Brittany 1

Brittany 1

Brittany

 

Author: Sabine Baring-Gould

 

I rather would entreat thy company,

To see the wonders of the world abroad,

Than living dully sluggardiz'd at home,

Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.

 

_Two Gentlemen of Verona_

Act I. Sc. i.

 

 

LONDON

METHUEN & CO. LTD.

_36 Essex St. Strand_

 

 

_Third Edition_

 

 

 

 

_First Published_ _July 1902_

_Second Edition_ _April 1914_

_Third Edition_ _1921_

 

 

 

 

PREFACE

 

 

Brittany can hardly claim the attention of the tourist as a

superlatively beautiful country. The way in which trees are clipped

and tortured out of shape disfigures the sylvan landscape; and of

mountain scenery there is none. The ranges of the Montaignes Noires

and the Monts d'Arrez are insignificant. Yet the valleys are pretty,

but never grand. The charm of Brittany is to be found in the people

and in the churches. The former with their peculiar costumes, and

their customs are full of interest, and the latter are of remarkable

beauty and quaintness. The ordinary tourist will hardly see much of the

costume unless he attends a _pardon_, the Patron of the Irish peasant;

the patronal feast at some chapel frequented only on the day of the

pardon. But the student of men and manners will find much to interest

him at such a gathering. The churches are of extraordinary beauty,

they are for the most part of granite, but of a fine-grained granite

that lends itself to elaborate carving. And the kersanten stone is

employed, a dark volcanic product that is undercut and preserves its

sharpness through centuries, and is employed for carving of lace-like

delicacy. The coast scenery is fine, but not of the finest description,

and varies very greatly from the granite cliffs of Finistère to

the sandy _dunes_ of the Morbihan. The towns are not comparable to

those of Normandy for the number and richness of their mediæval

domestic buildings, but are set in far more charming surroundings.

The cathedrals are, for the most part small, Quimper and S. Pol de

Léon and Tréguier have the finest, but these are of a French type,

whereas the village churches possess a stamp peculiar to Brittany,

where spared. Unhappily a passion has possessed the people of late to

pull down their ancient churches and build new Houses of God in very

questionable taste. In the diocese of Vannes the modern architecture is

execrable, but the architects of Quimper are of a vastly higher type.

They follow the old lines, and imitate what is good, whereas in the

Côtes du Nord and in Morbihan, the modern work is insufferably vulgar

and bad. The whole country teems with prehistoric antiquities, but

these will only interest those who have made such monuments a special

study; nevertheless Carnac and Locmariaquer and Gavr' Inis cannot fail

to impress the ordinary traveller with a sense of astonishment at the

majesty of the rude architecture of a lost and mysterious people of

whom almost nothing is known, and whose one religious idea seems to

have been, the cult of the dead.

 

The people are intensely religious. Religion is their passion; and

the efforts made by the Republican government to tread it down, and

to de-Bretonise the people, have only intensified their religious and

national enthusiasm. The Breton peasant is said to have a hard head.

He is obstinate and resists outside pressure to alter his creed or

his customs. The old Royalist tendency of the Breton is a thing of

the past. He is content to be under a republic, if the republic will

only leave him alone. Fishing and shooting may be obtained on easy

terms, and both are good. The roads are excellent for the cyclist,

and the costumes and the architecture present inexhaustible subjects

for the camera. The inns are always clean, the charges are moderate,

and the fare very passable. No part of Europe is so accessible, and

contains so much of interest in varied directions as Brittany. It is

a delightful land for a brief visit, it is full of matter for study

by one who can make there a prolonged stay. The climate is mild, and

not so rainy as the West of England and Wales. The kindly people will

always treat a traveller with gracious courtesy. But Brittany, it must

be remembered, is divided into two very distinct portions, that in

which only French is spoken, and that in which the language is Breton,

closely akin to Welsh. And of Brittany, by far the most interesting

portion is Finistère, where old costumes and old customs are clung to

more tenaciously than elsewhere.

 

S. B. G.

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

PAGE

 

I. GENERAL FEATURES AND GEOLOGY 1

 

II. BOTANY 6

 

III. HISTORY 11

 

IV. ANTIQUITIES 24

 

V. THE PARDONS 26

 

VI. ICONOGRAPHY 29

 

VII. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 31

 

DEscRIPTION OF PLACES IN BRITTANY,

ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY 36-238

 

INDEX OF PLACES 239

 

INDEX OF SUBJECTS 244

 

 

 

 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

 

 

CALVARY, PLOUGASTEL _Frontispiece_

 

PAGE

 

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF BRITTANY 1

 

MAP OF BRITTANY SHOWING LIMITS OF BRETON

TONGUE 11

 

FOUGÈRES 16

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

THE BRIDGE, AURAY 40

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

STE. ANNE D'AURAY 42

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

THE LINES OF ERDEVEN 57

 

THE LINES OF CARNAC 68

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

N.D. DE LA FONTAINE, DAOULAS 82

 

S. SAUVEUR, DINAN 84

 

TOWER, DINARD 87

 

PLOARÉ 92

 

S. FIACRE 97

 

FOUGÈRES 100

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

LA ROCHE AUX FÉES, ESSÉ 112

 

THE COURT, JOSSELIN 113

 

CALVARY AND OSSUARY, S. THÉGONNEC 123

 

MORLAIX 146

 

CHURCH AND OSSUARY, TRÉGASTEL 150

 

PONTCROIX 173

 

N.D. DE CONFORT 174

 

IN QUIMPER 180

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

THE CATHEDRAL, QUIMPER 182

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

LOCRONAN 183

 

QUIMPERLÉ 186

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

THE CATHEDRAL, RENNES 188

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

S. BRIEUC 196

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

LE KREISKER, S. POL DE LÉON 205

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

TRÉGUIER CATHEDRAL 217

 

VANNES 226

(_From a Photograph by Messrs Neurdein frères, Paris._)

 

MAP OF BRITTANY 238

 

[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL MAP OF BRITTANY

SHOWING THE GRANITE AND ERUPTIVE ROCKS DOTTED]