Brittany 23

Brittany 23

Plourin._ The church (S. Budoc) is entirely modern, but excellent,

the tower and spire are specially well proportioned. The E. flamboyant

window is very good. Two old picturesque houses are near the church.

Within the church is the pulpit from the old church of carved oak

representing scenes from the legend of S. Azenore and her son Budoc. At

Kergraden are two menhirs, one 30 ft. high, the other 24 ft. P. Sunday

nearest to Aug. 7.

 

_Plouguin._ Modern church. The château of Lesven possesses a painting

over the altar in which is represented S. Gwen, her three breasts

disguised by the central breast being made into a gilded disc, dressed

in the costume of a lady of the beginning of the 17th cent. presenting

her son Winwaloe to S. Corentin, who gives him the habit. Fragan,

husband of Gwen Teirbron, is also represented in the painting as a

knight in armour. The parish takes its name from Gwen, and her husband

gives his name to the neighbouring parish of S. Fragan. In a marsh are

the ruins of an oratory, where, according to local tradition, Winwaloe

as a child practised the ascetic life. For _Lanrivoaré_ see S. Rénan.

 

PLOUESCAT (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A menhir, 21 ft. high.

 

_Plounevez Lochrist._ In this parish is the interesting chapel of

Lochrist with its 13th cent. tower, bold and massive, and surmounted

by a spire very different in character from the flimsy barley-sugar

constructions of the 16th cent. and the beginning of the 17th. The

chapel itself is modern.

 

PLOUGUENAST (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac. New and bad parish church,

but happily the old one has been left, and contains some old glass,

representing the Crucifixion, Entombment, and Pentecost. The altar

rails are made out of the old roodloft gallery front, and bear

representations of the apostles. Chapel of the Rosary 16th cent.

Château de Touche Brondineuf, a stronghold of the 15th cent.

 

_Plémy._ A menhir, 12 ft. high, near Drény, on the road to Uzel. Two

more of 9 ft. high at 300 paces thence. An old maison forte of the 16th

cent. at Vaucles. At Ville Pierre remains of an Huguenot preaching

station, a platform sustained on cylindrical pillars. Some of the great

nobles of Brittany, casting covetous eyes on the church property,

embraced the reform and encouraged the Calvinist preachers. But the

people would have none of them.

 

_Langast._ The Church (S. Gall) of the 16th cent. has some old glass in

the east window.

 

PLOUHA (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. Modern uninteresting church. Four

kilometres off is the Chapel of _Kermaria_, erected at different times.

The first four arches belong to the 13th cent. The others as well

as the S. porch and transept are flamboyant. This chapel contains a

Dance of Death, in fresco, but now sadly faded. There are twenty-two

subjects, each figure is attended by a skeleton. Above the Dance are

eight prophets, seated. The chandeliers are of hammered iron.

 

_Lanleff_ has a circular Romanesque church in ruins. It belongs to the

11th or early 12th cent. A portion of the external wall has fallen,

exposing the arcade. Much fanciful stuff was published relative to this

church early last century. It was supposed to have been a pagan temple.

Near it is a well, the water issues from a three-lobed opening. Above

is a stone marked with seven circles. The story goes that a woman here

sold her child to the devil for seven pieces of silver, of which these

circles are the memorial.

 

PLOUIGNEAU (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A menhir and a prehistoric camp. P.

Ascension Day followed by dancing and a fair. P. at the chapel of S.

Eloi 3rd Sunday in June.

 

_Plougonven._ A calvary of the 17th cent. A fallen dolmen and three

menhirs.

 

PLOUZÉVEDE (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. In this commune is the very

interesting chapel of Berven, with a beautiful tower. It stands by the

highway from S. Pol de Léon to Lesneven, which runs mainly over the old

Roman road, and was that taken by S. Paulus Aurelianus when he came

from the land of Ach to the town that now bears his name. The entrance

to the churchyard is by a triumphal arcade, the arches separated and

sustained by Corinthian pillars. The beautiful tower and spire were

built in 1567. The rood screen is late, 17th cent., and on it are four

panel paintings. The tower sustains two galleries and superposed bell

chambers. The whole surmounted by a lantern. It is of the same type as

that of Rorcoff, but is more elegant. It is later than the church.

 

_Plouvorn._ The church is modern, but the chapel of _Lambader_ is most

interesting, as containing the only 16th cent. flamboyant screen that

has been spared in the department. It is singularly rich and delicate.

The date is 1481. The tower and spire resemble those of Creisker,

but on a smaller scale and with the same fault. The chapel has been

carefully restored. P. on Whit-Monday.

 

_S. Vougai._ Church (S. Fiacc of Stetty) of the 16th cent. The château

of _Kerjean_ is a fine example of a late flamboyant and renaissance

castle. After having been in ruins, it has been repurchased by a

descendant of the ancient family to which it originally belonged, and

is being gradually restored. One wing was destroyed by fire in the

18th cent., the rest was wrecked at the Revolution. It is called the

Versailles of Finistère.

 

PLUVIGNER (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. This was the centre of a vast

district comprising nine parishes, that formed the "plou" of Fingar, an

Irish settler, who, after having established himself here with a number

of colonists, returned to Ireland to fetch more, but was carried by

contrary winds into S. Ives' Bay in Cornwall, where the native prince

Tewdrig fell on him and murdered most of the party. The place where

he was killed is Gwinear. The church of Pluvigner is a vast building

erected in 1545. The tower and spire, however, date from 1781. Numerous

lechs are in the churchyard, and one is at the door of the mairie. The

Holy Well of S. Guinger (Fingar) is of the 16th cent., a little way out

of the village. According to the legend Fingar was hunting when he came

to the well, and looking in saw his face reflected in the water. "On

my word," said he; "I'm an uncommonly handsome man, too good-looking

to be anything but a saint," and this effected his conversion. He

renounced the world and dedicated his beauty to religion. The chapel

of S. Fiacre is of 1453, with additions of 1640. In the transept is a

richly carved flamboyant altarpiece. The chapel of S. Beuzy marks the

spot where that favourite disciple of Gildas, flying with a mortal

wound in his head, passed the night on his way to Rhuys. The chapel is

of 1593.

 

* PONT-AVEN (F.) chl. arr. Quimperlé. The costume of the women in

this district is peculiarly charming. The broad quilled collars and

the white coiffe, with a pink ribbon behind the lace, serve to show

off a pretty face to advantage. Pont-aven is a favourite resort of

artists, and some of their work may be seen in a much frequented

hotel there. Moreover, the scenery about Pont-aven is pleasing, and

it serves as a better headquarters than Concarneau, where the smell

of the sardine pickling is offensive, and produces in some stomachic

trouble. Pont-aven is picturesquely situated on the Aven, the same name

as our Affon, Awne, and Avon, and at the foot of two hills crowned with

granite rocks that have been rounded by the action of the weather,

which dissolves the silicate of potass in it, when the other matters,

mica, felspar, hemblend, and quartz fall away in gravel and sand. A

huge rock in the river facing the quay is called la Roche Forme. Below

Pont-aven the river widens into an estuary and forms a port. Near

the mouth of the river is the sanatorium of Kerfarny. There are two

menhirs in the commune, one 15 feet and the other 16 feet high, one at

Kérangosquer, and the other on the lande de Kervéquilen. About four

kilometres down the river is the château du Hénan of the 15th and 16th

cents. At _Riec_ are some dolmens.

 

_Nizon._ Here are the fine 15th cent. ruins of the castle of

Rustéphan flanked by turrets. Several dolmens are scattered over the

neighbourhood, and menhirs as well, of which one is 21 feet high.

 

_Nevez._ About two miles to the east of the village are the important

remains of the château of Hénan, of the 15th cent., much altered in the

16th cent., with a keep some 75 feet high, machicolated. A dolmen is

here whose capstone measures 45 feet in length, and 27 feet in breadth,

and 6 feet thick. It has been converted into a smith's shop. At Nizon

there are two Pardons, that of N.D. de Kergomet on the 1st Sunday in

May; the other at N.D. de Trémalo on the 2nd Sunday in September. At

Pont-aven the patronal feast is on the 3rd Sunday in September, and

the P. of S. Mathurin on the 2nd Sunday in May. At Nevez the patronal

feast is on the 2nd Sunday after Easter; the Pardon de S. Barbe, the

2nd Sunday in August; that of S. Nicolas the 1st Sunday of September;

that of Trémorvézen the 2nd Sunday in September. The P. of S. Mathieu

on the last Sunday in September: that of the Rosary Sunday in October,

and there are fêtes and a fair on the Monday following. Perhaps the

best is that of _Bélon_ on the river of that name, which flows into the

sea close to the mouth of the Aven. Here is a grand procession on Sept.

8th, and very picturesque costumes may be seen. Near Belen is N.D. de

Lanriot, a fine chapel; and in a most lovely situation is de Moustoir.

Between Pont-aven and de Trinité in a wood is a dolmen. It is actually

in the parish of Moëlan or Maelon, in which the Pardon of S. Roch is

held on Aug. 15, and that of S. Philibert on the second Sunday after.

Excursions may be made by boat from Pont-aven to the isles of _Glenan_,

a veritable archipelago, and to the more distant _Ile de Groix_. This

was the island to which Gunthiern, the first settler at Quimperlé, was

wont to retire, and where there is a chapel that contains a statue

of him. He was a native of Southern Wales, and his name is identical

with Vortigern. But who he really was is very uncertain. In summer

there is communication daily by a little steamboat with Lorient. An

arm of the sea called le Coureau separates the isle from the mainland.

The population is composed entirely of fishermen, and it has a little

harbour, the port Tudy. The island coast is honeycombed with caves; it

also possesses numerous prehistoric monuments. On the N. the tumulus

of Moustéro and the menhir of Quelhuit, and the dolmens more or less

ruined of S. Tudy and of Porte Mélite. On the E. the menhir of the Fort

de la Croix. On the S. the dolmens of Locmaria and S. Nicolas and

the tumulus of Kervédan, surmounted by a menhir, and near Kervédan on

the shore the remains of an enclosure called the fort des Romains. As

there are hotels on the island, a day or two can be very comfortably spent there.