Brittany 11

Brittany 11

Carnoet_ on very high ground. Here is the _peniti_ or place of retreat

of Gildas with a chapel, by the river, and high up in a clump of trees

under a camp that dates from the invasion of Brittany by the Northmen,

is a curious chapel of S. Gildas of late flamboyant melting into

renaissance. It has a W. spirelet, gallery and two bells, the spirelet

sustained on an arch. Within, sunk in the pavement, is an 11th cent.

sarcophagus, reputed to be the bed of S. Gildas, who died in 570. In

the N. aisle is a range of six stages of fowl hutches. On the Pardon,

29th Jan., the peasants make offerings of fowls and horsehair; the

former are put into these hutches where they cluck and cackle through

mass, and then are sold by auction for the benefit of the chapel and

its maintenance. The camp above is an admirable typical example of the

Norseman fortress, consisting of a tump, hollowed out in the middle,

that sustained a wooden superstructure; and a base-court.

 

_Cleden-Poher_ has a large church of the middle of the 16th cent., but

with alterations made in 1689, at which date the sacristy was built.

It has a fine west porch, and in the apse a good flamboyant window in

six bays with a column up the centre against which, within, stands

a statue. In a Chapel of N.D. de Cleden the vault is covered with

paintings of the 18th cent. The high altar has a retable into which

are let sculptured panels of the 16th cent., and others, representing

the seven sacraments, are about the apse. The venerated image of N.D.

dates from the 14th cent. The Calvary in the graveyard is of 1575. At

the N.E. corner of the churchyard is an ossuary, transition between

flamboyant and renaissance. P. 15th Aug.

 

_Treffrin_ (C.N.) possesses a fine Roman camp at Kermoisan, with

remains of a tower in it. The Church of N.D. is of 1580, the porch of

1582, richly decorated, and contains niches within containing statues

of the twelve apostles; the corbels supporting them are all different

in design.

 

_Locarn._ The church is of the 12th cent. with additions and

alterations of the 16th. It contains the tomb of the patron, S.

Harn, in granite, 14th cent. The east window has stained glass of

1572 representing scenes of the Passion. The pulpit is renaissance,

syrens occupy the angles. There is a Holy Well with an early statue

of the Saint above it. A Calvary, the base ornamented with sculptured

dolphins. In the presbytère is a magnificent silver-gilt processional

cross of the 16th cent. In the parish are several menhirs, at Quellence

Buis, Loquevel, Grand Follezon, etc., but of no great height.

 

_Le Moustoir_ (C.N.). Church of 1507, in the shape of a T. The cornice,

on which rests the vault, represents grotesque figures and groups. The

E. window retains its old glass, representing the Life of the Virgin.

In the tracery are the four great prophets. On the N. side a fireplace

for heating the water for baptism.

 

_Maël Carhaix_ (C.N.). On the Place is a Roman military milestone

with inscription stating that it was erected in the reign of Septimius

Severus. The Church of S. Pierre (1530) has old stained glass

representing the Fathers of the Church and Bishops. The glass is of the

same date as the church. At Maël Carhaix is the cave whence issues the

spring that supplied Vorganium with water by an aqueduct.

 

* CARNAC, com. of Quiberon. Noted for the vast numbers of its

prehistoric monuments. It lies on the low flat shores of the Baie de

Quiberon, and is a great place for the cultivation of oysters. To

obtain a good general view of the place it is well to ascend first of

all the Mont S. Michel, a huge cairn piled up over a natural elevation

of granite. It is oblong in shape and rises to about 60 feet. On the

summit is a chapel of the Archangel, with an old granite cross. The

mound was dug into in 1863 when a dolmen was discovered that contained

over a hundred polished stone axes, a necklace, and other objects of

the early bronze age. Further excavation in 1890 has disclosed another

dolmen, in which, along with some stone implements, were two bronze

buttons. The cairn is built up carefully of stones laid in order over

a sheet of pebbles, and above them more of the same and of seaweed

had been spread, and then above this fresh stones have been piled.

From the summit the alignments of Carnac can be seen on the north. To

visit these latter the following course should be pursued. Take the

road to Ker Malvezin, and in a few minutes, on a bit of rising ground

on the left is seen a dolmen on which a cross has been erected. Very

soon after the road traverses the lines of Le Menec. There are still

standing eleven of these rows and they run from E.N.E. to W.S.W. The

total length is 3510 feet, and there are 1169 stones in them. The

tallest of them is 13 feet high, but the majority from 3 to 4 feet.

It is well to turn to the left and pursue the rows to the western

extremity where is a semi-circular enclosure, evidently not in its

original condition, and it is doubtful whether it be not a modern

erection made out of stones pilfered from the rows to form a farm

enclosure attached to the farm of Le Menec.

 

[Illustration: THE LINES OF CARNAC]

 

Having retraced our steps to the road, we cross it and follow the

avenues of upright stones till we reach and cross another road, that

to Ploemel. The road has broken through the lines, which continue

only a few yards to the east, and then are brought to a conclusion

by blocking stones, that is to say, slabs set at right angles to the

lines. From this point ensues a gap for about 345 yards where is a

little plantation of Austrian pines, a stone quarry, and some furzy

enclosures. The lines are not, however, wholly interrupted; a few

upright stones and several that are prostrate testify that there was

some continuation. We follow a new road through the plantation and

between walls till we come abruptly on a fresh cluster of stones, and

these the largest we have yet seen. This is the commencement of the

Kermario group. These started from several tumuli enclosing dolmens,

but of such only one, an allée couverte pertaining to the southernmost

line, remains. The lines though mutilated are instructive. They start

from this allée couverte and run about 250 yards to a pair of blocking

stones, planted at right angles to the rows. The Kermario alignments

run N.E. up a hill crowned by a disused windmill that has been

constructed out of the blocks, then they continue some way till walls

and a wood interrupt their course. Ten rows remain, and the number of

the standing stones is 982. The largest of the menhirs is prostrate;

apparently it had been purposely thrown down to form a coverer to a

Gallo-Roman grave that has been discovered beneath it. What is of

special interest is the fact that a Roman camp was formed in these

lines, and that those who constructed the camp made use of the stones

for their wall of enclosure, breaking up some, and employing others

in their original position where it served their purpose. From the

easternmost end of the Kermario group occurs an interruption of about

398 yards, and then we come upon a third set of stone rows, that of

Kerlescant, which stretches 885 yards, but is much mutilated about the

village. Thirteen lines can be traced containing 540 stones, but there

were others, some 40, that lie to the north, and are the poor remains

of another series of stone rows. On the east again the alignment is

supposed to describe a curve towards the north, and then recommence and

run east again to the Crach estuary. Near the rows is also a ruined

allée couverte. The whole extent of rows cannot be estimated as short

of 4½ miles.

 

Poor fragments of other alignments remain at Ste. Barbe, near a couple

of windmills by the station of Plouharnel, and again, and remains of a

stone circle by the dolmen of Keriaval. The dolmens are very numerous,

but not in the commune of Carnac to the extent that they are in the

adjoining parishes. An enumeration of them may be omitted here, as

at Carnac for a franc at the Musée Milne may be had a serviceable

little book, "Carnac et ses Monuments," by M. Le Rouzic, with a map.

One word of caution must however be given--not to accept the wild

theories promulgated relative to dolmens and alignments. A close and

scientific comparative study of these monuments has led to a pretty

certain determination as to their purposes. The dolmens and allées

couvertes were sepulchres, family or tribal; and the alignments consist

of stones erected by members of the tribe or families belonging to the

tribe in honour of the several dead who were laid in the dolmens. The

stone circles were either places where the dead were burned and funeral

feasts were held, or were places of tribal gatherings for palavers;

generally they served both purposes. Isolated menhirs were either

memorials to the dead, or boundary marks between tribal lands. All

dolmens were originally buried under cairns or tumuli.

 

The parish church at Carnac was rebuilt in 1639 and has a well

proportioned tower and spire, with spirelets at the angles. Above the

west door is a statue of S. Cornelius, who throughout Lower Brittany is

the patron of horned beasts, as S. Eloi (Eligius, B. of Noyon) is of

horses. On the north side is an extravagant baroque porch, with a stone

crown or baldachin above it. The fountain of S. Cornély is west of the

church. A tramway now connects Carnac with Belz and Erdeven.

 

The Pardon of S. Cornély takes place on Sept. 13, and is a curious

sight. Cattle are brought to the church and offered to S. Cornély, and

those thus offered are sold afterwards by auction, and are eagerly

bought.

 

_Plœmel._ East of S. Cado is a menhir standing and two others fallen;

east of S. Laurent by the roadside a menhir leaning, opposite a stone

cross. In the tumulus of Mané-Bodgad near Kermarquer, a sepulchral

chamber. The church has been rebuilt and is a despicable structure. In

the cemetery is a lech fallen. Another found there has been trimmed and

set on the top of the tower.

 

_Plouharnel._ The largest dolmen in the Department is that of

Corconneau in this parish. It measures 6 feet high inside, and is

25 feet long. Four hundred paces to the east are the remains of an

alignment composed of 21 menhirs. To the south the ground is strewn

with ruined dolmens and menhirs either fallen or standing, relics of

alignments that have been plundered. At Ste. Barbe, to which allusion

has already been made, some 30 stones remain of an alignment, and the

remains of a stone circle. At Vieux Moulin are six standing stones,

and a little further the dolmens of Mané-Rémor and Runmeur. Further

north at Kernevez a dolmen that has had its coverer displaced, and at

Cosquer two or three more. On descending to the south at Runesto a

dolmen half buried, and at Kerguvat, on the way to Carnac, a dolmen

with a gallery. Between the village and the station is the tumulus of

Rondossec that contains three dolmens, one of which when explored gave

up two gold torques. The church is modern and bad.

 

For _Erdeven_ see under Belz.

 

CAULNES (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Once a Roman station. Relics found

there are preserved in the Mairie. The church has undergone great

alterations. The tower was rebuilt in the 18th cent., but the old W.

entrance of the 16th cent. was preserved.

 

_Guitée._ Alignments of quartz blocks standing on others in which are

cavities that have been found to contain ashes. There are five rows and

run N. and S. One has in it 15 stones fallen, and 7 standing; one of

them is 11 feet high. Another, a blocking stone, is 15 feet high. The

second row has 12 stones fallen, and 2 upright; one of the prostrate

blocks measures 15 feet 6 inches. The third line has 11 stones, all

prostrate. The fourth line consists of 7 stones standing and 4 fallen.

One of those erect is 18 feet 6 inches high.

 

CHÂTEAUBOURG (I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. The church has a renaissance

portal. There are remains of a priory of the 14th cent. converted into

a private house.

 

CHÂTEAUGIRON (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. Ruins of a castle. Two towers

fairly well preserved.

 

CHÂTEAULIN (F.) chl. d'arr. Prettily situated on the Aulne which is

canalised, so as to connect Brest with Nantes. The hills rise to a

considerable height above Châteaulin, as here the Monts d'Arrée and

the Montagnes Noires draw together, the latter to be prolonged into

the Peninsula of Crozon. But though prettily planted, there is not

much of interest in the town. The church (S. Idumet) is modern and

unsatisfactory. On a rock on the right bank of the river is the site

of the castle that has been completely destroyed. The chapel however

remains. The piers and arches are of the 12th cent. The tower is

renaissance and is beautifully proportioned. The archway into the

churchyard is 16th cent., and the cross and ossuary of the same period.

P. 1st Sunday in Sept. From Châteaulin the _Menez-hom_ (990 ft.) may

be visited for the sake of the view over the Rade de Brest and the Bay

of Douarnenez. Ste. Marie du Menez-hom is a chapel (1574-91), with

renaissance bell tower. The iron gate to the churchyard is of 1730, the Calvary of 1544.