered
quering arms.
cause of the
memorable
the
is
of
the
to his all-con-
And this war seems to have been the Roman invasion of our island for, Great ;
Britain having aided the Veneti, when Caesar had con-
quered
that
people he
made
his first
voyage across the
channel in order to punish the Britons for their audacity.
A
fabulous history
Meriadech,
who,
in
of Breton the
reign
kings begins of
the
with
Conan
Roman emperor
i
THROUGH BRITTANY.
4
Gratian, at the end of the fourth century,
Roman
Great Britain with the
came over from
general Maximus, recently
Maximus had robbed Conan of the probable succession to the kingdom of Britain, and he offered as a recompense to associate him Conan with the conquests he proposed to make in Gaul. emperor by
proclaimed
his
own
troops.
landed at Occismor, then occupied by a
Roman
garrison,
and as soon as the country was conquered he was crowned
The Bretons had never submitted willingly Roman yoke, and Conan having restored to them all
king at Rennes. to the
the privileges of which the invaders
had robbed them, soon
found himself able to pacify the nation he had conquered.
He
Britain for
sent to
the
wives and children of his
companions, and also wrote to Dionotus, then King of Troynovant, to ask his beautiful daughter Ursula in marriage.
She
set sail, magnificently habited,
by a very large number of beautiful panions. arose,
They had hardly
and wrecked
land, near the
started
their fleet of boats
and accompanied
damsels,
when a
her
fearful
as
storm
on the coasts of Hol-
mouth of the Rhine. Here
the
unhappy virgins
were cruelly massacred by a horde of Picts and Huns St.
com-
;
but
Ursula and her companions were canonised by the Church
At
martyrs.
this
time Brittany seems to have been
divided between Druid worship, the pagan mythology of the
Roman
in the third iuller
invaders,
and the beginning of
century preached by
St. Clair,
Christianity,
and watered
into
progress by the blood of the martyrs SS. Donatien
and Rogatien.
The two most celebrated of the Druid academies were in there was another in the Belle He and the isle of Ushant isle of Sein, but this was devoted to priestesses who were con;
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
15
suited by sailors as to the issue of their voyages. of Belle it
is
He had
The
priests
a college in the peninsula of Quiberon, and
supposed that
at a fixed
time every year the Druids of
the whole of Brittany, from Belle He, Ouessant, Douarnenez,
Pointe du Raz,
He de
Batz, with deputations from
Mona,
Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Ireland, met at Carnac. the priestesses, barefooted, dressed in white,
the
There
crowned with
vervain, the sacred reaping-hooks hanging from their golden girdles, carried
solemnly in a snow-white
{Pulsatilla) gathered
on the
sixth
veil
the Selago
day of the moon.
At the
conclusion of these solemnities, which no profane eyes ever witnessed, an enormous rock was erected in memorial.
The power of the Druids was immense, but the intrepid Conan Meriadech resolved to destroy this empire, especially as
he saw danger to himself in the dislike with which these
He
heathen philosophers regarded him.
Rennes.
states-general at
The Druids
convoked the
declared that only
three classes were suitable for election in this assembly
— the
people, the nobles or fighting-men, and the priests.
Their
decision being accepted, almost elected,
Christian priests were
all
and the Druids found themselves a small minority.
Then Moderan,
the Bishop of Rennes, rose
against the practices of the Druids, priestess,
moved
to fury, rose also
till
and declaimed
Uheldeda, the high
and cursed Conan and
crushed the mystic plant which she had brought solemnly into the assembly.
This was enough.
Conan bade
ever from the assembly;
their
the Druids depart for
colleges
were closed, and
they were forbidden to instruct the youth of Brittany.
But the curse of Uheldeda
pened from time
to time
lived.
Calamities which hap-
were said to be caused by the
THROUGH BRITTANY.
1
and Conan sent troops
priestesses of Sein, or Sene,
The
island to bring the culprits to his presence.
to the
soldiers
landed at Sein, burned the sacred groves, and killed the Druids who
had
gathered
Uheldeda and some singing their
of her
own death
defend their priestesses.
to
companions stabbed themselves,
dirge
;
those
who
survived were
brought before Conan, and were at once condemned to
A
death.
few days
a violent fever ended the
later
He died
the conqueror of Brittany. partisans of the Druids,
The
regretted
and was buried
by
de Leon.
great improbability of the sole sovereignty of
Meriadech seems
and
states,
that for centuries afterwards Brittany seems to have
the
Conan
to lie in the fact that at that time Great
was divided into numerous petty
Britain
of
but the
all
at St. Pol
life
same condition.
also
been in
But whether Conan Meriadech be an
historical or a traditionary personage,
it
is
certain that all
him
the kings and dukes of Brittany acknowledged
as their
ancestor. Christianity seems to have entered Brittany before this, SS.
Clair
Vannes
in
the third century,
and a goodly company of
seems to have followed.
saints
there
and Adeodatus having evangelised Nantes and
evidently
existed
in
In
Armorica
the at
sixth
four
least
kingdoms, governed by either kings or counts
century little
Donnone'e,
:
between the mouth of the Couesnon and the Morlaix river,
containing the ancient bishoprics of Dol,
Brieuc,
St.
Malo,
St.
and Treguier; Leon, reaching from the Morlaix
river to the Elorn, the ancient diocese of
between the Elorn and the Broeree, or
Leon
;
Cornouaille,
Elle, ancient diocese of
Le Vannetais, ancient diocese
of
Quimper
j
Vannes and
the county of Poher, really a part of Cornouaille.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Conan come
After
The most
notable
Grallon the Great, about 490, with his three counsellors,
St. Corentin, St.
Ronan, and
tury appeared the
Wingaloc, and his notorious In the sixth cen-
famous Merlin, born
in the isle of Sein,
nun and a demon, who hoped by
the offspring of a
means of
St.
Dahut or Ahes.
daughter, the Princess
this child to
destroy Christianity
;
heartily into the service
by the Scots and
so fiercely attacked
go over from Brittany to
1
3";
but Arthur was
Picts that
Hoel had
his assistance.
Grand seems
le
went
of Uther Pendragon and then
to their respective thrones about 5
This Hoel
He
Arthur and his cousin Hoel the Great
of his son Arthur.
came
first
the
but as Merlin
was baptized the parents were disappointed.
to
7
several mythical kings, always in close
alliance with the sovereigns of Britain. is
r
to
have stayed some time
in
Great Britain, and to have been present at the creation of
Round Table.
the Knights of the
Count of Poher, mitted to France
hated by
King
but this wicked prince, finding himself
;
of Paris,
session of the lordship of
About
this
made
and with
himselt
took pos-
Donnonee.
Vannes,
Franks, was taken by
the vassal of
his assistance
period cider was invented by
an ascetic drink.
Comorre,
Breton princes had not sub-
in 520, the
his neighbours,
all
Childebert,
Till the reign of
St.
Guenole' as
at this time in possession of the
Waroch
about 577, and then came constant warfare between Bretons and Franks. In the reign of
Hoel
II.
Riwallo
of Donnonee, but
it
II.
Murmaezon
established the
kingdom
seems to have been as much disturbed
as the rest of Brittany.
In the middle of the sixth century
Conobert, Count of Nantes, having sheltered the family of his wife's brother-in-law,
Chramme, son of King c
Clotaire
I.
THROUGH BRITTANY,
1
of France, Clotaire invaded Brittany finally submitted,
;
and, although his son
he burned him alive with
all his
family.
Judhael was one of the good Kings of Donnone'e, and the
famous bard Taliessin, an
from Great Britain, and who
exile
lived in a cromlech in the peninsula of Rhuis, interpreted a
dream, which foretold to Judhael the wonderful qualities of his
At
son Judicael.
of Brittany,
time Hoel III. was on the throne
this
and when Judicael
after
a good and
kingdom of Donnonee was reunited
glorious reign, the that of Brittany.
died,
Solomon
II.
to
was then reigning; and in
the time of his successor, Alain, the tyranny of the Angles
caused an immense expatriation of Britons, who under the
guidance of Cadwallador took refuge in Armorica, landing at
Guy
d'Aleth
(St.
At the death of Alain discord
Malo).
descended on Brittany, which King Pepin of France was
enough to
astute
He
profit by.
army and con-
sent an
quered the towns of Nantes, Rennes, Dol, and setting
up governors and imposing a
Charlemagne
much war and were
too
still
insisted
Malo,
tribute.
on the payment of
this tribute,
and
disorder arose in consequence, as the Bretons
much
divided
among themselves
king to lead them against the invader.
two princes
St.
left
of the
ancient race
to elect a
There were of Conan,
still
named
Nomenoe had submitted to the and had been named in 826, by Louis le De'bon-
Riwallo and Nomenoe. emperor, naire,
Grand
Justiciary
;
but,
at
the death
of
Louis
le
Debonnaire, when Danish pirates made a descent on the Cotes du Nord and attacked Tre'guier,
command the loss in
of the army,
on each
side
and
was
after
Nomenoe took
the
a bloody battle, in which
equal, he
showed so much
treating with the pirates that they promised
skill
never to
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Breton shores.
revisit the
19
Nomenoe
In 841
threw
off the
yoke, and five years later the independence of Brittany was re-established.
It
curious that a direct line of kings
is
seems to have been established about the same time both in Britain
and
in Brittany.
In the reign of Alain the Great, Charles the Simple revived the Kings of France
the question of tribute, which
ignored since the days of to Rollo,
Duke
of
Nomenoe; and
Normandy, the
in
921 he gave
right of exacting
exaction caused perpetual feud between the
it.
Normans and
cent guardian of his young son William the Bastard.
was poisoned, and buried In the fourth and either
Salaiin or
This
Alain III. was chosen by Robert the Magnifi-
the Bretons.
reigned,
had
Sixth century
fifth
I.,
Abbey
or
— Hoel
I.,
Hoel
some
II.,
seem
to
have
Conan Meriadech,
counts,
Grallon, and
of Fecamp.
there
centuries
kings
as
Solomon
in the
He
others.
Hoel
III.,
and
several
Kings of Donnone'e, including Judhael. Seventh century Alain,
II.,
Judicael
of Donnonee,
and another Grallon.
Then comes a 841.
—Solomon
period of anarchy
till
Nomenoe.
851. Erispoe. 857.
Solomon.
874. Pasquilen
877. Alain
907.
I.
and Gurvaud.
(Le Grand).
Norman invasion.
A period of anarchy 931, when there was a A Breton chief named Alain till
general massacre of Normans.
Barbe Torte, or Le Renard, had taken refuge in England with King Athelstan, in 936 he returned to Brittany, and in 937 forced the Normans to retire to Nantes. In 938 he took Nantes and finally expelled the invaders, and became the first
Duke
of Brittany.
THROUGH BRITTANY.
20
Dukes
:
937. Alain (Barbe Torte).
Hoel and Guerach. Conan I. (Le Fort). 992. Geoffroy I. and Judicael. 1008. Alain III. and Eudon. (This is the Conan conquered by William, Duke of 1040. Conan II. Normandy.) 1066. Hoel V. (son of Alain Cagniart and Judith). 952.
990.
1084. Alain IV. (Fergent). 1 1 12. 1
148.
1
156.
Conan III. (Le Gros). Eudon and several others. Conan IV. Henry II., Plantagenet, takes Nantes and forces Conan to promise his young daughter Constance to his son and
Geoffrey,
Geoffrey
is
then
insists
that
Conan
shall
abdicate
till
of age to marry.
1
175. Geoffroy II. (Plantagenet).
1
196.
Constance and her son Arthur. the Bretons.
The
Arthur so named
to conciliate
succession at the death of Arthur devolved
on Alice, daughter of Constance by her third husband, Guy de Thouars. 1 2 13. Alice and her husband Pierre Mauclerc (of the house of Dreux). 1237. John I. (Le Roux). 1286.
John
II.
1305. Arthur II.
13 1 2.
1
341.
John
III.
The War of Succession between Jeanne
la
Boiteuse
and
Charles de Blois and John and Jeanne de Montfort. 1364. 1399.
John TV. John V. (Le Bon).
1442. Francis
I.
1450. Peter II. 1457. Arthur III. 1458. Francis II. 1488.
Anne.
The cheapest ways hampton
The
to
of reaching Brittany are via Little-
Morlaix, and by Southampton to
pleasantest
way
Chartres, Angers,
is
via Folkestone,
St.
Malo.
and from Paris via
Le Mans, and Nantes, stopping
at all
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. these interesting towns,
21
and spending several days
and its neighbourhood. Once to travel in the small carriages
in Brittany,
it is
in
Angers
much pleasanter
which are to be had everywhere
per day, with one horse, sending on
for ten or twelve francs
heavy luggage by the railway, which goes completely round and across the province, although it avoids many of the most
The
interesting places. to
are
intending
travellers
Brittany
following route to
go
— although the country
is
may
serve as a help
completely through so
full
of interest that there
many
places worth a visit which are not in the
Nantes
—
St.
rail
Nazaire
list.
or steamer to
— carriage to
Guerande, Le Bourg de Batz, Le Croisic, and Pouliguen From Guerande to La Roche Bernard by carriage
—
Or back
to St. Nazaire,
and then by
Vannes
By
carriage from
I
Ploermel
<
Josselin
Vannes
( Elven Boat to f The Morbihan \ Locmariaker
Carriage to
Sarzeau St. Gildas
s
Sucinio
Tumiac Port Navalo Carriage or Ste.
rail to
Anne
— and tc
Auray Carriage to
Carnac Plouharnel
Erdeven Locmariaker Quiberon
to
rail,
South
via Redon, to
THROUGH BRITTANY.
M Baud (
— by
St.
rail,
and then drive
Nicholas
to
—
drive to \ St. Nicodeme to Pontivy Guem6ne rail or drive from Pontivy Hennebon rail to
— — L' Orient —
to
rail to
Quimperle— drive
Le Faouet, &o, and
to
to
— — drive to to Rosporden — Quimper — carriage, diligence, or boat to Pont PAbbe— drive to
Pont-aven Concarneau
drive to
rail
Penmarc'h Diligence or carriage from Quimper to Audierne— drive to Pointe du Raz, Pont Croix, and Douarnenez
Douarnenez Boat to Crozon, &c. Douarnenez drive to
—
Chateaulin (Landevennec)
—
rail to
Brest.
A
acquaintance with the Finistere dialect makes
slight
more
travelling
the peasants; visit
interesting, as this unlocks the reserve of
and
I
especially advise all
who
intend to
" Brittany to read before they start the " Barzaz Breiz
of Monsieur de Villemarque, " Les Bretons," and the other
poems of
Brizeux,
Souvestre
;
" Guide
and " Les Derniers Bretons," by Emile
also to procure in
des
Touristes
Morbihan,"
le
For those who
Monsieur Fouquet. that
dans
Vannes the excellent
Brittany holds in the
way
by the
little
late
seek the real attractions
of antiquities, I strongly
recommend a very plain and explicit little book, "Guide to the Chambered Barrows, &c, of South Brittany," by Rev. W. C. Lukis, F.S.A. The little guide Joanne is too well
known
to
need recommendation
book, except that esting old
it
;
it
is
a most useful hand-
does very scant justice to the
town of Vannes.
inter-
IXTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. I have said
23
of the strange habits and customs of
little
Brittany, of the almost idyllic charm that seems to hang
about their lazy, happy, outdoor village
making and dances, and the
all this for
himself
if
he
;
its
merry-
and
tales,
but the traveller
will
the out-of-the-way
visits either
Above
places along the coast or in the interior. will notice the reckless
with
never-failing ballads
or the weird music of the bagpipe learn
life,
he
all,
and improvident system of farming
— the absence of corn and hay ricks — the corn being threshed some of the
as soon as reaped in
the open
Every day as one
air.
spoiled country one
of nature or
and one
is
August weather
finest
travels in this fresh un-
charmed and amused by some beauty
some strange and unusual
feels that
sight or
many months might be passed
interesting places, both in Loire Infe'rieure
net described in this book,
custom;
in Brittany
There are several
before this pleasure could be exhausted.
Vilaine,
in
and
in Ille et
for instance,
as,
the
towns of Chateaubriand and of Ancenis, and the ruined
Champtoce
castles of
Gilles
the
it
de Retz
— of
ruins of
— the scene of the
Oudon on
the Loire
horrors enacted by ;
and nearly facing
Champtoceaux, where Clisson's daughter,
the cruel Margaret de Penthievre, imprisoned her sovereign,
John V. of father,
John
Brittany, to avenge the treason of the duke's
IV.,
towards
her
own
father,
the
famous
Constable. I
have to acknowledge much kindness and courtesy from
Reading
Mr. George Bullen and the authorities
in the
Room
the librarian of
of the British
Quimper
;
I
Museum, and from
have also gained some valuable
the lines of Carnac, &c., from Sir
W.
C. Lukis.
facts regarding
Henry Dryden and Rev.
THROUGH BRITTANY.
24
I
do not recommend Brittany
centred traveller,
who can put up
sacrifices his sense of
who
commonplace
self-
with no discomfort,
who
to the
beauty to a fastidious appetite, and
considers that he asserts his position by asking the
unsophisticated innkeeper for luxuries and extra comforts.
He
had better keep on the "grande route" eastward and
southward of will
Paris,
and be fleeced with
pilgrim in search of
new
often rugged beauty, freshness, all,
Brittany
be to him as unsatisfactory as the walk was to one of
the boys in the story of " Eyes and real
dignity.
No
ideas,
and
Eyes."
But
to the
and of peaceful and
originality, and,
above
constant variety and amusement, I promise real enjoy-
ment, clean and comfortable beds, and, with scarcely an exception, good simple food at very moderate prices,
very honest and fair-dealing innkeepers.
and
NANTES AND THE PENINSULA OF LE CROISIC.
CHAPTER
I.
NANTES.
\X 7E
did not reach Nantes
till
quite late at night.
next morning, being a bright Sunday, cellent
impression of the
first
The
city.
large
Graslin, in front of the Hotel de France,
leading from
church;
and
handsome
street,
women wore and the dear
is
of peasants
in
the
their
streets
way
Crebillon
to
—
the cathedral
flower-market.
The
caps of the most quaint and original shape, little
round-eyed children had white
and long white
the end of the held,
and the
with people on
filled
got an ex-
open Place de
we went down the Rue full of good shops— towards
as
we saw groups
skull caps
were
it,
we
The
Rue
pinafores.
Crebillon,
close-fitting
The Place
Royale, at
where the flower-market
very large, with a fine fountain in the centre.
reminded us
is
The
how much
profusion of rare flowers on
all
Nantes
Magnolias, Cape jessamines, and
lies
south of Paris.
sides
most exquisite roses were offered us
—and large bouquets too. We left
for a
few sous the bouquet
turned up a
little street
on the
of the square to see the church of St. Nicholas, a very
NANTES.
26
beautiful
The
new
building from the designs of Monsieur Lassus.
present Bishop of Nantes,
it is
said, refused to
be conse-
crated until this church was completed. Evidently no expense
has been spared
stone being
Rue
left
;
but
not quite finished, some of the
it is
unsculptured.
We
went down again
to the
d'Orleans, and crossed the bridge over the Erdre, or
rather the canal which connects that river with the Loire.
The quays here were
We
turesque costumes.
of people,
full
some of them
in pic-
especially noticed a great variety
in the
handkerchiefs or small shawls worn by the
— from
richly
women
embroidered cashmere to dark brown cotton,
covered with white and orange sprigs and borders. with
Nantais caps and dark cloth dresses,
the
These,
make
a
charming costume.
There are good shops
in
the
changes into the Grande Rue as dral.
We
—
martyrs
d'Orleans,
which
approaches the cathe-
passed the Place de Change, where once stood the
Nantes— the Maison des Enfants now taken down. The two famous Christian
most curious house Nantais
it
Rue
of
Nantes
in
—
Donatien and
St.
Rogatien, sons of the Count of Nantes
his
—who
brother
St.
suffered for
the faith in the third century, were called " Les Enfants Nantais."
Up
Rue Briord, on the left, are some curious old houses for we found ourselves here in a far more ancient part of Nantes than the new western portion round the Place the
—
Graslin.
The
ancient Nantes seems to have scarcely ex-
tended west of the Erdre
and of the butcher that have
;
and memories of the Revolution
Carrier,
been suffered
in
and of the agony and sorrow
some
of these houses,
vivid in the old streets near the cathedral.
become
Nos. 9 and 13
"
LES ENFANTS NANTAIS."
of Rue Briord are both old houses.
de
la
The
first is
27
called
Hotel
Bouvardiere, and was built for the well-known Pierre
Landais, the treasurer of Francois
whose romantic
rise
and
fall
II.,
Duke
have been told by Monsieur
story called "Pierre."
Souvestre, in a
little
shelter to the
Duchess Anne during the
Afterwards
it
became
of Brittany,
the property of the
Later on
it
gave
siege of Nantes.
Due de
Mer~ceur.
Marguerite de Valois also resided there, and Lanoue Bras-
Cathedral and Castle, Nantes.
Madame
de-Fer.
de Se'vigne, Le Notre, and Lebrun are
said to have successively resided in
No.
13.
Fene'lon close by, in the house No. 3, called
a Tourelles,
Henry IV.
is
said to
In the Rue
La Maison
have lodged with Gabrielle
d'Estre'es.
We Place
went back to the Grande Rue, and soon reached the St.
to notice in the exterior of this building it
in the
There
Pierre in front of the cathedral.
Rue
St.
Laurent on the right
is
;
is
nothing
but going round
a very remarkable
NANTES.
28
house of the
century called
fifteenth
La
Psallette, with a
curious staircase and chimney-piece.
The
of the interior of the cathedral
effect
first
The nave
imposing.
very
is
The east end
is
feet high,
The mouldings
arches are singularly graceful. are not broken
120
lofty,
is
most
and the
of the piers
by caps, but run round triforium and roof. Romanesque in design, and looks stumpy and
heavy contrasted with the nave. The cinquecento screen, too, is very inharmonious, but probably this will be removed
when the
We
extensive alterations
did not see the
of the last wife,
up
Duke
the east
of Brittany, Francis
is
months, while
said to be
Colomb, a native of of Jean Goujon.
Anne
tomb, that of Justice, herself.
one of the
it
is
works of Michel
by the order of
a portrait of the Duchess
placed originally in the
was removed
remains of the famous
it
was
Constable
rifled of its
seem
to
begin,
j
con-
and the
de Richemont, Duke it.
Near the entrance of the church the bases of the bas-reliefs
Anne
church Des
to the cathedral,
Arthur III. of Brittany, were placed within
ornamented with
second
of the statues at the corners of the
The tomb was In 181 7
finest
in 1507
Carmes, but during the Revolution tents.
his
monument has been boarded additions are being made to We were much disappointed,
was erected
One
of Brittany.
and
Pol de Leon, and the predecessor
St.
It
II,,
tomb
This
end of the cathedral.
tomb
as the
in progress are completed.
of the cathedral, the famous
gem
Marguerite de Foix.
for eighteen
now
piers are
above these are canopies which Service was just going to
want statues under them.
and the nave was crowded with people. The variety of
The
charming caps was bewildering.
sombre
in
colour,
of good dark
dresses were mostly
cloth,
which clung
in
THE CATHEDRAL, straight massive folds
;
29
but the handkerchiefs worn on the
shoulders were generally very bright in hue, the ends hid-
den
under the bibs of the universal black aprons.
in front
This handkerchief seems special to the Loire Inferieure and the Cotes du Nord.
We
sometimes saw
Morbihan,
in
it
but rarely in Finistere. Presently the procession issued from the sacristy and
round the church, two immense Suisses walking
came
in front
with halberts, and carrying in their right hands sticks with tops,
which they
service
was very
huge metal go.
The
on the ground as they
strike fine,
and the devotion of the
congregation was most striking.
reminded us more of
It
the congregation of a Belgian church than of a French one,
except that the remarkable costumes
groups so
much more
picturesque,
made
and the
large-eyed, earnest Breton faces gave so
the expression of devotion.
Even
the kneeling
strong-featured,
much
intensity to
as the people
much more devout seriousness behaviour than we had noticed in Normandy.
left
church there was
scarcely little
to
any chattering, laughing recognitions;
way from
the church an almost
make a general silence. The Chateau cannot be seen
went there Cours
St.
at
once by the Cours
Andre
stiff
fortifications.
till
this
;
saw
some
seemed
so
we
and the
are broad public walks planted with avenues ;
they reach from each
side of the Place Louis Seize to the river Erdre to the Loire
We
after four o'clock,
of trees to the east of the cathedral
and
in their
seriousness
St. Pierre
the
on the south, and occupy the
The Cours
St.
on the north
site
of the old
Andre reaches nearly
to the
Erdre, and has at that end statues of Olivier de Clisson and of Bertrand du Guesclin, the famous Breton, whose fame and
NANTES.
3o
seem
exploits
pervade the whole province, although the
to
most personal associations connected with him are to be found
Cotes du Nord.
in the
In the centre of the Place at
is
a statue of Louis XVI., and
the end of the Cours St. Pierre, nearest the Loire, are
statues of
Duchess Anne and the Constable de Richemont.
There
is
a broad
Loire,
and
held for
flight
fruit
and vegetables
although some of castle of
of the town.
which
its
is
;
still
markets
is
aside to go
a very imposing building,
fortifications
have been destroyed.
was not founded
till
the ninth or tenth cen-
the eleventh and in the thirteenth, and
in
almost entirely rebuilt by Francis
to
we turned
but
to the
Nantes does not appear in the early history
It
tury, enlarged
Duke
down
at this point the largest of the daily
into the Chateau,
The
of steps here leading
of Brittany, in 1480.
be the work of
II.,
the last hereditary
All the fortifications are said
this prince, especially the facade,
where
by him remain.
The
three out of the four towers built
three towers facing the quay are in excellent preservation,
and are said was born She
to date
from the time of Duchess Anne,
in the castle of
left
Nantes
who
Nantes, January 25th, 1477.
in 1488, just before her father's death,
some years her hand was contested by several At last she marclaimants for the fair duchy of Brittany. ried Charles VIII. of France, but in 1498 she came back to
and
for
Nantes a widow. She then announced her intention ot ing in the city, and giving herself up to the government beloved country
;
residot her
but her marriage to Louis XII. in the
lowing year took her back to France.
fol-
She seems, however,
always to have regretted Brittany, and she bequeathed her heart to Nantes at her death in 1513.
THE CASTLE. About twenty years
the
later
duchy of Brittany was
solemnly annexed to the crown of being governed by her
own
31
Instead of
France.
dukes, she was henceforth ruled
by a governor appointed by the King of France. as
like the
if,
Irish,
to
independence
them so this
;
and
it is
distinct a race
seems
day the Breton people rebel
this
and
against the annexation,
It
that they
still
cherish a hope of
this feeling, doubtless, that
has kept
from their Norman neighbours.
busy town of Nantes there
is,
of course, the
mixed
population usually found in a maritime place of trade,
by means of
the port of St. Nazaire, Nantes
cation with every part of the world, and resort of crews of all nations
much
by the
struck
peasants from any
We passed surprise.
communi-
consequently the
physiognomy of the
hitherto seen.
through the castle gateway, and
Coming out
in
we stood still
of the glare and bustle and
of such a thoroughly mercantile town as Nantes,
sculptured dormers and cool shady trees.
in
modern
life
seems
like
it
to find this exquisite old interior, with
enchantment
for,
but even in Nantes we were
\
entirely different
we had
is
is
In
its lofty
Some guns and
piles of shells in a corner told the real nature of the place
a group of soldiers,
and stared
at us.
who were playing at some game, turned From the courtyard we saw where the
powder explosion took place in the Tour des Espagnols in In 1800, destroying the tower and killing several persons. this tower still existed the chapel in which Duchess Anne was married
A
very
to Louis XII. of France.
tall
man
guide us over the in the courtyard, floor
appeared, in answer to our summons, to
castle.
He
showed us
first
the curious well
and then took us through a
little
ground-
chamber, which he said was as old as Duchess Anne,
NANTES.
32
to the
above the
floors
He
staircase.
told us he was a
to think the greatest treat
he
could offer us was the contemplation of Chassepots of
all
retired soldier,
ages and sizes. large
rooms
and he seemed
think he must have taken us into four very
I
There was the
with murderous weapons.
filled
needle-gun, the Snider, the Martini-Henry, and other
but his
favourite
among
all
was constantly explaining to this
weapon.
Finally
an old gun a
raising
he
was the Chassepot, and he
me way
me
He
madame,
is
the
gun
first
room
next showed us a
off its stand,
him
as well as a surprise
made good
firearms, for
he said
and in
a
reverent affection,
I ever carried." full
evidently thought a great treasure. to
of using
a corner,
into
low voice, handling the weapon with " This,
manner
the exact
took
little
rifles
of cuirasses, which he I
think
when we hinted
it
was a shock
that the English
he had been showing us a heavy
old blunderbuss as a specimen of English make, and had
contrasted
it
with a
modern French Chassepot.
said incredulously, " but all the
" Ah," he
good guns which are not
French are German." Still
he was a pleasant, intelligent guide, and when we
reached the top of the Chateau he explained very distinctly the different points in the grand view that lay stretched out
on every
side.
It is really
necessary to
visit
either the top of the castle
or of the cathedral to gain an idea of the
of the Loire, subdivided by so
many
immense breadth
islands that to gain
the opposite side of the suburb, built on several of these islands,
one has to cross a
line of six bridges.
altogether twenty-one bridges over the
Erdre, between which part of the city
is
rivers built.
There are Loire and
One
gets
THE CASTLE. from
also
height an excellent idea of Nantes
this
Our guide pointed churches,
Notre
Dame
de
new
Clement, and the chapel
He
la Sallette.
owing to
church of
St.
itself.
pride the three
of
spoke most reverentially
He
Monseigneur Fournier,
of the bishop, entirely
much
with
out
Nicholas,
St.
33
his persevering zeal
said
the
that
it
was
beautiful
Nicholas had been so successfully completed.
St.
Our guide pointed out the side of the castle from which the Cardinal de Retz escaped,
Loire
—
for the river before the building of the
surrounded the castle
by means of a cord,
soon
Madame
castle.
after
this
and
to
de Se'vigne visited
far as
regards
its
Madame
history,
We
eventful towns in France. St.
Clair,
its
first
the
infamous Gilles de Retz, or la
Duchesse de
who was detained there for a short time arrest in the Rue Haute-du-Chateau. So
quays entirely
Besides the cardinal, the
escape.
castle served as a prison to the
Rais, to Fouquet,
to the
Nantes hear of
is it
Berri,
her famous
after
one of the most as evangelised
by
bishop, towards the close of the third
Then comes the persecution of the Christian population by the Romans and the martyrdom of SS. DonaThen, when the invasion of the bartien and Rogatien. century.
barians recalled the to
Roman
armies to Italy, Nantes appears
have been governed by native princes, and by the saintly
Bishop
St.
Felix of Bourges in the sixth century.
Nantes dates from
this
period,
The rise
of
and under the government
of the Frankish kings her importance increased. Till the reign of
Nomenoe, King of
Brittany, the city
sometimes to
seems sometimes to have belonged
to Brittany,
Poitou and Anjou, but from
period Nantes
ranked as a Breton
city.
It
this
is
always
was entirely ravaged and burned D
NANTES.
34
by the Normans
end of the ninth century, and lay
at the
Then Duke
desolate and ruined for about thirty years.
Alain Barbe Torte rebuilt
into three por-
it
an appanage of the dukedom of
tions; one he kept as Brittany,
and divided
it,
one he ceded to the bishop, and the third to the
Count of Nantes. This division caused incessant disorders and disputes, and
more than a century Nantes seems
for
stant
change of government,
succeeded
in
1084, Alain Fergent
Duke
to the double heritage, being both
The town was
tany and Count of Nantes. old prosperity,
by
till,
have had a con-
to
when, in 11 18,
it
was
of Brit-
regaining
its
entirely destroyed
With the exception of some portions of the
fire.
of the present city has been built
cathedral, the whole
since this period.
The short reign of Geoffrey of Anjou brought a fresh element of discord into Brittany by the setting up of an English claim to the duchy; to this day the
abhorred in Brittany half-sister Alice to
name
Duke John
III., in
Henry
II. is
also the marriage of Prince Arthur's
:
the Frenchman,
Pierre Mauclerc,
looked on as a disgrace to the country of
of
;
134 1, came the long
was
and
at the
civil
war between
death
the rival claimants for the duchy, Charles de Blois,
who
had married the duke's niece Jeanne
and
De
Boiteuse,
Montfort, the duke's younger brother, also called John,
the husband of the famous Jeanne la
under the command of
Du
first
command
of
Sir
was supported by the English
John Chandos.
large Breton city taken
beginning of the war
Flamme. The French,
Guesclin and Clisson, took the
side of Blois, while Montfort
under the the
la
in 1341.
by Charles de
The
first
Nantes was Blois, at the
John de Montfort
THE COUNTESS OF MONTFORT. was taken prisoner there and sent to Paris " the Countess of Montfort,
Froissart,
courage of a of Rennes
man and
who
35
but,
;
says
possessed the
the heart of a lion, was in the city
when she heard of the
seizure of her lord, and,
notwithstanding the great grief she had at heart, she did all
and reanimate her
she could to comfort
Showing them a young
soldiers.
his father, she said,
'
Oh, gentlemen
God
Look
my
at
and
John
after
child, called
do not be
!
by what we have suffered through the was but one man.
friends
little
cast
my
loss of
child here
;
down
lord
:
he
please
if it
much service. I have plenty of wealth, which I will distribute among you, and will seek out for such a leader as may give you a he shall be his restorer, and shall do you
proper confidence."'
But to his
this child, afterwards
John IV., gave great offence
subjects of Nantes at the
end of
clin,
sometimes by
De
Montfort.
When,
In the
this war.
interim Nantes had been besieged, sometimes
Du
by
after the
Gues-
death of
Charles de Blois and of the King of France, this John
de 'Montfort was declared duke, he summoned the English under the Earl of Buckingham
now Duke nobles
to besiege Nantes.
of Brittany, kept his court at
and
fight against their
after waiting
own countrymen
;
his allies
and
Nantes
to
after a while the
his
to
so the English army,
;
some months before Nantes, and
greatly from the constant sallies of
Vannes
him
soldiers refused to follow
John,
Hennebon, but
its
Duke
suffering
garrison, retired to
of Brittany gave up
and made peace with the young King of France,
Charles VI.
In 1434 Jean V. and the bishop, John of Malestroit, the foundations of the
new
cathedral of Nantes
;
laid
and a few
NANTES.
36
years after the wicked Gilles de Rais was in Nantes.
on the Prds de Biece, But
it
hung and burned
was the reign of Duke Francis
The
glory of Nantes. Pierre Landais,
story of this prince
The
a romance.
is
duchy of Brittany preceded
its
II. that
and
was the
his favourite,
brightest days of the
Anne, the
extinction, for
At the
daughter of Francis, was the last reigning duchess.
time of the annexation to France, Nantes was almost the
most important town
Her
kingdom.
the
in
population
revenues amount to three
now about 112,000, and her The plague often decimillions.
mated her population, but
for all that
even then was 40,000;
it
is
her commerce seemed
Nantes, to her honour, refused to
perpetually to increase.
obey the orders of her governor, the
Duke de Montpensier,
Bartholomew ; but
at the massacre of St.
in the
war of the
League she took the side of Mercceur against Henry IV.
till
peace was concluded, and the famous Edict signed, in 1598.
At Nantes,
in the
time of Louis XIV., took place the sudden
disgrace of Fouquet.
There has always been a sturdy resistance to tyranny in Once, when there was a revolt against
the people of Nantes. tax, the
an oppressive
wife of a carpenter
popular outcry.
who had been very prominent
The people
and kept him prisoner
The
governor seized and imprisoned the
till
the
at
once seized on the bishop,
woman was
released.
saddest part of the prosperity of Nantes was that
derived, even trade carried
till
the year 1790, from the
on from
and the American
this port
commerce was
immense
slave-
between the coast of Africa
colonies, from ten to twelve
slaves being taken yearly to the Antilles.
chief
in the
in linen cloth
and
thousand
Besides
in hats.
this
its
CARRIER AND THE NOYADES. Nanles declared herself
ment
in 1789,
authority.
at
for the
and she paid dearly
She
tried to repress the
La Rochejaquelein,
Republican move-
for her
impatience of
Vendeean
Cathe'lineau, "the
has been called, and others city,
once
57
revolt under
saint of Anjou," as he
but the Royalists invested the
;
and would probably have taken
it
but for the death of
Cathe'lineau.
But before the
city
had time
from
the
hated
deliverance
on
for congratulation
aristocrats,
found
it
its
itself
divided by the intrigues of two parties, the Mountain and the Gironde,
and was given up
ment of the
blood-thirsty monster Carrier.
to
the
supreme govern-
Then Nantes
was flooded with blood, not only of the captive Vendeeans but of the wretched inhabitants.
Besides the murders of
the guillotine, thousands of innocent victims, little
children, were shot in squadrons,
women and
and drowned
in the
infamous Noyades in the Loire. The river became so choked with corpses that a young man, to
it
bred fever and death in the
named Mark Antony
denounce Carrier
to the
Jullien,
Vendeean
shot in Nantes, 1796.
leader,
The
last
At
last
had the courage
Committee of Public
and the monster was recalled and executed Charrette, the
city.
Safety,
in Paris.
was taken prisoner and important political event
of Nantes was the well-known arrest, in 1832, of the Duchess
de
Berri,
mother of the Count de Chambord
mercial event
is
the
new
and upward progress of
We
;
the last com-
port of St. Nazaire, and the rapid this little
came home along
bathing village.
the quay, and passed the
du Bouffay, the saddest spot
P lace
in Brittany, for the guillotine
stood here in the days of Carrier, and
swam
the city with
blood, and until of late this Place was the place of public
NANTEZ.
38
Here was
executions.
1386, the famous duel
fought, in
between Robert de Beaumanoir and Le Sieur de Tourne-
mine here
;
here Chalais died in the days of Louis XIII.
four Breton gentlemen perished
for
;
and
share in
their
among them the young and heroic The Palais du Bouffay stood Marquis de Pontecallec.
the plot of Cellamare,
formerly between this and the castle.
It
was a curious
old building of the tenth century, built by Conan,
when he conquered Nantes
of Rennes,
Tour du Bouffay "the abbot of
;
and
Jean
St.
in the
Count Grosse
d'Angeli was
found one morning dead, his head and face swollen as black as a coal and his tongue pulled two feet from his
mouth," says the old chronicler Alain Bouchart.
There are some interesting old houses Juiverie
north of the Place close by
;
is
in
the
Rue de
Croix, which was rebuilt in the seventeenth century
pagan temple.
ruins of a
the old belfry from the
It
la
the church of Ste.
on the
has a round tower, on which
Tour du Bouffay has recently been
placed.
From
the Place
the quay
till
du Bouffay we went a
we reached
little
way along
the famous line of bridges which
extend more than a mile before they reach the farther bank of the Loire.
the
He
Prairie
The road between them
Gloriette,
de
la
Magdelaine, and then the expanse of mea-
Across
this,
six
is
its
way
to
Pirnil, the
the great Hopital ge'neral de St.
This hospital can furnish beds for one thousand
hundred
although
river finds
and beyond the Pont de
last of the six bridges,
Jacques.
first
on which are the Hotel-Dieu and the
dows across which an arm of the the sea.
has to traverse
it
patients, chiefly
for those mentally
also receives others.
The church
afflicted,
of St. Jacques,
JARDIN DES PLANTES. close by,
is
39
of the Transition period, badly restored in the
fifteenth century.
Coming back from sels
the bridges,
we found
Quai Fles
and the Quai Brancas separated by a bridge, where the
Erdre
falls
On
into the Loire.
the Quai Brancas
the Halle aux Grains, above which
This
too small
;
for travellers
who
we passed
the Public Library.
is
truly excellent so far as regards
is
much it
the
its
contents, but
is
care for such treasures
contains some very valuable manuscripts.
A
little
way on
mented with
of Nantes.
shops
of
but
;
it
is
It
has two facades orna-
an uninteresting modern
is
held the great Sunday flower-market
Most of
these quays are lined with houses and
it
those most frequented seem to be the quay near
;
and the Quai de
the Chateau full
statues
Near
building.
the Bourse.
is
life
;
it
—one
This
Fosse.
last is
very
reaches from the Bourse to the extreme end
We
of the town.
la
went up the Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau
made by Graslin, and leading and soon reached Place which bears his name
of the nine streets
from the
—
the Hotel de France.
Near
house called Chateau des
old
curious
pretty staircase, tower
although
it
Rue
along the
the Place Graslin,
seemed
is
a
Irlandais, with
a
Voltaire,
but we could not gain admittance,
;
as
if
the interior ought to be worth
seeing.
Our guide
at
the
had pointed out
castle
Jardin des Plantes, and had told us seeing
than
anything
in
He
between two and three o'clock, as the
and there was a promenade.
us the
was better worth
Perhaps
Nantes.
next to his beloved Chassepots.
it
to
he
meant
we should go band played then,
said
But we could not get there
NANTES.
40
was over, though we took a carriage
this
till
garden
is
for
;
this
a very long walk from the Place Graslin, being
some distance beyond the
Down
castle.
Rue
the
St.
Cle'ment, which leads from the Place Louis Seize, are the
two new churches of Sallette
Clement and Notre
St.
but they are not equal to
;
the convents are in this street,
Jardin des Plantes,
The gardens
is
are
St.
most
Nicholas.
and behind
La
the cemetery of
de
la
Most
of
close to the
it,
Bouteillerie.
We
delightful.
Dame
entered through a
screen of magnolias, and soon found a grand avenue of
The
these beautiful trees covered with blossoms. this
superb
tree,
with
hoary
lining,
and
their
growing on It
all
its
broad satin-looking leaves with large, delicious,
its
the open
sides in
air,
Nantes from North America years
very impressive.
At the end of twenty
in 171 1.
and the gardener resolved
brought to
first
outgrew the conservatory in which
it
placed,
creamy blossoms,
is
was
said that a plant of magnolia
is
effect of
it
had been
to destroy it; but his
wife, wishing to preserve
the beautiful plant, placed
the open ground where
had shelter from the north wind.
It
it
grew and prospered, and
its
offspring
now adorn
it
in
these
interesting gardens.
One
of the oldest magnolias
is
that at the
end of the lime-
There are forty-eight magnolia-trees
walk.
avenue
but, besides these,
;
we saw
all
— the
in the great
kinds of tender exquisite blue-
plants blossoming freely
out-of-doors
pencilled plumbago,
banana palm, and many
There lake
is
the
others.
water on every side, sometimes widening into a
and sometimes a narrow stream, bordered by weeping
willows and flowers,
filled
with rare flowering plants.
which are abundant, there
is
Besides the
a wealth of rare trees
ARCHIVES OF NANTES.
41
and the heat was so intense that we found the refreshing shade under some of these most grateful. These gardens are indeed a very enticing retreat.
On
we passed
our way back
up the Rue Royale. built
by Ceineray
on
the
is
the Place Louis Seize,
Museum, crossed
logical
in
Museum
Communeau, and There
Ville.
Lycee and the Arch geo-
the
At the top of 1763
it
:
Farther
has a fine staircase.
on the Place du Port Hotel de
to the south of this the
little
nothing to see here but a
is
Prefecture,
this is the
of Natural History,
a
and went
little
casket
which once held the heart of Anne of Brittany.
by the Hotel de and a
tiens;
Ville
is
way
little
on, at
Rue
8,
St.
Jean,
The
corners,
is
modern.
the Place St.
Rue
some
Jean, are
in this street there
the wall
St.
:
" Moliere
is
re-
Vincent, leading from
curious
houses.
old
Leonard runs beside the Hotel de
St.
No. 23
Rue
a
one of the
statue of this saint, at
In the
is
Sisters of St.
markable old house, called the house of the Vincent de Paul.
Close
the Society of the Freres Chre-
this inscription
The At
Ville.
on a
tablet
on
a joue la comedie dans ce jeu de
paume."
We
crossed the Erdre by the Pont de l'Ecluse so as to
come out by
the
museum.
We
had not time
it
Across the Place Bretagne the
Rue Mercoeur
Palais de Justice; above the frieze
said to
is
examine
be very good.
the collection of pictures, but
is
to
leads to the
a group by Sue, a
sculptor of Nantes, " Justice protecting Innocence against
Crime."
them
Here
are
the
are records of the
archives of Nantes, fearful
entry seems almost incredible:
Twenty-seven executions
took
and among
Reign of Terror.
"December place
20,
on the
This
1793.
Place
du
NANTES.
42
Among
Bouffay; seven of them women." sisters,"
in
the
demoiselles de la Me'tairie, or, as they are styled
" Gabrielle
record,
Jeanne Ray."
Their accusation
" les armes a la main." his office,
The
and three days
cile s'est laisse
aged 28; Margue-
Me'tairie,
Olympe; and
27; Claire, 26;
rite,
these were "four
their faithful servant
the having been found
is
executioner hesitated to
after died of remorse.
fulfil
" L'imbe-
mourir de peur," said Carrier, with a laugh.
In front of the Palais de Justice
is
the statue of Billault,
and from here the Rue Lafayette, a
street built of stone
houses, leads into the streets are
Rue
Crebillon.
It is
a pity these
not wider, for the houses in them, built of stone
of Saumur, are very handsome,
Across the Cours Cambronne, from the Place Graslin,
Quai de its
la
Fosse.
It
might be very pleasant here, with
magnolias and chestnut-trees,
if
The
must
effect
has been sacrificed to
were not spoiled,
it
as the other quays are along the Loire,
way.
one reaches the
statue in the centre,
with the marshal's
by the
line of rail-
have been imposing; but
this
and one wonders how the
utility,
Nantais could have consented thus to injure the look of their city.
At No.
5,
the beginning of the Quai de la Fosse, Maison
des Tourelles, Henri Quatre signed, in 1598, the famous
Edict of Nantes, which granted the 'same privileges to those of the
reformed
religion
as
to
Roman
Catholics,
and
revocation in
which gave a great stimulus to trade.
Its
1685 caused an insurrection
which occasioned
much bloodshed. one on the Quai de the centre of
in the city
There are other old houses besides la Fosse,
modern
bustle
although the quay
and
life.
At
its
itself
this
seems
farthest western
"
extremity
is
LES SALORGESr
43
an avenue of magnolias, with a
sort of
house commanding a very extensive prospect is
the Escalier Ste. Anne, leading to the avenue
of that saint, also the staircase
is
rounding
hills
commanding a
close
by
and church
At the top
fine view.
is
the Loire,
islands, the city,
its
of
and
sur-
very fine from this part of the town, and
quite worth driving to see, for Nantes
far
summer-
a statue of St. Anne.
The view over
is
and
;
eastward and westward that the
is
little
spread out so
carriages which
stand for hire near the Bourse and the river Erdre are
very useful, and might with advantage be more frequently
Near
stationed about the town.
Ste.
Anne
is
the
gloomy
Les Salorges, from which the noyades
granite building called
took place.
There
is
a great deal
the Loire, the in
Europe
means
to
;
still
magazines of conserves alimentaires
largest
but
so
to see in the manufactories beside
much
before the traveller
lies
explore Brittany that
I
who
think he will not feel
inclined at the outset of his journey to stay very long in
The Passage Pommeraye, which connects the Rue Crebillon with the Rue de la Fosse, is very curious. Nantes.
It
has three arcades of shops, one above another, connected
by an immense double iron able features of Nantes
is
staircase.
its
One
of the remark-
enormous tobacco manufac-
tory, near the Paris railway station.
At
certain hours the
streets near the factory are thronged with the great number
of persons employed,
A
who seem
to
very interesting excursion to
be chiefly women. be made from Nantes
who have time to spare is to Clisson, to which the railway now goes. As it is in La Vende'e, and not in Brittany, we did not visit it but its ruined castle, once the
for those
;
NANTES.
44
residence of the famous Constable, well-placed,
Not
far
and the country around
from Clisson
is
is
very picturesque and
it is
interesting.
the Chateau
de
la
Seilleraye,
Castle of Clisson.
which
Madame
de Grignan.
de Sevigne mentions in a
letter to
Madame
This chateau was designed by Mansard, and
the north side of the gardens was planned
by Le Notre,
OLD CHATEAUX.
45
the famous creator of the gardens of Versailles.
chateau there
is
Madame
a portrait of
bank of
right
this
There
Luce
are also the old chateaux of Chassay, near St.
and La Gacherie, on the
In
de Sevigne\
station,
the Erdre, fifteenth
La Gacherie was the scene of the fetes given by Rene de Rohan to his sister-in-law, Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, and century
;
sister of
there
is
also the chateau of Gouiaine.
Francois
This chateau has a grand old
I.
fire-
place.
A
pleasant excursion on the Erdre
to Nort, near
but most
which
is
The
of
in
1385, and the rest
Madame
it
last,
sixit
in
to be restored
The room occupied by Madame de
by Ceineray.
is
de Sevigne sold
1700 to the Hersart family, who caused
is
and
;
chateau was
oldest portion of this
The son
teenth century.
steamer
little
Chateau de Buron, about ten miles
by the Due de Rohan
built
by the
the chateau of Luciniere
interesting, the
out of Nantes.
is
Se'vigne
panelled in carved oak of the Louis Quatorze period.
The
railway to
St.
Nazaire
bordered along the quay by
is
magnolias and horse-chestnuts
;
but after this
is
past
it
is
not interesting, except that just before reaching Donges we
have on the
right
La Grande
Briere, a
most extraordinary
kind of dry swamp, from which large quantities of bog
cak are dug. lie
It is said that
north-east.
We
was here that de she
all
the trees discovered here
one way, their roots to the south-west and
la
Madame
their tops
interest, for
de Lescure, afterwards
it
Madame
Rochejaquelein, wandered about in disguise when
and
selves
looked out at Donges with
her mother
among
Royalist army.
and
the peasants
child
had
after the
to
shelter
final defeat
themof the
DtANTES.
46
It
was getting dusk when we reached
St.
Nazaire, so
We
did not see the dolmen just outside the town. that the inns
were
full,
and we were anxious
carriage for our expedition to
Le
Vendue, not
in Brittany.
heard
to secure a
Croisic next morning.
Pornic, the scene of " Fifine at the Fair," favourite bathing-place of
we
the Nantais;
but
&c,
is
the
is
in
La
it
THE PENINSULA OF LE CHAPTER
II.
Le Croisic. Le Pouliguen.
La Guerande. Le Bourg de Batz. "117" E started early for
CROISIC.
Le
Croisic, having arranged to
go
La Guerande to breakfast. It was a singularly bright morning, and our little horse went along briskly. We asked our driver to stop at Escoublac, as we had heard first
to
the strange legend belonging to
wretched
little
cabaret.
It
about two miles from the
and backed by a range of nearer the sea,
is
sea,
it,
and he pulled up
a dreary-looking
It
sand blow over the present
between
lie
pearance
is
flat
but the old village of Escoublac has been
Even now clouds
completely swallowed by the sand.
which
meadows once stood much
surrounded by
sand-hills.
at the
village,
told as
it
village
and the
sea.
an established
of
from the sandy dunes
The
story of
its
disap-
fact.
Once upon a time a venerable old man with a long white beard, and a young, pleasant-faced woman, came begging to Escoublac.
They were
in rags,
the poorest peasant that
They asked
for food
and they seemed poorer than
had ever been seen
and a
night's lodging
in the country. ;
but so hard-
hearted and niggardly were these inhabitants of Escoublac
THE PENINSULA OF LE
4S
that
CROISIC.
no one gave the old man and the woman so much
as
a draught of cold water.
Now,
as
well
is
known through
the land, hospitality
and the beggar
duty,
and
is
is
faced
considered in Brittany as a sacred
regarded as one of God's
given the warmest corner by the
most savoury morsel
At
is
the length and breadth oi
last,
fire,
and often the
in the pot.
when the venerable old man and the
woman had
reached the end of the
pleasant-
village,
found every door closed against them, they stood
woman
afflicted,
clasped her hands in supplication,
and had
The
still.
and seemed
to
weep; but the old man turned away with an indignant gesture, pulled three hairs from his beard,
towards the sea clouds,
;
and were soon out of
Almost
at
woman
then he and the
felt
of sand, which
spread over
sight.
It rained thick
at Escoublac.
the
doomed
next morning there remained no trace of
but the cock on the
much
and It
flew towards the
once there blew such a gale from the west as
had never been
so
and blew them
it
summit of the church
and by
village,
or
its
spire,
clouds
inhabitants
which being
higher than the houses had not been swallowed up
this spire
remained
for
some
years above ground.
has always been believed that
God
the Father and the
Blessed Mary, having heard of the want of charity the inhabitants of Escoublac,
came down
to punish
among
them
in
person.
The old chateau of Escoublac is called Lesnerac it is now all modern, except a tower and some of the windows. A tall blind beggar stood by the little cabaret where we ;
halted.
He
and success
said a long prayer for us, in our travels.
We
and wished us pleasure
put some sous in his greasy
LA GUERANDE. old cap, and he then began a
much
did not hear the end
we went
as
of,
After leaving Escoublac
church.
49
longer prayer, which to look at the
we began
to
we
little
see salt-
marshes spread over the country, and soon in the distance
appeared the grey walls of La Guerande.
We
passed one or two chateaux, and
Faubourg
on both
St.
drove into the
Michel, a long straggling street with houses
At the end
sides.
of this
we saw
before us a very
Entrance Gateway.
picturesque old gateway flanked by two machicolated towers
with pointed caps, and overgrown in places with ivy and
creeping plants.
This
is
the Porte St. Michel,
and over
the
low-browed circular-headed entrance are carved the arms of Guerande, and right and fications
and
boulevards,
left
of the gateway are
forti-
shaded with elms and poplar-
trees.
We
drove straight to the quaint inn in the middle of
this
THE PENINSULA OF LE
50
charming
little
CROISIC.
In spite of some attempts at
town.
improvements, Guerande seems to have stood
The
the Middle Ages.
modern since
still
old grey walls, which surround
it
in
a sort of oval, are perfect, and are pierced by four gates,
and
facing north, south, east,
The
west.
and Vannetaise have towers, those
called Bezierne
and Le
There were once ten towers
have only loop-holes.
Saille
Portes St. Michel
on the walls of La Guerande, and nearly
all
of them re-
Inside the town there seem to be plenty of quaint
main.
by
old houses, surrounded
their gardens.
While our breakfast was getting ready we went on the church.
It
a
is
The
impressive building.
fine,
to
older
portion of the nave, which has not been restored, has a
wooden
roof, with quaintly
on each
The
different.
is
piers are green with age
;
also all different
an external pulpit
We
went on beyond the
spoils
little
is
them here and
very good.
1348, and turned
is
inn, past old houses with
and hiding the offending whitewash there,
church, the Chapelle de Notre interior
the massive
built in the thickness of the buttress.
is
vines clinging against
which
Near the
;
modern and western doorway
but the stained glass
unworthy of the church.
quite
carving
sculptured capitals of the nave
and are
are very remarkable,
The
carved tie-beams.
It
was
till
Dame built
we came de
la
to a smaller
The
Blanche.
by John de Montfort
into a barn at the Revolution; but
been restored within the
last
twenty years, and
is
it
in
has
a very
interesting relic.
After breakfast
we went through
the Porte de
Saille',
and
mounting some steps found ourselves outside the walls on a delightful walled rampart planted with a double
and commanding an extensive view.
The
row of
trees,
country appears
THE RAMPART.
5
1
swarm with windmills. On one side are the sand-hills of Escoublac, and farther on are the salt-marshes of Le Bourg de Batz and of Le Croisic glittering in the sunshine. The to
salt
heaps from here looked like prodigious white
anthills.
In the distance was the sea.
We
Part of Walls and Gateway,
town under the shade looking at the
is
ot the
were
The a
beautiful far
more
cut
but
up
we soon
left
off
into squares
by
old machicolated interesting
preserved.
The
in
gates
many
parts
and towers
they are are
walls
study.
delightful in colour, hoary with white
green lichen, and
the
La Guerande.
trees,
the distant country,
salt-pans.
Gue'rande grey
way round
walked along the rampart some
and
of
Their silver-
wonderfully
very picturesque,
THE PENINSULA OF LE
5*
overgrown with ivy and wild still
CROISIC.
The
flowers.
ancient moat
surrounds a great part of the walls, but
and covered with duckweed varied with
Here and
row of poplar-trees
there a
is
is
it
stagnant
of rushes.
tufts
planted against the
old grey walls, but everywhere the ivy and honeysuckle are
paramount, while bluebells and other delicate flowers have niched themselves in among the stones, and give a change of colour.
These the city
by Duke John V. in 1431, out of nothing like them all through Brit-
walls were built
There
tolls.
is
tany ; indeed, La Guerande
any other town.
It
is
thoroughly original and unlike
was called by the Romans Aula Guiriaca,
and by the Bretons Werrann, or Guer-rann, perhaps from Guerech L, Count of Vannes, who often inhabited the Lewis of Spain took Gue'rande by assault in 1342,
town.
when
churches were destroyed and 8,000 of the
five
habitants
were murdered.
settled the
War
1380, because
The
articles
in-
of peace which
of Succession were signed at Guerande, in
it
was near the
Lent, " pour avoir
sea, as
it
du bon poisson pour
le
John IV. married, in the church of
was the season of careme."
St.
Clair
In 1386
de
Saille',
Joan of Navarre, afterwards the wife of Henry IV. (BolingGue'rande was also taken by
broke).
Our landlady
at the inn
Du
Guesclin in 1373.
reproached us for having come
on a week-day, and indeed we had planned
to
go there on
Sunday. "
Ah
!
dresses.
" she said,
" it
You would
is
on Sunday
see our people
from the Bourg de Batz and from Le
that
you would see
and the salt-workers Saille.
There are no
people like them in the world."
We
very
much
regretted that
we had not followed her
A
BREAKDOWN ON THE ROAD.
advice, for neither the farming population of
and
its
outskirts,
53
La Guerande
nor the paludiers, as the salt-workers are
Le Bourg de Batz and Le Saille, wear their costume on working days, and as Pardons and rural fetes seem unknown here Sunday is the great opportunity for discalled, of
play of costume.
It is strange that living so close together
men and women of these races The men and women of Batz
in this little peninsula the
should never intermarry.
handsome and
are a very
any other
exclusive
people, quite unlike
in Brittany, with special habits
contempt
with evidently a great
La
tnetayers of
TLe road
and customs, and
the
for
more peaceful
Gue'rande.
to Batz
is
The
very even and monotonous.
marshes spread out towards the
salt-
sea, divided into squares,
with narrow ledges between just wide enough to hold the
bare feet of the paludieres,
chiefly
paddling in the
They seemed
with their long-handled shovels.
ceillets
be
whom we saw
women, and looked very picturesque with
to
their
bare legs and green-black skirts and curious white caps and aprons. Everywhere, at certain intervals, were huge conical salt-heaps,
covered over with
earth
to preserve the
salt
from injury. In the midst of our observations we
—down
felt
went the side of our comfortable
a sudden shock little
carriage
one of the hind wheels spun across the path, and
an immovable
Our
left
us in
slant at the side of the road.
driver, of course,
swore and gesticulated and stamped
and would have continued the performance, but him we were determined to go on to Le Croisic, and
furiously,
we
told
that he vehicle.
had better ride back
He
then
said
to Gue'rande
and get another
he knew the axle was cracked
54
7 HE
when we
started
PENINSULA OF LE from
and kick a stone
curse
Nazaire, but he
St.
would have lasted the day
CROISIC. thought
it
and then he began again to
;
the road which he
in
had
said
caused the disaster.
At to
last
we persuaded him
Guerande
to give this
up and go back
but at parting he advised us not to be too
;
hopeful. " It
— case "
is
possible
"
He
And
He
cannot get another vehicle, and in that
I
left off
with a serious shake of his great head.
shook
his
Our
anxiously. his heels into the horse's
head again, stuck
and rode back
sides,
we asked
in that case ? "
to
Guerande.
The hedges on
was not cheerful.
situation
either
and
side were too high to permit a view over the country,
even
if
we could have seen over them
in these
woman
or
much
is little
variety
interminable salt-marshes, with here and there a
man
disturbing the water
scraping a sort of white so
there
as a
interest, the
cow
scum
to look at
;
in
the salt-pans, or
There was not
to the edge.
and, besides this absence of
road was white and straight and dusty, and the
sun was blazing fiercely down on our heads.
We
felt
greatly comforted
when an
basket on her head came in sight.
when she saw our pathy. as yet
disaster,
woman
She stopped
with a at
once
and loudly expressed her sym-
She was the most talkative Breton woman we had
met
with,
carrying fruit to
and she was very
Le
Croisic, she
basket off her head, and placed
We
old
asked
if
we could have
it
on the ground beside
She had meant
to refresh distressed travellers,
and she took her
said,
we could have some it.
She was
inquisitive.
of the it
oh yes
for !
"
fruit.
Le
"
Oh
Croisic
her.
yes ;
!
but
She opened her
BOURG DE BATZ. stores,
55
and displayed some very small gooseberries and some
They were not very good, but
small yellow plums.
still
they were a welcome refreshment.
We
asked our friend
make
she declined to she said; then,
And
finally
she
how much we had
a charge.
It
At
to pay.
first
was of no consequence,
"What monsieur and madame please." asked about three times as much as we
should have paid at Nantes or Angers, and went off satisfied
had conferred a favour on unfortunate
that she
At
came
in sight, with our driver
He in
a long waiting, a cumbrous
last, after
La
informed us that
Lruerande, and that
fortunate to get
our trim, terribly
;
It
it.
easy-going
hooded vehicle
and two rough companions.
was the only carriage to be got
we might
think ourselves very
was very uncomfortable, quite unlike basket-carriage
fortunately the road
we saw maize by
this
travellers.
was
— indeed
it
bumped
As we went along
level.
by a machine drawn
or corn being threshed
horses, as in Spain.
There were plenty of women
skimming the
salt off
We
to the heaps.
angle
women
and from them on
the
looked
tall
enclosures
the
place
of hay-stacks
round the cottages.
and well-made, and
rather peculiar than picturesque
—a
their head-dress
roll
round which was twisted narrow white
at
The was
of hair in front,
tape,
placed above, with straight sides swathing the
We
Batz,
surrounded by salt-pans,
village
salt-heaps taking
of
wooden
soon drove into the Bourg de
a most ordinary-looking
with huge
in the salt-pans,
the water with their long
putting the salt into basins
scrapers,
the
work
at
and the cap face.
saw very few men, and these wore snowy white smocks,
trousers,
and
sraiters
buttoned with verv small buttons from
THE PENINSULA OF LE
56
the ankle to the knee.
We
CROISIC.
only met one
man
with white
bragous bras, and with a large black hat, like the hats of
Quimper and
the rest of
Lower
Brittany.
The
white
brilliant
of this costume gives an air of cleanness and refinement that contrasts strangely with the poor-looking granite houses.
drove on to Le Croisic, through the salt-marshes. perpetual long squares into which the country give a dull
monotonous
effect
Le all
round
Le
Croisic.
At port
us,
first
is
artificial
we could
sight
it
;
is
We
These divided
but before us, and indeed
Croisic.
see the sea,
looks a dull
and very soon we reached
little
fishing-village.
The
completely enclosed by small islands, and a long
promontory or causeway, called the Chausse'e de
Pembron,
built to preserve the salt-marshes
of the sea, for there seems to be of the peninsula, including
Le
little
from the inroads
doubt that the whole
Croisic, Batz,
and Le Pouli-
guen, was at one time an island, and that by degrees the
channel between into salt-marshes.
it
and the mainland has transformed
itself
There are plenty of fishing-boats and
LE stalwart- looking fishermen
CROISIC.
;
57
following
but,
line of granite houses which surrounds
marked
that
many
of
them were very
the straggling
curious,
were very ancient in appearance.
tance,
we saw
the pier
A
and shaded by
is
trees,
and from
re-
and almost
Farther on
higher ground, grassed sand-hills with furze and intervals,
we
the bay,
this, at
all
some broom at is
some
dis-
Near
the pier stretching out into the sea.
the Etablissement des Bains and the hotel.
very picturesque old beggar, with an immense rusty
black hat and long hair streaming over his shoulders, was
under a furze-bush
sitting asleep
was mending an old pair of red
The
Pointe du Croisic
bathing-place,
and from
is
under another a
;
woman
trousers.
about half a mile beyond the
this point the coast is really interest-
become higher and take fantastic shapes sometimes isolated, as one sees them at Etretat (that charming Norman town by the sea), and then again hollowed out
ing
;
the rocks
by the force of the waves into tide, the sea
grottos, in which,
plunges with a deafening roar.
at high
Farther on the
named Grand Autel and not far beyond this is the Trou du Kourican, a deep hollow said to have been inhabited by a race of dwarfs. Farther on still is a little cove called Sable Menu, a capital bathingplace for those who prefer to dispense with cabins. It is a long way to Grand Autel, and it is much better to rocks stretch out in a point
drive
on
;
to the Etablissement before beginning to explore
the coast, instead of alighting in the town, for there to see in
Le
Croisic
itself,
though
it is
is little
a good plan to stay a
few days there, so as to see something of the very original inhabitants of this peninsula.
The church Notre Dame de
la Pitie is
not remarkable.
THE PENINSULA OF LE
58
Another chapel, of Croisic
still
Esprit, at the
St.
Goustan,
is
now
CROISIC.
women From the Mont
closed, but the
pray there for those at sea.
end of a promenade called Le Mail, there
is
an excellent view of the town and harbour of Le Croisic the town surrounded by the sandy waste of salt pans,
Salt-sellers
rising
:
and
(Bourg de Batz).
from these the church towers of Batz and of La
Guerande.
Beyond
fine sea-view
from
the harbour
Mont
Lenigo.
is
the Atlantic
j
there
is
The population seems
a to
be partly composed of fishermen and partly of salt-workers but there is here, as well as in the Bourg de Batz, a certain separateness and exclusiveness both of costume and ideas.
MARRIAGE DRESS. The people
of
Le
59
themselves
Croisic call
do not seem so
contradistinction to Bretons, but they
Bourg de Batz.
race as the people of the
Le
the historian, was born at
Croisic
Croisicais, in
Alain Bouchart,
and
;
a
fine
in the fifteenth
century this town seems to have been rich and prosperous, the centre of the salt-trade.
We at
we drove home,
stopped at Bourg de Batz, as
some
These are very
ruins near the church.
They
of late fifteenth century.
Dame du church. On
From
these ruins
Murier.
went into the
the steps a group of
us,
and asked with an
mystery
air of
We
see a bride in her marriage dress.
we had heard
that these
interesting,
are part of a church dedi-
cated to Notre
met
to look
if
young
we
girls
we wished
to
said yes, eagerly, for
wedding clothes of the Bourg de
Batz were quite a thing to see. " Then if Messieurs and Madame will go and see the
church
first,
the bride will be ready
The church
is
uninteresting, the
when they come
out."
end of the chancel devi-
ating to the right so as quite to spoil the effect.
I believe
our impatience to see the marriage dress rather hurried our examination of the building. When we came out the
had disappeared, but the other three grinned and showed their white teeth as they ran on in eldest of the girls
front to guide us.
They had turned out of
the
main
street rather
beyond
the church, and presently they stopped at the door of a little
my
one-storied house.
The doorway was
so low that both
companions had to stoop considerably as they stepped
room
Standing in the middle of the
down
into the
floor,
radiant with delight at her
within.
one of my companions observed,
own
appearance, and, as
in the anticipation of francs,
THE PENINSULA OF LE
6o
CROISIC.
was the black-eyed damsel who had invited us but, before
we could look
to see the
at her, she darted
up to a
bride
j
little
cracked looking-glass set on an armoire, to see
cap was
straight.
Then
her
if
she walked with an air of great im-
portance into the middle of the
floor,
smoothing out her
splendid golden apron with both thumbs, and informing us with much excitement that the costume was as old as her
grandmother, and had been worn by her
own mother
at
her wedding.
The dress was very rich, both in colour and material. The skirt and body were of plum-coloured cloth, trimmed at the
bottom of the
and round the armholes with
skirt
broad black ribbon velvet;
the
sleeves
but
were red;
the glory of the costume was the brilliant yellow apron called, of rich
watered
silk.
and
bib, or plastron, as
The
bib covered the chest, and was stiffened and quilted
as
if
it
was meant
is
it
for
armour.
The
apron-skirt
was
very wide and long, covering quite three-quarters of the gown, and reaching to its hem. On her head was a white
cap made of
lace, in
shape like the ordinary Batz cap, and
outside this was a wreath of white flowers.
Before
we had
one of her
finished looking at the dress she held
feet that
we might
up
inspect her scarlet knitted stock-
and elaborate clocks of green and white. Her shoes were violet, and round her waist she wore a white ribbon sash trimmed with silver lace. But the effect of the
ings, with prodigious
whole costume was spoiled by the girl's dirty greasy face and hands. She looked like a sweep on May-day. We should have liked better to see the clothes without her impersonation of the character. " Shall you wear this dress
when you marry ? " we asked.
THE PALUDIERS OF LE "
She shook her head. is
No
;
it is
CROISIC.
61
the old fashion, and that
Our brides wear a small apron now, brown, violet and they do not wear a stiff plastron
passing away.
or black, or
and
it is
;
more elegant
to
wear a white shawl which comes
below the waist."
So the ancient marriage costume of the Bourg de Batz soon be forgotten
will
opened between primitive
and
;
and when the projected railway
Nazaire and
St.
Le
is
Croisic doubtless the
isolated character of the people will also be
somewhal changed.
One dress
of our party was asked to put on the bridegroom's
— white
baggy trousers reaching to the knee, and,
meeting these, white stockings fastened by ribbons with long ends
two long white flannel waistcoats bound with black
;
velvet
;
a long brown jacket, with closely set rows of buttons,
and a large square
falling
white collar.
The
chief feature
enormous three-cornered black
of this dress was the
hat,
once a characteristic part of the costume of the paludiers. It is
the
now
way
in
the wearer
man wore
on any but the old men.
rarely seen
which
it
was worn was
significant of the state of
a bachelor wore the point over his
;
it
Formerly
ear,
behind, and a widower in front.
a married
Sometimes
They
these hats were trimmed with coloured worsted fringe. are eminently picturesque,
worn
effect
with
the
and must have had a charming
snow-white linen costume
of
the
paludier.
In one corner of the room was a bridal bedstead with gaily
On
trimmed green hangings.
this
mattresses and
pillows were piled nearly to the top, this being a sign of
opulence in a Breton household of
Le
Croisic were
rich,
;
for formerly the paludiers
and had some reason
for
the
THE PENINSULA OF LE
62
CROISIC.
exclusiveness with which they kept themselves apart from
the ordinary Breton peasant. in
and handsomer rich furniture at
many
and
cleanliness, ;
They of
are
them
very superior
still
grown
better
are
but one does not see in their houses the
one has heard
of,
and there
Le Croisic an air of desolation. The glory of this peninsula has departed
tion of the salt tax, for salt-making
both here and
is
since the imposi-
and the
cod-fishery are
the sole
occupations of the people of Batz and of
Croisic.
The on
reaped
and
the salt-pans,
only a quarter.
sun and
Le
landowners take three parts of the profits
air are
But
their
the
poor
paludiers
get
The
work does not seem hard.
the chief agents in the evaporation of the
water, which, however, has to pass from one. set of pans to
another through
little
allowed to reach the
whence the
subterraneous channels before
ceillets,
salt is finally
it
is
from
as the squares are called,
taken to be stored into the conical
heaps one sees spread over the country.
We
drove
prettier
home by Le
Pouliguen, a
road than that by Gue'rande
—
much
shorter
and
the road on each side
bordered by long stretches of sand-hills grown over by a kind of dwarf pine covered with vineyards, terraces
and
as the
fir-apples.
Farther on were
road rose these were planted in
one above another.
Le Pouliguen is a pretty little place, with a bay of silverand as it is a white sand. The bathing here is excellent cheaper and less known place than Le Croisic, it is much sought after by quiet economical Bretons. The hotel is small, ;
but lodgings can be had close to the sea.
There
is
a fine
the distance can be
view over the mouth of the Loire, and in seen the Pointe de St. Gildas in La Vendee, and the
isle
of
NAZAIRE.
ST.
Noirmoutiers, the island to which of Jumieges,
63
St. Philibert,
was banished by the malice of the Maire du
Palais Ebroin. Philibert founded a monastery
We
felt
the founder
and died
there.
more inclined to stay at Pouliguen than to return
to St. Nazaire, for there
Nazaire to
make
it
is
too
much
seaport element in
St.
a desirable bathing-place.
In 1637, Gaston d'Orleans begged from Louis XIII. a few days' respite from his marriage with Mademoiselle, in order that he might
visit
the Pierre Percee near St. Nazaire.
This pierced rock stands on an
islet at
the
mouth
of the
Here the prince and his friends amused themselves by shooting seabirds by hundreds. They then went on to another village, called " Le Croysil," by land. Bay of Pouliguen.
One
of the prince's companions seems to have been
surprised at the
amount of
plied to Gaston at
Le
furnishings in the
Croisic
:
much
bedroom
sup-
" 100 brass candlesticks, 30 or
" I 40 embroidered cushions," and so on, with other things. asked the hostess the meaning of this abundance. It is the '
custom of the country,' she said are always thus furnished."'
Chateau de
There St.
is,
is
this
A
little
are wealthy is
here,
bay on the
we walked along
we reached
till
smooth sand
—not always the
who
Near Pouliguen
however, a pretty
Nazaire, and next morning
fine
those
the old
Poul-guenn means " white bay."
Careil.
which overlook
'
;
case on the rock-bound is
but
it
vening group of trees
;
to is
of
the dunes
the bathing-place. There
and the bathing
pretty view of the town
right
is
good and
safe
coast of Brittany.
be had beyond an
inter-
rather a long walk back to
the hotel.
There seems
to
be a comfortable
little
inn,
Hotel de
la
Marine, close to the basin where the steamers arrive from
THE PENINSULA OF LE
64
Although
Nantes. is
St.
Nazaire
is
CROISIC.
a very ancient town, there
actually nothing to see except the harbour.
the
port of Nantes, and
embarkation
for
railway station
is
interesting
as
It is really
the
Mexico, the Antilles, and Spain.
is
point of
Near the
a huge dolmen, the largest in the depart-
and gold pieces have been dug out During the Wars of the beneath this huge monument. League, the Royalists, commanded by La Tremblaye, took ment.
Several bronzes
the town, and, cutting off the governor's head, sent
Prince of
Dombes
at
to the
Rennes.
It is certainly better to arrive
the journey to
it
Vannes
is
to
from Nantes by steamer,
be made by railway from
it
St.
Nazaire, because as far as Savenay one has to retrograde
and take the
train thence to
journey with two stoppages.
Redon.
It is
a roundabout
MORBIHAN. CHAPTER La Roche
Bernard.
"
III. Rochefort. of Lanvaux.
Lande
Blain.
Redon.
\ PLEASANTER way of reaching Vannes La Guerande
to
La Roche Bernard, a
is
to drive
pretty
little
from
town
with some quaint old houses charmingly placed on the river Its great feature is its lofty
Vilaine.
suspension bridge, 197
metres long and 33 metres above high-water mark.
La Roche Bernard and Pontchateau Bretesche and testants of in
its forest,
the Chateau de la
is
which served as a refuge to the Pro-
La Roche Bernard, and
1570 and 1590.
Between
An
their minister,
Louveau,
omnibus runs between La Roche
Bernard and Pontchateau
station,
on
the
Vannes
line
between Savenay and Redon. Pontchateau catalpas,
seems
a pretty
at
some distance from
said to have
of
it
is
it is
le
Magnolias,
place.
and sumac- trees are abundant.
menhir near Pontchateau, called
and
little
There
Fuseau de
la
is
a fine
Madelaine,
the famous Chateau de Blain,
been founded by Alain Fergent, though some
much
later.
All that
now remains
are two towers,
a portion of the dwelling-house, a ruined chapel, and some F
MORBJHAN.
66
of the walls.
There were once nine towers
remaining, one
is
;
of those
and
attributed to Alain Fergent,
—Blain
to the
name it is called having come by marriage into
other the ever-present Clisson has
La Tour du Connetable
left his
;
His daughter Beatrix carried
the family of Clisson.
now
this
Chateau de Blain.
property into the
remained a very
in the
fine ruin.
House of Rohan when she married, and possession of the Rohans till 1802. It Four
got out at this station of
sisters St.
occupies the old Benedictine
it
is
de l'instruction Chretienne
Gildas.
The community now
Abbey
of St. Gildas des Bois.
REDON. The church
here, although not so old as the
abbey,
ot the
67
is
foundation
a remarkable specimen of thirteenth-
still
The convent
century architecture.
The abbot
later date.
first
buildings are of
much
of St. Gildas des Bois was the only
one who had a right to use a crozier and mitre
in
the
diocese of Nantes.
We
had now pine-woods on each
the railway and
side of
we reached Redon the country opened into a long stretch of wooded hills with bits of blue distance seen here and there. Redon stands at the angle of the three depart-
just before
ments, Hie et Vilaine, Loire Inferieure, and Morbihan. is
quite worth while
church of
the railway station. \
The
the transept
and there are church.
here to see the grand old
Sauveur, which forms a striking object from
St.
remarkable
to stop
of
traces
central tower is
is
very ancient and
as old as the twelfth century
Norman work
in
this
fine
old
There are several interesting monuments, and the
cumbrous high
altar
was the
gift
who was Abbe of Redon. The town of Redon really owes
of Cardinal Richelieu,
its
origin to the abbey,
which was founded as early as 832 by Nomenoe.
abbey buildings, which are now occupied not earlier than the seventeenth century. old gabled houses in the
After
It
we
left
Redon
as a
As we
college, are
There are some
Grande Rue.
the pine-trees disappeared, the edges
of the railway banks were purple with heather, chestnut-trees.
The
got nearer
and above were
Vannes the country was
pretty
and English looking, though here and there groves
of
and stretches of brown moorland reminded us of the
firs
Border.
Hitherto, except in the salt works and the costume
in the peninsula of
Le
Croisic,
and the caps and
kerchiefs
MORBIHAN.
8
we had not noticed any very special features in The Brittany; but here came a change in the scenery. fields, instead of being divided by hedges, were fenced by fragments of granite fastened together by wattles. About half-way between Redon and Vannes is the station of Nantes,
of Malansac, and from here there
is
a correspondence to
This old lordship passed, in 1349, by the house of Rochefort to the house of
Rochefort-en-terre.
marriage, from
There are
Rieux.
still
some towers standing of
the old
castle.
The church has been restored and altered out of
interest,
but the town
The town
streets.
view
is
is
is full
all
of quaint old houses and steep
well placed,
and from the
castle the
very picturesque.
It is better to
take a carriage at Rochefort to accomplish
the expedition to the lande of Lanvaux and
its
neighbour-
hood, described by Monsieur Fouquet in his useful
little
book, " Guide des Touristes et des Archeologues dans
Morbihan."
The menhirs here
promiscuously
;
they are very
le
are said to
be flung about
numerous,
and with
the
curious dolmens are worth seeing, forming a kind of fitting
entry to the dreary
Morbihan country, with
its
long stretches
The moor and its awful Druidic monuments. stands close Rouge to the the Chapeau road menhir called of barren
leading to Malestroit, and near the village of Carhon
enormous dolmen, or reported to be so
many
full
grotto,
42
feet
long; but the place
an is
of interest for students of archaeology,
of these curious remains being
the wild plains of Lanvaux. to account for the
is
immense
The
still
said to exist
following legend
stretch of dreary waste
is
on
told
which
reaches westward from above Rochefort to Plaudren and its
neighbourhood.
THE LEGEND OF THE LANDE OF LANVAUX.
69
THE LEGEND OF THE LANDE OF LANVAUX. Once on a time on
villages
it
huge desolate waste had more
this
than any other of the plains to the north of
now
Vannes, and just where Coetdelo fields
a pretty
smiling
village
surrounded b/
and orchards.
happened
It so
through reached
them
stood
gloomy pond of
the
exists
the
world
Paul were travelling
St.
was doing,
and they
pouring rain which had drenched
this village in a
on
what
see
to
They were poorly
to the skin.
wallets
and
that St. Peter
clothed,
and carried
their shoulders to hold the crusts they
begged as
they went along, and sticks in their hands to keep off dogs.
The two
saints
house in the the
kitchen
knocked
at the
and asked leave
village, fire.
first
Now
door of the
finest
to dry themselves
by
happened that Mr. Richard,
it
the owner of the house, who was both dishonest and As soon as he saw uncharitable, opened the door himself. the saints, thinking
them beggars, he threatened
that
if
they did not instantly decamp he would set his dog on them.
At
this the
away
to the other
knocked asked
poor saints were so greatly
at the
end of the
terrified that
village,
and
this
they ran
time they
door of the poorest hovel in the place, and
for shelter.
This was the hut of Gaffer Misery, who, seeing his
wet through and shivering, welcomed them kindly.
down, good
friends,"
he
said,
your clothes," and then he
visitors
" Sit
" rest yourselves and dry
set light to
a bit of charred
wood which he had picked up that morning, and offered them a drink of sour milk. For food he could only give them some
crusts of black
bread which he had himself
MORBIHAN.
;o
begged that morning,
and no longer able
When was
poor Misery was old and infirm,
for
work
to
for his living.
eaten, St. Peter said to Misery
all
"Thou
Thou
a good man.
art
thou hast received, and thy charity
May
God.
the love of
for
and the bread
the charred log had burned out,
Wish, and thy desire
hast given us for
is real,
all
was given
it
thy charity.
thy faith equal
be granted."
shall
At these words Misery recognised the presence of
He
on
fell
"
and
that
only one possession, Blessednesses," he said,
whosoever
climb
shall
descend from
to
discover the
me
;
but every year I
it
thief,
my
am
Grant me, then, that
apple-tree shall have
without
my
robbed of
leave.
In
and your Blessednesses
way
this
will
no power I shall
have done for
a thousandfold more than I have done for you."
" St.
an apple-tree
is
while I go out begging.
fruit
its
saints.
knees before them.
his
" I have
that
Thy
wish
is
granted," said the saint, and
St.
Peter and
Paul vanished from the sight of the beggar.
Next autumn Misery's apple-tree was laden with "
fruit.
Aha
"
!
he thought
;
" I shall
for
fine
once eat these
nice apples myself."
One morning he came the tree to see
if
out of his hut, and looking up at
the fruit were ripe enough to gather, he
saw the leaves shaking
violently,
and behold
!
Mr. Richard among the branches, making vain
there was efforts
to
descend. "
How now!"
Richard, you
poor? thief.
exclaimed Misery; "it
who have
However,
all
plenty,
who
is
you,
steal the
is
it,
Mr.
goods of the
the parish shall learn that you are a
Stay where you are,
my
fine
gentleman
!
THE LEGEND OF THE LANDE OF LANVAUX. Misery ran off and
And
summoned
71
the villagers,
all
without paying heed to the rich man's cries for help.
The neighbours came trooping up, nothing loth, and laughed and cried shame loudly on Mr. Richard, who was detested both for his avarice and his churlish ways.
Mr. Richard, overcome with shame, implored Misery
to
help him out of the tree. " I will pay you the value of all the fruit I have ever
taken," he said, "
and a
But Misery shook tree
"
nightfall.
till
Take
care,
free this time,
do you
will
his
fat
sum
besides."
head and
left
Then he went and
Mr. Richard," he
released the culprit.
my
you
off scot if
you
in such a hurry that
he
but he took Misery's advice and
left
have to stay up in the
Mr. Richard scrambled down :
struggling in the
said, " I let
but don't try to steal
nearly broke his neck
him
apples again
;
tree."
the apple-tree alone.
At
last
Misery became very
ill.
All at once Death
appeared to him, and said in a loud voice, " Misery, you must follow me. "
My
that I
good
am
friend," said the beggar, "
always ready to follow you, for
ask one
you
will
trouble
last service
life
I
have nothing to it.
Still,
no
without one lingering wish, and
of you.
You
to render
it.
I
are so kind-hearted that
not refuse me, especially as
and time
along,
you must know
take out of the world and nothing to leave in soul ever yet quitted
Come
Are you ready ?"
it
will cost
Close to
my
you door
little is
a
beautiful apple-tree laden with fruit just ready for eating
now
before I die I wish to eat one of these apples, and
ask you to be so good as to letch
"Is
that all?"
said
Death.
me
I
a nice one."
"For once
in
a way
I
MORBIHAN.
72
make myself
should like to
than to any one
So Death hurried
when he he stuck
my
else,
and climbed the
off
He strove
fast.
and
it
He
down
the tree
much
in
" That
power stronger than
am
me
"
Ten
Grant "
of
years
that,
I will leave
you
want to
live
I
!
and you
his
own.
deaf.
go; I have so
;
" you
may be
in a
let
in
you
off this time,
and
peace for ten years."
till
the Last Judgment.
may come down."
Have your way,
all
even Death
not."
" But," said Death, " I swear to
you release
he begged,
;
have not a minute to spare."
very well," said Misery
all
is
I
hurry to depart, but I
if
me
friend," said Death, "let
hand that
;
on Misery, but Misery was
called loudly
"Ah, my
to a
There
was another matter.
to break
But
apple-tree.
he howled, he raved, he struggled. All in vain
was obliged to submit
you more
to
poor Misery."
come down
tried to
agreeable,
Misery.
You
shall exist
till
the
end
things."
And Death
sprang furiously from the apple-tree, his
scythe in his hand houses, and
trees
;
and
—only
in his rage
he
mowed down men,
Misery remained on the desolate
waste.
There
is
very
much
of interest in the neighbourhood of
both Rochefort and Redon, and they can both be reached easily
from Vannes.
teems with
interest,
late years in the
many much
Indeed,
the
whole
lies
Morbihan
and although much has been done of
way
of research, owing to the presence of
distinguished local archaeologists, still
of
still
one
feels that
buried and perhaps unnoticed in this weird,
marvellous country.
MORBIHAN. CHAPTER
IV.
VANNES.
FEELING
A
one
of intense interest grows
and deepens
really enters this strange weird province,
scarcely possible that the earnest
and
and
land to which the old story of " Eyes and
more than
how much those who
to
Normandy, and one
is
No Eyes"
mere holiday cannot
without becoming fascinated
is
applies
But even
travel in
by the strange
Morbihan mysterious
power of these weird misshapen stones scattered over
and
will
gist
;
it,
soon cease to wonder at the awe with which the
peasants regard them. interest,
a
painfully conscious
escapes even very intent research. prefer
it is
diligent traveller will
be disappointed in his investigations, though Brittany
far
as
and
The whole department
is
full
of
also full of practical teaching for the archaeolo-
while those
who only aim
at acquiring a taste instead
of science in such researches, will not only learn
own but
without any effort of their
will feel
much
inspired to
study this most interesting lore.
The caps ing,
and
of the
women
entirely different
at
Vannes
station looked charm-
from any we had seen, but the
MORBIHAN.
74
faces beneath
them were not
and
No
serious.
although
— they were
one seemed to be
many both
in
their
The women
first
appeared cowed and
and Le Mans, and the men looked but as
we got
;
pression ot
was very pleasant.
We
selected at
on the
;
of at Chartres
town our
first
im-
had been led
and
in
which
streets, in
it
to
which
would not be
but when we reached the inn
fresh
Vannes; and when we began the old walled town,
we had
open Place Napoleon, we found that
there were air and cleanliness
least
without
to reward the trouble of those in search
of picturesque antiquities,
pleasant to lodge
dark eyes
and gave short
surly,
expect a dirty town with narrow twisted
much
and
spirits,
silent,
much
into the
sullen answers
there was not
gloomy
aspect was decidedly de-
any of the French gaiety we had seen so
it
good
men and women had good
of
and regular features pressing.
attractive
to
to penetrate
we found,
too,
how
be
found
in
the streets of
very interesting
it is.
This old walled part city,
is
by
which has spread round
dral, the shops,
walls,
far the smallest it
on
all
sides
;
portion of the
but the cathe-
and the Mairie are within the quaint, ancient
which may be traced
all
round the old town, and
which, though often built up by houses, retain their machicolations,
and present continually the most charming
bits to the artist.
Roman
period,
Some
little
of these walls are of the Gallo-
and others are of various periods from the
fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries.
The
Porte Prison, or Porte Pater, from
Paterne or Pater,
St.
old gate called is
the most interesting and curious ot the remaining gates.
The first
and wind so much that it is not easy one's way directly from one point to another.
streets twist
to find
at
THE CATHEDRAL.
We
went down the Rue de
la
75
Prefecture on our
way
to
the cathedral, stopping at the late Monsieur Galle's Library as
we passed, and getting a talk with its courteous The old stone houses are very quaint. Each
projects over that
below that where one
mistress.
story so
an
street runs at
angle from another the corners of the eaves almost touch.
This
is
especially to be seen in the Place
Rue de
the end of the
la
Henri Quatre,
at
There are many
Prefecture.
curious old houses here, notably the block at the corner of
Rue des Chanoines. We went down this street, beside the now ruined cloisters of the cathedral. There is not much to remark in the exterior of this building except the the
ugliness of the spire.
The is
cathedral
said to have
is
dedicated to
been the
appeared in Morbihan
first
Peter, but
St.
Clair
missionary to Vannes.
He
St.
in the third century.
Clair died
St.
in 280, in the reign of Probus, after converting to Chris-
tianity
the military labourers
employed by
up by the orders of
in replanting the Gallic vineyards torn
Domitian. the
These converts placed under the protection Pope,
reigning
employed during
Patern
St.
CorneTy,
St.
theii
origin of the special
Brittany.
emperor
this
labours.
worship of II.,
the
St.
elected
which they
cattle
This
is
of
said
to
be the
Corne'ly throughout
by the voice of the
people Bishop of Vannes in 575, is said to have taken possession of a magnificent public building in the heart of the
city,
and,
hitherto used for public assemblies at
having
worship.
It
purified is
it,
he consecrated
therefore probable that
building was used as the church
by the Northmen
till
in the tenth century.
it
this
pagan
for
rites,
Christian
Gallo-Roman
Vannes was
pillaged
MORBIHAN.
76
The
cathedral
begun
now
existing
supposed to have been
is
eleventh century.
in the
contains specimens of
It
the architecture of almost all
the centuries between the
eleventh and the eighteenth.
It
five
chapels on each side
of St. Vincent. dral closely
;
and
j
its
is far
glory
in 141 7, and, to
in
the sixteenth century the
of the seventeenth
the relics of this saint
is
monk
up
to take
his
abode
at
the
the
Vannes
though he only lived two years in Brittany, he
have evangelised the whole country.
of St. Vincent.
at her
He
own
;
and
all
his people,
at the earnest
and
his relics
town on the
commemoration of
servation to the town of Vannes, for Philip II. tried to get possession
was
request, buried at the feet
carried in procession through the in September, as a
He
and when the Duchess
was canonised in 1456
supplication of the duke
Sunday
is
Duke John V. persuaded
of Vannes.
Jeanne died, she was,
still
Chapel of the Pardon.
Ferrier
buried in the cathedral of Vannes
are
have been
to
founder, was buried here in 1540.
Spanish Dominican
seems
cathe-
more curious than admirable. John
The chapel of St. Vincent The possession of century. great
first
built the chapel of the Saint
also called the
is
round, and
Danielo,
that the
The nave seems
Archdeacon Danielo
Sacrement, which is
the chapel
is
resembled in construction the abbey church
sixty years in building
This
of these the largest
Old documents prove
of St. Gildas de Rhuys.
Italian
consists of a nave, with
first
their pre-
of Spain
of them at the end of the next
century.
As we came out
of the
special features of a Breton
with a dark hood,
full
cathedral
town
—a
we saw one
of the
small cart, covered
of sacks of charcoal.
A
large yellow
11
VANNES ET SA FEMME.
77
was fastened under it, and beside it walked a huge Breton in a broad low-crowned black hat, a black jacket, and
do°-
dark trousers.
He
stalked along with
much
and
dignity,
there was something strangely masterful in his large narrow
dark eyes and long straight nose quite
ling,
—masterful
and yet
Norman
another order of face from that of a
Opposite the cathedral
charcoal dealer.
repel-
the curious old
is
doorway of what was formerly the Chapelle du Presidial. From the cathedral we went along the Rue St. Pierre, and then
came
to the right,
down
No.
to a confectioner's shop,
we could
see the
room
of
Rue
the
des Orfevres,
Vincent
St.
We
15.
narrow and steep that the top
is
it
little
made one giddy
a very small room, which
is
now converted
A little
farther on, at the corner of the
way
It is
They support
femme. story,
and
street is
At
it.
been
into a chapel.
Rue Noe,
figures called
two grotesque half-length stone
staircase so
said to have
St.
if
and were
to climb
occupied by
Vincent.
asked here
Ferrier,
guided through some back premises to a
we
till
Vannes
are
et
sa
the corner of the projecting upper
are very quaintly coloured.
Farther
down
the
an old archway called Arche de Noe.
From the Rue Noe' we found Rue des Halles, and this led us
our
way on
the left into the
out on the Place des Lices.
This in 1380 was the scene of the Battle of the Five, which took place just twenty-nine years after the Battle of the Thirty.
and
five
This battle of Vannes consisted of
French knights, and was fought
Duke Jean IV. and
of the Earl of
appear to have had the best of des Lices, in 141 7, that
St.
it.
five
English
in the presence of
Buckingham. The French It
was also on the Place
Vincent Ferrier preached
to the
people, and, though he only spoke the Spanish tongue, he
MORBIHAN.
78
made
himself miraculously understood by
all.
The famous
Chateau de l'Hermine, the residence of the Dukes of tany, once
stood on the Place des Lices.
Library and the
From
Museum
The
Brit-
Public
of Natural History are placed here,
the Place des Lices
we went on
to the Place de la
Maine, a very quaint opening, on which stands the old Mairie with
its
double
flight of steps,
Tour de
and on the
left
an old
Clisson.
garden wall, over which appeared
great
magnolia-trees
covered with creamy blossoms.
We
went down beyond the Mairie into the Rue Basse
Cour, and soon reached the famous Tour du Conne'table, once, according to some writers, the north-east
angle of
the Chateau de l'Hermine, which, as has been said, stood
on the Place des Lices. After the battle of Auray, Clisson quarrelled with Jean IV.,
because the duke gave the estate of Gavre, near the Constable's
castle
of Blain, to the English knight, Sir John
CLISSON
On
Chandos.
AND DUKE JOHN
Clisson spent
all
day and
" Sir Olivier de
night in contriving
all
Du
death of
the
" Henceforth," says Froissart,
Guesclin.
79
took service with the Kins of
this Clisson
who made him Constable on
France,
IV.
how he
might best damage both the English and his old master."
When the
the duke heard that Clisson was going to help raise
enormous ransom asked by the English
of Charles de Blois, to
his
and
this heir of
own daughter Margaret de
furious, fearing that Clisson
was very unpopular with
He
resolved,
meant
own
his
the English, and
ness for allies.
marry
to
he
therefore,
for the eldest
Clisson,
Penthievre
became
he
to dethrone him.
subjects from
had
lately
son
He
his fond-
offended these
by one bold
stroke to
recover the favour of the English, and put a stop to the invasion
which the Constable had
country,
and
for
planned against that
which troops were assembling both
Harfleur and at Treguier.
"
The Duke
at
of Brittany," says
Froissart, " to accomplish his plan, appointed a great par-
liament to be held at Vannes, and sent very affectionate letters to his
barons and knights, to entreat that they would
be present
but he was particularly pressing with the Con-
;
stable of France, adding that
he was more anxious to see
The Constable never thought of excusing himself, for the duke was now his acknowledged lord, and he wished to be in his favour. He came therefore to Vannes, as did great numbers of other barons. The assembly was numerous and lasted some time, and many things were him than
all
the rest.
discussed which concerned the duke and the country; but the intended invasion of
the
duke pretended
strict silence.
The
to
England was never touched
know nothing about
it
on, for
and kept a
parliament was held in the castle of La
MORBIHAN.
80
Motte
Vannes, where the duke gave a grand dinner to
at
the barons of Brittany.
."
.
.
duke's hospitality, intending
and embark on board
for Tre'guier,
Duke
which was
his fleet,
You must know
ready for him the
The Constable returned the when all was done " to make that in these days
of Brittany was building a very
handsome and
strong castle called the Castle of Ermine, which was almost
Being eager
completed.
to catch the Constable,
him, the Lord of Beaumanoir, and other barons, sirs,
entreat that before
I
come and I
my
see
castle of
you
quit this
'
My
dear
country you will
may view what
Ermine, that you
have done and the plans
he said to
I intend executing.'
They
all
accepted his invitation, for his behaviour had been so kind
and open that they never thought he was imagining mischief.
.
.
When
.
the duke, the Constable,
arrived,
the
Lords of Laval and Beaumanoir, dismounted, and entered within
its
The duke
apartments.
hand from chamber
to
chamber
led the Constable
....
by the
they came to the
keep, and stopping at the entrance, the duke said, Olivier, there
is
not a
man on
stands masonry like you
examine the walls
well,
shall remain, otherwise
"The
Constable,
replied he
go a
i
first.
little
and it
if
you say
shall
be
it is
would cheerfully do No,' said the duke,
so, '
under-
beg you, and
properly built
it
al
who thought nothing
ill
was intended,
and desired the duke
go by
to
yourself, while I talk
Constable, desirous to acquit himself, entered the
tower and ascended
in
enter, therefore, I
who
Sir
here with the Lord of Laval.'
"The the
;
this side of the sea
'
first floor,
the
staircase.
When
he had passed
some armed men who had been
ambush, knowing how they were
there posted
to act, shut the
door
IMPRISONMENT OF CLISSON.
81
whom
below them and advanced on the Constable,
him
seized, and, dragging
into an apartment, loaded
As they were
with three pairs of fetters.
they said,
'My
obliged to do
by the
him
putting them on
what we are doing,
lord, forgive it
they
strict
for we are we have had from
orders
Duke of Brittany.' " The Lords of Laval and Beaumanoir,
the
hearing the noise,
remonstrated, but the duke caused Beaumanoir also to be imprisoned, and but for the firm remonstrances of Laval
would perhaps have put both captives
to death.
Morice, in his History of Brittany, gives a
He
account of the conduct of the duke.
duke desired
Sir
John de Bazvalan
murdered during the
secretly
but the duke would not death.
But
in the
Bazvalan asked lord,
if
At
his orders
and insisted on the Constable's
and
duke was
knight departed and
" Yes,
had been obeyed.
last night,
this the
the
have the Constable
his
full
body
left
is
of grief,
Bazvalan leave his presence and never see
The
says that
morning he repented, and sending
he was drowned
a garden,"
much worse
Bazvalan remonstrated,
night.
listen,
to
Dom
for
my
buried in
and bade
his face
again.
the duke to the agony of his
remorse, but after a time he went back and told him that the Constable
still
According to
lived.
the
ransom
prisoner.
It
for
was
manoir should be
and
duke no
to the
Duke
respite
till
which he would liberate at
last
settled
set free that
that 100,000 francs, the
castles of Broc,
Lord of Laval,
the
Froissart,
brother-in-law, gave the
that the
Clisson's
he had named his
illustrious
Lord of Beau-
he might collect the ransom,
town of Jugon, and the strong
Lamballe, and Josselin should be ceded
of Brittany.
The Constable was
released,
MORBIHAN.
82
but he was so disturbed by the insult he had received that
he gave up the invasion of England, and also the
office of
Constable of France, saying that he would "no longer hold
what he could not gain any honour by."
As one reads Froissart one cannot wonder at the hatred they seem to felt by the French historians to the English always going and down throughout the land up have been ;
fighting or marauding.
It is quite a relief to find
one of the
gossiping Flemish chronicler's chapters with this heading
" Sir Robert
Domme
:
Knolles and Sir John Chandos march from
without doing anything."
Jean de
Clisson's daughter, the stern, vindictive wife of
Penthievre, avenged her father's captivity most mercilessly
on the duke's
son,
John V.,
whom
her castle of Champtoceaux.
It
she kept imprisoned in
was during
imprison-
this
Duke John vowed to give his weight in gold to cathedral of Nantes, a vow which he accomplished on
ment the
that
his liberation.
The Constable's Tower has may say a treble charm, for close inspection
and
as
a double interest it
is
now
— one
equally picturesque on
viewed from the Garenne Avenue,
and, besides the tradition respecting Clisson's imprisonment, it is
now
the
museum
of the interesting relics discovered in
the dolmens and barrows of the Morbihan. is
well
worth several
visits,
there
is
so
This
much
museum there to
provoke curious speculation, although seemingly nothing to throw
distinct
light
on the troubled question of the
purpose and origin of these weird stones.
We
went
in
by a
little
flower-tangled garden,
door
in the old grey wall to a
and there was the old tower with
its
severe machicolations above, speaking of a rude military age,
TOUR DE CLISSON. while over the walls below striving to
kinds of climbing plants were
all
the grey stones with
cover
and the
the darkness of ivy green
83
clinging
wreaths,
American
rich red of
creeper leaves asserting their hues above the more subdued tints.
The museum
— octagon-
chambers with deeply splayed windows.
shaped said
occupies two floors of the tower
that
The moat The first
the is
sea
below
once washed the wall of it,
It
is
tower.
this
but there are houses built between.
floor contains various interesting objects of the
Middle Ages, some curious embroidery, and some beautiful
Aubusson
and fragments of
interesting statues
;
:
all
interesting
the remains found in the wonderful barrows
Mont
or cromlechs of
Michel
St.
de Tumiac, and others
The
seals,
but on the floor above,
much more
reached by the old staircase, are treasures
and
tapestry, a curious collection of coins
at
Carnac, of
at Plouharnel,
La Butte
Locmariaker, &c.
collection of celts, or axe-heads, formed of fibrolite,
jadeite,
and some other materials,
and sharpened,
is
said to
lace beads with pendants
turquoise (these from
all
There are also neck-
be unique.
and
Mont
St.
exquisitely polished
bracelets, of callais or green
Michel, Carnac), fragments of
bones, and other curious objects found in these dolmens, especially a collection of urns.
A
little
way beyond
the tower, at the
bottom of the
Rue Basse Cour, we passed through a small gate in the wall, commonly called Porte Poterne; but it is a mere From door, and not older than the seventeenth century. this a bridge led over
right
and
left,
the
moat or
was an avenue
to surround this part of the
of'
town;
river,
and facing
trees
which
this
is
the
us,
seemed
promenade
M OR BIHAN.
8
Douves de
called
the bridge,
is
the
la
line from Garenne, and beyond, in a
Garenne
itself.
back; and
not
I
do
then looked crossed the bridge, and and delightful colour the think for entire picturesqueness
We view
we saw was
was the Tour du
There surpassed in any town in Bnttany. the Constable frowning darkly at us from
among
trees
and
nestling beneath it old town wall, houses of beside the water, a range gardens ; in the foreground, we along the bank, as far as washing-sheds, and dotted standing and clothes, and groups of could see, boxes full of diligently at a well-worn blue kneeling women, now soaping snowy shirt in the brown stream. petticoat, now rinsing a
in one washers was a dear little baby Close by one of the at the noise around it. boxes, crowing and laughing
of the
The sun was
setting,
and the
level light fell brightly
on
ohve while it softened to a dreamy the women's white caps, An artist could have filled a sketchthe surrounding scene.
washerwomen's brown faces and book on the bridge-the blue and grey gowns, grouped snowy caps and low-toned in Normandy, their surroundings. As so harmoniously with
gay colour
is
rarely visible in
Morbihan, although one occa-
sionally sees a red skirt.
that we stayed a long time This view was so enchanting washers lights change on the on the bridge, watching the
and
the
shadows deepen on the
castle
and the
trees.
It
had
along the avenue on the left, grown dusk as we came slowly wall-not so old, however here out the interesting old tracing
as
town-till we reached Porte on the north and west of the
called, because is now generally Pater or Porte Prison, as it for male as a place of confinement at one time it served for females. the Constable's Tower did
criminals, as
PORTE PRISON.
85
a remarkable old gate, a Gothic doorway flanked
It is
two massive towers, between which shield the
a lion bearing on a
is
arms of Brittany. The machicolations of the wall
The
adjoining this gate are of the fourteenth century.
from the walls of Vannes correspond
outlets
directly, with the six
Roman
The Porte Prison
writers.
finally, if
is
the Porte
Poterne opens
to the oldest part of the walls.
foundation existing in Vannes
—and
Passing by
Rue du Mene, we The oldest bits of
Porte Prison, and keeping along the
these are said to be
in construction
Porte Prison to the Tour du
not
almost in a line with the
almost directly on the ancient road to Nantes.
undoubtedly Gallo-Roman
six
roads spoken of by ancient
ancient road to Bohalgo, and
come
by
Mene on
—reach
the north,
from the
and from
behind the Hotel du Commerce to the Marche au Seigle on the west. to
very interesting, though
It is
trace these old, very picturesque
town
it
takes
some
time,
walls all round the
but the light grew so dim that we were not able to
;
our circuit that evening.
finish
Next morning we went down then
;
Porte
Vincent
St.
Rue des Halles, a quaint old Rue Noe, where once stood a
town by the
through the street
to the
the
into
remarkable house called Maison du Parlement, or Chateau Gaillard
\
and
then,
A
Poissonnerie.
busy market was going on
ill-paved Place, with
and
set
among
lettuce
;
all
it
salt piled in
over this
we had not
straw baskets
vast heaps of cabbage, carrots, onions, beans,
but there was scarcely any attempt to arrange
the vegetables in rather
a branch of trade in
Brown and white
hitherto seen.
was
by the Rue des Orfevres, to the Place
stalls
or booths, as in
Normandy
;
they lay
huddled together on the uneven stones of the Place.
MORBIHAN.
86
There was much pleasant variety of costume
brown gowns, with chocolate
in black or
and reaching
chiefs, figured in white,
women
the
or purple necker-
Brown,
to their waists.
women, with baskets of
Datient, stolid old
:
fresh
sardines
buy
glistening with exquisite colour, asked us to
we
as
passed, but without any of the tempting ways and amusing
Lumps
words of the Norman market-women.
and shape of a
the size
tall
on the tops of large
hat,
baskets,
of butter,
were everywhere exposed without any attempt
shade them or set them off with cool green leaves instead
the fowls,
of being packed in baskets,
;
to
and
hung
in
There was " a rough-
feathered bunches tied by the legs.
and-ready " practical look about everything.
We Porte
turned to the St.
Vincent
in appearance, for
century. this,
of
The
;
left,
more
it is
and found ourselves close
interesting from association than
in the Italian style of the seventeenth
old gate was doubtless of the
modern portion
the most
the stones of the wall
same date
of the old walls.
On
one
The
was destroyed during the Revolution,
statue of St. Vincent
new one has been placed
relics of the
as
adjoining this was found the
" Cest cepvre a este parfaict Tan 1593."
inscription,
but a
to the
in
niche; and the
its
Spanish saint are each year borne in procession
through the archway and round the walls of Vannes.
This gate of
At high water the water
is
St.
Vincent leads directly on to the a pleasant spot.
this is
the long
double avenue of trees houses with gardens
walk beside the to
On
the right side of
promenade of the Rabine, with ;
and on the
full
of trees
;
left
river to get the
there
It is
its
seem to be
beyond, there
river planted with trees.
walk beside the
port.
is
also a
worth while
view of the old walled
THE LEGEND OF
TRYPHENA.
ST.
town surmounted by the cathedral, though
much
87
this
is
better from the river itself; but the best view
is
seen
from
the avenue leading to the Garenne. Till
we were
settled
Vannes we did not know the
at
interesting history of the
Hotel de France, or
should have taken up our quarters there. site
Tryphena and
lather of St.
but this tradition
Waroch held flying St.
by
we
on the
tradition to
Count of Vannes, the
protector of St. Gildas
the
who
affirm that
court in the isles to the south of
the
having been colonised by Britons
isles
from their country in the
fifth
This legend
century.
Tryphena and her husband Comorre, the Breton
Bluebeard,
the chief legend of Vannes.
is
legend on which
The famous friend
I.,
scouted by historians,
is
his
Morbihan, these
of
It stands
of the ancient Chateau de la Motte, said
be the actual residence of Waroch
I think
This
founded the open-air play of
is
Gildas
St.
le
is
not the
Ste. Triffine.
Sage had become the trusted
and chief adviser of Count Waroch and the apostle
of Morbihan.
Tidings of his sanctity and his influence
having reached the ears of Comorre, Count of Cornouaille, a wicked and vicious lord,
who seems
to
be the received
prototype of Bluebeard, he sent and begged the saint to visit
him, and
St.
invitation, in the
into a
the
Gildas judged
expedient to accept
hope of converting
He
meek lamb.
Blavet,
it
this
this bloodthirsty wolf
therefore left his monastery beside
and, accompanied
by some of
his
monks,
repaired to the castle of Comorre.
But Comorre did not want to be converted, seen the beautiful
Waroch, and had an
offer of
Tryphena
at
;
but, as he
had
the court of her father
fallen violently in love with her
marriage
He
was known
to
and made be a wife-
MORBIHAN.
88
—
his practice
being to
marry a wife and then, as soon as she was with
child, to
he had been at once refused
killer,
murder
her.
In this way he had killed at
means of
Gildas to induce Count
suit,
St.
wives of
Waroch
to accept his
and the cruel monster so worked on the
went
Waroch and persuaded him
to
whom
He hoped by
violently enamoured.
he had been
first
five
saint that
to consent
he
to the
marriage.
much promise
After
of
good behaviour on the
part
of
Comorre, the marriage took place. For some time the tyrant kept his word, but one day, on his return
home
absence, he found his wife embroidering a are I
for ? "
you working
hope soon
he said
sternly.
to give you," said
frowning heavily, and from
this
little
and she resolved
with him
till
cap.
" For the
He
Tryphena.
a short "
Who
little
son
went away
day Tryphena became aware
of a change in her husband's behaviour. terrified,
after
She was much
to return to her father
and stay
after the birth of her child.
Accordingly one morning she mounted her horse and set out for Vannes
but just before she reached the city the
;
tyrant overtook her,
and
as she knelt
on the ground implor-
ing mercy he seized her by her beautiful hair and cut off
her head.
Count Waroch, hearing of Albert
le
Grand)
his daughter's
great hall in the Chateau de
then set off to find
Tryphena
mons his
St.
to
life.
St.
Gildas,
body
la
caused (says
to be carried to the
Motte, at Vannes, and
and implored him
Gildas recommended this
forest of
disaster,
to restore
But instead of obeying the count's sum-
monks, and then started
in the
this
off
affair to
for
the prayers of
the Castle Finans,
Quenecan, the residence of the barbarous
THE LEGEND OF
TRYPHENA.
ST.
89
Comorre, and summoned the murderer to answer
Comorre remained behind
crimes.
answering
this
appeal
;
for his
his closed gates without
and then the
saint flung a handful
of dust against the castle wall, which crumbled and
fell,
thereby destroying the garrison and grievously wounding the tyrant.
Gildas went on to Vannes, put Tryphena's head on
St.
her body, and restored her to she would
that
follow
and devote the
my
so,
for a
of her
daughter," the holy
woman
to follow a
your child
till
rest
the
is
life.
She at once declared
saint
wheresoever he went
life
man
to
said
"
;
it
born, and then I will
it
when her
child
Tremeur, and handed
father
consecrate you to
God's service in some convent of nuns;"
after she called
Not
were not seemly
Remain with your
monk.
the chronicler, she did, and
"
God's service.
it
which,
adds
was born soon over to the care
of St. Gildas, to be brought up in the monastery of Rhuys.
Monsieur Lallemand contradicts Albert says there
is
la
Motte
for the
Constance, at
the
It
was
Dukes of Brittany;
for
des
Lices, ;
on
nephew Arthur, and dukedom to his mother his
her third husband,
141 7,
as the palace
Duke John
V. and
Jeanne of France, daughter of Charles VI.,
resided in the Chateau de
Motte
Philip Augustus
some time used
but, in
who la
King
time married to
that
Thouars.
of
murder of
offered the government' of
his duchess,
mentions the Chateau
as the place of assembly of the States of Brittany
John Lackland
of the
He
at Vannes.
when they demanded vengeance
Guy de
Grand, and
not the slightest foundation for supposing that
Count Waroch dwelt de
le
offered
St.
l'Hermine, on the Place
Vincent Ferrier
but the humble-minded
the
Chateau de
preacher refused
the
MORBIHAN.
9o
splendid
preferring his
gift,
room
little
in
Rue
the
des
Orfevres. It is said that the
la
ancient foundations of the Chateau de
Motte date from the
sixth century, but
Prefecture,
till
the present
was entirely
by Bishop Fajon as the
rebuilt in the eighteenth century
episcopal palace of Vannes.
it
After this
new and
was used as the
it
very ugly building was
erected outside the town walls, near the Porte Prison or Pater. as
Since then the Chateau de la Motte has been used
an hotel
The
for travellers.
present episcopal palace
on the
is
left
as one faces
Vannes from the Rabine. The Jesuit College of St. Francois Xavier lies nearer the town behind the bishop's palace. It once belonged to the
much
of St. Ursula,
who now occupy
smaller buildings in the old Capuchin convent
Place du Morbihan.
been the oldest of the began
sisters
The
College of
Yves seems
to
have
ecclesiastical institutions of Vannes.
in the sixteenth century,
placed under
St.
on the
but
it
languished until
it
It
was
the direction of the Jesuit fathers in the reign
of Louis XIII.
It is said at
one time to have numbered
1,200 pupils; and in 1660 the chapel, which had always
been
small,
ville, sister
became
so ruinous that Catherine de Franche-
of Claude of Francheville, seneschal and chief
magistrate of Vannes,
made an
offering of
300
louis d'or,
and during
thirteen following years gave 1,600 livres a year,
and other
large
building of a
sums
new
as
chapel.
they were wanted, towards the
The
fathers
wished to place the
arms of Mademoiselle de Francheville over the door of the building ; but she refused this, and proposed the words,
"Fundavit earn
altissimus," instead.
Jesuits were expelled from
all
After 1762,
when
the
public posts, the college went
THE ORDER OF THE ERMINE.
91
At the time of the descent on Quiberon it was converted into a powder magazine and a Finally, in 1802, it became the Comdepot for artillery.
many
through
changes.
munal College, which
on the Place
exists in the building
still
Napole'on.
There are several very interesting religious houses in This Mademoiselle Catherine the town and its suburbs. de Francheville, whose
good works, founded
women
seems to have been
life
Vannes a house of
in
full
of
retreat for
desiring to withdraw for a period from the bustle
and gaiety of ordinary
Before her death she had the
life.
consolation, says Monsieur Lallemand, of seeing four similar
houses
established in
Quimper, and
St.
Brittany
foundress,
her
humble
to permit herself to
their
Rennes,
at
Leon— all
Pol de
ledged
as
—
of which acknow-
although
she was too
be chosen as superior
Francoise d'Amboise, widow of
of them.
Malo,
St.
Duke
any
to
Pierre II.,
founded the convent of Trois Maries, and took the
veil
therein in 1469.
Duke John IV. instituted the Order of the Ermine at Vannes. The ermine being the ancient device of Morbihan, that in
little
animal
is
also found
the reign of this prince.
filled
by
The
on the coins issued
collar of the order
A ma
vie,"
This order was
insti-
figures of the ermine, with the motto, "
on a ribbon across the body of each.
was
tuted in 1351, after the battle of Auray and the death of
Charles de Blois.
There are so many excursions to be made from Vannes, that a fortnight or even longer will not exhaust the interest
of the neighbourhood.
Plenty of curious stones, dolmens,
basin stones, are near the town, and
may be
visited
on
toot,
MORBIHAN.
92
taking as a local guide Monsieur Fouquet's
useful
little
manual, " Guide des Touristes et des Arche'ologues dans le
Morbihan," which, however,
Very
mous rock
farther along
and near
of Bohalgo,
the road
brook,
little
This
fragments of rocks. also the Capitol.
make
rocks little
it
an open grotto formed of
is
is
called the Grotto of Jean II.,
little
stream, the trees,
stream, and passing through a to
Nantes.
When
a crucifix
wood
Following the
of chestnut-trees,
young peasant can clasp
a
These stone
and the
which stands on the high road to
completely in his arms, he wife.
Across the moor,
a most picturesque retreat.
we come
village
forms a charming contrast to the
It
The
arid desolate moor.
the
here one sees Vannes on the west,
and on the north the steeple of Rohic.
and beyond a
is
barren moor covered with
this is a
From
broken stones.
and
the enor-
is
of Hesqueno, close to the farmhouse of that
Some way
name.
not always exact.
is
near the town, on the Elven road,
is,
in popular belief,
crucifixes,
cross
this fit
to take a
sometimes most roughly
carved, are frequent throughout Brittany, at the corners of roads,
and often
times
they are
two or three
in
some very lonely deserted
simple
crucifixes,
spot.
Some-
sometimes they have
figures at the foot of the cross,
and
in the
extreme west and north of the country immense Calvaries
become
frequent, with
numerous groups of
figures rudely
carved.
There are also excursions to the ruins of a B.oman house
nised by
its
,
St.
and on a moor,
to
be recog-
three windmills, called the Three Kings, are
curious stones with cup-markings.
camp
Ave, near which are
of Villeneuve, a
hill
Beyond
on which may be
St.
Ave
some
is
the
distinctly traced
UFEVRIER AND THE
ST.
a triple
Roman
and many other
curiosities,
distances not too far for
The
Se'ne
fortification.
sailors of the
PINS.
and the
isle
should be visited
\
93
of Conleau,
they are at
good walkers.
peninsula of Sene are called Sinagots,
and use a very useful kind of boat pointed at each end. other villages
Se'ne, as in
fishers
and the women
At Limur, St. Ufevrier.
of which
Ufevrier
young
is is
girl
on the Morbihan, the men
cultivate the soil.
in this peninsula,
In the chapel
is
a
little
chapel dedicated to
a statue of the saint, one foot
is
pierced through and through with pins.
supposed to be a husband-finding
who can succeed
foot will have a
saint,
on the contrary, whose pin it
St.
and the
in sticking a pin firmly in his
husband before the end of the
time for a lover, and
In are
falls
may be
year.
out will have to wait
will
not get one.
She,
some
MORBIHAN. THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
CHAPTER Elven
\ 1 TE had its
we
heard so
much
Tour d'Elven
that
V.
—Tredion. of the Chateau de Largouet and
we wanted a long day thers:. So
started early, having arranged
breakfast nicely
packed to take with
by our landlady.
The
overnight to have our
us,
which was done very
first
part of the road was
bordered by chestnut-trees, and then the country opened widely on each side, showing stretches of blue distance.
Not long
afterwards
Elven, which reached.
is
we came
in view
of the
tower of
a landmark for some time before
After driving rather
is
more than two hours from
Vannes a road appeared on the
common overgrown
it
cut across a desolate
left,
with furze, at the farther side of which
was the tower.
Our
driver said that visitors usually
this point, as the still
road was very bad
early, the heat
had become
;
went on foot from
but, although
intense,
it
was
and there was no
shade to be seen on the long track across the common, so
we
did
not
feel
inclined
to
walk.
The road was
TOUR D'ELVEN.
95
Our little carriage pitched up and down alarmingly; and when we reached the thick wood which surrounds the tower, and hides it on nearer approach, we all preferred to walk, for the road had become very bad.
certainly
a series of ruts almost a foot in depth, and so rough that it Our guide said was not easy even to walk on their edges. the incessant rains of the last few weeks had
made
the
At length we reached the
approach much worse than usual.
end of the picturesque maze which seemed to circle round the fortress, and came out in sudden view of the ruins.
Then we saw
that a
much
older large round tower
had
been hidden by the massive donjon, and that we were Beyond was surrounded by the ruins of the old castle. another square tower, overgrown with
ivy.
The
effect
was
very striking.
Monsieur Octave
Feuillet,
who has
laid the scene of the
most dramatic portion of his book, " Le Roman d'un jeune Homme pauvre," in the Tour d'Elven, gives a most faithful
and admirable description of the ruins in the sentences beginning, " Rien de plus imposant, de plus fier et de plus sombre que ce vieux donjon," &c.
The donjon perfect top,
and
;
is
in excellent preservation,
this tall
.
octangular tower with
and a smaller tower
rising
and its
is
almost
crenelated
from the platform within the
battlements, has a most marvellous effect, surrounded on sides
by
its
deep wooded moat, while
and the surrounding
trees.
The
all
tall
all
about are the ruins
dark frowning Tour
d'Elven looks doubly grim seen through the tender green of ash
and beech.
Just
facing
its
low-browed portal a
narrow drawbridge crosses the moat.
There
is
a small farmhouse
close
by inhabited by the
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
96
concierge.
He
was going
show us the tower
We
just as well as
the trees
spot to breakfast
it
beyond the
in.
We
his sister could
he could.
were too hungry to explore
down among
he said
out, but
at
once
;
so
we
strolled
ruins, seeking a pleasant
soon found a charming green
Tour d'Elven.
slope
crowned by high
trees,
the blaze of the sunshine stretching
away
;
which made a screen from
in front
some distance
for
;
was the open country
and here we unpacked
the two baskets provided by our landlady. excellent, but alas
!
although she had packed
The
fare
was
serviettes for
THE CASTLE OF LARGOUET. each person and a table-cloth, she had knives
97
out plates and
left
and forks; and, although some of the breakfast
consisted of what Monsieur Fouquet calls " provisions de
bouche," we found
extremely
it
carve chicken
to
difficult
However, we managed
with a penknife.
and
breakfast thoroughly,
to enjoy
our
sunny morning on the grass
that
outside the old castle of Largouet will always be a bright
memory of Brittany. The co?irierge passed
He
us on his way.
us that he was a martyr to neuralgia,
stopped to
and he wanted
tell
to
know if we could tell him of a cure. The sun had risen above our screen of trees, and shone down on us so fiercely that we were glad to go back among the ruins. Our driver, who had turned his horse loose into one of the fields, went and summoned a guide, while we stood gazing up at the lofty imperious-looking tower.
may
arise partly
from
its
position, girt as
with trees, and yet rising
loftily
dark, frowning appearance
its
of Elven, for
its size,
;
above
all
it ;
on
is it
It
all sides
may be from
but we thought
tower
this
the most imposing-looking ruin
we saw
in Brittany.*
The who is
castle
was
built in
1356 by
said to have used for
which he took
Louis to the Crusades.
de Malestroit,
model a strong
fortress
when he accompanied
Palestine,
in
its
Odon
St.
This castle of Largouet passed
with the rest of the Malestroit property to the Rieux family
by marriage during the marriage of Duchess
and dismantled. *
M. Fouquet
It
Anne
civil
wars which preceded the
with Charles.
was not
says that in the
till
Then
it
the end of the fifteenth
moat and among the
found a rare snail-shell {H. Quimperiana).
H
was taken
ruins
may be
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
98
century that the
Marshal de Rieux found time and money from
to restore the castle self
ruins
its
;
and he contented him-
with rebuilding the donjon, the present Tour d'Elven.
Before
this,
the
ruinous towers
—perhaps
castle
—had
who was detained
one of the other more
served as a prison to our
Henry
VII.,
here partly from political motives con-
nected with England, and very
much from
the jealousy
felt
by the Duke of Brittany respecting his title, the earldom of Richmond having been an appanage of the dukedom of
Norman Conquest.
Brittany ever since the
Later
still
the
whole property passed into the possession of Fouquet, the minister of Louis
And
XIV.
memories cling round the old But
all
besides these, other historical walls.
our musings over the dark old fortress vanished at
who came
the sight of our guide,
rolling over the grass-grown
orchard between the drawbridge and her house, in sabots
much first
too big for her brown stockingless
She was the
thorough Breton peasant we had come in close con-
tact with,
Her
feet.
and she looked too picturesque
short green-black
sunshine
it
till
was
for
common
gown had burned and faded full
of charming colour;
life.
in the
her large
straight blue
apron nearly met behind her, and the bib came
high in front
;
front,
the
and seemed
body of her gown had a square opening to
be worn over a thick calico nightgown
with a large falling white collar and sleeves. short
Vannes cap, with
the forehead.
in
its
broad
She was old and
fat
She wore the
hem thrown back from and brown, but she had
been handsome once, and she looked
like a picture.
She went on before us across the drawbridge, and unlocked
As we passed through into the inner entrance she showed us the immense thickness of the
the door of the tower.
A BRETON GUIDE. There are two
walls.
to the top
is
of a
round, looking
one which mounts
staircases; the
As one mounts one
good width.
now down
99
circles
ruined interior,
the
into
now
We
out of external loopholes at the surrounding country.
passed the chapel on our way up, the
of
At
and marked by a
walls,
we
last
reached
the
Gothic window.
large
and
top,
the thickness
built in
guide
our
invited
us to walk round the grassed platform
on
issued to see the view
supported by the
but although
;
is
it
which we
to
ruined and broken, and at such
machicolations, the edge
is
an immense height
not a tempting promenade.
it is
guide waited a few moments, shoulders, she said, "
round
it
When
was young
I
would have run
without waiting to be asked twice."
The surrounding country castles
I
Our
and then, shrugging her
is flat,
and manor-houses grouped round the
them, to the north-west,
many ruined fortress; among
but there are
of the Chateau of
the remains
Kerleau, once belonging to the family of Descartes, and, to the north, the Chateau of Kernly, with
Our guide seemed
and while catechised
my me
at
affairs
one of the openings
companions went
who come
a few talk, some say nothing.
chateau
of the outside world. in the staircase,
to look at the chapel she " I see
respecting the English.
said, " but the visitors
huge round tower.
to take little interest in the
but she was curious about the
She seated herself
its
;
no one," she
and they are so
But
I
wish to
different
know
if
the
English are really so rich a people as folks say they are."
She was shocked to hear how dear provisions were in England, servants'
and then she wages, and
London and a
asked particularly the
seemed disappointed
to
rate
of
find that a
Paris cook were paid at nearly the
same
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
ioo
rate.
I
many
think I dissipated
of her notions about the
English.
One
my
of
companions asked her
and the good-natured dame was delighted Monsieur must have
staircase of her
But
she ran off as
— one
house to her bedroom, to put on her Sunday
of the muslin caps with long
pets reaching to the waist, which in
"
at the idea.
And
fete-day cap."
her,
her old bare brown legs would go up the outside
fast as
cap
my
him sketch
to let
Vannes.
broad-hemmed
we had
She then placed herself as
so
lap-
much admired
easily
and
naturally
as possible on a fragment of granite, and sat there chatting.
A
favourite pig
down
came and grunted round
and then
lay
She made a pleasant picture,
to sleep at her feet.
sitting
her,
under green leaves made almost transparent by the
sunshine and showing patches of the intense blue overhead. heat
Either the
mistress, for she
the
or
pig's
its
began to nod drowsily, and presently told
the artist that she was hungry, as she fasted.
overpowered
example
had not yet break-
Poor good-tempered old woman
!
— and
was
this
nearly two o'clock.
She came out again on the top of her looking most picturesque
breakfast,
there with
the
rounding of tender green, and wished us good-bye
went back It
is
village.
to the road
on our way
if
sur-
as
we
to the village of Elven.
worth going to see as a specimen of a Breton
The houses
are grim
and
savage-looking and unversed in to the
after
staircase,
cheerless,
all civilised
low arched doorways and gazed
they did not often see strangers.
cess of restoration, and,
incomplete
state,
seemed
so far as to
and the people
ways
;
they
came
at us curiously, as
The church was in prowe could judge in its
be in judicious hands.
A GALLO-ROMAN VILLA. At one corner in this
is
of the
churchyard
the portrait of a
in digging a
woman.
Some
oi
and dried
the oldest of the villagers then
who had
piety,
ago,
woman mummy.
grave in this churchyard, the body of a
was the body of a young
this
the bone-house, and
About ninety years
discovered, perfectly preserved
was
is
roi
many
died
that
remarkable virtue and
girl of
Her
years before.
was considered miraculous.
to a
remembered
preservation
She was treated as a
saint,
and
her remains, placed in the chapel of the churchyard, were
much
looked on with
veneration
;
M. de Fremin-
but, says
" the cannibals of 1793, being driven back into Elven
ville,
by the Royalists, broke
When
to pieces
and scattered these
relics/'
public worship was restored, however, a portrait of
the saint was placed over the spot occupied formerly by
her body, and this
About
four kilometres
Gallo-Roman
way
is still
villa
to the village
;
treated as an object of reverence.
from Elven are the remains of a
but to find of St.
it it is
take a child from Elven as a guide. still
in
be seen
to
1842,
Near
when
it is
in the
necessary to ask the
Christophe, and
museum
at
it
saves time to
Several curiosities,
Vannes, were found here
the remains of the villa were discovered.
an ancient votive column with
this inscription
MAGN— IMP CjES — AVRELIAN — INVICT — TRIB — PO — III P — A D. M.," in five lines, one above another.
"
The peasants had
make
actually hollowed out this
a drinking trough for cattle
;
but
it
has
rescued, and has had a granite cross placed on it
from future injury.
Malestroit built
column
P.
to
now been
it
to secure
Nine centuries before Odon de
Elven, the
Romans had
a station at
St.
Christophe. It
is
pity that there
is
no means of sleeping
at
Elven
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
102
— the auberge certainly does not look inviting —as the neighbourhood,
especially
the
to
north,
between Elven
and
Not very
from
Tre'dion, teems with interesting stones.
down
Elven,
valley with
a road on the
on both
hills
wretched
little
leading to Tre'dion,
left
From
sides.
point
this
down a steep path on the Des Princes. North
necessary to go on foot
far
village called
is
a is
it
left to
a
of this
is
a dolmen supported by a double range of upright stones, called
La Loge du Loup. There
is
also a large tract of waste
land on the right of the road to
One
megalithic blocks. lying
on a heap of
is
called
is
La Roche
them
and on
rocks,
rock the top of which
This
of
scooped Binet,
Tre'dion
is
full
of strange
an immense stone table placed a huge
this table is
in
hollow basins or cups.
and seems
be a complete
to
puzzle to archaeologists.
There
is
a
inn at Tre'dion where one can rest and
little
feed the horses, but It is a pretty little
it is
place
pletely modernised. is
own
provisions.
the old chateau has
been com-
better to take one's ;
Beyond
Tre'dion,
La Grande Villeneuve
the village of
on the moor and
in the fields, are
fragments of hollowed stones
down ;
a narrow lane,
and
all
round
this,
dolmens, menhirs, broken
—more
than one day's work
tor the archaeologist. It is possible to return to
Elven by way of Kerfily on
foot,
The remains
sending the carriage round by the road.
of
the old castle, which belonged in the fifteenth century to
the
tamily
of Couetquen,
Brigniac, are
chateau.
and afterwards
to that
preserved in the courtyard of the
As one cannot
sleep at Elven
it is
of
De
present
impossible to
accomplish these expeditions and to see the Tour d'Elven in
one day, but
it is
a great pity to miss either.
MORBIHAN. THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
CHAPTER Sarzeau
A DELIGHTFUL
— St.
its
It is less
associations than
some other
of interest of a
mixed kind.
it is full
St.
— Sucinio.
excursion from Vannes
peninsula of Rhuys.
in
Gildas
VI.
is
that of the
specially
Armorican
parts of Morbihan, but
There we find
Gildas, the hermit of the sixth century
the scholar later
monk
of the Middle Ages.
comes the famous
;
traces of
and of Abelard, Three centuries
castle of Sucinio, the residence of the
and the birthplace of Arthur, Constable de Richemont, the successor of Du Guesclin and Clisson. Three centuries later still, in the little town of Sarzeau, at
Dukes of
Brittany,
the beginning of the peninsula, was born the famous author
"Gil Bias;" while the chief monument of the district, the famous Butte de Tumiac, goes back to remote ages perhaps to a time before the soil had been trodden by foreign
of
invaders.
Besides these varied associations there
curious old Port Navalo, Caesar's harbour, with a
road running from it
seems
it
difficult to
to
Nantes by way^pf Vannes.
is
the
Roman Indeed,
find a country fuller of interest than
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
104
Morbihan be found
and almost the most
;
interesting part of
it is
peninsula of Rhuys and on the shores of
in its
to its
little sea.
We
drove
Our
Kerlevenan. but
to Sarzeau, passing the pretty chateau of
first
driver wished us to go
we were anxious
as there
and Sarzeau
is
and
sitely clear
found the drive
The road between Vannes
there.
day was so exqui-
not interesting, but the bright,
and our horse went so
delightful.
On
our way
well, that
we passed a
In this was a bone house, with curious
cemetery.
inside painted black
low water,
to get to St. Gildas before
good bathing
is
to Sucinio,
first
and white and shaped
little
we
small
boxes
like toy dog-
kennels, with the inscription, " Ci-git le chef de Monsieur,"
and then followed the name. It
Each box contained a
seems to be a received custom
up the skeletons of departed in the ossuaries
We
little
admitted,
friends, their
disappointed with
its
at Sarzeau,
appearance
;
and
but, spite of
dingy room to which, after some delay, we were
we found
the fare and cooking excellent, although
of roughness and acidity.
still
merits
but she gave us
—
all
butter, pears,
cutlets,
excellent
its
historical reputation
The kind dark-eyed
of apologies because she had so
potatoes
bones being put
skulls in these hideous little boxes.
the native wine of Sarzeau
full
after a certain time to dig
had heard a good report of the inn
were much the
and the
skull.
little
variety to offer
an omelette, " biftek " and
and well-cooked
and a good
hostess was
—good
fried
bread and
bottle of vin-de-grave,
and then
apologised for charging us two francs each.
There
is
Le Sage was
nothing to see in Sarzeau but the house where born, standing back from the road with
set in the old grey
garden wall, gay with
tufts
its
gate
of red valerian.
THE ABBEY CHURCH OF Its present
owner was
in the little
ST.
GILD AS.
105
garden, and he very kindly
asked us to come in and see the bedroom in which the author of " Gil Bias" is said to have begun life in 1688.
and painted pale
walls are panelled
The
no specialty
room
in the
Sage must have
left
Gildas
and the owner told us that Le
;
after his birth.
The
from Sarzeau.
only six kilometres
is
is
Sarzeau when very young, as his father
gave up the house soon St.
blue, but there
looked small and insignificant, but we found the
village
abbey church extremely interesting; the choir and apse, with
three round chapels,
its
the nave of
much
The monastery century by
St.
Gildas,
monks
in the
his
;
sixth
tomb stands to the
and
St. Felix,
altar, is
He
pirate in the isle of Ushant,
are five
abbots of
was converted by
gravestones,
who
and he became
It is said that his
to
the
memory
children of
Duke John
and
Jeanne of Brittany, who died 1388.
also of
I.,
St.
Gildas
St.
In the choir, very
was passed in prayer.
obliterated,
that they
supposed to belong to
a lay brother in the abbey of Rhuys. life
other very old
on two of these show
a third, nearer the
when he was a
three
north transept
Goustan, or Dunstan.
whole
;
body was miraculously restored
the graves of St. Rivo
Gildas
been founded in the
though he died in his hermitage,
Inscriptions
stone coffins.
St.
his
has been badly restored.
of Rhuys.
There are
mark
it
;
transepts, are very old,
surnamed Le Sage
altar, for
He Houath,
in the
later date
said to have
is
behind the high
and the
died 1246-51 at
much
of four Sucinio,
She was
daughter to John of Montfort.
At the west end of the nave are two large into the form of baiitiers.
They
capitals
scooped
are very curiously sculp-
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS,
106
and
tured,
The
are said to have belonged to the ancient nave.
capitals of the
columns on each side of the choir are on these, as well as those
also very curious, but the figures
on the
benitiers, are
As we came up abbots
St.
much
disfigured
by whitewash.
the aisle again, thinking of the two famous
Gildas and Abelard, a side door opened, letting in
a flood of sunlight,
and
came a
in
schoolgirls clad in dark blue
tall
and a troop of
sister
gowns with white aprons and caps.
They ranged themselves
in the
confessional in the south aisle,
and
rows of seats facing the first
one
little
maid, and
when she retired, another, stepped forward and knelt It was a very tranquil, down to make her confession. primitive scene, and, except for the later date of some of the
then,
building, just such a scene as might have been witnessed
by
Abelard himself.
The
church, which formed part of the abbey in the time
of St. Gildas, was destroyed by the Northmen, but the
Rivo carried away the bones of the monastery was dedicated to Indre.
Some
where a
Gildas on the banks of the
of these relics were, however, brought back to
the peninsula by entirely rebuilt St.
St.
saint into Berri,
Abbot
St. Felix,
who, in the reign of Duke Geoffrey,
the monastery,
Gildas in the
and placed the remains of
tomb behind the high
altar.
Gildas was educated in England, in the monastery of
St.
Hydultus, in Cornwall
;
but being moved to
became the apostle of Morbihan chief friend
visit
Brittany, he
in the fifth century,
and the
and adviser of Guerech, or Waroch, Count
ot
Vannes. It
of
was
St.
after the saint's celebrated interference in
Tryphena
that
defence
Guerech persuaded him to leave
his
hermitage on the banks of the Blavet, and establish himself
GILD AS.
ST.
and
monks
his
107
in a castle belonging to the count in the
peninsula of Rhuys.
Here
Gildas founded a large monastery, which attained
St.
a great reputation for sanctity, and which, after the death of St. Gildas,
It
became
the bourne of a celebrated pilgrimage.
appears that the approaching death of the Abbot
Gildas was revealed not only to himself, but also to the
monks been
of St. Hydultus, Cornwall, where the saint, as has
said,
de Leon
j
was educated with
St. Samson of Dol and St. Pol and many of these Cornish monks came over to
Brittany to take a last farewell ot the
Houath.
retreat in the little isle of his death
monks,
For some time before
Rhuys.
Gildas gave his last coun-
St.
monks, and
to these British
also to those of his
community who had come over from Rhuys and then he desired
to
Rhuys and received the
addressed his monks " I beg you, to enter into
a boat, and
through
my
my
life
brothers,
when
under
has served
my me
go where
where
it
God
his confession to the
last
sacraments, he thus
I shall
pleases.
seems good
to
He
have expired, not
my body
;
place
it
head the stone which for a pillow, after
must quit the boat and launch it
him
to bid
:
any disputes concerning place
own
be carried into the chapel
made
of the hermitage, where, having Prior of
his
having devolved the entire care of the monas-
after
farewell,
saint in his
he had retired there with two or three of
tery to the Prior of sels
renowned
it
on the open
will provide
Him.
May
the
it
in all
which you
sea,
and
let
a resting-place
God
of peace
dwell in you always."
This
last
commendation was needed,
for as
soon as
St.
Gildas was dead, and his body, dressed in abbatial robes
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
io8
and invested with the
insignia of office, lay in
commandment, a monks of Cornwall and
according to his
between the
received ordination in their abbey of ;
monks
of
arose
Rhuys
had professed and
the former alleging that, as St. Gildas
longed to them
dispute
great the
the boat
Hydultus, he be-
St.
they moreover showed the orders they had
brought from their abbot to take possession ot the holy " But," says Albert le Grand,
relics.
one again
;
for,
when they
"
God
expected
least
it,
set
them
at
the boat in
which the holy body lay sank gently to the bottom of the sea, to the great surprise
and
regret of all
;
"
they sought
it
perseveringly for several days along the shore, but in vain.
At back
last
monks gave up the search and went own country, but the monks of Rhuys perse-
the Cornish
to their
vered in seeking for
solemn prayer-meeting and a which
of
when
was revealed
it
the
body would be
months, and then held a
for three
it
fast of three days, at the
one of them the place and time
to
Accordingly, in Rogation
restored.
Week, as the monks went custom to the oratory of
in
solemn procession
Ste. Croix, built
by
St.
in the
when they
boat lay the body of
last
saw
it.
As
St.
after their
Gildas, they
perceived close by a boat dry on the sand, in a
and
end
little
cove,
Gildas as perfect as
a memorial of this recovery they
took the stone from under the head of the saint and placed it
in the chapel of the
Holy Cross and, ;
carrying the
Gildas back to the abbey of Rhuys, they buried
St.
on the
1
2th day of
May,
far
site
there
of the ancient parish church,
from the abbey church, but the abbey buildings have
nothing ancient about them. ginal
it
of
570.
The cemetery occupies the not
body
abbey was
built
It
is
of wood, for
probable that the the
Normans
ori-
utterly
ABELARD, ABBOT OF destroyed
it
Duke
1008,
but, in
j
GILDAS.
ST.
Geoffrey
stone,
and established there a community
whose
first
I.
too
rebuilt
it
in
of Benedictines,
abbot was Felix, afterwards canonised.
Judicael,
Bishop of Vannes, and Hadwise, widow of Geoffrey, supattempts at civilisation.
St. Felix in his
ported
round
agriculture
century,
The
very moderate
blishment a Gildas and
be a true benefactor to
to
buildings
present
now
are
inhabited by
during the bathing season take boarders at a
who
sisters,
restored
monastery of Rhuys in the eleventh
his
and showed himself
Brittany.
He
little
its
and have
rate,
way along
garden also are
associated with the
fifth
instituted a bathing esta-
But the
the coast. full
site of St.
of interest as having been
abbot, the famous Abelard, called
by Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, "The Socrates of France
;
the sublime Plato of the
the equal or the master of
all
West
logicians
;
our Aristotle
;
past and present
the recognised prince of science of the whole universe."
This good Abbot of Cluny, who received the persecuted
man when he
fled
from
St.
Gildas, told also of Abelard that
many
death found him standing ready, not asleep like so others. clete,
In
1 1
25,
when Abelard gave up
his oratory of Para-
near Nogent-sur- Seine to Heloise, the
monks
of St.
Gildas were in want of an abbot, and they besought the celebrated scholar to
He
come among them
came, but Abelard was not
as their head.
fitted for
the post.
Dis-
gusted by the misconduct of the community, he tried to establish a stricter, purer rule of fierce strong
tried
nature of these Breton
more than once
who shrank from these
attempts
their failed
life,
and he roused the
monks
to revolt.
They
to poison the quiet refined scholar,
rough profligate behaviour, and when they
tried
to
stab
him.
At
last,
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
no
wearied out and fearing for his a
little
it is
door in the garden wall which
by the good
at least pointed out
to Cluny,
death. St.
Abelard escaped through
life,
where he
Many
said
is
to exist
still
Abelard
sisters.
found peace and shelter
at last
fled
till
his
of his letters to Heloise were written from
Gildas. " I inhabit a barbarous country," he writes, " at the end
My
of the world on the shores of the ocean.
strange
and horrible
sible shores of a
to
me.
stormy
sea.
monks acknowledge no
my
you could see
My My
unlicensed and rebellious
rule but that of misrule.
house
;
bears,
you would never take
Every day to see a
wild boars,
may have been
owls.
my
I fear
each
ries
in 1079.
part of the present church of
St.
as
It is
Gildas
standing in his time, but the archives of the
The convent garden
of the persecuted abbot.
with a terrace
moment
head."
mayor of
abbey were unfortunately burned in 1796 by the the town.
an
for
and hideous heads of
Abelard was a Breton, born near Nantes
some
it
deer,
sword suspended over
possible that
wish
I
feet of
encounter fresh dangers.
I
is
walks are on the inacces-
abbey; the doors are ornamented with the wolves,
only asso-
and turbulent persons, whose language
ciates are ferocious
is,
There
commanding a very
we wandered down
however, is
a
little
extensive sea-view
monk wandering
;
and
which stretch out
to the rocks,
long grey and brown tongues into the Atlantic, the sad, solitary
memowood there of
full
there, finding
we
in
pictured
more sym-
pathy in the wild waves leaping up against the bold brown rocks than he could find
men who had
called
could not control.
him
among
the fierce undisciplined
to rule over
them, and
whom
he
THE CASTLE OF SUCINIO. There
is
glitter like brilliant
tongue-like projections have
metal in the sunshine.
bays between them,
little
some wild and rocky, some few sandy and
We
1
a peculiar silvery quality in some of these rocks
which makes them
The
1
fit
for
bathing
saw a lady bathing her child from one of these lower
rocks
and
;
as
we came back
there were pleasant groups in
the court in front of the convent, the children dancing the
old French round of M
Men and women
La Boulangere
a des e'cus."
are lodged separately in the convent at
The
a very moderate rate.
air
seemed
delightful,
and the
bold sweep of ocean was finer than any sea we had yet seen
To women seeking a healthy quiet bathingGildas offers many attractions. The soil is veiy
in Brittany.
place St.
and vegetation
fertile,
It
is
evident, from
is
luxuriant
and rapid.
some of the
from other sources, that
letters of
one time
at
peninsula was
this
The Dukes
covered, in part at least, with forest trees. Brittany had a hunting-lodge at the east sula,
the
now converted ancient name
Rhuys
or Rhoe-is
signifies
royal,
(le
which de
Bois
and
of
end of the penin-
into farm buildings,
Couet-er-Sall
Abelard and
still
retain
la
Salle).
the peninsula
was
always the property of the reigning duke, whose right of seignory extended over the whole country except that held
by the abbot and monks of
St.
Gildas.
It
seems a peaceful
sequestered strip of land, so remote from the cities that
one does not wonder
at the
Breton duke to his castle by the sea
name
strife
of great
given by the
— Soucy-N'y-Ot —
name, however, which did not succeed in banishing ness,
and death, and war, and
As we drove back
to
strife,
Sarzeau
from
its
sick-
walls.
we passed
the
restored
chateau of Ker Thomas, inhabited by a son-in-law of
Mon-
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
U2
de Francheville, the present owner of Sucinio and of
sieur
very extensive property in the neighbourhood.
We
had intended
de Tumiac, as
it is
to
go on from
and thence
to Sarzeau
We
but our
;
was impracticable, so we drove
to Sucinio.
saw the ruins of Sucinio, the summer palace of the
Dukes of
Brittany, for a long while before
Indeed the
them. sides,
Gildas to the Butte
only five kilometres distant
driver declared that the road
back
St.
castle
is
we approached
seen for miles from several
standing in lonely, dreary vastness beside the Atlantic,
without a tree to break the naked desolation of the salt
marshes that stretch between
One The masonry
and the
walls
its
flat
sea.
almost shivers at the exceeding bareness of these ruins. of the walls and towers
so perfectly preserved externally that
is
it
so admirable and
defies ivy
and other
parasites in their attempts to clothe the bold outlines of the truly royal pile.
In shape
divided by six towers say eight.
there were formerly seven, or
;
The northern tower seems
the rest,
He
and was probably
built
and sixteenth
it
by John
was almost entirely
centuries.
Still
wall, are very
be much older than
to
founded Sucinio about 1229, on the
monastery ; but
and
some
Three of these towers, those of the entrance
gateway and that in the centre of the north large.
by a wall
represents a pentagon, surrounded
it
site
I.
(Le Roux).
of an ancient
rebuilt in the fifteenth
the difference in the
masonry
in the shape of the machicolations proves that the walls
now remaining are not windows on the
all
of the same period.
right of the entrance
Some Gothic
show the
site
of the
ancient chapel.
We
crossed the drawbridge over the deep but
now
dry
SUCINIO.
113
moat, followed by a troop of barefooted children eager to
Above
act as guides.
the gateway
the arms of Brittany
shield
on each side
;
his right
a lion bearing on a
paw holds a
lance
;
There have been three
a stag couchant.
is
is
one within another, and the marks of the hinges and
gates,
We
the grooves for the portcullis are easily seen.
were
surprised to find so large an area within, for though the exterior of the castle looks imposing,
cause there
is
north-west tower
w e mounted
it
—
stands in
it
The
seashore.
flat
size be-
lofty
the most perfect, and by the staircase in
is
and walked some way
to the battlements,
r
The view
along them.
loses in
nothing by which to measure
such complete isolation on the
this
it
is
splendid.
South-east are the
church towers of Le Croisic and Le Bourg de Batz, and the
mouth
and Houath.
of the Loire, with the isles of Hcedic
a long low line in the horizon
Farther
still,
West
the peninsula of Quiberon,
is
of St. Gildas
There mantled
is
;
beyond
Belle He.
is
and nearer the abbey
the vast Atlantic.
all,
something indescribably sad in
fortress standing thus alone
this
huge
dis-
on the shores of the
ocean, without any of the foliage which usually surrounds
and clothes the walls of an ancient " the Castle
by the
There
sea."
is
castle.
It is
a tradition that Sucinio
was anciently inhabited by Raymondin and fairy
He
"
Melusine.
He was
called
literally
Count of
his wife, the
Foret,
now
called
de Rhuis," says Jean la Have, " and they built a monas-
tery in
honour of the
Trinity,
where they are honourable
buried."
Our barefooted contemplation
;
retinue did not give us
girls as
much
time for
well as boys clambered about like
goats, perching themselves
on crumbling corners of the bat1
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
ii4
tlements and then on the edge of loopholes in the staircase, till
became
their antics
began
to
As soon
really alarming.
we
as
descend the ruined staircase they ran on in
front,
and when we reached the landing they showed us a communication with a long gallery, which seems to extend within
down in the vaults, at the foot loopholes made for the use of cannon.
the wall as far as the chapel
of the towers, are
In the masters.
wars
civil
It
;
Sucinio
of Brittany
was taken by Charles of
Montfort, and by
Du
by John of
Blois,
The Duchess
Guesclin.
Navarre, third wife of John IV.,
changed
often
Joan of
or
afterwards the wife
of
our Henry IV., gave birth at Sucinio, the 24th August, 1393, to the famous Arthur of Richemont, the companion in
arms of Joan of Arc, and the famous successor as Con-
stable of France to
Du
Guesclin and Clisson.
succeeded his nephew, Peter
he only reigned
as
II.,
he
of Brittany, but
In 1532 Francis
months.
fifteen
Duke
Finally,
I.
pre-
sented Sucinio to the beautiful Franchise de Foix, Countess
Later on
of Chateaubriand.
came
into the possession of
Henry IV. gave
Catherine de Medicis.
Schomberg.
it
up
it
During the wars of the League
Leaguers under the Louis XIV.
it
Duke de Mercceur, and
to it
Marshal
fell
to the
in the reign of
belonged to the Princess de
Conti,
the
daughter of the Duchess de Lavalliere.
Finally, in 1795,
at the fatal expedition to Quiberon, the
Chevalier de Tin-
ten iac landed a division of the Royalist
and took possession of appears in history.
and destroyed
all
The
still
This
remain
is
to
Sucinio,
the last time that Sucinio
Royalist troops did
the remaining
more than one century stones that
it.
army before
it
much damage,
woodwork, but
it
will take
crumble the firmly cemented old
in lonely
grandeur by the seashore.
BUTTE DE TUMIAC. perhaps better to see Sucinio and
It is
then return and this
make another
easy to
St.
Gildas, and
but we had feared to
sleep at Sarzeau,
and the distance from Vannes
;
115
is
so trifling that
risk it is
expedition from thence, breakfasting
at Sarzeau.
not a long drive on to Tumiac, but the road
It is
is
The butte or tumulus is now closed since the excavations made in 1853 earth has fallen in and choked
wretched.
;
the opening.
There
is
dolmen within the
said to be a very curious
museum
Vannes we saw
thirty
celtse,
three necklaces of callais or green turquoise,
and a
bit of
human bone which had not been
which
tumulus; and
treasures
the
at
were found
by Monsieur
L. Galles
of
It is
interior,
mound, about
feet in diameter,
fifty feet
it is
view from
east
worth while
covered with grass, and from
To
;
About two kilometres it
is
farther
better to go
past the chapel of
battle-
but to the west one sees Locmariaker,
and the strangely jagged and rugged shores of the low tide
Le Croisy
on we come
to Arzon, but
down
a narrow lane,
on
to
little sea.
foot
Le
Petit
Mont.
There
remarkable dolmen here in a large barrow, about thirty high.
This was explored in 1856, and in
chamber with sculptures on the supporting of these
This
is
it
the south
one gets about the same view as from the
ments of Sucinio
at
summit.
its
high and nearly three
one commands the whole of the Morbihan.
and
in 1853,
and Dr. Fouquet.
to visit the butte for the magnificent
hundred
all
in excavating this tumulus,
But though one cannot see the
a great
burned,
two human
feet
it
is
a
feet
was found one
stones.
On one
are distinctly traced in outline.
the only example of
human presentment
in
any
THE PENINSULA OF RHUYS.
n6 Breton
stones.
Celtic
to Port Navalo,
and not
dolmens worth seeing, Pointe
Nicholas
St.
and Templars have Port Navalo pleasant
little
a very
It is
at
Pencastel and
also to
is
itself is
Romans,
in turn.
a very ancient seaport, and
now a
is
bathing-place, with quaint, simple inhabitants.
The steamer which
plies
stops at Port Navalo.
It
between Auray and Belle He takes two hours
reach Belle He, and for those is
it
The
Bernon.
Veneti,
be noticed.
occupied
all
way from Arzon are menhirs and
there
off
far
little
who
and a half
to
like sailing the journey
very pleasant, and the fortifications on the island are very
remarkable.
They were begun by Marshal de
tinued by Fouquet, and
much
Retz, con-
increased from the designs of
Napoleon, who meant to complete them, but unfinished.
The
However, they are now supposed
coast scenery
is
very fine in Belle He, but
seen from a boat to be thoroughly enjoyed. island,
eighteen
ancient
horses.
kilometres long and
monuments mentioned by
disappeared.
It is
very
The caps of
to
fertile,
the
left
them
be
perfect.
it
must be
It is
ten wide,
a large
but the
old travellers have
all
and has a breed of good
women
are remarkably pretty
a long sugar-loaf crown, not upright, but almost horizontal,
and
fluted
from end to end with
thought some of the
fine goffering.
girls quite as pretty as their caps.
We
luORBIHAN. THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
CHAPTER
r
~THE *
Malestroit.
Josselin.
Ploermel.
St.
longest excursion to be
to
VII.
Jean Brevelai.
made from Vannes
Ploermel and Josselin, and
this requires
is
that
two or
three days. It is possible to
go by
rail
from Vannes to Questembert,
and thence by the correspondence to Ploermel, passing through Rochefort and Malestroit, and then on from Ploermel to Josselin by an omnibus which runs between the two towns, only six kilometres apart. carriage direct from
tance
is
Vannes
But
it
saves time to take a
to Ploermel, although the dis-
considerable (forty-five kilometres), by
way
of Elven.
were advised not to pass through Elven, but to make a detour from the main road to Malestroit, which is about
We
eighteen kilometres from Ploermel. journey. till
But Malestroit
the wars of the
effectually destroyed
of
is
a very quaint
League was walled its
This lengthens the
;
little
town, which,
then Mercceur so
fortifications that
only faint traces
them remain. There
is
a most remarkable old window
in the little ivy-
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
u8
clad cemetery chapel, with legends relating the story of each
compartment.
Both
Malestroit
partly
are
this
chapel and the parish church of
of the
CxOthic architecture of the
curious old fifteenth
twelfth
fifteenth.
century and partly
There are several
One
and sixteenth century houses.
reminded
these, at the corner of a street facing the Halles,
us of the houses at Lisieux.
There are on
of
quaintly
it
sculptured figures of a sow spinning, a huntsman blowing his horn,
and other grotesque
most strange
subjects, the
being that of a Breton in a stocking nightcap, holding his wife
by the
he beats her with a
hair while
called Malestroit
and
his wife.
These are
stick.
Malestroit belonged to the
Breton family of that name, and was once a strong place of defence with a castle.
Monsieur Fouquet mentions several points close at hand,
and recommends
of
interest
Serent, on the direct road
between Elven and Ploermel, as a good place to dine and sleep
at.
But
in these long expeditions
it
is
always safer
to take either breakfast or dinner in the carriage, as fre-
quently white bread sized village.
arches at
Rue
not to be obtained in even a good-
is
One can St.
see the stone bridge of thirteen
Andre on the way
It is too late to see
to Ploermel.
Ploermel on arriving in the evening
the streets are so narrow that one needs broad daylight to
make
out the curious old houses in them.
Ploermel has church, which
lost its walls, is
but
considered very
quaint carving outside
it
Like Malestroit,
has a sixteenth-century
fine.
There
— a barber sewing up
is
some very
his wife's
mouth,
a pig playing the bagpipes, and other grotesque subjects. curious
window behind
Armel j and there
the organ represents the
are two recumbent statues in
life
A
of St.
armour of
DE
CIIEXE Dukes John
II.
and
III. of Brittany,
melite church founded
ng
MI-VOIE,
by John
brought from the Car-
II. in the early part of the
fourteenth century, and destroyed at the Revolution. detail of the
armour on these statues
The remarkable. The
is
courtyard of the Carmelite convent
still
four statues in Kersanton granite
one of these represents
Philip de
;
exists,
and
in
it
are
Montauban, the Chancellor of Duchess Anne, and
Anne du Chatelier. James II. of Ploermel, when he reviewed his troops on
another his second wife,
England lodged their return
The is
in
from Ireland in 1690.
environs of Ploermel are pretty and
an abundance of chestnut-trees in
great attraction
it
offers is its
About two miles
Josselin.
this
and Josselin
is
Due
;
it is
flat,
had been placed on
mark the
site
of a huge
One
the
Ploermel we pass
a great stretch of sees
the famous
This was erected
reached.
in place of a crucifix destroyed
crucifix
— but
but the country between
very bare and
some time before
— there
nearness to the Chateau of
moorland covered with heather. obelisk
country
this
to the west of
a fine lake, called L'Etang du
wooded
The
at the Revolution.
this
spot, called Mi-voie, to
oak, called
Chene de
Mi-voie,
destroyed during the wars of the League, but around which
was fought the famous Combat of the Thirty, in which
thirty
Bretons on the side of Charles de Blois defeated thirty
De Montfort, twenty of whom were English, command of an English knight named Bembro.
adherents of
under the It
seemed strange
combat, and that the author quoted
that Froissart does not speak of this
it is
by
only mentioned in the ballad, and in
De
Freminville
;
but Monsieur de Fre-
minville asserts that this can be accounted for
known
partiality
and jealousy of English
by the
writers.
He
well-
alio
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
120
says that in
some of
combat
to this
;
MS. copies
the
of Froissart he alludes
but adds that Froissart, being very politic,
suppressed in certain copies of his work to
wound
the susceptible vanity of Englishmen.
heard that in a MS. Froissart in Paris found,
and M. de Villemarque,
happened
in
we
in his notes to the " Battle of
in the year 135
which occurred
Lately
chapter has been
this
the Thirty," says that Froissart speaks of It
passages likely
all
1,
it
in vol.
iii.
p. 34.
during one of the truces
the long war between
and De
Blois
Montfort for the possession of the dukedom, that Bembro, or Brembro, held Ploermel for
De
Montfort, and Robert de
Beaumanoir, Marshal of Brittany, held Josselin for Charles
During the truce the English, according
of Blois.
Breton
and last
writers,
behaved
pillaging travellers
even on the lands of Josselin.
some of these tormented
Josselin,
sufferers
and throwing themselves
Bembro
hastened
to
at the feet of
many
him
to prove
thirty to thirty.
De Beaumanoir had some tion, so
and rebuked
but the Englishman
replied so insolently that the marshal defied
combat of
De Beauma-
marauding English.
Ploermel,
for his infraction of the truce,
his right in a
At
escaped to the castle of
noir implored his protection against the
De Beaumanoir
to these
like brigands, harrying the peasants
trouble in
making
his selec-
of his bravest knights being eager to fight
while Bembro, not being able to find thirty English in his garrison,
was obliged
to
make up
his
and Bretons of the Montfort party. 1350, the Josselin
number with Flemings
On
the
27th March,
two parties met midway, at the oak, between
and Ploermel.
Bembro placed
his
men
Arrived here they dismounted, and in a single line, serried closely
against another, and bristling with pikes.
one
BATTLE OF THE THIRTY. At
first
the Bretons lost several
121
men and De Beaumanoir ;
being wounded, and losing much blood, asked for drink " Bois ton sang, to which Geoffrey du Bois answered,
Beaumanoir,
Just as the marshal was on
et ta soif passera."
by Bembro, Alain de Keranrais
the point of being captured
pierced the English captain's visor, and, after another blow
from Geoffrey du Bois, Bembro
dead
fell
;
but, spite of the
death of their leader, the English fought valiantly. not to
till
fly,
was
William de Montauban, a Breton squire, pretended
but really only retreated to the spot where the horses
had been the
It
left,
and then, returning on horseback, charged
enemy and rode many
of
them down,
French
that the
gained the victory.
On
the obelisk
is
this inscription
" Vive
le
:
Roi long-temps
Les Bourbons toujours."
Then
follows the date, &c.
;
and
then,
"Posterite Bretonne imitez vos ancetres."
Below are the names of the
The
following
Villemarque
s
a
is
book
victorious Bretons.
translation
literal
of the ballad in
:
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRTY. I.
The month of March with its hammers comes and knocks at our doors. The trees are bent by the rain, falling in torrents, and the under the hail. But these are not only March hammers which knock is not only hail which cracks the roofs.
roofs crack
it
at
our doors
It is not only hail, it is not only the rain falling in torrents that strikes worse than the wind and the rain are the detestable English !
;
;
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
122
ir.
Kado, our
St.
may
patron,
give us strength and
courage, so that
we
to-day conquer the enemies of Brittany.
we come back
If
and sound we
safe
will offer to
golden gown, a sword and a sky-blue mantle And every one will say when they look
you a
and a
girdle
;
at
you,
O
blessed St.
Kado, " In paradise, as on the earth,
Kado
St.
has not his equal."
in.
" Tell me, tell me, how many are they, my young squire ?" " How many are there of them ? I will tell you presently two, three, four, five, six
"
How many
there,
my
lord
:
are there? ?
—
I
am
going to
six, seven,
five,
one,
:
eight,
and fifteen. and others come with them
tell
nine,
you: how many are ten,
eleven,
twelve,
thirteen, fourteen,
" Fifteen
!
— one, two, three,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen,
four, five, six,
and
fifteen."
" If there are thirty like ourselves, forward, friends, and courage Straight at the horses with the halberts. They shall not again cut our " corn in the ear The blows fell as rapidly as hammers on an anvil blood overflowed !
!
;
shower The armour was torn and rent like the rags of a beggar the of the knights were as fierce as the roaring of the stormy sea.
like a
brook
after a
;
;
cries
IV.
The badger-head (Bembro)
said then to Tinteniac, as
" Hold, Tinteniac, take a blow of
my
good
lance,
he drew near,
and
tell
me
if it is
an empty reed."
"That which will be empty in a moment is thy skull, my good more than one crow shall scratch and pick thy brains." friend Before he ended speaking he gave him such a blow of his mallet :
smashed both head and casque as if both had been a snail. Seeing which, Keranrais began to laugh heartily "If they were all served like this one, they would conquer the
that he
:
country."
"
How many slain,
good squire
?
"
" The dust and blood hinder me from seeing." " How many have we slain, young squire ?"
" Here are
five, six,
seven, quite dead."
BATTLE OF THE THIRTY.
123
v.
They had fought from break of day
noon
to
from noon
;
till
night
they fought the English. The Lord Robert of Beaumont cried out, " " I thirst oh, I greatly thirst !
;
Bois threw at him these words " If you thirst, friend, drink your blood " And Robert hearing him turned away his face for shame, and
When Du
:
!
the English and killed five.
" Tell me, tell me, my squire, how many are left " My lord, I will tell you one, two, three, four, :
" Spare the
lives of these,
one hundred sous of
but
brilliant
fell
on
" !
five, six."
them pay one hundred golden sous gold shall each pay for the good of
let
the country." VI.
would have been no friend of the Bretons who had not applauded town of Josselin, when our men came back with broom flowers the in
He
in their
helmets
;
He would not have been a friend of the Bretons, nor of the saints of Brittany either, who had not blessed St. Kado, patron of his country's warriors.
did not admire, applaud, and bless, and who did not sing, " St. Kado has not his equal
Who
" In paradise, as on the earth,
This
!
very well, but as the combat was to be fought
is all
seems that the defeat of the English was effected rather by the treachery of William de Montauban than by
on
foot
it
the valour of the Bretons.
Very soon
after
of the tower, roofs,
leaving the obelisk
we come
and chimneys of Josselin
in sight
rising
above
the trees which border the river Oust, beside which the castle stands,
and soon
after this
town, built on the side of a
famous old
There
is
castle
hill,
we
see the houses of the
and
which commands the
clustering round the river.
no trace that any town existed
at Josselin before
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
I2 4
the beginning of the eleventh century, and then into being
it
was called
by a miracle.
Some two hundred
years before, a poor labourer noticed,
during winter, as he went to his work, a wild briar
covered with green leaves.
It
Dame du
church of Notre
still
stood just where the present
Roncier now stands
days went by, and neither snow nor
frost
seemed
and
;
as
to nip or
Josselin.
wither the fresh green leaves, the labourer grew curious,
and
at last
took his spade and dug round the wild briar. roots he found a
Beneath
its
Virgin.
As he gazed
shining round
placed
it
it
;
at
it
wooden image of
the blessed
he was startled to see a
but he raised
it,
and, carrying
soft light it
reverently on a table in his rude cotta«ge.
morning he rose
had disappeared.
early,
but
when he looked
for the
Again he dug beneath the wild
horn*.,
Next
image
briar,
it
and
XOTRE DAME DU RONCIER.
This occurrence being
again he found the wonderful image. repeated,
decided on leaving the image where he had
he*
The news
found her.
125
of the miracle spread rapidly even in
those times of infrequent communication between districts
came
pilgrims
at the briar
and to
which had thus become a shrine of Our Lady
Dame du
placed on the
and
flocking even from far-off villages to worship
at last a chapel
Notre
built
on the exact
town and
Little
by
houses gathered round
little
it
the year 1000, Guethenoc, Count of Porhoet,
fortified
Josselin, called the
Guethenoc
spot, dedicated
Roncier, and the miraculous image was
altar.
finally, in
was
a king in power though not in little
;
it
built walls
title,
In 1030 his eldest son,
strongly.
new town by
round the
his
own name.
Count
built the first castle of Josselin in 1008.
razed to the ground by
Henry
II.
of England
It
was
when he
besieged the town.
The present
castle
was
fourteenth century, on
built
his
by Olivier de Clisson
marriage with
in the
Marguerite de
Rohan, of whose dowry the lands of Josselin formed a as the
part,
Counts of Porhoet were lords also of Rohan and
of
Gue'mene.
The donjon
built
by Clisson was demolished
early in the
seventeenth century with other French strongholds
;
the
ramparts, too, and several of the towers were beaten down.
These have never been restored, and great part of the
moat has been and
it
filled
up
;
but
much
of the castle remains,
forms an interesting link in the history of the fierce
French Constable, " the butcher of the English."
There are two Josselin fortress,
entirely different aspects of the
—the view from the
river,
Chateau de
which gives the idea of a
with quaintly capped round towers, and the interior
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
126
from the courtyard.
fa9a.de seen
This
is
a rich specimen of
domestic Gothic, with crocketed dormer windows, and galleries
of carved stonework,
full
of fleurs-de-lis, ermines,
and
a constant recurrence of the motto of the Rohans, " a plus;"
surmounted by the ducal crown of
also the letters A. V.,
These are said
Brittany.
known to have added to the and who was the husband daughter of John
There
is
the interest
this,
The church
of Margaret of Brittany, the
Alain Vicomte.
for
in itself
is
lies
wholly in the exterior.
not remarkable, but
interesting as the burial-place of Clisson
it is
specially
and of
his wife
Marguerite de Rohan, heiress of Josselin. stood in the centre of the chancel, but at the Revolution,
the
altar.
It
and removed from
now been
has
side chapels, the walls of
white marble.
bare
;
his
restored
it
its
This tomb once
was
Clisson
terribly injured
position in front of
and placed
in
one of the
which show remains of a painted
The tomb is in black and
Danse Maccabre.
is
is
castle in the fifteenth century,
A. V. standing
II.,
who
a grand old fireplace in the salon of the chateau
beyond
but,
stand for Alain IX.,
to
is
armed
all
the statues are in
but his head, which
armour, and the dress of his wife, are said to
have been elaborately sculptured, but the Goths of the Revolution destroyed
many
The
of these details.
the church are the chapel of Ste. Catherine, the chapel of Ste. Marguerite,
This
chapel
last
is
on the
said to have
On
There
is
is
said to have
also
left,
The whole been
and
been the oratory of the mass unseen by
the walls are various allusions to the
of Marguerite de Rohan.
the church
on the
right of the chancel.
lords of Clisson, where they could assist at
the people.
oldest parts of
built
name
of the eastern end of
by the Constable.
an old church that once belonged to the
ROHAN.
127
ancient priory of Ste. Croix, eleventh century, and the church
of
St.
Martin
but
;
had been very badly
this
restored.
There are several curious old houses, especially one with a carved wooden front near the west front of Notre Roncier. There
is
enough
quite
occupy a whole day. Oust to the shrine of
Gobrien, where patients
and tumours come
boils
word
for relief, and,
There
is
also a drive of
forges of Lanouee,
and
afflicted
two or three hours to the
Rohan, and the chapel of Notre
to
de Bonne Encontre, built on a rock, by John
Duke
of
Rohan, and uncle
Here, at the high
altar,
to the
ancient castle of
site
can only just be traced.
which several
in
Rohan
Rohan has been
The
are represented.
so destroyed that
nobles
fifteenth century the
its
These Rohans were the Brittany
of
;
Vicomtes of Leon, and had besides many other in the
II.,
good Duchess Anne.
a picture
is
the puissant family of
proudest of the proud
with
making a pun on the
Dame
members of
to
heaps on the tomb of the
clou, offer iron nails in little
saint.
and near Josselin
a pleasant walk beside the river
It is St.
to see in
Dame du
they were titles
;
but
Vicomte de Rohan betrayed
Duke Francis, and fought for France. the name of Rohan is hated by the
Since this treachery Bretons.
Besides a
plus their motto was, "
Roi ne
puis
Prince ne daigne
Rohan
We found by way of there
is
St.
so
that
would take
Jean Brevelai
much
this part of
it
;
je suis."
less
time to return to Vannes
and, though
it is
a long journey,
of interesting research lying round about
Morbihan
that I strongly advise
search of stones to take this route
;
all
tourists in
but to see even a portion
THE ENVIRONS OF VANNES.
I2S
of what there
St.
necessary to sleep a night at
is
morning and breakfast
more than twelve miles
Jean,
fine
it
to start early next
and
Josselin
to see,
is
distant.
There
buried at the time of the Revolution to preserve mutilation, but about twenty years ago
replaced in
Jean
is
The porch
position.
its
curious
the menhirs and dolmens in
mile to the south
and near several
from
was dug up and
this little
town are
One
neighbourhood.
of the
is
to
of
be seen a huge menhir, supposed to
Going southward
weigh 25,000 kilogrammes. of Notre
it
Coh-Koet has a capstone about long by nearly fourteen broad. About half a
dolmens on the lands twenty feet
its
was
it
;
of the church of St.
but the attractions of
;
it
a very
is
Calvary of the sixteenth century at Guehenno
at
the chapel
de Kerdroguen— a place of pilgrimage—
Dame this is
is
a large group of about a hundred menhirs,
of which
are
prostrate,
and several have cup-
markings.
One
goes on from
to Plumelec,
Jean, by a cross-road on the right,
some curious carving on the Here one must thence to Plaudren.
where there
walls of the church stop,
St.
for there
is
;
is
a vast lande or
moor here on which
Monsieur Fouquet says eight lines of prostrate menhirs may be traced, besides broken dolmens and basin-stones, and, towering above all, the huge menhir called Gres de Gargantua.
There
is
another lande to the west covered
with remarkable stones, a continuation of the Lande of Lanvaux, and in 1S65 excavations were made hereabouts. It
is
called
said that beneath one of the menhirs, near a place
Levallon,
an ancient horse-shoe was
There are various famous stones Roche des Coupes, La Gree aux
still
Cerfs,
to
the
discovered.
—La
west
La Roche
Bigot,
CHURCH OF La Roche Morvan, &c.
ST.
but
take a guide at Kermado, a
to
little
AVE. find
129
one must
these
village lying
near the
lande.
From Plaudren we go home interesting
rather
little
fully
The
to
St. Ave',
Vannes, and pass the or
inscriptions,
Bourg d'en Bas,
city.
It
is
In the nave
one dated 1424 and the other
carving on the wall plates here
executed.
Vannes
of
more than two miles from the
and choir are 1465.
church
is
most
care-
rather a long drive from St. Jean to
— about fourteen miles.
MORBIHAN. THE MORBIHAN, OR LITTLE
CHAPTER The
HPHE
Islands
Morbihan, or
had been
little
VIII.
—Locmariaker— Gavr'
next expedition
SEA.
Inis.
we made from Vannes was to sea, as the Celtic word signifies.
told that this sea
is
the
We
often dangerous on account
of the currents which meet from three different points at a
passage called the Jument, and in stormy weather do
damage
but our landlord of the Dauphin assured us that,
;
though the navigation of the sea of the Morbihan it
its
is
much
not dangerous with a boatman
perilous rocks
and
currents,
is difficult,
well acquainted with
and
that the
boatman he
recommended, Jean Picard, was an experienced
sailor
and
quite to be trusted.
In the evening came Monsieur Picard, a big bluff boat-
man, rather lame, with a frank cheery
voice.
He
was a
very picturesque-looking person in his blue and white striped shirt.
Unlike most Bretons, he was blue-eyed and
skinned
;
he was very
some pleasant
face,
tall
fair-
and broad-chested, with a hand-
and white
hair.
As he stood very
erect,
THE PORT OF VANNES.
131
straw hat in hand, talking impressively of the safety of his
A?ma
boat, the
Blanche, and of his
seemed impossible
it
will trust herself
to
own
assured experience, " If
have any doubts.
with me," he said
loftily,
Madame
" she has nothing
to fear."
We
agreed to go
past six o'clock.
down
We
to the port next
had been advised
morning
to see
at half-
Locmariaker,
&c, by land journey from Auray, but we rejoiced extremely that we had followed out our own plan, for a day on the
The Port
Morbihan
is
of Vannes.
one of the special pleasures of Brittany, only
that I advise those
who may attempt
it
to take provisions
with them in the boat, so as to avoid a tiresome delay at the
little
On
inn of Locmariaker.
the previous evening
we had become acquainted with
Monsieur Closmadeuc, the learned and
intelligent possessor
of Gavr' Inis, and a distinguished local antiquary.
asked us to
on our way
call
on him as we went down
in the early
morning we went
He
to the boat
to his house,
had ;
so
and
THE MO RBIHAN.
132
found him up and most kindly ready to
wanted
it.
to
us
tell
we
all
know.
Our boat was waiting with a great sullen boy in charge The Anna Blanche looked large and heavy enough and
insure safety; the rigging
we had
clumsiest
some
ing
ever seen.
much
seemed
sails
to us
to
the
Monsieur Picard kept us wait-
time in the sunshine, even at that early
little
hour very intense so
its
of
but the port and the fishing-boats, and
;
of the grey old town to be seen there, looked
exquisite in the pure, fresh atmosphere.
As we
glided
down
be very muddy.
to
the river or port of Vannes,
On
the
left it is
it
seemed
bordered by steep
banks, on the right by a quay with avenues of trees spite of the
mud,
river
but,
we got
there were plenty of bathers as
farther from the town.
;
In about a quarter of an hour the
widened and divided, and we saw islands before us
one arm of our
river
went to Vincin and another
to Sene,
leaving narrow slips of land between. "
We
on the the
He
We sea,
are in the right
is
Morbihan now," Picard
the Pointe de Roguedas,
and on the
left is
Bcedic."
asked
how many
isles there
were, for the lovely blue
which seemed every moment to be widening before
was studded with green
hills rising
instances with cottages and trees.
from
it,
many
islets in
covered in some
is
that there are
the Morbihan as there are days in the year.
Three communes meet on the mainland Sene, Arradon, and Baden.
The He
belonged formerly to the monks. Boc'h.
us,
Monsieur Picard said he
believed about sixty, though the tradition as
said; " the land
Many Roman
to the right
Bcedic,
Next on the
on the
left,
right
Pen
is
remains have been found here, and the
THE CURRENTS. Jesuits have built a church
long line of the
houses cluster
He
d'Arz, once a priory of
women,
the
St.
Gildas.
the
left is
The
said to be curious
the wives and widows of Breton sea-
very green line of
the largest of the islands
Now we
Armel and Sarzeau.
are
left
us, still farther on, is the
inhabitants.
is
On
There are 1,200 inhabitants on the He
Farther on the
men.
college.
round the church, which
and very ancient. d'Arz, chiefly
and a
The young girl rushed in, and flung In the name of GOD, Jann, stop
herself at the feet of the priest
You
4
ol
my
death.'
!
are the cause
— the
cause
" VI.
Messir Jean Flecher
And
is
who composed
now
rector, rector of the village of
Nizon
;
have often seen him weeping Often I have seen him weep on the grave of Genevieve. I,
this ballad, I
—
Monsieur de Villemarque says that formerly the peasants used to dance the
late in the
evening on the grass in front of
chateau, but one night the dancers were terrified by
the apparition, at one of the loopholes of the donjon, of an
old priest with a bald head,
eyes
said, that
midnight
also
them with flaming
at
and ever since the place has been shunned.
;
It is
pall,
who gazed
whoever
will
hall a bier
will see in the great
with four large that
at
wax
moon
full
watch within the ruins
torches,
covered with a
each corner, and
a young lady, dressed in green
embroidered with gold,
satin
one
at
till
walks,
sometimes
Some
sometimes singing, on the walls.
crying,
of our party tried
the experiment, but did not see Genevieve.
The walk
to the sea from
At Rostras, about
three miles
Pont Aven
and a
is
very beautiful.
half from the town,
you
are ferried over to the Chateau de Poulguen, an extremely interesting old ruin.
There
is
a beautiful mantelpiece
in
the only inhabited room.
Beyond Poulguen here there practised
is
certain to
bay
is
the
little
bay of
St.
Nicholas, and
a chapel where the "pin-sticking
by the peasants on an image of the
pins remain is
is
" rite is still
saint.
If the
any length of time, the happy pin-sticker
in for
many
before the end of the year.
excellent for bathing.
This
little
CONCARNEA Another ten minutes brings you
Manech and
257
to the lighthouse of Port
magnificent and dangerous coast.
its
Concarneau
IT.
about eight miles west of Pont Aven.
is
Half way between the two places
the rocking-stone of
is
Tregunc, the second largest rocking-stone in Brittany. lies
a few yards from the road on the right, and can only
be moved from one particular point. skill
It
and practice are required
assert that
easily
it is
moved.
to
Some people say that move it at all; others a most enormous block
It is
of stone, about ten feet long and about seven in depth and height, placed pivot-wise
Not
ground.
far
from
on another stone imbedded
have been used by suspicious husbands of their wives, the
is
which
this rocking-stone,
a sort of circular
to test
dolmen
;
is
in the
said to
the fidelity
but this part of
country teems with dolmens, menhirs, and immense
shapeless masses of rock.
There
a gigantic species of
is
dolmen about a mile from the road, near the
village oC
Ker-oter.
Concarneau old
is
best seen from the sea.
walled town, completely
round the ramparts.
It is
a most curious
with loopholes
fortified,
all
be seen the
In these walls are
still
to
by
Du
Guesclin when
cannon-balls fired during
its
siege
Concarneau was held by an English garrison
for
John de
Montfort.
The
sea,
which surrounds the
fishing-boats, as
Owing
it is
walls,
is
studded with
the great centre of the sardine fishery.
to this the smell of the
town
is
intolerable.
About
1,200 boats are, during the season, continually taking these fish,
There are many vast
which are caught in thousands.
establishments for salting and curing the boiling
them
in oil.
The
sardine
is
fish,
and
also for
so delicate a fish that
PONT AVEN.
258
the great science of taking seems to be in the expertness
with which the sardines are discharged from the net without
any handling.
much
It is said that the quality
of the fish
injured by the adulteration of the bait
employed
taking them, the best bait being very high priced. sists
to
in
con-
It
Women
of the roe of fish brought from Newfoundland.
seem
now
is
be chiefly employed in the salting and boiling
houses.
Concarneau proper, or the island
and enclosed within
by the
these are surrounded
Close,
Ville
walls,
its
built
is
and
at
on an
high
tide
This walled town can be
sea.
Aven road by suburb on the
entered from the ferry at the end of the Pont the eastern gate, or from the west, the
Faubourg
In
is
larger
by the drawbridge leading
Ste. Croix,
to the Porte Ste. Croix.
the sea, there
much this
suburb, quite
close to
a remarkable aquarium, the tanks of which
These are
continually admit fresh sea water.
with
filled
many edible The director,
thousands of enormous crayfish, lobsters, and fish,
besides
many specimens
of rarities.
Monsieur Guillou, said that he could, a day's notice, from
and other
into the tanks, they
of the huge crayfish
claw appeared
;
;
he liked, export, at
one to three thousand
various parts of France
down
if
seemed
every
countries. to
to
As we looked
glow with the red orange
now and
and the green
shellfish
then a blue lobster-
tints
of other fish were
wonderfully beautiful, quite beyond the power of words to describe.
Monsieur Guillou goes about from tank to tank
calling his fish at
by dabbling
once in answer to his
At the end of the
in
the water, and they
come
Concarneau was
little
call.
fifteenth century
better than a haunt of brigands.
When Duke John
IV,
CHATEAU OF HENAN. went
Du
to
England he embarked
at
259
Concarneau.
After this
Guesclin
took the town by assault, and put garrison to the sword, except the captain, whose
the
life
he
spared.
Washing-Place on the River
A
charming row of about three miles on the Pont Aven took us to the Chateau of He'nan. picturesque,
built
river
from
It
very
on a rock almost circled by the
is
river,
PONT A VEN.
26o
and surrounded by
The donjon
trees.
is
a lofty hexagonal
tower with a very remarkable pierced parapet and a graceful but the present owner will not allow strangers to
tourelle, visit
the chateau.
Some
of the washing-places on the river
That shown
turesque.
are very pic-
in the engraving stands at the
end
of a garden.
The pardon Brittany
of Pont
the wrestling
;
Aven
account "
to
in
Lower
and dancing there have quite a
One
reputation of their own.
behind
one of the best
is
be present
at
of our companions stayed
Pardon, and
this
I
give
his
:
We
saw the place gradually
we were
that
told
with booths, &c., and
fill
on Sunday
after
high mass various
shows and entertainments would begin.
booth were then thrown open, and a
doors of the
first
came out on
to the platform.
after telling us
Accordingly the
He
man
held his arms open, and,
he was extremely modest, and that he could
not speak for himself, he said, "
You
'
my
and
come "
in
see, I
am
Christian
name
and judge
man in the whole world, Hercule. Come in, gentlemen,
the strongest is
for yourselves.'
We went into the booth, and there saw Monsieur Hercule
in all his glory, holding
up weights and balancing them,
with one hand then with the other, and doing other
first
herculean exploits. getically
His confederate
in
white tights ener-
performed on the drum as a pleasant interlude
between Hercule's
feats,
till
the
doctor of Pont
Aven
exclaimed,
"
drum goes on, I must " Upon this, the drummer grew *
If that
quit the entertainment
!
sad, and, having nothing
THE PARDON. down
to do, sat
261
only rousing to clap Hercule
pensively,
vigorously at the end of each performance.
" Next we went to see the wrestling.
The
great ring.
The people form
judges, consisting of the maire and the
and make a
chief of the townspeople, stand in the midst,
much
point of hiding the performance as
The
the lookers on. coats, hats,
and
a
which are
prizes,
scarfs, are
as possible from
chiefly flannel waist-
hung on a pole
in the
middle of
the ting, and the intending combatants walk round flourishing "
them
The
in the faces of the bystanders.
wrestling
The idea canvas
is
shirt,
wholly unlike our Cumberland wrestling.
is
on the tough
to get as firm a grip as possible
and so
opponent from the ground.
to raise the
Both shoulders must touch the ground before a counted by the adversary. extremely grotesque.
of
some
fine,
Whenever
there
fresh excitement,
learned signifies,
he had a chance,
action of these wrestlers
seemed
in our ears,
'No throw;' it
"
day
'
be a
lull
became a
or a want
and drunken
dirty
Makke lum
which we
!
'
but as he said
is
it
whenever
monotonous.
little
less interesting.
an exhausting rather than
learned the dance and danced funeral
is
Aven about
Still
it
the 17th of
to see this wrestling.
The dancing in
to
an extremely
well worth while to be at Pont
September
can be
but the accompaniments to the scene are
Breton roared out
is
The
fall
procession
They go on dancing
in a festive it,
and
than anything we
Several lines of about ten
is
it
ever
men and women
manner.
more
all
We
like
a
experienced.
are formed,
and
they run and jog about to the weird discordant music of the binioui a sort of dissipated bagpipes.
One
feature of the
dance seems to be that one must never smile or appear
in
PONT A VEN.
262
nny way
The
to enjoy oneself.
we discovered,
best dancers,
wore a pensive and rather gloomy expression while they danced.
The women looked
to judge
from the sedulous way
as
if
in
they were dying, but,
which they pursued
they must find this performance in some " Besides the wrestling or races of
hunt in the
river,
the most amusing
;
a river
is
Wild
;
duck
the
the most exciting are the
savage-looking
flying in the wind, gallop frantically
and often
is
a favourite Breton amusement at these
pardons when there horse-races.
satisfactory.
and the dancing, there are concours
descriptions
all
way
it,
accidents occur.
frightful
brought in dying while we stood
men,
long hair
their
on bare-backed
One poor
horses,
fellow
was
looking on, his horse
having flung him violently."
There
a pretty
is
called St. Le'ger,
Aven. of the
The wood
little
on the
scenery here is
a
baby pardon
in
river Belon, to the is
at a place
June
very lovely, and in the depths
fountain with an image of St. Leger.
little
Here a grand ceremony of washing babies takes
some strange
rites are
Pont
east of
We saw
enacted.
place,
and
about four hundred
babies and children brought to the fountain.
The famous custom of the Feux de St. Jean is kept up at Pont Aven and its neighbourhood. This custom exists in many parts of Lower Brittany, and also in Leon but there ;
seem All
to be
special traditions here
who can
afford
it
and there attached
even the very poor beg a few pence to enable them tribute
something to the
these are lighted. sion,
and solemnly
The
to
it.
help in making large bonfires, and
piles of faggots.
to con-
In the evening
cure of the parish leads the proces-
sets light to the first pile
as all are blazing, the ronde
is
;
and, as soon
danced round the smoking
THE FEUX DE
ST.
JEAN.
263
The
blazing heaps to the tune of innumerable reed pipes.
dancers are chiefly the
girls
of the district, for she
nine bonfires on the eve of within the year.
The
there seats are
for those
left
St.
John
older people
departed
sure of a
is
sit ;
who
round
and the
;
visits
husband here and
girls,
while
they dance, fling letters into the flame, which they firmly believe will carry their messages to the beloved dead.
Girl gathering
scene
is
The
Onion Heads.
one of the most striking that can be witnessed
in
this strange country.
In the onion plots about Port
and grey
balls of
Aven
the
tall
pale purple
blossom and seed grow about seven
high, so that the peasant girl
feet
who gathers the onion heads
looks dwarfed as she walks between the rows.
We den.
drove at a furious pace from Pont Aven to RosporThis looks a quaint town, with an old fourteenth
PONT AVEN.
264
century church, which seems to be built in the midst of a piece of water through which the river
way
to
Pont Aven.
We
heard that the
Aven
passes on
women
its
of Bannalec,
the next station to Rosporden, are noted for their beauty.
Between Concarneau and Rosporden Coetcanton
;
is
the
chateau of
the garden front of this chateau was built in
1500, by Louis
le
Saulx,
Lord of Prat-en-Ras.
of the railway crosses the
pond of Rosporden.
The
viaduct
finist£re.
CHAPTER
XVIII.
QUIMPER. r
T'HE
railway ran beside a river
on which Quimper
is
till
The view
built.
spires of the cathedral, appearing
we reached
the Odet,
of the twin
above the walls as one
approaches from the railway station,
is
We
very imposing.
drove at once to the Hotel de l'Epee, built beside the river Odet, which joins the Steir at Quimper; hence the Breton word ke?nper signifying confluent.
from our windows was
weary us,
travellers.
The
delightful,
its
name,
The view
and most refreshing
to
tree-bordered river was just beneath
with picturesque townspeople and peasants from neigh-
bouring villages chatting in groups under the avenues while on the opposite side rose a lofty
among the trees. and from a room at the back of paths showing
wooded
hill,
with
This was the front view, the house
we had
sight of the spires of the cathedral rising over a
a grand
group of
trees.
At the table d'hote we seemed suddenly to the
women
carried back
Middle Ages by the costume of the attendants in
the picturesque dress of
Pont Aven.
—
five
Most of
QUIMPER.
266
women
the
were
fair
went admirably with
colourless,
their
sombre quaintly-cut black dresses
and snowy winged caps, with and bibbed aprons.
sleeves,
crosses
and large
and
and
large white plaited collars,
Several
The
earrings.
of face
this style
them wore
of
sight of these
first
pictures interfered with the attention
gilt
living
due to our excellent
dinner.
Going out along the quay, we soon came with richly embroidered Breton garments this
the country, both for
of
part
worked by peasant hands large buckles
crosses
and
;
white collars,
hearts,
fringed with gold
and
;
:
gay
to shops
jackets
worn
men and women,
in all
thick buff leather belts with ruffs,
and caps
;
large gold
hanging from broad black velvet ribbon
and covered with spangles of varied shapes
brilliant colours,
so brilliant, that they reminded us of
the falling stars from sky-rockets.
Quimper, anciently called Corisopitum,
is,
as a
writer says, " a pleasant river-side city of fables
but at
first
as
disappointed.
we walked about
The
the town
streets are clean
charming
and gables
we were a
;"
little
and often well paved,
but they looked more modern than we had expected
;
when,
however, we turned into the quarter farthest from the quays,
we passed through
several streets full of old quaint houses
that quite fulfilled our expectations, the
making a
We
fine feature
came upon one
down houses on ;
it
is
from several unexpected openings. specially picturesque view of tumble-
the river at the end of a street leading
from the cathedral. artist
cathedral spires
This must have delighted
many an
charming both in composition and in low-
toned colour.
On
the Odet, at the
end of the town,
is
the church of
LEGEND OF Locmaria, part of which
Odierne, his daughter, life
in the
We
267
very old, and said to have been
is
by Alain Caignart
built
CORENTIN.
ST.
in the eleventh century, to please
who devoted
herself to a religious
convent of Locmaria.
found our way up a very steep
hill
to the top of
Mount Frugy, a public walk sheltered by avenues of trees, which looks down on the town and over the surrounding The view from it is very pretty, and the air seems country. most healthy.
Indeed,
most desirable town
and
sant
in Brittany
interesting, but
it
;
is
is
quite the
not only very plea-
within easy reach of
is
Lower
best worth seeing in
Quimper
for residence,
Brittany, of
which
it
all
that
is
has been
the capital city ever since the submerging of the famous Is in the
days of King Gradlon or Grallon, though, according
Quimper, or Kemper-Odetz, had been
to Albert le grand,
originally the capital of Cornouaille, until
King Gradlon,
hunting one day, about the year 495, with
all his court, in
the forest of Plomodiern, not far from Chateaulin, lost his
way, and towards evening stumbled upon the abode of
who dwelt
the holy hermit Corentin,
The King and the saint "
if
That
minutes
Xow
I
all
his followers
being very hungry, asked
he could give them something to can," said St. Corentin
I will
there
"
;
He now
which came quickly its
you
was near the dwelling of the fish,
will wait a
few
went to
back and gave
hand. it
to
the
man
took
which was immediately
to the fountain
his
saint a fountain
from which the holy
his daily meal, cutting off a little bit,
from
if
eat.
seek for some food."
tenanted by a single
restored.
in the forest.
St.
and called the
Corentin cut a
fish,
slice
King's maitre d'hotel,
bidding him cook that for King Gradlon and his courtiers.
QUIMPER.
268
At
this
maitre
the
began
d'hotel
he took the
else,
;
laugh and jeer,
much would not
saying that a hundred times as feed the King's train
to
suffice to
but finding that there was nothing
bit of fish, which, strange to relate, so
King and
multiplied itself that the
were
his courtiers
fully-
satisfied.
Gradlon, astonished at
had been thus mutilated, and going
the fish which
fountain, behold,
some
asked to see
this great miracle,
swam
it
indiscreet bystander cutting a bit off
it
He
indiscretion
then bade ;
but
it
disappear, fearing
the fish instantly obeyed,
to see
if
the
wounded
Corentin came, and having solemnly blessed
healed.
;
merrily in the water thereof
miracle would be repeated, the fish remained St.
to the
it,
the
some
until
wound further
and King Gradlon,
overcome by these marvels, prostrated himself
at the feet
by
of the hermit, which example was immediately followed the courtiers.
He
then gave
St.
Corentin lordship over the whole
also a country house
Plomodiern.
St.
which he possessed in the
forest,
forest of
Corentin converted this house into
a
monastery, where he educated young nobles and gentle-
men, among them saints
the
;
St.
and when, years
King
Guenole, or Wingaloc, and other after,
the people
that Cornouaille should
Gradlon consented, and chose
be erected into a diocese, St.
and, in order that he might have ferred his
famous
own
Corentin as bishop
full
jurisdiction, trans-
court and the seat of government to the
city of Is,
which once stood between the Baie des
Trepasses and Douarnenez. beloved, that
and lords besought
when he died
changed from Kemper-Odetz
St.
the to
Corentin was so greatly
name
of the
Kemper-Corentin.
city
was
KING GRADLON. The
other and
much more
tragical
legend
per only became capital of Cornouaille perished in the waters.
were both Britons
whom
Meriadec,
who had
St.
269
tells that
when
Quim-
the city of Is
Corentin and King Gradlon
Gradlon being brother-in-law of Conan he had accompanied to Brittany, and
;
created him Count of Cornouaille.
At
the death
Solomon I., Gradlon was chosen King of more probably of Cornouaille. Besides St. Corentin, King Gradlon had two other counsellors St. of Conan's son,
Brittany,
or
—
Ronan, who dwelt perle,
and
and who
later
on
is
St.
in
of Carnoet, near
Quim-
also the subject of miraculous legends;
Gue'nole, or Wingaloc, the pupil of St.
and the
Corentin,
the forest
abbot
first
of
From
Landevennec.
Quimper westward and northward the country seems filled with traces and memories of this marvellous King Gradlon, his saintly counsellors, tiful
his
wicked daughter the beau-
Dahut.
There of
and
is little
Duchess
historical
mention of Quimper
Her
Constance.
third
till
husband,
the time
Guy de
Thouars, proposed in 1207 to build a castle at Quimper, but the Bishop Guillaume opposed this design as prejudicial to the episcopal authority,
of
St.
Corentin had governed the
was enclosed with walls
which ever since the time
The
city.
city,
however,
in the thirteenth century, the keys
of which were held by the chapter of the Cathedral
during the
War
town asserted
of the Succession the their
superior authority
the governors of Quimper.
;
commanders of and were
but the
actually
In 1344 Charles de Blois took
the city by assault, and there was a terrible massacre of the inhabitants.
Quimper
of the League; but to
its
also suffered
during the wars
everlasting honour repulsed the
QUIMPER.
270
attacks of the brigand Fontenelle, chiefly by
of Jean Jegado,
men who had advanced utterly to flight.
had so multiplied the
into
the
forty or
Fontenelle's
town, and
put them
During these wars of the League wolves in the country, that they actually entered
town and even attacked men and women.
We in
At the head of
Lord of Kerolain.
young townsmen he charged some of
fifty
the valour
went early next morning
which
stands was fast
it
filling
The Cathedral
interesting
which
it
The Place
with market people and
General View.
Quimper.
their wares.
to the Cathedral.
is
a fine building, but
and impressive as a whole, and
it is
for the
more
way
in
groups with the old houses, than when examined
1239 by the Bishop Rainaud; and the choir was finished about 1 410 by Bishop Gatien de in detail.
It
Monceaux. have years
built
in
Bertrand de
more than
of his
dedicated
was founded
to
all
episcopate
Rosmadec seems, however,
his predecessors during the :
he was buried
him, though his tombstone
in is
the threshold of one of the entrances to the
the
to
twenty chapel
now used as The choir.
THE CATHEDRAL. chief part of this Cathedral
The
poor kind.
spires,
271
work of a
fifteenth century
is
which are graceful and
effective,
are of quite recent date, and were built by the tax of a sou
paid for five years by every inhabitant.
yearly,
was called " the sou of
St.
Above
of 154.427 francs.
Corentin
;
"
and emblems
"
due," in the centre
riche
produced a sum
the western doorway are various
heraldic mottoes
Malo au
it
This tax
:
Duke John
of
that
on the
;
V.,
En
"
left,
Tame," of the house of Plceuc, and that of Quelennec, "
En Dieu
m'attends
" Perac ?" (pourquoi statue of
;"
on
the
Above
?).
the gable
King Gradlon, with crown and
was destroyed
at the
of
that
right,
is
Xeve't,
an equestrian
sceptre.
This statue
Revolution, but has been restored
formerly there was a quaint ceremony connected with
On
St. Cecilia's
day a
chorister, with a
;
it.
napkin under his
arm, and in his hands a flagon of wine and a gold cup offered
by the chapter of the Cathedral, mounted on the
He
horse behind King Gradlon.
placed the napkin under
the King's chin, poured wine into the cup, presented
the Prince,
and then draining
it
himself,
hanap into the crowd, who struggled But now that the custom has ceased,
it
to
he flung the golden
to catch it is
as
it
fell.
said that the
cup
it
was only a wineglass.
"Why,"
asks Monsieur de Villemarque, "as the statue
has been replaced, has not the quaint old ceremony been restored also
?
"
Formerly there was "
Comme un Sa
this
motto under the statue
pape donna l'empereur Constantin
terre, aussi livra ceste a
Grallon,
Qui
:
Roy
Saint Corentin
chrestien des Bretons Armoriques
l'an quatre cent cinq, selon les vrais chroniques,
QUIMPER.
275
******
Rendit son ame a Dieu cent
Que
Clovis premier
Roy
neuf ans ancois
et
chrestien des Fran9ois.
C'y estait son palais et triomphant demeure Landt-Tevennec gist du dit Grallon le corps, Dieu par sa saincte grace en soit misericorde."
A
In old times, every new Bishop of Quimper,
after
having
sworn to respect the privileges of the town, was borne to the
Cathedral by the Viscount of Le Faou and by the
Lords of Nevet, of Plceuc, and of Guengat. Within
this
high altar in this
church there
is
bronze which
gilt
end of the Cathedral
is
a very remarkable modern is
worth examination.
the curious old statue of the
Discalceat, a barefooted friar of
Men heureux Jean
in the fourteenth century,
famous
for his sanctity,
Quimper one proof
of which seems to have been that he would never insect of
kill
an
any kind
In the sacristry is
At
recorded.
A
is
an ancient
crucifix, of
which
this miracle
townsman of Quimper going on pilgrimage
sum of return. The
to Jerusalem, entrusted a neighbour with a large
money, begging him merchant went on
to
keep
it
safely
his
till
When after several months'
his journey.
absence he came back and asked for his money, his friend
many words and property. The merchant
denied,
of the
with
oaths,
cited
having possession
him
to appear before
the magistrate, who, having heard the case, bade the friend affirm his denial before the altar.
the faithless friend
placed the
money
crucifix that
Arrived at the Cathedral,
handed a hollow
—
to the
stick
—
in
which he had
merchant, and then swore on the
he had restored
it.
As he
spoke, the feet of
the Christ loosened from the cross, three drops of blood fell
on the
altar,
and the
stick breaking of its
own
accord,
COSTUMES. the
money
and the
faithless
a representation of this miracle in a
window
The
singular
fell
on the
friend's treachery
There in
is
floor of the church,
was disclosed.
one of the chapels on the
left
double bend in the apse of unpleasant
273
of the nave. this
Cathedral has a very
effect.
When we came
out into the Place,
thronged with groups of buyers and
we found
sellers, the
it
closely
most motley
There were many
and picturesque we had hitherto
seen.
women
close-fitting skull-caps of
from Pont l'Abbe, with
ribbon, charming in colour, embroidered in gold and silver
the hair being brought
down
in a kind of unstuffed
chignon
over the crown, while from the forehead rises a small square white cap with peaked corners. is
much
except on fete days,
The
regular
Quimper cap
simpler than any of the others, quite square at
the top of the high crown, stuff,
The
prevailing
and made of some
when
features
it is
of the
thick white
of lace or muslin.
market in the way of
costume were these opaque white high-crowned caps, peculiar sort of white ruff with three
a
large plaits at the
back of the neck, which we had already seen
at
Quimperle,
and the pleasant blue-green and green-blue of the gowns
and bodices, many faded the sun.
by the power of
to exquisite tints
One woman wore
a black under-body and sleeves
reaching to the elbow, trimmed with three rows of yellow
embroidery; below the elbow were white sleeves fastened
round the wrist
;
the neck
and square
front of the
were also trimmed with yellow embroidery greenish blue Justin or waistcoat, which cut points in front ruffled
;
this
;
met
over in
this
body was a
two quaintly-
was bound with broad black velvet
up round her neck and throat was a thick white T
QUIMPER.
274
neckerchief; she had a brown cloth skirt and a grey- blue
apron with large pockets coming up to the dress of
many
of the
men from
The
waist.
neighbouring towns and
was also very quaint. One side of the Place was devoted to crockeryware and The market was quite as bustling and noisy as sabots.
villages
that of Quimperle, but not so dirty.
enormous were on
hats, white bragoubras,
sides arguing
all
of their sieves, red and
and
Long-haired
and black or brown
brown pots and pans
some
to bring
to England.
A
along with a pitcher balanced on her head.
in
women seem
We
its
girls,
sight
is
walking
Outside the ;
and
feet.
went through the noisy crowd to the
can be got of the Cathedral
it
saw them
neighbourhood, they have
of the Place, the only point from which a
built
first
often to dispense with sabots
Quimper, Pont Aven, and
small well-made
or pitchers
charming
one of the barefooted picturesque peasant
towns, the
gaiters,
and yet of such exquisite
form that we had been longing ever since we
Vannes
in
gesticulating over the price
pitchers of the coarsest ware,
at
men
upon by the
would be hard
;
farthest corner
good near view
on the southern side
bishop's palace.
it
is
A more picturesque sight
to find than these quaintly-garbed
market
people and their motley wares, grouped round the old grey towers, the two spires rising far above the surrounding
houses and
trees.
In the evening we went along the banks of the river
below the falaise on the very
fine.
tall
A
slight
left
;
just
the view of the Cathedral was
vapour hung over the church, and added
an element of mystery and also of height to the lovely spires.
EVENING VIEW. From
here
we climbed up
walk nearly
at
the top of the
hill,
of the climb.
Below us was the whole of Quimper, some
and were
A of
to the terraced
275
so near that
fully
rewarded
for the fatigue
Street in Quimper.
we witnessed little scenes taking place on the quay below, and we could trace the course of the river flowing on to the sea. it
QUIMPER.
276
when
Later,
the
moon had
the
quay beside the basin
round
after
towards
the
we looked back
awhile
we walked along
risen,
at
Turning
sea.
The
town.
the
of the tree-shaded promenade, a long dark mass, and
effect
About
the Cathedral rising above, was most imposing.
here are detached houses in gardens, occupied by residents in
Some way The moon had
Quimper.
lovely.
farther
on the scene was
risen higher,
on one
;
the
in
were mirrored in the
distance, the spires of the Cathedral river
town lay
the
more
still
was a
side, in the foreground,
forest of masts,
and on the other the old suburban church of Locmaria above
rising
houses also reflected
beyond these were the
lofty
of
trees
while
water,
the
in
promenade,
the
which extends for some distance out of Quimper.
Next morning was the also
the
of the
fete
reached the Cathedral the nave was
filled
city
people
with
When we
Corentin.
of St.
The
centre
ordinary dress,
in
Quimper
narrow
up the
The
itself.
The men
were ranged
line beside the pillars of the nave, the rest of the side aisles
variety of
of
but
one wore the costume either of
one or other of the neighbouring small towns and or of
and
l'Assomption,
was crammed.
it
in the aisles nearly every
de
Fete
in
villages
a long
women
filling
and chapels.
caps was most bewildering
Aven and Bannalec,
:
the large
little
square muslin
tops and skull-caps of delicious colour from
Pont l'Abbe,
wings of Pont
the
the square sugar-bag caps of Quimper, close-fitting silk
and
and the
pretty
little
satin caps of the baby-children divided
melon- wise, with bands of black or blue velvet with goldflowered embroidery between.
gems of colour were kept
The
quiet
by
wearers of these their
little
mothers by the
fAte.
277
occasional administration of an apple or a cake. the
women came arm
the
to
church with
provide
to
1'Abbe wore
of
white blankets under
little
The women
against rain.
Some
of Pont
There were some of dark
brilliant skirts.
blue trimmed with velvet, with light blue under-skirts bor-
dered by a broad band of yellow striped with red. dresses
had green aprons trimmed with
broad red and yellow
Such costumes sive; but the
pardons do not occur frequently in the same
is
a necessary part of the furnish-
one generation
The men
clothed as the
often
to
these
fete-clothes
another in very good
of Pont l'Abbe were as remarkably
women
—
in short black or
with waistcoats coming all
covered up and laid by in
is
Breton dwelling, and
descend from condition.
by
as these, of fine soft cloth, are very expen-
the huge annoire, which of a
These tied
strings.
neighbourhood, and the dress
ing
violet,
at least
dark blue jackets,
a foot below the jackets
round, both jacket and waistcoat trimmed with yellow
lace
and black
fringe.
Going towards the church of Locmaria we met a procession with banners and gaily-dressed
images
woman
Blessed
of the in
Virgin
young
and the
girls
carrying
saints,
an old
a prodigious cap bringing up the rear.
In the evening the avenues on the opposite side of the
were lighted with coloured lamps hanging from the
river
trees
;
these were reflected in the water, and, with the groups
of gaily-dressed people in constant movement, scene.
But the
fete
was over
early,
lights
a vivid
and by eleven o'clock
empty and the avenues seemingly deserted, were still shining among the trees as we
the streets were
though
made
looked from our windows on the quay.
FINISTfeRE. THE WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
CHAPTER Pont
\
1 TE had proposed
1
XIX.
Abbe — Penmarc'h. go to Penmarc'h, thence along the
to
coast to Audierne,
and so on
du Raz
to Pointe
make two journeys instead of one, although by doing so we must give up the journey between Pont l'Abbe and Pont Croix, and we regretted this as there but
we were
advised to
on the road, the Chapelle
are two curious churches
and the Chapelle Notre For those who is
to
river
Dame
S.
Viaud
de Tronoan.
like boating excursions, the pleasantest
way
go from Quimper down the Odet, and then up the
on which the town
widens rapidly
is built
after passing
into a sort of lake.
On
to
Pont l'Abbe.
the right
Kerdour, and after passing
this
is
the ruined castle of
the river narrows again.
About ten miles below Quimper the Odet estuary of Benodet, enters the
mouth
The Odet
Locmaria, and soon broadens
and the boat makes a
flows into the
circuit before
of the Pont l'Abbe river between
and the island of Tudy.
The church
it
Loctudy
of Loctudy
is
very
CHURCH OF LOCTUDY.
279
old and interesting, built by the Knights Templars in the twelfth century; but
older
building,
chapel St.
in
the
worth seeing.
well
in the fifth
founded a monastery
There
Loctudy takes
graveyard.
Tudy, who
some remains of a much
there are
a
is
curious
name from
its
century lived on the island, and
there.
There
a ferry from Loctudy
is
to the island.
At Lesconil, about two miles from Loctudy, there very
large
group
above Loctudy to
by
go
of Druidic
is
Pont l'Abbe.
diligence
vehicle to Penmarc'h. carriage
at
Quimper,
About
stones.
But
is
it
is
a
four miles
a quicker
way
Pont l'Abbe, and then take a
to
The
way of
best
on
stopping
the
all
is
road
to take a
and then
returning from Penmarc'h to sleep at Pont l'Abbe'.
The
first
part of the road
pleasant beside the river Odet
out
of
we soon
but
;
Quimper was very left this,
and
few miles the cultivated smiling country changed
after a
into barren
moorland, the cottages disappeared, and the
only signs of cultivation
-.vere
banks planted with young
pine-trees.
Pont
lay below,
1'Abbe'
and
seemed
to
be a quiet
deserted place, with only one tower remaining of the castle,
which
in
League.
1590 sustained a siege against the party of the
The
church,
however,
century) and interesting, although lated, especially the fine east
both old (fourteenth
is
has been
it
window.
It
much
muti-
was founded
in
i3 s 3 b y Herve', Baron of Pont l'Abbe', and Perronelle de
when they built the Carmelite convent The west porch is very handsome the
Rochefort, his wife, of
Pont
cloister,
l'Abbe'.
;
which bears the arms of Bertrand de Rosmadec,
Bishop of Cornouaille,
is
delightful
;
the arches
are xery
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
280
graceful, far better than anything in the Cathedral of per,
on which
this prelate spent so
Across the bridge
!
Cloister
The
quaint
little
of Pont l'Abbe
is
:
Pont l'Abbe.
four-cornered cap worn by the
called a bigonden.
the costume at Quimper, but this old
world quiet
occupied in the it
church to be demo-
this
because the people of Lanbour refused to pay the
stamp-tax levied in 1693
that
time and money.
another church, that of Lanbour,
is
Louis XIV. ordered the spire of lished
much
Quim-
little
fisheries.
produces with
it
We
looks
The
little
land
is
had already seen
still
town, where the
women
more
original in
men seem
wholly
said to be so fertile
cultivation.
Both corn and
PENMARC
and of the best
butter are abundant
and vegetables Quimper.
are larger
There
few days.
This
It
is
it
is
finer flavoured
and the
fruit
than those of little
town
might be a pleasant resting-place
said to
Lower
stitious districts in
and
quality,
a quiet quaintness about the
is
which makes one think for a
281
'//.
be one of the most super-
Brittany.
necessary to breakfast or lunch at Pont l'Abbe
The road soon becomes very On the left we pass the castle of
before going to Penmarc'h.
barren and dreary.
Kerunz, which,
it
is
said,
once communicated by a subter-
raneous passage with the castle of Pont l'Abbe.
comes
a dreary waste, sprinkled, after
huge masses of
granite,
and near Penmarc'h, which
is
at
After this
we pass Plomeur, with
among which
are three dolmens,
Kerscaven, two menhirs, one of
fan-shaped at the top.
Penmarc'h
itself
On
looks like a place of tombs.
side are ruins, foundations of houses
;
those
still
every
standing
to-
wards the east constitute the present Penmarc'h, or horse's head, as the
name
the sea, but at
signifies.
Another group of houses near
some distance from
the
first, is
called Kerity
;
but both of these groups, some other squalid villages, and all
site
the rest of the ruins, once formed part or
of a large city,
Treoultre'
much commercial importance
occupy the
Penmarc'h, which was of till
the discovery of
New-
foundland and the establishment of a cod-fishery there.
The
cod-fishery
had been the great source of the revenues of
Penmarc'h, and the decline of the trade seriously injured prosperity; but even in
1556
town, with 10.000 inhabitants.
it
was
Then
still
its
a considerable
a sudden invasion of
the sea destroyed a part of the town, choked up the harbour,
and destroyed the
cod-fishery;
and before the inhabitants
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
282
could repair these disasters, Fontenelle, towards the end of
War
the
came over from Douarnenez, and the town until he left it a mere wreck.
of the League,
attacked and pillaged
During the War of the League the inhabitants had stowed away their immense riches in the church and in the
fort
of Kerity, and had fortified both these places,
fearing the outrages of Fontenelle.
houses had been separately walls or
Till
then most of the
as
fortified,
there
were no
defence to the town beyond the boundary of
terrible rocks in the
Fontenelle heard
bay of Penmarc'h.
of these treasures, and
came
in friendly guise with only a
While he pretended
few companions to reconnoitre.
friend-
and ate and drank with the inhabitants, his people observed the positions of the church and the fort. Very
ship,
At
soon he returned with a large number of companions. first
the peasants retired to their forts, but while they
came
out to listen to the propositions of Fontenelle, his people
took the church, massacred
its
defenders, and then granted
on condition of
their lives
to the garrison of the fort
surrender.
The booty was immense.
three hundred ships
Penmarc'h with It is said that
and that
and boats belonging
and returned
in
men suffered cruel and violent deaths, women and girls of Penmarc'h were out-
in the fort of Kerity,
and held
Sourdiac, governor of Brest for
ruinous
dwindled away city.
It is
the people of
triumph to Douarnenez.
raged by the brigand and his followers.
After this
to
filled
5,000
the
all
it,
Fontenelle
its
till it
attack,
it
for
Henry
He
left
a garrison
two years, and then IV.. reconquered
Penmarc'h seems
to
it.
have
has become the skeleton of a great
now an expanse
of
flat
rock, covered in
places with sand, in others with salt marshes;
some
and amid
THE TOR CHE. the ruins
283
and the waste are a few squalid
which, as has been said,
is
still
one of
villages,
called Penmarc'h.
It is
a
very desolate region.
There are
still
six churches.
St.
the building. of
St.
Nonna
Ursula, and this church
the Knights Hospitallers of
St.
is
both
\
on the
ships are carved
Thumette was one
Ste.
the largest;
is
Guenole are the most interesting
St.
church and
Nonna
Kerity, (Ste. Thumette, and the
but the ruined church oi chapel of
St.
at this
exterior of
companions
of the
said to have belonged to
But the
John of Jerusalem.
ruined city of Penmarc'h has not the terrible interest possessed by the Torche, or
Horse-Head Rock,
many
of the Torche, on which so
The
to the fury of the sea.
waves
fling
lives
air is filled
in the estuary
have been
sacrificed
with thunder as the
themselves against the rocks, jagged and
terrible,
but at no great height above the sea.
Cambry waited violent storm.
to see this
He
coast
course of long voyages ever gave
ocean
is,
I
me an
clouds of mist
roll
You
flakes of foam.
You
see only a
These black
reassured
;
thick
Suddenly these
gloomy fog and flakes rise
— earth
turn mechanically to escape
to
in the
idea of what the
;
swallow
when they
fall
all
before them
;
— they
seems
to
a giddiness, a
an inexplicable horror, overwhelm you
waves threaten
of a
rapidly across the sky, which appears to
leap into the air with a deafening roar
terror,
have seen
to reach as far as eye can see
mingle with the ocean.
tremble.
moment
striking on the rocks of Penmarc'h.
separated rocks seem
enormous
the
till
says, " Nothing that
;
the leaping
you are only
on the shore and die away at your
feet."
But the cross on the Torche of Penmarc'h
is
a warning
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
284
against the treachery of this tremendous ocean, even there
is
no storm
to excite
This rock
its fury.
is
when
separated
from land by a passage called Le Saut du Moine, because
Viaud sprang from the rock on
St.
landed from Ireland.
It is said to
when he
to firm land
be the entrance of the
sea into this passage which causes the noise heard some-
times even a few miles from Quimper.
The
cross
was erected
commemorate a sad event which took place here a few A lady and her children were sitting on the years ago.
to
rock, quite unconscious of the rapid advance of the tide.
Suddenly the husband, who had remained on land, called to
them
to return, but
it
was too
late.
A
huge wave broke
over the rock, and swept away his wife and children before the
unhappy man's
The range
eyes.
of rocks reaches from the channel in which
the Torche stands to the point of Penmarc'h. sible to
It is
impos-
imagine anything more forlorn and desolate than
the whole aspect of Penmarc'h. tried to exist here
It
and had given up
seems as
if
a city had
in sheer despair, for
it
does not appear that the ruined Penmarc'h dates beyond the fourteenth century. against the
The savage thunder
Torche must have been enough
of the
storm
to deafen the
inhabitants. It
is
about a twenty-miles drive from Pont l'Abbe to
we were advised to go to Audierne from Quimper, by way of Landudec and Plozevet, returning to Quimper by Pont Croix; however, as we wished to end our journey at Douarnenez and we heard that the Plozevet road was a bad one, we took our places in the Audierne
Pont Croix
diligence,
;
but
which leaves Quimper, or rather which
leave Quimper, at half- past two o'clock.
is
said to
FINISTfeRE. THE WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
CHAPTER
XX.
Raz— Pont
Audierne— Pointe du
Croix.
on the Cathedral Place, we found a very small vehicle, into which came two tall Sisters, dressed in enormous white flannel gowns, a girl, and a us he stout, very talkative French gentleman, who told
T
J
AITING
expected to get quite a
new
sensation
from the contem-
plation of the ocean at Audierne.
The road mounted Between the
city
and
considerably on leaving
Plone'is
is
Quimper.
the Chateau of Prat-en-Ras,
end of the eighteenth century, but which was an ancient appanage of the descendants of the Wild Boar of Ardennes. The lord of this chateau levied a tribute of one
rebuilt at the
egg each Easter on every household on his domain.
Guengat, about two miles ancient church.
There was
off the
Guengat occurs frequently
About three
;
is
also a strong castle of Guengat,
of which only a few ruins remain. of
road,
At
a curious and
thirteen miles from
in
The name
of the lords
Breton history.
Quimper
the road divides into
those on the right lead, one to Douarnenez, and the
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
286
We
other to Ploare. spire of this
the
left
is
David,
or,
for
some time seen the
church high above the road on the
graceful
On
right.
the road to Audierne beneath a steep ridge of
Just here
hills.
had
as
says that this
a sort of estuary or
was once
it
is
is
called,
the spot where
river, called
Poul Dahut.
Poul
Tradition
King Gradlon's daughter, the
wicked Princess Dahut, was swallowed up by the waves, which at once retreated towards the that looking
wide,
The
sea.
river
so
is
on towards Douarnenez we saw the
masts of large vessels lying at anchor.
We
walked on
along the
on the
road
left
towards
Audierne, while the diligence went on to Douarnenez with
As we looked back
the passengers. Ploare'
was very prominent;
it
is
the beautiful spire of
visible for miles.
We
passed the village of Poul David, and the diligence over-
took us just as we came to a wild stretch of country,
sometimes bare, sometimes covered with
chiefly landes,
furze
and heather, with every now and then a
About
six miles
from
this
we passed through
and then through Pont Croix. to drive
single fir-tree.
If
Confort,
we had not determined
back from Audierne to Douarnenez we should
much have
regretted being in the diligence, for both these
churches looked interesting, especially that of Pont Croix.
A
little
while before
fringe of tall pine-trees
we reached Audierne, through a on the
right,
which borders the
rocky road, we got a most exquisite view of the blue
river.
This was certainly the loveliest bit of scenery we saw in Brittany,, first
Clouds of hills,
on the
light
which are
rich dark
brown
right,
then on the
left
of the road.
moving vapour obscured the tops of the here sometimes wooded,
sometimes of
rock; and as the road followed the curves
BAY OF AUDIERNE.
287
of the river the scene seemed to change every
moment,
ever-moving vapours giving a most poetic aspect
light
the
to the
view.
The the
river
widened as we drew nearer
first
hills,
on one side and then on the
vance so boldly, that at nearly seven
beyond. to
go
As
to the
to Audierne, but
the
was not
it
that
o'clock,
town
till
we saw
end of the harbour
ad-
we reached Audierne, the sea glimmering
built beside the river,
is
other,
it is
necessary
to get a full view of the
broad dangerous bay, extending from Penmarc'h on the
On
south to the Pointe du Raz on the north.
crows are said to be often seen
the harbour two
embodied
spirits
The modern
pier
and
have doubtless taken from
sea-wall ;
but
still
of the most weird spots in Brittany full
After dinner
of terrible
this
savage bay
is
one
— so
utterly lonely
and
memories and legendary
we went down
to the pier.
tales.
be the southern end of those foundations of the
which reach beyond the Pointe du Raz.
bank of pebbles
at Plovan,
the scene of shipwrecks
;
on a
It is built
mass of stone or rock, once called the Cammer, and
the
— the
of King Gradlon and his daughter Dahut.
the wildness of the scene
deserted, so
a rock near
said to
city of Is
Farther south
is
famous some years ago as
for this terrible
bay
is
strown with
hidden rocks, which cause destruction to any ship that ventures too near
Cambry
tells
its frightful
us that so
coast. late as
the beginning of
the
century frightful scenes of wrecking took place at Plovan.
The
inhabitants of this
soldiers sent to protect a
dered liquor
it
of everything,
they could find,
village,
having beaten back
wrecked
vessel, flew
on
and then, having drunk
it,
the
plun-
all
the
broke open and swallowed the
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
288
some
contents of a medicine chest, which gave death to
them, and to others
frightful convulsions.
In earlier days than
round
all
this
murder was frequently com-
this,
who seem
mitted by these wreckers, trade
to have plied their
western coast, frequently tempting
dis-
by means of lanterns fastened
tant ships to destruction
the horns of cows tethered on the rocks.
seem
of
Now
to
the people
fairly civilised.
The sea-view
then a glimpse of one of the sea-wall
now and
very grand and wild, with every
is
many
lights
on the north, while the sea
rolls
beyond the long up
subdued
in a
we turned from brought by the moaning waves, the
roar against the rocks; but as
the fresh
keen
smell of
air
Audierne was most unsavoury.
A the
hill little
tions
inn
on which the church town, so that there
of the
mud
at the
built rises at the
is
is
no escape from the exhala-
mouth of
we met our communicative
in ecstasies,
back of
Near the
the river.
He
fellow-traveller.
was
and talked grandiloquently of the magnificence
of the ocean and the sensations
then went on to
tell
it
He
inspired in him.
us he had brought a new
cloth to wear next day, and asked us gravely
if
blue
suit of
we
did not
think that blue would harmonise with the colour of the Atlantic.
We
complained of the smell near the
said he did not perceive
it,
and
that
inn,
but he
he should spend a
fortnight at Audierne.
Next morning was very bright and
beautiful.
a festival the town was in holiday costume.
way
to the
church was
full
of old
As
The
men and women
slowly upwards, and at eight o'clock the building was
it
was
steep toiling full of
people, and gay with flowers and banners and picturesque
NOTRE DAME DE BON VOYAGE. and caps.
dresses
After
The bay looked
the jetty.
service
289
we walked down
beautiful in the fresh
morning
the sea the most intense blue under the cloudless sky.
light,
Audierne was once a town of some importance. large cod-fishery,
Spain of dried
and was the chief port
fish,
The houses
&c.
and many of them are scarcely
We
to
in
It
had a
for exportation to
are built of granite,
and comfortable looking,
large
keeping with the look of the
townspeople.
saw old dates on more than one of these houses.
Directly after an excellent breakfast at the
little
Hotel des
Voyageurs, we started for Pointe du Raz in a vehicle which
we had bespoken
the day before at Quimper.
It is
nearly a
two-hours' drive, through a barren and most desolate country.
Very soon we saw the sea on the
and every now and then
little
right as well as
on the
left,
villages clustering
round
tall
slender campanile-shaped church towers, for in this part of Brittany the spires rest on a series of open square galleries
On
placed one above another.
the
left
There are curious ceremonies observed
was
St.
at the
Tugean.
Pardon of
this village.
Farther on our driver pointed out on the
Dame
of Notre
left
the chapel
de Bon Voyage, where he said a Pardon
was held from the 20th
to the 25th of August.
It
looked
so desolate and forlorn on the bare stony waste backed
by the great attract
large
a
glittering sea, that
large gathering
such a distance
it
could
from any
town; but our driver assured us that the Pardon
of Notre
Dame
the sailors
de Bon Voyage was in great repute among
and fishermen of
The wind blew have
at
we wondered how
realised,
this
storm-beaten coast.
with such fresh violence that
even
if
we had not
u
seen, that the
we should ground on
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
2 9o
which we travelled was rapidly narrowing into a mere tongue of land, with the sea on each
saw
Plogoff, with
its
side.
church dedicated to
St.
On
the right
we
Ke, or Colledoc,
Queen Guenevere in her repentance King Arthur. There is a chapel on the
the saintly guide of after the passing of left
dedicated also to
On
Colledoc.
and then we begin
village,
little
St.
the right
another
is
to see the blue Baie des
Trepasses.
The country grows more and more desolate. Every now and then we come to a group of wretched-looking hovels, surrounded
seem
fences
much
on
all
These
sides with stone fences.
to divide the barren tract into squares, not so
for protection against straying cattle (for there rarely
seems any crop within the enclosure) as
for a barrier against
the fury of the wind and even of the sea, for the road has
dwindled here into a very narrow bridge,
We
strip of land.
cross a
which our driver says no Breton living near the
Raz would pass over
at night.
We
ask why, and he says
with a very sceptical smile, " Because of the departed souls in the Baie des Trepasses."
But now on the in front the lie right it
is
the
left
is
the broad
Tevennec, with
its
lighthouse
little
church of Lescoff.
our driver said,
which the physicians heaps
is
an
and on the
peche de goemon," the sea
sell
" the
The
is
is
beyond
Heaps of brown and tawny
— the goemon,
from
an
acid,
chemists
very dear."
extract
Growing among the
abundance of large blue -leaved
blossomed poppies.
When
;
the exquisite blue of the Baie des Trepasses,
orange seaweed are drying in the sun which,
Bay of Audierne;
sulphur-
gathering of this sea-weed, "
La
a fine sight to witness in the autumn.
wild with September storms,
men
standing
DU
POINT in a
row along the shore
waves long
fling
29
into the boisterous foaming
end of each of which
to the
lassoes,
RAZ.
and by help of these the harvest of
an iron
trident,
weed
dragged beyond the reach of the waves.
is
fixed
is
sea-
These
splendid brown and orange masses form a feature of the
Breton sea-coast as they
The seaweed makes
the sun.
cattle, besides its
The
through the summer drying in
lie
winter fuel and forage for
medicinal properties.
carriage road
ended on a
on which the lighthouse would be possible
stands.
sort
of green
We
were told that
to lodge at the lighthouse
;
and
du Raz, the Land's End of France,
the Pointe
plateau, it
certainly is
worth
the careful study of a painter.
We
our carriage here, our driver having put us in
left
charge of a guide
;
and
much
it is
safer to
have one.
It is
not an easy or a very safe journey to the Pointe alone.
As we went down the ground grew more and more rugged, till we found ourselves on the side of the precipitous savagelooking rock It is a
tastic
ing as
itself.
magnificent scene
—the
and many-shape.d rocks, and the foaming water it
the rock
is
marvellous
—a
rich
large
full
a storm. to
;
in
and
of exquisite colour, but rather wild and
still it
Our guide
be here
can nestle
in rich masses here
savage than grand, as the rocks are not
above the sea
frosted
green fronds of Asplenium marinutn.
bright
The scene was
and
it
roar-
colour of
and varied brown,
—while in every chink where
are silvery tufts of sea-pink,
feet
The
dashes into the caverns below.
with hoary lichens
there
jagged precipice of fan-
must be
full
much more
than 230
of terrible grandeur in
told us that indeed "
it
was very awful
rough weather; we could not be here," he
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
292
" the wind would tear us away."
said,
sea was perfectly calm elsewhere,
forced a
way between
it
Even now, when
the
raged and roared as
the lofty channelled
it
and many-shaped
rocks,
and flung showers of snowy foam up high against the
brown
walls, at the foot of
The
intense emerald.
and torn
twisted
rushes
awful as one looks
Trou de a
fit
l'Enfer, a
rocks seem as
into the
among them
which were pools of the most if
strangest forms,
they had been
and the water
with a noise and fury that
down between
become
their black sides to the
bubbling seething cauldron, which seems
haunt for demons.
We
began
to
mount
after this,
again from the height above.
beyond the Trou de Pointe footing
itself
slippery.
it
was not allowed to go much
we advanced near the more and more violent and the So I stayed among the lichen-
l'Enfer, for as
the wind grew
more
I
and looked down on
THE RAZ. covered rocks while
my
2,1
companions went round the extreme
end.
scene was as savagely wild as could be dreamed
The
and rocky
f__ r ock
away
is
He de
the
islets
everywhere
Sein, the
;
in front a few miles
Sena of the ancients, the abode
and death scene of the Druidess Uheldeda and her sister This was the birth-place of Merlin, and here priestesses. he
said to have carried
is
now
Just
King Arthur
to heal his
the island was veiled in mist
;
wounds.
but there seemed
and the Raz a continuous chain of rocks, some above some beneath the water. There was not a boat
to be
between
Every now and then a black cormorant, looking
be seen.
to
it
a mere speck in the vastness,
swam
across the void with a
hoarse jarring cry.
No wonder
O
" Save me, is little
utters
the
Lord, in the passage of the Raz, for
and the sea
There are
Breton fisherman
the
my
boat
great."
is
fearful
prayer,
legends on this coast of ships lured in
former times into the Bee, or Passage of the Raz, as the strait
by
between the Pointe and the for the
false lights;
have been as
lie
wrecking on
terrible as in
our
own
de Sein
this
is
called,
coast seems to
Cornwall.
The
quiet
fishermen of the lie de Sein must have had murderous forefathers.
that he
had
universe, for
A vicomte
de Le'on said of the Pointe du Raz
in his territory the it
most precious stone
in the
brought him in every year a thousand sous
:
he spoke of the droit de bris on the continual shipwrecks. Shipwrecks
numerous
still
lights
No wonder
take
place here constantly, spite of the
along the coast.
the Baie des Trepasse's has such a mournful,
desolate aspect,
for,
besides the shipwrecked bodies which
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
294
have been washed ashore by the blue waters, that departed spirits await the boat which to the lie
also
wander
crying
The
de Sein.
and
here,
and wailing
is
it
to bear
is
lost souls of the lovers of
Between
this
them
Dahut
in the night the fisherman hears
piteously.
here
them
bay of the
Bay of Douarnenez have been found
departed and vhe
beneath the water huge stones and other records of the foundations of a mighty unrivalled
in
its
day
city,
for
the city of
luxury
Paris, or Par- Is, is said to take its
equality with this ancient city,
of a wanton
The to vice
Is,
which was so
and magnificence,
name from
that
supposed
its
drowned by the mad
folly
woman.
city of Is, or Ker-Is,
appears to have been given up
and most inordinate luxury.
ground beside the
sea,
It
was
and protected from
its
built
fury
on
level
by a dyke
with a pair of water-gates, of which King Gradlon kept the key.
More than once
St.
Gue'nole, the holy successor of St.
Corentin, had solemnly warned the
and
riot of Is,
and
King
against the luxury
especially against the profligate
Gradlon's only daughter, the Princess Ahes or Dahut.
King Gradlon loved
life
But
his child so dotingly, that, although
deplored her vices, he had no power to restrain her.
of
he
She
dwelt in a high tower, and as soon as she was tired of her lovers they were flung into a well at
one night a favoured lover asked her sluice-gates father's
;
and
to
please him Dahut
chamber and took the
of the sleeping king.
It is
silver
At length
for the
key of the
stole softly into her
key from the neck
supposed that the lover opened
the sluice-gate by mistake, or that
mere idleness of
foot.
its
Dahut opened them
in
folly.
Suddenly, in the dead of the night, Gradlon heard a voice
DROWNING OF bidding him arise and
He
the city.
he mounted
flee, for
295
the waters were overspreading
and heard the rush of the
listened
his horse
IS.
and prepared
to escape
flood,
but he heard
;
also the voice of his beloved daughter calling
on him
save her, and he paused to take her up behind him.
they
and
to
Away
the angry roar of the waters in rapid pursuit.
fled,
Already the flood was gaining on
them, the horse was
knee-deep in the angry waves, when the cry sounded in Gradlon's ears, " Cast away the
Gradlon
and she sank
relaxed,
As she sank the waves tide has never village of
crimes,
come
retreated,
in the roaring water.
and since
that time the
farther inland than the estuary in the
Poul David, or Poul Dahut, where she disap-
It is said that
and
horse-hoofs
The
thee,
!
Dahufs hold
peared.
demon from behind
still
haunts the scene of her
that at night the trip trip of is still
following
Villemarque
Dahut
heard beneath the
King Gradlon's
hillside.
a translation of the ballad given by
is
:
THE DROWNING OF KER-IS. 1.
Hast heard, hast heard, what the man of God has said to King Gradlon at Is ? " Give no place to love comes grief!
He who
;
give
no place
eats the flesh of fish shall
to
folly.
be eaten by
fish
After pleasure
;
and he who
swallows shall be swallowed up.
He who knows not
drinks and mingles wines shall drink water like a fish this shall learn it." IT.
King Gradlon spoke " Good companions, I must go :
to rest"
;
who
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
296 "
You
At
to-morrow morning
shall sleep
theless, let
it
;
stay with us to-night.
Never-
be as you will." whispered
this the lover
ear of the King's daughter
softly, ever so softly, these
words
in the
:
" Sweet Dahut, the key." " The key shall be stolen, the well done as you desire."
be opened
shall
;
all shall
be
in.
Now whosoever full
had looked on the sleeping King would have been
of admiration,
Of admiration, gazing
him
at
in his purple robes, his silver- white
and his gold chain round his neck. Had one been watching, he would have seen the fair young girl enter the chamber softly on her bare white feet. She approached the King her father, she knelt down, and she carried off chain and silver key. hair flowing over his shoulders,
IV.
The King water
is let
sleeps
loose
on
;
he
— the town
Lord King, awake
!
But a cry
sleeps. is
rises
from without, " The
drowned.
To horse, and away
The
!
furious sea has
broken
bounds."
Cursed be the
fair
young
girl
who opened
gate of the city of Is, that barrier of the sea
after the
fea st the sluice
!
V. '
Woodman, woodman
!
tell
me, has the wild horse of Gradlon
passed through the valley ? " " I have not seen the horse of Gradlon pass this way, but in the darkness I heard trip trep, trip trep, trip trep, fly as fast as fire." " Fisherman, hast seen the daughter of ocean combing her golden hair in the sunshine beside the waves ? "
" I have seen the white daughter of ocean I have even heard her her songs were sad as the moan of the waves." ;
sing
;
Looking round us beside the lighthouse, realise that
any cultivation has ever
the Cities of the Plain
seemed
strown, rock-bound coast.
to
existed.
it is
difficult to
The
curse of
be burned into the stone-
Even
the very children
who
VIEW FROM THE POINTS. stray out from
and
the cottages to beg for sous are stunted
squalid, quite unlike dwellers in the fresh invigorating
one breathes on the Raz.
air that
From
showed
the Pointe our guide
Van, which makes the Trepasse's
;
Toulinguet,
next the
first
the Pointe de
farthest extremity of the Baie des
Cap de
la
Chevre
which he said was the
opening to the goulet of Brest. St.
297
We
then the Pointe
;
last
cape before the
asked for the Pointe
Mathieu, but he said that was not to be seen.
"The
view," says Cambry,
The
sublime, especially at sunset.
rocks which defends
"from the Pointe du Raz
Isle of Sein, the line of
and which
it,
is
is
finally lost
the
in
horizon more than seven leagues away, the lofty Pointe de la
Chevre, of a dazzling whiteness, the coast of Brest near
Conquet, Ushant,
the
Bay of Audierne,
the
Point
Le of
Penmarc'h, and the immense ocean ruffled by the evening breeze, form a stupendous whole, which unites itself with
heaven, with the universe, with eternity. " It
in this corner of the earth, celebrated
is
bourhood of the Gallic priestesses of the
by the neigh-
Isle of Sein
—by
—by the ideas of destruction, which we find traces —
the residence of the old Druids
of death, of the shades of here, I
it is
still
say, that the imagination of the ancients placed the
mouths of
hell,
the
gulfs
of Tenaro, which
have been
erroneously transported to Italy, a country which the igno-
rance of the Greeks has confounded twenty times with the
West of Europe. " This
is
the real
ancient writers.
England
home
It is
of the sombre sagas of the most
not in Iceland, nor in Thule, nor in
—unknown even to the Gauls — nor
in Ireland, that
the theatre of these wonderful legends must be sought."
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
298
Cambry
also says that
here that the fable should
is
it
be placed respecting the passage of departed souls to Thule. " For sailors of our coasts, especially Pierre
Breton of
le
L'Orient, attest that from time out of
mind the
Ushant went by the name of
is
and
Thule',
Isle of
so called
still
in
legends and songs."
Doubtless the Isle of Sein was once a prolongation of the rocks of the Pointe du Raz<
was the Sena of the
It
Romans, and the Enez Sigun of the Bretons. rock
;
there
Uheldeda.
is
no
It
is
tree,
It is
only a
not a trace of the sacred groves of
scarcely
two miles long and not half
has about six hundred inhabitants, gentle
so wide.
It
hospitable
fishermen,
the wreckers
very unlike
of
old
times.
We that
to the lighthouse,
was necessary to drive back some
it
before
—a
went reluctantly back
we could
sand washed by the blue water
a dismal lake or swamp, rushes, called " l'etang de Laoual." it is
even in bright summer-time
;
it
It is possible to
filled
;
with flags and bul-
This
is
assemble to wait for the boatmen Isle of Sein.
distance
little
reach the shore of the Baie des Trepasses,
desert of yellow
beside
and found
is
an awful place,
here that the shapes
who
pilot
them
to the
walk onto the Pointe de Van,
which must command a view of the Bay of Douarnenez;
and our guide
said
that at Troquer, a
little
farther on,
were to be seen large stones, supposed to have belonged to a great
city,
the wall of the city of
the
Roman
call
it
Moguern
There
is
also there the
and the peasants Is.
Guer-a-Is
road which can be traced to Carhaix.
was a chapel beside Laoual, where priest is always waiting to say
it
is
a mass.
said a
end of There
phantom
This old legend
JEANNE. pomp
shows the
that
299
about the memory of the
hangs
place " Sept monteaux d'ecarlate, Sans nommer les autres,
Venaient de
et soixante,.
la ville d'ls
A la messe a Laoual." Our
had found out
driver
we drove back seat,
that
of the
shipwreck
little
on the
He
terrible coast.
driving-
fishing villages
road, telling us of wonderful
effected
and as
liked stories,
to Audierne, sitting sideways
he kept on pointing out
right
we
by the dwellers on
on the from
rescues
jagged and
this
told us that all the children learned to
sw'iu as naturally as ordinary children learn to walk,
he said that in one village there was living a
and
woman named
Jeanne, a mother of ten children, and that she had already
She had saved eleven
received two medals.
lives,
alone and
unaided, by swimming out boldly with a rope to two ships
which
at different times
" She
is
a
tall fine
and she swims
fear,
boys do that
had struck on the
woman," he
said
like a fish.
But then
we throw them
;
rock.
" she does not
;
all
in the water
our
know
girls
when they
and are
two years old."
We
asked what Jeanne's husband was " Ah, that
shut his eyes and smiled. little, 11
and he
He
is
does not swim out to save
tailor
!
like.
different.
But
it
;
lives
every one
was pleasant
then is
?'
not like Jeanne."
to hear that Jeanne's
was a happy household, and that her sons were
young men, good swimmers
We
He half He is
a tailor by trade."
" No, he would be afraid
Poor
is
like their
tall
strong
mother.
drove back rapidly to Pont Croix, as we heard there
300
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY,
was a Pardon
there.
Our
driver said that his
little
of four years old was to be in the procession.
drew near Pont Croix we heard the church
and
in another
the road.
moment we saw
A long
old church, and
daughter
bells ringing,
the procession coming up
avenue leads from the road to the
we stood
we
Just as
fine
at the corner of this while the
procession passed on. First
came a number of
little girls
dressed in white, with
most elaborately worked caps. Next a body of wild-looking
men
then came a band of young
with long hair;
girls
dressed in white muslin, with coloured ribbon sashes and the charming lace caps of Pont Croix, which have long fluted
crowns something
like those of Belle-Isle.
Groups of four
of these maidens bore gaily-dressed images of the Virgin, of
Anne, and other
St.
hand a
fairy
little
and each maiden held by the
saints,
of a child, also dressed in white, with
flowing hair crowned
by a wreath of white
driver pointed out a beautiful
little
flowers.
Our
dark-eyed creature, with
long brown hair, and said she was his child.
This part of
the procession looked like a lovely group of spring flowers.
Next came a crowd of lustily,
and
after
them a
priests
large
and
number
choristers singing
of earnest-faced, wild-
looking men, bearing banners and crosses.
wore richly embroidered jackets and
gaiters,
All the
men
and enormous
blue and sometimes brown plaited bragoubras,
made
of
fine cloth.
After a great
number of them had passed,
followed, mingled with like a flower-garden. full
of colour
;
many
more men.
Some of
the
women
These women looked
of the dresses were very rich and
them trimmed with gold embroidery,
with gold and silver and scarlet and blue ribbons bound
CHURCH OF PONT
CROIX.
round the head and showing through the
Many,
most varied shapes. lace ruffs
and
fine lace
caps of
younger ones wore
too, of the
gorgeous gold and
collars,
301
silver
gauze
rib-
bons as sashes, and showy spangled velvet with gold hearts
and crosses on than a
solemn
their
There must have been more
necks.
thousand persons walking
procession,
in
where they joined
silence, except
in the
all
in
monotonous
chant intoned by the priests.
There were few bystanders, but they looked very reverent.
We its
took another way to the church
date in Brittany
doorway the Both
aisles
of the finest of
—and when we reached the great western was most impressive and picturesque.
and the nave were crammed with kneeling men,
women, and
We
sight
— one
children, except a
slipped round
and got
narrow lane
in the centre.
in at a side door,
procession pass up to the high altar
and saw the
— a blaze of
and
lights
decoration.
As
the procession
contrast between the
came streaming up the church, the flower-like beauty of the girls and
children in their floating white dresses, faces of the
expression
men, doubled
striking sight
we had met
church increased the
We
sternness
by the intense
them, was perhaps
pervaded
that
in
and the dark earnest
with,
effect of the
the
most
and the grandeur of the whole scene.
could not examine the building as carefully as
we
wished owing to the almost suffocating crowd that thronged it,
but the interior looked very interesting, though
figured
by whitewash.
twelfth century
j
The nave
and there seems
stained glass at the east end.
is
to
The
old,
eleventh
dis-
or
be some beautiful choir arches of the
chancel are Pointed, but the pillars are Romanesque, and
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
302
some of the other arches
The
are Moorish in shape.
spire
very lofty and beautiful, about 220 feet high, and the
is
great south portal
most remarkable.
is
carved roses in the gable of
There are
five
this.
In the fourteenth century, Alice, Lady of Pont Croix, married John of Rosmadec, chamberlain of
Duke John
IV.
Their grandchild was John of Rosmadec, half-brother of
Bishop Bertrand Rosmadec
John
built the
was
and
it
Roscuden.
windows
the monastic buildings con-
;
have been destroyed, and
church of the
Under
it is
now
the parish
Dame
town of Pont Croix, Notre
little
the
this
side chapels of the Collegiale, as
Pont Croix
called, of
nected with
thought that
is
it
spire, the arches of the choir, the
of the apse, transepts, it
and
;
Lady Chapel
of the
altar
de
is
a
wonderfully carved Last Supper.
In 1597, when Fontenelle attacked
became the
and
citadel,
this
finally the inhabitants, with their
captain, Ville Rouet, were driven to
dislodge them
down as
till
their lives
then hanged the
eyes,
last,
Fontenelle then tried to
all
his wife to
to
be
the
we went
visitors
in
At
stifle
last
them
he pro-
and they surrendered.
all
be outraged before
his
also.
heat was so intense, and
hours in the sun, that
seemed
mount
the men, and, reserving the captain
he caused
thronged with
staircase.
to the besieged,
and then hung him
The
impossible to
the platform one by one, they were cut
they appeared.
by burning green broom on the
He
it
for as the assailants could only
;
stairs leading to
mised
take refuge in the
For some time Fontenelle found
tower.
town, the church
we had been
for so
into the inn to rest.
to the Pardon, directions.
and
their
many It
was
vehicles
There were plenty of
CONFORT. announcements
in
but this seemed to be the chief
;"
and, from the general
ourselves that
Our
driver
of " Ici on
the town of Pont Croix
loge a pied et a cheval inn,
303
look of
we congratulated
it,
we had not arranged to stay there. came after some delay and announced
that he wished to spend the rest of the day at
had therefore engaged a
and
horse
fresh
home, and
in
if
we wished,
any way by the exchange.
go,
We
to Quimper.
The and our new coachman knew
home
in
did not benefit
fresh horse
would not
nothing, and had an
on the road
inveterate habit of gossipping
and
carriage
another driver to take us on to Douarnenez, and the evening,
to us
;
and as
this
was
the anniversary of several other Pardons in the neighbour-
hood, we continually met carts
full
of peasants in rich and
and our
beautiful dresses, often with pretty girls,
who was
driver,
evidently a favourite, was for ever jumping
to have a chat with
some of
to crawl along at a snail's pace.
grow dusk before we got
to
down
his friends, leaving our horse
We
began
to fear
At
Douarnenez.
last
it
would
my com-
panion whipped up the horse during one of these absences,
and we went on
at a
quick pace, leaving our chattering
driver to overtake us as he best could
reached
us, puffing
he seemed
We
and panting and very red
effectually
cured of
in the face,
stopped a few moments at Confort to examine the
this,
fastened to the roof,
wheel with a peal of
bells.
is
pretty
was seemingly deserted
Pont Croix.
;
little
church.
a curious old sacring
We much
these, but could not find the sacristan
at
finally
his love of gossip.
handsome modern Calvary and the Inside
and when he
;
;
wished
to hear
the whole village
every one had gone to the Pardon
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
3 04
The road between Confort and Poul David looked even more charming than we had thought it the first time, and as
we turned
off to
of the river the as
it
tall
Douarnenez and followed the course spire of Ploare
had done on our way
seemed
to follow us
to Audierne, while glimpses of
the bay before us were exquisite.
finist£re. THE WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
CHAPTER Douarnenez.
XXI.
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
306
To
the seeker after loveliness in nature Douarnenez offers
a constant
and varied charm.
It is far
more
beautiful than
Sidmouth, and has besides the two great charms of variety
and picturesqueness. In a charming paper in the Cornhill Magazine the writer says
"
:
Round
the eastern and northern shores of the
all
bounded by long ranges of noble bay the view first the hill of St. Ronan, where that saint had is
outline his her-
mitage, in the midst of what was then the great forest of
Nevet ; and following the chain of moors called the Black Mountains, with the
Menehom
so the whole shore of the cliffs
and the most
bay
crowning point.
for its is
And
a succession of the wildest
perfect sands, the range of each extend-
ing generally for a mile or two at a time."
We
drove
first
to the hospitable little inn,
a very pleasant gathering of
Then we
from many nations.
travellers
strolled through the little town,
uninteresting houses, and took a path
where we found
which has formal,
on the
right.
This led
across a field glowing a golden green in the level sunlight,
and screened on one cote
side
overlooking the bay
by
itself.
lofty trees to the
edge of the
Along the edge of
this cote
was a low hedge broken through in many places, and over it
clematis
and brambles flung long arms down towards
the silver-looking sand below.
The
spreading trees near
us were almost black against the glowing sky, for the intense
blue of the whole bay was gilding into orange and softening into the tenderest green. islets
of the bay
till
Warm
light
they changed to purple.
were bathing in one of the lovely distance. sails
glowed on the rock
little
A few boys
coves far in the
Three fishing-boats with brown and tawny-red
glided over the calm sea, so
full
of peaceful beauty.
FONTENELLE. Tristan, the largest of the islands,
307
grew darker every moment.
near the town that at low water
It is so
can almost be
it
reached dry-footed.
There
a lighthouse on the tie Tristan, and from the
is
top of this the view
treme ends of the bay
on one
are,
of the Chevre, and on the
backed by
villages,
and
rising
side the bare white
excliffs
Between these
Douar-
lie
and meadows, Ploare and other
trees
up above,
The
of the Me'ne'hom.
at the
other the dark rugged rocks
near the Baie des Tre'passes. nenez,
Far away
magnificent.
is
in dark grandeur,
on
colours
this
scribably full of change as the sun sank
hill
the ridge
is
were inde-
and gradually
dis-
appeared.
The
lie Tristan is said to
take
Lyonesse of the Round Table by,
the
to
east
local
Marc'h
Marc'h's
on
tradition fixes
husband of
Iseulte, a fable
Breton
is
and
;
of Douarnenez,
foundations of King
A
name from
its
for horse,
this
Sir
Tristram
in a little village close
called
Plomarc'h,
palace are said to
King
the
exist.
of Cornouaille,
the
resembling that of King Midas.
and the
king's barber
is
said to
have told the secret of the King's ears to the sands of the bay.
Some time after three
reeds sprang from the sand, and
being cut and used for pipes they repeated always, " Marc'h, the
King of Plomarc'h, has
But the
lie
horse's ears."
much
Tristan has
the fastness of the brigand chief
Baron de Fontenelle.
He
local interest as having
Guy
Eder,
who
called himself
was the youngest son of Robert
Eder, Lord of Beaumanoir, and was born in 1572.
away from the to join a
college he
band of
had been placed
ruffians,
the League, plundered
been
who, under
and murdered
He
in at Paris in
ran
15S9
pretext of fighting for indiscriminately.
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
3 o8
Spite of his youth, bandits,
Guy was soon chosen
and with them he repaired
to
chief of these
Douarnenez. Jacques
Guengat had taken possession of the town in the name
Guy Eder
the King, but
and demolished
its
retook
houses to
priory in the lie Tristan.
it
for the
fortify
For
League
of
in 1595,
what had once been a
five years
Fontenelle held
possession of this fortress, even against repeated assaults
from the garrison of Brest, from hence he harried and plundered
and
the surrounding country,
all
was to the
it
Isle Tristan that
he brought the plunder of the ruined town
of Penmarc'h.
He
of ruffianly soldiers,
seems to have lived here with
and to have pounced
like
his
band
a bird of
prey unexpectedly on the neighbouring towns and villages,
He
bringing ruin wherever he came.
escaped punishment
Henry IV. on
general amnesty proclaimed by
at the
accession, but was afterwards
and
arrested
tried for his
Pont Croix.
brutality towards the wife of the governor of
He
was condemned
to
his
be broken alive on the wheel in 1602.
This Bay of Douarnenez seems to yield every imaginable fish,
and the
size of the
town has greatly increased by the
incoming of country-folk to share the
During the sardine season
—
December these
little fish
that
between
is,
June and
supposed that upwards of four millions of
is
it
—
profits of its fishery.
are taken daily.
The
fishing
and
salting of
sardines seems to constitute the sole trade of the inhabitants. If
the bathing were
more
soon become a favourite seaside resort bathing-place there
is
time at
is
Douarnenez would
accessible ;
nearly two miles away from the town,
no means of access except on least, the quiet
undisturbed.
but fortunately the
loveliness of this
foot,
and
so that, for a
Eden
will
be
left
ANNE LA PALUE.
STE.
309
There are two churches, neither of them remarkable but Ploare
The
spire
is
and
close by,
its
church
is
well worth a
;
visit.
much of the rest, and St. Norma and St. Gue*-
very elegant, older than
is
the western doorway, like those of
nole at Penmarch, has carvings of ships and also of fish
a huge cormorant,
the mesgoul,
on sardines below.
Douamenez,
is
Near Poullan, about four miles from
the manor-house of Kervenargan, the hos-
home which Cambry
pitable
and which,
represented pouncing
is
designates
in 1793, sheltered Barbaroux, Pdtion,
when
others of the proscribed Girondins,
was to
risk the loss of life
Except
by the name K.,
it is
possible to visit Crozon
is
We
it
is
pass Ploare and
In the villages of Le Riz and of Plomarc'h are
Le
Riz.
the
Roman
foundation stones said to be relics of the palace
of King Marc'h, or Mark, the
is
journey a
also very delightful, though
a long one of about twenty-five miles.
band of
this
But the carriage drive by way
coast.
of Plone'vez or Locronan
them
and property.
in the sardine season
view of the
several
to shelter
by boat from Douamenez, and one enjoys on delightful
and
Iseulte.
said to
Near
nephew of Arthur, and
this is a
the hus-
rock called Garrec, on which
be the mark of a horse-shoe
King Gradlon when he escaped from
—
that of the horse of
the drowning of
Is.
The road climbs up steeply to reach Plone'vez-Porzay, and we make a de'tour here of about two miles towards the sea, to the celebrated chapel of Ste. Anne la Palue, the scene of the greatest of
all
There
the Pardons of Brittany.
are various times through the year
when pilgrimage
is
made
Sunday of August
specially to this chapel, but
on the
and
the great spectacle of the year.
its
preceding Saturday
Monsieur Salaun, the
is
intelligent
last
bookseller of Quimper,
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
3io
He
gave us a most vivid account of the procession. us
would be worth while
it
to witness
it,
to
come back from any
and he advised us
make our way over from
distance
to stay at Chateaulin,
that
town
Douarnenez was always overcrowded. remarkable, but the granite statue of
to the
told
and
to
as
festival,
The chapel is not St. Anne is said to
date from the middle of the sixteenth century.
Looking
at the vast
and picturing them covered with the
chapel,
described by nenez, is
and lonely downs on
it is
M.
up a splendid
easy to conjure
On
Bay
of Douar-
scene.
So great tents
of the pilgrims
who
the Saturday evening there
of penitents, some
some barefooted,
groups
more than a hundred
are often erected for the reception
cannot find lodging.
sides of the
brilliant
Salaun, backed by the lovely
the concourse of strangers, that
procession
all
only clad in their
is
a
shirts,
where they receive absolu-
to the chapel,
Through the night many of them may be seen
tion.
praying around the chapel.
But
it is
on the Sunday
after
From
procession takes place.
high mass that the grand
far
over the downs the ten
thousand pilgrims, in every possible variety of holiday cos-
tume
—
for a priest
we met
at the table d'hote at
Douarnenez
assured us the pilgrims arrive from every part of France
come bareheaded and singing hymns in honour of the saint. Among them the image of the Blessed Virgin is borne by a band of young
girls
comes the statue of dresses bordered relics
and the
dressed in white. St.
Close behind
Anne, borne by matrons
and fringed with gold.
this
in scarlet
Next come the
of the saint borne by two deacons in cloth of gold,
after these a large
Pardon of
St.
Anne
body la
of richly habited priests
;
for
Palue attracts priests as well as
CROZON. mere
pilgrims, from far as well as from all the neighbouring
towns.
must be a
It
ceremony
in
Near
cliffs.
many Druidic
stones.
Near Telgruc
there
is
Nic
St.
is
Some
legion.
it is
this
the road
a barren waste with
here ascends considerably. eight miles farther
church here a curious
in the
presentation of the martyrdom of
Theban
kind, for such a
after
About
a dolmen. is
its
in itself.
and
The road
There
Crozon.
poem
a
is
Ploeven,
to
runs along the
unique of
sight
such a scene
Next we come
on
311
St.
re-
Maurice and of the
of the bones of these martyrs are
said to be contained in a large reliquary.
There
so
is
some days
much
be seen
to
at
Crozon that one wants
there to explore the coast.
curious grottoes of the
First there are the
near the Anse de Morgat
cliffs,
and a very remarkable road through the rocks, called Begar-Gadoc, said to have been created in miraculous answer to St.
some shipwrecked fisherman who implored the help There
Marine.
cliff,
" la
is
also a tunnel pierced
we did not hear
of which
Cheminee du Diable."
visited at high tide in a boat
inside the roof
In the centre
becomes
is
a
flat
Beyond Morgat
lofty,
are
Tombeau
Here
is
l'Autel
must be
very low, but
and the grotto
is
very spacious.
boatmen
call the altar.
some stone avenues There
is
called
also a tumulus
" the
in this
d'Artus. lofty
Pointe de la
a grotto called Gue's Charivari, the haunt
of innumerable sea-birds, which
harsh cries
called
is
is
Following the coast we come to the Chevre.
It
the entrance
rock, which the
Lines of Kercolleoch." region called
;
through the
the legend.
The Grotte de
of
fill
the lonely spot with wild
when some unusual sound breaks
loneliness of the place.
There
is
the mournful
a remarkable echo here.
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
312
The
rocks near the Anse de Dinant are most fantastic and
One
rugged.
two arches,
of them, pierced with
From
Chateau de Dinant.
called
is
here to the Pointe de Toulin-
beyond Camaret, the coast has an indescribably
guet, just
wild charm.
It
is
said to be a place of terrible shipwrecks,
and indeed the sea breaks against fury, especially
over a line of rocks dotted out into the sea,
Tas de
called the
overwhelming
with
it
so has Camaret
Toulinguet has been
Pois.
fortified,
The
the cruel jagged line of rocks were sufficient defence.
view from the point
Matthieu and the
commands Ouessant
marvellous, and
is
and the surrounding
rocks
terrible
All the
Pointe
St.
the south which
we
well
islands, as
have seen so often.
be
to
the
as
men on
this coast
and while the sardine season
fishers,
always at work.
and
but one would think the angry sea and
;
possible to stay at
It is
seem
to
they are
lasts
Camaret
as well
as at Crozon.
We were very sorry to surroundings.
It
is
leave Douarnenez and
of
Finistere
its is
charming
a place where one could spend
months without exhausting the tiring
its
beauties
for
;
much
variety of that
most
is
within easy reach of the lovely
spring-time, before the sardine fishery
its
and
many
scenery or
interesting in
little
its
town.
In
unpleasant
accompaniments begin, Douarnenez must be one of the
most enjoyable spots on
earth.
go to Chateaulin by Locronan
It takes rather longer to
than by Plonevez, but is
after all
The
a
much more
varied route,
and
not more than seventeen miles.
first
where there
becomes
it is
part of the road takes us is
hilly,
a rather curious church.
and there
is
a very steep
by Ploare
to Kerlas,
After this the country hill
close to Locronan.
LOCRONAN. The church
here
313
a very remarkable building, nearly
is
the fifteenth century
j
it
The
has three naves.
of
all
spire
was
destroyed by lightning in 1808, and has not been restored.
On
the south side
is
the Chapelle du Peniti, built in the
by the Duchess of
sixteenth century
Renee of
Ferrara,
France, the daughter of Louis XII. and the Duchess Anne.
In this chapel of
is
the
tomb of
St.
Ronan, the
King Gradlon and a famous
third counsellor
His tomb
saint.
the
is
shrine of a yearly pilgrimage, but every seventh year there
a wonderful gathering called "la Grande Tromenie."
is
This
a whole week, from the second to the third
Pardon
lasts
Sunday
in July,
and
as 40,000 pilgrims.
it is
The
said there are sometimes as tradition
is,
that
when
many
the saint
died the three bishops of Vannes, Cornouaille, and Leon disputed the possession of his remains, and at last agreed to place
them
in a cart
drawn by two wild
leave the decision to them.
The
bulls,
bulls started
and
to
from the
hermitage on the confines of the diocese of Vannes, where the saint died, and found their
having
made
where the is
the circuit of the
tomb of
St.
way
hill,
Ronan now
and a sermon
one of the It
Here,
they stopped at the spot stands.
is
The
pilgrimage
preached from the top of the
hill
by
officiating priests.
would take a long residence
in Brittany to witness all
the curious traditionary ceremonies
woven
life
of
About half-way between Douarnenez and Chateaulin
is
into the
people.
the chapel of the Kergoat.
grimage is
Locronan.
supposed to follow in the miraculous passage of the
bulls,
its
to
— a large
This
is
another place of
pil-
uninteresting building, except that there
some good painted seventeenth century
glass in
some of
3
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
H
the windows.
In the churchyard
Calvary backed by
Soon
trees.
a rather picturesque
is
after this
we passed another
Calvary near the church of Cast, and very soon right, the ancient
The view
on the
chapel and fountain of St. Pol.
of Chateaulin
backed by
river
after,
lovely.
is
It
Some
rising ground.
stands beside the
of this
well wooded,
is
and some of
it
on another.
Green meadows fringed by poplar-trees
near the
and give a most
river,
grey town with the rest
broken by masses of rock piled one
is
lie
picture-like effect to the old
ruined fragment of castle raised above
its
on one of the
Perhaps
hills.
attraction of Chateaulin.
It is
its
aspect
a quiet quaint
is
the chief
little
place,
very dirty and unsavoury, on the direct railway line between
Quimper and Landerneau or Brest worth
it
The
it
a convenient
is
day or two, as there are a few places
resting place for a
near
but
;
visiting.
ancient chapel of the castle, dedicated
Dame,
is
curious
older than the date on
little
bone-house beside
famous salmon fishery
to
many
It is possible to
fore
missed
find
that the
Brest
most
a
This was destroyed
works beside
canal, but the slate
and give em-
of the inhabitants.
go to Carhaix from Chateaulin, passing
on the way the famous Calvary of Pleyben determined to
is
There was once a
the canal are the chief source of commerce,
ployment
Notre
There
its portal.
it.
at Chateaulin.
by the making of the
to
visit
Carhaix from Morlaix,
Pleyben.
We
were
much
we had and we there;
but
disappointed to
steamboat service between Chateaulin and
by Port Launay had ceased. interesting journey
down
It
must have been a
the Chateaulin river into the
picturesque roadstead of Brest, where the lovely Elorn river
RUME\GOL.
c jxi : 1
However, the railway makes some
also joins the sea.
amends, and we went on from Chateaulin to the next
Hanvec
station,
le
About
Faou.
Le Faou, a picturesque
four miles from this
town
little
built beside a sort of
The church
estuary of the roadstead of Brest.
but there
a
is
much
is
quaint,
older chapel near the bridge.
Lord of Faou,
first
The
Quimper road was
ruined castle at the entrance of the
founded by Morvan, the
is
in the eleventh
century.
We
wanted
to see the church of
de toute remede
We
Rumengoll.
graceful
little
this inscription le
vi.,
Breton Rented
in
found that
Le Faou, and
a half from
a
;
xiiii
on the tower
jour de
The
certainly worth a visit.
it
may
fountain
fust
very old, and
one of the most celebrated in the year
The
—on
Lady Day,
Guenole,
interior is sadly is
said
to
have
great interest attached
Dame
de Rumengol,
in Brittany, occurs four times
Trinity Sunday, 15th of August
(the Feast of the Assumption),
(Feast of Nativity of B.V.M.). is
The
lors."
fit
is
fundee ceste.
that the pilgrimage to Notre
is,
It is
" L'an mil cinq cents trente
:
miraculous powers of healing. to
corrupted into
oil,
was only about a mile and
it
it is
Dame
church of the sixteenth century, with
gouv. H. Inisan, fabrique
gaudy.
Rumengol, Notre
and the 8th of September
As
the water of the fountain
said to cure all diseases, afflicted beggars flock here in great
numbers
;
they drink the water of the fountain, and bathe
their faces, their sightless eyes,
in the healing water.
and
injured, diseased limbs
During the day a large and gorgeous
procession issues from the church, bearing banners, statues
of saints, and their lor the
relics.
These are placed low enough
surrounding crowd to touch them as they pass, and
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
31
who
the bearers occasionally cudgel those
forming this duty.
accompany the
Little children
innumerable
sion, ringing
are slow in
per
proces-
little bells.
Souvestre says that the most remarkable part of this pilgrimage
at night,
is
when
the church
dark and
is
Then
and the musicians have departed.
silent
the beggars
have not found any lodging cluster together round
who
fires of
dried furze on the open ground beyond the churchyard
motley groups of firelight
all
ages, both
male and female, the darting hard faces and
bringing into strong relief their
picturesque rags.
They crouch round
blown out by the wind, and then
lie
the
fires till
down
these are
to sleep in the
darkness.
own that I much doubt as I
read
as
pleasure, never feeling sure whether they
apply to present-day for
Souvestre's descriptions with
all
or to the Brittany of the past;
life
although probably no European country so near a great
centre of civilisation has stood so
still,
yet the presence
of the railway necessitates the presence of a fresh element
already the costumes are
much
modified,
and many old
usages are becoming obsolete, as for instance the bridal
garments of the Bourg de Batz and the disuse of the Breton language in the government schools.
tendency to embroider
facts
with
There
is
also a
Souvestre and
some
other Breton writers, which makes one hesitate to adopt their
statements
about anything one has not personally
verified.
But there
is
so
large
an element of poetry in
aspect of Western Brittany, and also in the hearts of people, that
it
often
becomes
into the borderland that lies
difficult
beyond
the its
not to be carried away
stern fact
—a borderland
LANDEVENNEC. which,
one spoke Breton
if
after all
fluently,
commonplace of
one might
find to
be
Something mystic and
no creation of the fancy.
utterly unlike the
317
outward existence
their
seems to gleam out of the long black eyes of these dark
on the wild west
silent dwellers
coast.
Lande'vennec can also be reached from Chateaulin, and
we
and Guen fugitives
mouth
the
Its ruins are at
his wife,
abbey
in
Brittany.
of the Chateaulin river.
Fragan,
oldest
the
regretted missing this
about whom there
is
a remarkable legend,
from Britain, settled in Cornouaille, and gave birth
who founded
to Gue'nole',
this
abbey and was
its first
abbot,
but the actual ruins date from the eleventh century only,
and were in
built
by the Abbot
Kersanton stone of
St.
There
Breluict.
is
a statue
Corentin, and one also of Jean,
Abbot of Landevennec, who died in 152 1. This is the tomb of King Gradlon himself.
last regular
the crypt
of the country
is
so
full
In part
of legends relating to this wonderful
monarch, that one gets to regard him as a myth, and
it is
almost surprising to find that he was an ordinary mortal,
The
actually buried in a Christian church.
devennec
is
Near
very picturesque.
it is
a
position of Lantall
looked at sideways, seems to be a cowled long beard.
This rock
posed to be a wicked his sins
and doomed
is
called
monk to
" le
rock which,
monk
Moine," and
with a is
sup-
of the abbey, petrified for
remain a rock
till
the day of
judgment.
On
the lie Tibidy, in the
Faou
river,
there
is
a most
curious reredos, representing the Annunciation, on the site of the
first
abode of
St.
Gu^nole.
of Kersanton, which has given in building the churches
its
in this
Not
far off is the village
name
to the stone
part of Brittany.
used
The
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY.
318
original
Kersanton quarry
exhausted, but near Logonna,
is
and indeed along the whole roadstead of Brest between the rivers this stone,
Faou and of Landerneau, are quarries of dark grey and comparatively soft when first dug, of
and thus well suited
to the elaborate decoration used in the
Breton churches, but hardening with exposure and gradually
assuming the greenish tinge one sees at Le Folgoet and
There are
elsewhere.
also
many
quarries of yellow por-
phyry among the Kersanton stone.
The next Here,
station
beyond Hanvec
about a mile from the
le
Faou
station, is
church of the old monastery and
its
is
Daoulas.
the remarkable
ruined cloister.
choir of the church has perished, but the cloister
is
The
a most
interesting relic of the twelfth century, perhaps the finest
work of this epoch was founded in
to
be found in Brittany.
in the sixth century
expiation of a double murder
the assassination of two priests
by
the
The monastery Lord of Faou,
committed by him engaged
in
in
celebrating
mass.
" There was in the country of Cornwall,
in the year 510,
a generous powerful lord named Arastagan, a great friend of
God's servants, who had for nephew a Lord of Faou, just as
much
their
enemy
as his uncle
of Faou, being informed that in Cornouaille affairs,
and
was
all
their friend.
the superiors of monasteries
had assembled near him
that
among
Tader, Jaoua, and the
This Lord
to confer
about their
others were to be found the abbots
monk
of Landt-tevennec, Judalus,
he went to the monastery where
this
assembly was held,
and, having forced the doors, he killed at the altar Tader,
who was celebrating mass. His followers murdered all the monks they could find, and he himself cut off the head of
DAOULAS.
319
Judalus with one stroke of his sword.
and took refuge with
hurt,
his uncle,
by
both,
delivered
and with
whom
St. Pol,
he repaired to Faou, where they
their saintly exhortations,
him from the
Jaoua escaped un-
Bishop of Leon, who was
converted this lord, and
which had possessed him
evil spirit
ever since the murder of the two abbots."
In atonement
for his
crime they
made him found
a mo-
nastery on the place where the murders had been committed,
and
in eternal
memory
of this action called
Daoulaz, the monastery of two murders.
Daoulas was
tery,
The
tradition of
once a place of
decadence
its
is
Monster
it
Besides
much
monas-
its
importance.
something
like
that
of
Escoublac.
Once upon a time numerous family, gave
a poor
woman, who already had a
birth to seven children at once.
The
inhabitants of Daoulas were terrified at this prodigy, and, fearing
it
might be repeated, they hunted the mother and
The woman took
her infants out of the town.
to Brest, but before she departed she uttered this
" Brest shall increase, Daoulas
house that
is
built
there
shall decrease
three
shall
the road
prophecy for every
;
And
fall."
from
day Brest has flourished and Daoulas has dwindled away. that
The whole vandyked by
coast of the roadstead of Brest
estuaries running
Chateaulin and Landerneau
up
is
into the land,
this is far
more
constantly
and between
fertile
than
it is
near Camaret and Crozon.
We
pass Landerneau on our railroad journey from Cha-
teaulin to Brest.
peeps every
It is a pretty bit of railway, with
now and
charming
then into the famous roadstead.
cross the anse or bay of
Kerhuon on a long
viaduct.
We This
WEST COAST OF BRITTANY,
$20
bay
is
the depot where timber used in the great marine
constructions of Brest
The
first
lies
seasoning.
arrival at Brest
is
pleasant.
We
found our-
selves beside the harbour, close to the Cours d'Ajot, a fine
avenue, commanding a view over part of the roadstead, and close
by the strongly
fortified castle of Brest,
INDEX.
Carxoet, Forest of, 232 Castennec, Hill of, 184 Champ des Martyrs, 159 Champtoce, 23 Chamftoceaux, 23 Chartreuse, La, 161
Armel, 133 Arradox, 132 Arz, He de, 132 Arzon, 115 acdierxe, 287 AURAY, l62 Battle
of,
Battle of Quiberon, 159
Chassay, Chateau
154
of,
45
Chateau lix,
314 Coxcarxeau, 257 COXFORT, 303
Old Houses, 163
B
Corcoxxo, Dolmen
of,
174
Baden, 132 Baxxalec, 264 Baud, 186
Croisic, Le, 56
Belle-Ile-ex-Mer, 116 Blaix, Chateau de, 65 La Tour du Connetable, 66
Trou du Kourican, 57 Croisy, Le, Chapel of, 115 Crozox, 311
Bcedic, Isle
of,
Grand Autel, 57
Mont
132 Le, 59
Esprit, 57
D
Bourg de Batz,
Church, 59 Costumes, 55 Ruins of Notre Dame duMiirier,
Daoulas, 318 Doxges, 45 douarxenez, 305
59
E
Salt-works, 62
Wedding Costumes,
59
Brest, 320 Bretesche, Chateau de Forest
of,
64
Burox, Chateau
Elven, Churchyard
de, 45
la,
of,
10
Chateau de Largouet, 97 64
Gallo-Roman
Villa, 101
Guide, 98 Tour d' Elven, 98
Erdeven,
175
Escoublac, 47 Chateau de Lesnernc, 48
Camaret, 312 C amors, 195 Carxac, 165 Boceno, 170
Pardon ofCarnac, 169
Legend
of Escoublac, 47
Faou, Le, 315 Faouet, Le, 23
INDEX.
322
Kerezo, 153 GAcherie, Chateau de Garo, 148 Chapel of Notre
la,
Kergoat, Chapel 45
Dame de Beth-
lehem, 148
Kermado, 129 Kermario, Lines
Gavr' Inis, lie et Grotto, 143 Goulaine, Chateau de, 45
Grande Briere,
La, 45
Grottes de Grionec, Dolmen of
z
'
74
r
GlJERANDE, La, 49 Chapelle de Notre
313
165
of,
166
of,
Kernascleden, 246 Kerroh, Dolmen of, 172 Klud-er-ier, Dolmen of,
174
12S
Guehenno, GUEMENE-SUR-SCORFF, 246 GUENGAT, 285 Calvary
of,
Kerfily, 102 Kerity, 281 Kerlescant, Lines
of,
Dame
Landevennec, 317 Lanyaux, Lande of, 67 de
la
Blanche, 50 Church, 50 Gates, 50 Porte S. Michel, 49 Ramparts, 50 Walls, 51
Legend of, 68 Laoual, 298 LOCMARIAKER, 137 Be-er-Groah, Dolmen
of, 139 Dol-ar-Marc'hadouan, Dolmen of, 140
Mane-Lud, 141 Mane-er-H'roeck, 138 Men-er-H'roeck, 139
H
Pierres Plates, Les, 141
Hennebont, Abbaye de
217
Locmine, 194
la Joie, 225 Church, 217 Jeanne-la-Flamme, 220 Vieille Ville, 219
St. Gildas St. Bieuzy, 184 Hcedic, Isle of, 113 Houath, Isle of, 107
Hermitage of
Chapel of
Colomban, 194
St.
Locronan, 313 LOCTUDY, 279
and
Lorient, 225 Lothea, Church
of,
232
M Malansac,
67 Malestroit, 117
Man£-er-Groah, Dolmen,
Is,
294 Ballad
of,
Mane-Remor, Dolmen,
295
Menec, Lines
of,
175 174
166
Menehom, Joie, Abbaye de
la,
225
307 Meriadec, 149 Mi-voie, Obelisk
127
Montagnes Noires,
of, 1 19 Battle of the Thirty, 121 Moines, lie aux, 134
Josselin, 123 Castle, 125
Churches
of, 126,
Legend of
Notre
Dame du
Roncier, 124 Gobrien, 127
185
Michel, 167 130
Er Gazeg, 135 Er Meud, 136
K 128
St.
Morbthan, The,
St.
Kerdroguen, Notre Dame
Mont
Les Tisserands, 136 de,
Pen Boc'h,
133 Pointe de Roguedas, 132
INDEX.
N
Quai Flessels, 39 Ouai de la Fosse, 39
Nantes,
25 Archaeological Bourse, 39 Bridges, 38
Museum,
41
Castle, 31
Cathedral, 28 Cemetery of
La
Bouteilleru-,
40 Chateau des Irlandais, 39 Church of St. Anne, 43 Church of St. Clement, 40 Church of St. Croix, 38 Church of St. Jacques, 38 Church of St. Nicholas, 26 Church of Notre Dame de Sallette, 40 Cours Cambronne, 42 Cours St. Andre, 29 Cours St. Anne, 43 Cours St. Pierre, 29 Costume, 28 Escalier St. Anne, 43 Flower Markets, 25, 39
Rue Briord, 26 Rue Crebillon, 25 Rue de la Fosse, 43 Rue Grande, 26 Rue Haute-du-Chateau, 33 Rue Jean- Jacques Rousseau, 39 Rue de la Juiverie, 38 Rue
Lafayette, 42
Rue Mercceur, 41 Rue d'Orleans, 26 Rue Royale, 41 Rue Voltaire, 39 la
Fountain, 25 Fruit Market, 30 Halle aux Grains, 39 History of, 33 Hopital St. Jacques, 38 Hotel Dieu, 38 Hotel de Ville, 41 Jardin des Plantes, 40 Library, 39 Lycee, 41 Magnolias, 40
Museum and
323
St. Jean, 41 St. Laurent, 27
Leonard, 41 Salorges, Les, 43
St.
Tobacco Manufactory, 43 Environs Chateau de Buron, 45 Chateau de Chassay, 45 Chateau de la Gacherie, 45 Chateau de Goulaine, 45 Chateau de la Seilleraye, 44 Clisson, 44 Nizon, 253
—
NOYAL-PONTIVY,
1
97
Penmarc'h, 281 Penthievre, Fort of, 176 Petit Mont, Le, 115 Pierre Percee, 63 PlERRES DU VlEUX MOULIN,
Picture Gallery,
Plaudren,
128
Old Houses, 27, 41. 42 Palais du Bouffay, 38
Plessis-Kaer, Chateau Ploare, 309
Palais de Justice, 41 Passage Pommeraye, 43 Place du Bouffay, 37 Place Bretagne, 41 Place de Change, 26 Place de Graslin, 25 Place Louis Seize, 29 Place du Port Communeau, 41 Place Royale, 25 Place St. Pierre, 27
Ploermel,
Prefecture, 41
Quai Brancas, 39
of,
118
Plcemel, 173
Plomarc'h, 309 Plonevez-Porzay, 309 Plouharnel, 172 Plovan, 287 Plumelec, 128 Pluvigner, 195 Pont Aven, 250 Chateau of Henan, 259 Chateau of Poulguen, 256 Feux de St. Jean, 262
176
INDEX.
324
Rohan,
127 of Notre Dame de Bonne Encontre, 127 Rosgrand, Chapel of, 232
Pardon of Pont-Aven, 260 Pardon of St. Leger, 262 Pont l'Abbe, 279 Pont Croix, 300
Chapel
pontchateau, 65 Le Fuseau de la Madelame,
Rosporden, 263 65
Pontivy, 195
Rumengol, 315 Rustefan, Chateau Legend
Castle, 195
of,
253
of Genevieve, 254
PORNIC, 46
Port Navalo,
116
Pouliguen, Le, 62 Chateau de
Saille, 52
Careil, 63
Poul-Dahut,
286
Prat-en-Ras, Chateau
de, 285
Q
Scala Sancta, 150
QUELVEN, 197 Quiberon, 176 QUIMPER, 265
Saint Anne la Palue, 309 St. Ave, 92, 129 St. Barbe, Chapel
Cathedral, 270
Church of Locmaria, 267
Legend
Market, 273 Mount Frugy, 267 QuiMPERLE, 226 Carnoet, Forest of, 232 Chapel of Rosgrand, 232 Church cf St. Michel, 228
Church of
Diable, 230
Pig Market, 230 St. Maurice, Abbey of, 233 Toulfouen, Pardon of, 232 Quinipily, Venus of, 188
R
Roc Saint Andre, 118 Roche Bernard, La, 64 Suspension Bridge, 64 Grottoes
Church, 67 Old Houses, 67
Ruined
Castle, 67
of,
67
240
St. Maurice, Abbey of, 233 St. Nazaire, 45 Bathing-place, 63 Dolmen, 64 Harbour, 63 St. Nicodeme, Church of, 201 Fair of, 198 St. Nicolas-des-Eaux, 177 Carving in Church, 181 St. Pierre, Menhirs of, 176 St. Tugean, 289 Sarzeau, 104 House of Le Sage, 104
Raz, Pointe du, 291 Redon, 66 Abbey, 66 Church, 66 Old Houses, 66
Rochefort-en-Terre,
of,
240
Sisterhood, III St. Gildas-des-Bois, 65 Benedictine Abbey, 65 St. Jean Brevelat, 127 St. Leger, Pardon of, 262
Ste. Croix, 227
Roche Guyon,
of,
Lines of, 174 St. Fiacre, Church of, 244 Rood Screen, 244 St. Gildas de Rhuys, 105 Abbey Church, 105 Abelard, 109 Legend of St. Gildas, 107
Fete, 276 Legend of Crucifix, 272 Legend of St. Corentin, 267
La Roche du
Sailleraye, Chateau of la, 44 Saint Adrien, Chapel of, 194 Saint Anne d'Auray, 149 Legend of, 151
172
Sayenay, 64 Scaer, 234 Marriage Customs, 234 Sein, He de, 298 Sene, 93
IXDEX.
Place des Lices, 77 Place de la Mairie, 78 Place Napoleon le Grand, 74 Place Poissonnerie, 85 Porte Poterne, 83 Porte Prison, 85 Porte St. Vincent, 86 Rabine, 86 Rue Basse Cour, 78 Rue des Chanoines, 75
S£rent, 118 Sucinio, Castle
of,
112
Toultnguet, Pointe Treguxc, 257 Tredion, 102 Trepasses, Baie
de, 312
des, 298
TUDY, Isle of, 278 Tumiac, Butte de,
115
Rue des Halles, 77 Rue du Mene, 85 Rue Noe, 77 Rue des Orfevres, 77 Rue St. Pierre, 77 Rue de la Prefecture,
V Vaxnes,
73 Archaeological
3=5
Museum, 82
Arche de Noe, 77
75
Battle of the Five, 77 Bridge, 84 Cathedral, 75 Catherine de Francheville, 90
St. Clair, 75 St. Comely, 75 St. Patem, 75
Chapelle du Presidial, 77 Chateau de l'Hermine, 78 Chateau de la Motte, 90
Tour du Connetable, 78 Vannes et sa Femme, 77
Clisson,
Imprisonment
of,
St. Vincent, 76, 77
Walls, 74, 85
Environs
79
College of St. Francois Xavie;
—
Bohalgo, 92
Camp
90 College of St. Yves, 90 Episcopal Palace, 90 Garenne, 84 Legend of St. Tryphena, 87 Marche au Seigle, 85 Market, 85
Order of the Ermine, 91 Place Henri Quatre, 75
of Villeneuve, 92 Erroch, 134 Grotto of Jean II., 92 Hesqueno, 92 Isle of Conleau, 92 Limur, 93 Lodo, 147 St. Ave, 92, 129 Sene, 93
THE END OF SOUTH BRITTANY.
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June, 1880.
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—
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" Dr. Brewer Jias produced a wonderfully comprehensive dictionary ofreferences to matters which are always cropping up in conversation and in everyday life, and waiters generally will have reason to feel grateful to the authorfor a most Jiandv volume, supplementing in a hundred ways their atvn knowledge or ignorance, as the case may be. It is something more than a mere dictionary of quotations, though a most useful companion to any work of that kind, being a dictionary .
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