Brittany 20

Brittany 20

Kervignac._ On the N. a fine dolmen near the road to Hennebont.

Another to the south near Kermado.

 

_Nostang._ S. of the village near the river Etel an alignment of 19

menhirs. For _Ile de Groix_, _see under_ Pont-aven.

 

LOUVIGNÉ DU DESERT (I.V.) chl. arr. Fougères. Church (S. Padarn) of

the 15th cent. with a tower of 1702. A circle of upright stones. The

Château of Monthorion with tombs of Raoul II. de Fougères (1194) and

Françoise de Foix in the chapel.

 

MALESTROIT (M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. The castle is on an islet of the

Saudraye; it was constructed in the 11th cent. No traces of it now

remain, or none of any importance. The town, built under the shadow of

the castle, was fortified in 1463. It was attacked with fury by the

League, but always resisted the enemy, till a third siege by Mercœur in

1592, but two months later it was retaken by the Royalists. Now all the

walls are gone. The place retains a number of old houses, one of these

near the parish church has on it grotesque figures, as a sow spinning,

a hunter playing the horn, with beside him a hare performing on the

biniou; a man beating his wife, etc. The church (S. Giles) consists of

two churches side by side and in different styles. One retains remains

of a Romanesque original. The rest is of 1511-31, and some good glass

is in the windows, representing Jesus among the Doctors, the Baptism,

the Passion, etc. The Chapel of S. M. Magdalen is partly Romanesque.

 

MATIGNON (C.M.) chl. arr. Dinan. The parish church is modern but the

Chapel of S. Germain is the old parish church and has a Romanesque

doorway.

 

_S. Cast_, a watering place with good sands. In 1758, the English fleet

under Admiral Howe, after having bombarded S. Malo and burnt Dol,

disembarked a body of men here. The Duc d'Aiguillon, then governor of

Brittany, hastened to the spot, and in spite of the fire of the fleet

defeated and almost exterminated the invaders. A monument marks the

site of the windmill in which the duke watched the engagement.

 

_Pléboulle._ The Templar church is of the 16th cent. except the apse

which is earlier. Remains of the octagonal tower of Montbrun on a rock,

commanding a sweep of the river Frémeur.

 

_Plévenon._ In this commune is the noble headland of Cap Fréhel, of old

red sandstone. Here is a lighthouse. The Fort de Latte is on a point

of rock in the sea 5 kilometres from Cap Fréhel, and entered by two

bridges cast over precipices 300 ft. deep. Facing the fort is a rude

stone 9 ft. high surmounted by a cross, probably a menhir.

 

MAURON (M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. Stands on high ground, watered by the

Yvel and Doeft, which unite above Ploermel in the pretty lake of Le

Duc. In 1352 the Castle of Mauron was held by Bentley with a body of

Anglo-Bretons. The Marshal d'Offemont, at the head of an army of the

adherents of Charles de Blois, resolved on taking the place. Bentley

marched out against him and obtained a complete victory. Thirteen

lords fell, among them the Marshal and the Viscount de Rohan. A

hundred and forty knights also succumbed. The Parish Register, 1591,

is headed:--"Baptismal Register of Mauron made after the Prince of

Darkness with the English and the lancequenects of his company had

passed. They spent the Sunday here, September 8, 1591, pillaged and

plundered all they could lay hands on in the church, and carried off

the baptismal register--on which account this book is now begun." The

church is modern but retains some old carving in panels of the 16th

cent. near the porch on the S. side, and in the sacristy is a painting

of the crucifixion of 1682.

 

_S. Lery._ A church of the 15th cent. except the chancel which is

modern. In a chapel of the S. transept of flamboyant date is some fine

old glass representing the marriage of the Duchess Anne with Charles

VIII. of France. On the north of the nave is the tomb of S. Lery, and

on it the Saint is represented with a pastoral staff in his hand,

a book in the other, and his feet resting on a hare. S. Lery was a

native of Wales who crossed over to Armorica and was well received

by Judicael. As he desired a retreat, the Queen turned Ilogan, an

Irish saint, out of his, and gave his lair warm to Lery, who had no

compunction in receiving it. He died in the 7th cent.

 

MERDIGNAC (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac, stands on the road from Loudéac

to S. Méen. West of the town is the fortified enclosure of the Vielle

Court. Excavations have shown that the wall was vitrified.

 

_S. Launeuc_ near a pretty lake. Here are the ruins of the Castle of

Hardouinaye almost destroyed, where Gilles de Bretagne was starved to

death in 1450. Gilles had been left by his father a sum of money, and

he complained to his brother, Duke Francois I., and asked to be given

some fief in the duchy. But Francis refused his request and threw in

his teeth that he favoured the English rather than the French. Gilles

married the heiress of Châteaubriant and Dinan. Arthur de Montauban,

Marshal of Brittany, who had desired the heiress for himself, was

thereby made his mortal enemy. He determined on his destruction, and to

effect this spread calumnies against Gilles, to the effect that he was

purposing to introduce the English into Brittany, and he obtained leave

from Francis to arrest him in his Castle of Guildo. This he effected

whilst Gilles was engaged on a game of tennis. He carried him off to

Dinan, where was Francis, who refused to see his brother. Francis I.

requested the parliament of Brittany to condemn Gilles unheard. At its

refusal to do so, he handed him over to Arthur de Montauban to make

away with, and the Marshal hurried him away to Hardouinaye and left him

to die of starvation in its dungeon.

 

MUZILLAC (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Church of Bourg Peaul with side aisles,

Romanesque, and with a slated tower. Chancel 1505. The very rich and

curious Calvary was restored in 1894.

 

_Billiers._ Here are the remains of the Cistercian Abbey of N.D. de

Prières, founded in 1252. The church was pulled down in 1715 to make

way for a hideous structure in the taste of the period.

 

_Noyal Muzillac._ The church (S. Noyala) was rebuilt in 1850, but the

transepts and chancel of the 15th cent. remain. The tower was struck

by lightning in 1630 and rebuilt. The Château de Keralio, of the 15th

cent., is in ruins.

 

MONTAUBAN (I.V.) chl. arr. Montfort. A modern church. The castle on the

edge of the forest is of the 14th and 15th cents., and was once the

seat of a powerful family to which it gave its name.

 

MONTCONTOUR (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc, still possesses remnants of its

ancient walls. The church (S. Mathurin) is mainly of the 16th cent.;

the spire is covered with lead. Six windows retain magnificent old

glass representing the life of the Saviour, that of S. John Baptist,

the legend of S. Barbara, that of S. Yves, remains of a Jesse tree, and

the legend of S. Mathurin (1535). Montcontour lies on very high ground,

and commands a magnificent view. S. Mathurin is much sought by pilgrims

who have the highest belief in his powers. The P. is on the eve of

Whitsunday with procession carrying lights, and on Whitmonday, with

dancing.

 

_Trébry._ A dolmen at Ville-Valen, consisting of four supports and a

coverer.

 

_Trédaniel._ The Chapel of N.D. du Haut is mainly of the 14th cent.,

and has a fine porch of the 16th.

 

MONTFORT (I.V.) chl. d'arr. At the junction of the Mieu and the Garun.

A great round tower of the 15th cent. and a portion of wall adjoining

are all that remain of the ancient ramparts. The Church of S. Jean

Baptiste is modern, but contains retables of the 17th cent. The remains

of the Abbey of S. Jacques, founded in 1152, has a church of the 14th

cent. and buildings of the 18th. In the hospital of S. Lazare is an

altar of the 13th cent. To the S.E. of the tower on the edge of the

forest of Coulon is a prostrate menhir called Le Grés de S. Méen.

 

MORDELLES (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes, on the Meu.

 

[Illustration: MORLAIX]

 

* MORLAIX (F.) chl. d'arr., is situated in a deep cleft valley at the

junction of the Jarlot and Qufflent, and has a tidal port. The town is

spanned and dwarfed by the magnificent viaduct of the railway to Brest.

The town has only one interesting church, S. Melaine (1489-1574). A

flight of steps leads to the west door. The S. porch is fine. The

baldachino of the font is of 1660, and the organ and gallery are of

about the same date and rich. Morlaix contains a number of picturesque

houses with galleries about interior courts. The newels of the stairs

are often effectively carved. Admission to some may be obtained by

application at the door. In the Rue des Nobles is the house of the

Duchesse Anne, erected in 1500. The church of the Dominican Convent,

founded in 1237, is desecrated. A floor has been introduced at the

height of the capitals of the pillars, the basement is made into a

lumber chamber, and the upper storey into a museum. It possesses a

beautiful window of the 13th cent., a transom sustaining a rose, lights

below the transom cusped and sustaining trefoils. This window deserves

a study. By descending the Rue des Vignes and turning to the right,

the Rue des Fontaines is reached where are two Holy Wells. At N.D.

des Fontaines a wall is enriched with tracery under an arch, above

which is a delicately beautiful rose window. At this spot, according

to legend, S. Drennael, disciple of Joseph of Arimathea, preached, and

set up an image of the B. Virgin. The chapel, which formed a portion of

a Carmelite church, has been ruined along with the church. The tower

of S. Mathieu was built in 1548. On the right bank of the river is the

Fontaine des Anglais that marks the spot where, in 1522, six hundred

English, who had disembarked to attack the town, were surprised when

asleep, and killed. The town was taken by the English in 1532. To guard

against surprise, the castle of Le Taureau was constructed on an island

at the entrance to the estuary.

 

For objects of interest in the neighbourhood, _see_ under _Taulé_.

 

MUR (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac. Two menhirs by the road from Mur to

Corlay, one at Botrain is a rude quartz block, square and tapering to

a point 12 ft. high. The church is modern. The Chapel of Ste. Suzanne,

1760, has the legend of the Saint painted on the ceiling.

 

_Caurel._ By the road from Pontivy to Guingamp, at the hamlet to

Belaire, is a menhir of slaty schist 15 ft. high. On the Lande de

Caurel another slate menhir 10 ft. high, and five others prostrate.

Another on the same Lande 15 ft. high and shaped like a rectangular

blade, a niche has been cut in it and a cross planted on the top. On

the Lande de Belaire an allée couverte of slate rock 25 ft. long,

composed of six slabs set on end supporting three coverers. There are

others in ruins hard by. The church dates from 1654.

 

_S. Guen._ Church of the 18th cent. A Calvary of the 15th cent. with

a stone seat at the foot. The Chapel of S. Tugdual of the 14th cent.

contains the remains of a rood screen.

 

PAIMPOL (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. An important fishing place, the

headquarters of the Iceland fleet. The whole of this portion of

Côtes-du-Nord facing east formed anciently the county of Goelo. The

"Icelanders" fleet starts on February 20, and is absent till the

autumn. As many as 180 vessels leave Paimpol and the other little ports

on the Bay of S. Brieuc for this annual fishing in the polar seas. The

blessing of the fleet takes place with solemnity before it departs.

Paimpol is the scene of Pierre Lotti's novel, "Pécheur d'Islande." The

church of 1525 has a fine flamboyant east window. There are several old

houses in the streets. The isle of _Bréhat_ may be visited, _see under_ Bréhat.