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LEGENDS & ROMANCES OF BRITTANY
[Illustration: GRAELENT AND THE FAIRY-WOMAN _Fr._]
LEGENDS & ROMANCES
OF BRITTANY
_BY_
LEWIS SPENCE F.R.A.I.
AUTHOR OF "HERO TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE RHINE"
"A DICTIONARY OF MEDIEVAL ROMANCE AND ROMANCE WRITERS"
"THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU"
ETC. ETC.
_WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS BY_
W. OTWAY CANNELL A.R.C.A.(Lond.)
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH
GREAT BRITAIN
PREFACE
Although the folk-tales and legends of Brittany have received
ample attention from native scholars and collectors, they have not as
yet been presented in a popular manner to English-speaking readers.
The probable reasons for what would appear to be an otherwise
incomprehensible omission on the part of those British writers who
make a popular use of legendary material are that many Breton
folk-tales strikingly resemble those of other countries, that from
a variety of considerations some of them are unsuitable for
presentation in an English dress, and that most of the folk-tales
proper certainly possess a strong family likeness to one another.
But it is not the folk-tale alone which goes to make up the
romantic literary output of a people; their ballads, the heroic
tales which they have woven around passages in their national
history, their legends (employing the term in its proper sense),
along with the more literary attempts of their romance-weavers,
their beliefs regarding the supernatural, the tales which cluster
around their ancient homes and castles--all of these, although
capable of separate classification, are akin to folk-lore, and I
have not, therefore, hesitated to use what in my discretion I
consider the best out of immense stores of material as being much
more suited to supply British readers with a comprehensive view of
Breton story. Thus, I have included chapters on the lore which
cleaves to the ancient stone monuments of the country, along with
some account of the monuments themselves. The Arthurian matter
especially connected with Brittany I have relegated to a separate
chapter, and I have considered it only fitting to include such of
the _lais_ of that rare and human songstress Marie de France as deal
with the Breton land. The legends of those sainted men to whom
Brittany owes so much will be found in a separate chapter, in
collecting the matter for which I have obtained the kindest
assistance from Miss Helen Macleod Scott, who has the preservation of
the Celtic spirit so much at heart. I have also included chapters on
the interesting theme of the black art in Brittany, as well as on
the several species of fays and demons which haunt its moors and
forests; nor will the heroic tales of its great warriors and
champions be found wanting. To assist the reader to obtain the
atmosphere of Brittany and in order that he may read these tales
without feeling that he is perusing matter relating to a race of
which he is otherwise ignorant, I have afforded him a slight
sketch of the Breton environment and historical development, and in
an attempt to lighten his passage through the volume I have here and
there told a tale in verse, sometimes translated, sometimes original.
As regards the folk-tales proper, by which I mean stories collected
from the peasantry, I have made a selection from the works of Gaidoz,
Sébillot, and Luzel. In no sense are these translations; they are
rather adaptations. The profound inequality between Breton folk-tales
is, of course, very marked in a collection of any magnitude, but as
this volume is not intended to be exhaustive I have had no difficulty
in selecting material of real interest. Most of these tales were
collected by Breton folk-lorists in the eighties of the last century,
and the native shrewdness and common sense which characterize much of
the editors' comments upon the stories so carefully gathered from
peasants and fishermen make them deeply interesting.
It is with a sense of shortcoming that I offer the reader this volume
on a great subject, but should it succeed in stimulating interest in
Breton story, and in directing students to a field in which their
research is certain to be richly rewarded, I shall not regret the
labour and time which I have devoted to my task.
L. S.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Land, the People and their Story 13
II Menhirs And Dolmens 37
III The Fairies of Brittany 54
IV Sprites And Demons of Brittany 96
V World-Tales in Brittany 106
VI Breton Folk-Tales 156
VII Popular Legends of Brittany 173
VIII Hero-Tales of Brittany 211
IX The Black Art and Its Ministers 241
X Arthurian Romance in Brittany 254
XI The Breton Lays of Marie De France 283
XII The Saints of Brittany 332
XIII Costumes and Customs of Brittany 372
Glossary and Index 392
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Graelent and the Fairy-Woman _Frontispiece_
Nomenoë 23
The Death of Marguerite in the Castle of Trogoff 34
Raising a Menhir 44
The Seigneur of Nann And the Korrigan 58
Merlin And Vivien 66
The Fairies of Broceliande Find the Little Bruno 72
Fairies in a Breton 'Houle' 81
The Poor Boy And the Three Fairy Damsels 88
The Demon-Dog 102
N'Oun Doare And the Princess Golden Bell 112
The Bride of Satan 144
Gwennolaïk and Nola 170
The Devil in the Form of a Leopard appears before
the Alchemist 179
The Escape of King Gradlon from the Flooded City of
Ys 186
A Peasant Insurrection 197
Morvan returns to his Ruined Home 214
The Finding of Silvestik 232
Héloïse as Sorceress 250
King Arthur and Merlin at the Lake 257
Tristrem and Ysonde 268
King Arthur and the Giant of Mont-Saint-Michel 276
The Were-Wolf 288
Gugemar comes upon the Magic Ship 294
Gugemar's Assault on the Castle of Meriadus 300
Eliduc carries Guillardun to the Forest Chapel 312
Convoyon and his Monks carry off the Relics of St
Apothemius 336
St Tivisiau, the Shepherd Saint 339
St Yves instructing Shepherd-boys in the Use of the
Rosary 352
Queen Queban stoned to Death 369
Modern Brittany 377
The Souls of the Dead 385
CHAPTER I: THE LAND, THE PEOPLE AND THEIR STORY
The romantic region which we are about to traverse in search of the
treasures of legend was in ancient times known as Armorica, a
Latinized form of the Celtic name, Armor ('On the Sea'). The Brittany
of to-day corresponds to the departments of Finistère, Côtes-du-Nord,
Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire-Inférieure. A popular division of
the country is that which partitions it into Upper, or Eastern, and
Lower, or Western, Brittany, and these tracts together have an area of
some 13,130 square miles.
Such parts of Brittany as are near to the sea-coast present marked
differences to the inland regions, where raised plateaux are covered
with dreary and unproductive moorland. These plateaux, again, rise
into small ranges of hills, not of any great height, but, from their
wild and rugged appearance, giving the impression of an altitude much
loftier than they possess. The coast-line is ragged, indented, and
inhospitable, lined with deep reefs and broken by the estuaries of
brawling rivers. In the southern portion the district known as 'the
Emerald Coast' presents an almost subtropical appearance; the air is
mild and the whole region pleasant and fruitful. But with this
exception Brittany is a country of bleak shores and grey seas, barren
moorland and dreary horizons, such a land as legend loves, such a
region, cut off and isolated from the highways of humanity, as the
discarded genii of ancient faiths might seek as a last stronghold.
Regarding the origin of the race which peoples this secluded
peninsula there are no wide differences of opinion. If we take the
word 'Celt' as describing any branch of the many divergent races which
came under the influence of one particular type of culture, the true
originators of which were absorbed among the folk they governed and
instructed before the historic era, then the Bretons are 'Celts'
indeed, speaking the tongue known as 'Celtic' for want of a more
specific name, exhibiting marked signs of the possession of 'Celtic'
customs, and having those racial characteristics which the science of
anthropology until recently laid down as certain indications of
'Celtic' relationship--the short, round skull, swarthy complexion, and
blue or grey eyes.
It is to be borne in mind, however, that the title 'Celtic' is shared
by the Bretons with the fair or rufous Highlander of Scotland, the
dark Welshman, and the long-headed Irishman. But the Bretons exhibit
such special characteristics as would warrant the new anthropology in
labelling them the descendants of that 'Alpine' race which existed in
Central Europe in Neolithic times, and which, perhaps, possessed
distant Mongoloid affinities. This people spread into nearly all parts
of Europe, and later in some regions acquired Celtic speech and custom
from a Celtic aristocracy.
It is remarkable how completely this Celtic leaven--the true history
of which is lost in the depths of prehistoric darkness--succeeded in
impressing not only its language but its culture and spirit upon the
various peoples with whom it came into contact. To impose a special
type of civilization upon another race must always prove a task of
almost superhuman proportions. To compel the use of an alien tongue by
a conquered folk necessitates racial tact as well as strength of
purpose. But to secure the adoption of the racial _spirit_ by the
conquered, and adherence to it for centuries, so that men of widely
divergent origins shall all have the same point of view, the same mode
of thought, manner of address, aye, even the same _facies_ or general
racial appearance, as have Bretons, some Frenchmen, Cornishmen,
Welshmen, and Highlanders--that surely would argue an indwelling
racial strength such as not even the Roman or any other world-empire
might pretend to.
But this Celtic civilization was not one and undivided. In late
prehistoric times it evolved from one mother tongue two dialects which
afterward displayed all the differences of separate languages
springing from a common stock. These are the Goidelic, the tongue
spoken by the Celts of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, and the
Brythonic, the language of the Welsh, the Cornish, and the people of
Brittany.
_The Breton Tongue_
The Brezonek, the Brythonic tongue of Brittany, is undoubtedly the
language of those Celtic immigrants who fled from Britain the Greater
to Britain the Less to escape the rule of the Saxon invaders, and who
gave the name of the country which they had left to that Armorica in
which they settled. In the earliest stages of development it is
difficult to distinguish Breton from Welsh. From the ninth to the
eleventh centuries the Breton language is described as 'Old Breton.'
'Middle Breton' flourished from the eleventh to the seventeenth
centuries, since when 'Modern Breton' has been in use. These stages
indicate changes in the language more or less profound, due chiefly to
admixture with French. Various distinct dialects are indicated by
writers on the subject, but the most marked difference in Breton
speech seems to be that between the dialect of Vannes and that of the
rest of Brittany. Such differences do not appear to be older than the
sixteenth century.[1]
_The Ancient Armoricans_
The written history of Brittany opens with the account of Julius
Cæsar. At that period (57 B.C.) Armorica was inhabited by five
principal tribes: the Namnetes, the Veneti, the Osismii, the
Curiosolitæ, and the Redones. These offered a desperate resistance to
Roman encroachment, but were subdued, and in some cases their people
were sold wholesale into slavery. In 56 B.C. the Veneti threw off the
yoke and retained two of Cæsar's officers as hostages. Cæsar advanced
upon Brittany in person, but found that he could make no headway while
he was opposed by the powerful fleet of flat-bottomed boats, like
floating castles, which the Veneti were so skilful in manoeuvring.
Ships were hastily constructed upon the waters of the Loire, and a
desperate naval engagement ensued, probably in the Gulf of Morbihan,
which resulted in the decisive defeat of the Veneti, the Romans
resorting to the stratagem of cutting down the enemy's rigging with
sickles bound upon long poles. The members of the Senate of the
conquered people were put to death as a punishment for their
defection, and thousands of the tribesmen went to swell the
slave-markets of Europe.
Between A.D. 450 and 500, when the Roman power and population were
dwindling, many vessels brought fugitives from Britain to Armorica.
These people, fleeing from the conquering barbarians, Saxons, Picts,
and Scots, sought as asylum a land where a kindred race had not yet
been disturbed by invasion. Says Thierry, in his _Norman Conquest_:
"With the consent of the ancient inhabitants, who acknowledged them as
brethren of the same origin, the new settlers distributed themselves
over the whole northern coast, as far as the little river Coesoron,
and southward as far as the territory of the city of the Veneti, now
called Vannes. In this extent of country they founded a sort of
separate state, comprising all the small places near the coast, but
not including within its limits the great towns of Vannes, Nantes, and
Rennes. The increase of the population of this western corner of the
country, and the great number of people of the Celtic race and
language thus assembled within a narrow space, preserved it from the
irruption of the Roman tongue, which, under forms more or less
corrupted, was gradually becoming prevalent in every other part of
Gaul. The name of _Brittany_ was attached to these coasts, and the
names of the various indigenous tribes disappeared; while the island
which had borne this name for so many ages now lost it, and, taking
the name of its conquerors, began to be called the land of the Saxons
and Angles, or, in one word, _England_."
_Samson_
One of these British immigrants was the holy Samson, who laboured to
convert pagan Brittany to Christianity. He hailed from Pembrokeshire,
and the legend relates that his parents, being childless, constructed
a menhir[2] of pure silver and gave it to the poor in the hope that a
son might be born to them. Their desire was fulfilled, and Samson, the
son in question, became a great missionary of the Church. Accompanied
by forty monks, he crossed the Channel and landed on the shores of the
Bay of Saint-Brieuc, a savage and deserted district.
As the keel of his galley grated on the beach the Saint beheld a man
on the shore seated at the door of a miserable hut, who endeavoured to
attract his attention by signs. Samson approached the shore-dweller,
who took him by the hand and, leading him into the wretched dwelling,
showed him his wife and daughter, stricken with sickness. Samson
relieved their pain, and the husband and father, who, despite his
humble appearance, was chief of the neighbouring territory, gave him a
grant of land hard by. Here, close to the celebrated menhir of Dol, he
and his monks built their cells. Soon a chapel rose near the ancient
seat of pagan worship--in later days the site of a great cathedral.
Telio, a British monk, with the assistance of St Samson, planted near
Dol an orchard three miles in length, and to him is attributed the
introduction of the apple-tree into Brittany. Wherever the monks went
they cultivated the soil; all had in their mouths the words of the
Apostle: "If any would not work, neither should he eat." The people
admired the industry of the new-comers, and from admiration they
passed to imitation. The peasants joined the monks in tilling the
ground, and even the brigands from the hills and forests became
agriculturists. "The Cross and the plough, labour and prayer," was the
motto of these early missionaries.
_Wax for Wine_
The monks of Dol were renowned bee-farmers, as we learn from an
anecdote told by Count Montalembert in his _Moines d'Occident_. One
day when St Samson of Dol, and St Germain, Bishop of Paris, were
conversing on the respective merits of their monasteries, St Samson
said that his monks were such good and careful preservers of their
bees that, besides the honey which the bees yielded in abundance, they
furnished more wax than was used in the churches for candles during
the year, but that the climate not being suitable for the growth of
vines, there was great scarcity of wine. Upon hearing this St Germain
replied: "We, on the contrary, produce more wine than we can consume,
but we have to buy wax; so, if you will furnish us with wax, we will
give you a tenth of our wine." Samson accepted this offer, and the
mutual arrangement was continued during the lives of the two saints.
Two British kingdoms were formed in Armorica--Domnonia and Cornubia.
The first embraced the Côtes-du-Nord and Finistère north of the river
Élorn, Cornubia, or Cornouaille, as it is now known, being situated
below that river, as far south as the river Ellé. At first these
states paid a nominal homage to their native kings in Britain, but on
the final fall of the British power they proclaimed a complete
independence.
_The Vision of Jud-Hael_
A striking story relating to the migration period is told concerning a
Cambrian chieftain of Brittany, one Jud-Hael, and the famous British
bard Taliesin. Shortly after the arrival of Taliesin in Brittany
Jud-Hael had a remarkable vision. He dreamt that he saw a high
mountain, on the summit of which was placed a lofty column fixed
deeply in the earth, with a base of ivory, and branches which reached
to the heavens. The lower part was iron, brilliantly polished, and to
it were attached rings of the same metal, from which were suspended
cuirasses, casques, lances, javelins, bucklers, trumpets, and many
other warlike trophies. The upper portion was of gold, and upon it
hung candelabra, censers, stoles, chalices, and ecclesiastical symbols
of every description. As the Prince stood admiring the spectacle the
heavens opened and a maiden of marvellous beauty descended and
approached him.
"I salute you, O Jud-Hael," she said, "and I confide to your keeping
for a season this column and all that it supports"; and with these
words she vanished.
On the following day Jud-Hael made public his dream, but, like
Nebuchadnezzar of old, he could find no one to interpret it, so he
turned to the bard Taliesin as to another Daniel. Taliesin, says the
legend, then an exile from his native land of Britain, dwelt on the
seashore. To him came the messenger of Jud-Hael and said: "O thou who
so truly dost interpret all things ambiguous, hear and make clear the
strange vision which my lord hath seen." He then recounted Jud-Hael's
dream to the venerable bard.
For a time the sage sat pondering deeply, and then replied: "Thy
master reigneth well and wisely, O messenger, but he has a son who
will reign still more happily even than himself, and who will become
one of the greatest men in the Breton land. The sons of his loins will
be the fathers of powerful counts and pious Churchmen, but he himself,
the greatest man of that race, shall be first a valiant warrior and
later a mighty champion of heaven. The earlier part of his life shall
be given to the world; the latter portion shall be devoted to God."
The prophecy of Taliesin was duly fulfilled. For Judik-Hael, the son
of Jud-Hael, realized the bard's prediction, and entered the cloister
after a glorious reign.
_Taliesin_
Taliesin ('Shining Forehead') was in the highest repute in the middle
of the twelfth century, and he was then and afterward, unless we
except Merlin, the bardic hero of the greatest number of romantic
legends. He is said to have been the son of Henwg the bard, or St
Henwg, of Caerleon-upon-Usk, and to have been educated in the school
of Cattwg, at Llanvithin, in Glamorgan, where the historian Gildas was
his fellow-pupil. Seized when a youth by Irish pirates, he is said,
probably by rational interpretation of a later fable of his history,
to have escaped by using a wooden buckler for a boat. Thus he came
into the fishing weir of Elphin, one of the sons of Urien. Urien made
him Elphin's instructor, and gave him an estate of land. But, once
introduced into the Court of that great warrior-chief, Taliesin became
his foremost bard, followed him in his wars, and sang his victories.
He celebrates triumphs over Ida, the Anglian King of Bernicia (_d._
559) at Argoed about the year 547, at Gwenn-Estrad between that year
and 559, at Menao about the year 559. After the death of Urien,
Taliesin was the bard of his son Owain, by whose hand Ida fell. After
the death of all Urien's sons Taliesin retired to mourn the downfall
of his race in Wales, dying, it is said, at Bangor Teivi, in
Cardiganshire. He was buried under a cairn near Aberystwyth.
_Hervé the Blind_
There is nothing improbable in the statement that Taliesin dwelt in
Brittany in the sixth century. Many other British bards found a refuge
on the shores of Britain the Less. Among these was Kyvarnion, a
Christian, who married a Breton Druidess and who had a son, Hervé.
Hervé was blind from birth, and was led from place to place by a wolf
which he had converted (!) and pressed into the service of Mother
Church.
One day, when a lad, Hervé had been left in charge of his uncle's
farm, when a ploughman passed him in full flight, crying out that a
savage wolf had appeared and had killed the ass with which he had been
ploughing. The man entreated Hervé to fly, as the wolf was hard upon
his heels; but the blind youth, undaunted, ordered the terrified
labourer to seize the animal and harness it to the plough with the
harness of the dead ass. From that time the wolf dwelt among the sheep
and goats on the farm, and subsisted upon hay and grass.
_Nomenoë_
Swarms of Irish from Ossory and Wexford began to arrive about the
close of the fifth century, settling along the west and north coasts.
The immigrants from Britain the Greater formed by degrees the
counties of Vannes, Cornouaille, Léon, and Domnonée, constituted a
powerful aristocracy, and initiated a long and arduous struggle
against the Frankish monarchs, who exercised a nominal suzerainty over
Brittany. Louis the Pious placed a native chief, Nomenoë, at the head
of the province, and a long period of peace ensued. But in A.D. 845
Nomenoë revolted against Charles the Bald, defeated him, and forced
him to recognize the independence of Brittany, and to forgo the annual
tribute which he had exacted. A ballad by Villemarqué describes the
incident. Like Macpherson, who in his enthusiasm for the fragments of
Ossianic lore 'reconstructed' them only too well, Villemarqué
unfortunately tampered very freely with such matter as he collected,
and it may even be that the poem on Nomenoë, for which he claims
authority, is altogether spurious, as some critics consider. But as it
affords a spirited picture of the old Breton chief the story is at
least worth relating.
The poem describes how an aged chieftain waits on the hills of Retz
for his son, who has gone over to Rennes to pay the Breton tribute to
the Franks. Many chariots drawn by horses has he taken with him, but
although a considerable time has elapsed there is no indication of his
return. The chieftain climbs to an eminence in the hope of discerning
his son in the far distance, but no sign of his appearance is to be
seen on the long white road or on the bleak moors which fringe it.
The anxious father espies a merchant wending slowly along the highway
and hails him.
"Ha, good merchant, you who travel the land from end to end, have you
seen aught of my son Karo, who has gone to conduct the tribute
chariots to Rennes?"
[Illustration: NOMENOË]
"Alas! chieftain, if your son has gone with the tribute it is in vain
you wait for him, for the Franks found it not enough, and have weighed
his head against it in the balance."
The father gazes wildly at the speaker, sways, and falls heavily with
a doleful cry.
"Karo, my son! My lost Karo!"
The scene changes to the fortress of Nomenoë, and we see its master
returning from the chase, accompanied by his great hounds and laden
with trophies. His bow is in his hand, and he carries the carcass of a
boar upon his shoulder. The red blood drops from the dead beast's
mouth and stains his hand. The aged chief, well-nigh demented, awaits
his coming, and Nomenoë greets him courteously.
"Hail, honest mountaineer!" he cries. "What is your news? What would
you with Nomenoë?"
"I come for justice, Lord Nomenoë," replies the aged man. "Is there a
God in heaven and a chief in Brittany? There is a God above us, I
know, and I believe there is a just Duke in the Breton land. Mighty
ruler, make war upon the Frank, defend our country, and give us
vengeance--vengeance for Karo my son, Karo, slain, decapitated by the
Frankish barbarians, his beauteous head made into a balance-weight for
their brutal sport."
The old man weeps, and the tears flow down his grizzled beard.
Then Nomenoë rises in anger and swears a great oath. "By the head of
this boar, and by the arrow which slew him," cries he, "I will not
wash this blood from off my hand until I free the country from mine
enemies."
Nomenoë has gone to the seashore and gathered pebbles, for these are
the tribute he intends to offer the bald King.[3] Arrived at the gates
of Rennes, he asks that they shall be opened to him so that he may pay
the tribute of silver. He is asked to descend, to enter the castle,
and to leave his chariot in the courtyard. He is requested to wash his
hands to the sound of a horn before eating (an ancient custom), but he
replies that he prefers to deliver the tribute-money there and then.
The sacks are weighed, and the third is found light by several
pounds.
"Ha, what is this?" cries the Frankish castellan. "This sack is under
weight, Sir Nomenoë."
Out leaps Nomenoë's sword from the scabbard, and the Frank's head is
smitten from his shoulders. Then, seizing it by its gory locks, the
Breton chief with a laugh of triumph casts it into the balance. His
warriors throng the courtyard, the town is taken; young Karo is
avenged!
_Alain Barbe-torte_
The end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth were
remarkable for the invasions of the Northmen. On several occasions
they were driven back--by Salomon (_d._ 874), by Alain, Count of
Vannes (_d._ 907)--but it was Alain Barbe-torte, 'Alain of the Twisted
Beard,' or 'Alain the Fox' (_d._ 952), who gained the decisive victory
over them, and concerning him an ancient ballad has much to say. It
was taken down by Villemarqué from the lips of a peasant, an old
soldier of the Chouan leader Georges Cadoudal.
In his youth Alain was a mighty hunter of the bear and the boar in the
forests of his native Brittany, and the courage gained in this manly
sport stood him in good stead when he came to employ it against the
enemies of his country, the hated Northmen. Rallying the Bretons who
lurked in the forests or hid in the mountain fastnesses, he led them
against the enemy, whom he surprised near Dol in the middle of the
night, making a great carnage among them. After this battle the
Scandinavian invaders were finally expelled from the Breton land and
Alain was crowned King or Arch-chief in 937.
A free translation of this ballad might run as follows:
Lurks the Fox within the wood,
His teeth and claws are red with blood.
Within his leafy, dark retreat
He chews the cud of vengeance sweet.
Oh, trenchant his avenging sword!
It falls not on the rock or sward,
But on the mail of Saxon foe:
Swift as the lightning falls the blow.
I've seen the Bretons wield the flail,
Scattering the bearded chaff like hail:
But iron is the flail they wield
Against the churlish Saxon's shield.
I heard the call of victory
From Michael's Mount to Élorn fly,
And Alain's glory flies as fast
From Gildas' church to every coast.
Ah, may his splendour never die,
May it live on eternally!
But woe that I may nevermore
Declaim this lay on Armor's shore,
For the base Saxon hand has torn
My tongue from out my mouth forlorn.
But if my lips no longer frame
The glories of our Alain's name,
My heart shall ever sing his praise,
Who won the fight and wears the bays![4]
The Saxons of this lay are, of course, the Norsemen, who, speaking a
Teutonic tongue, would seem to the Celtic-speaking Bretons to be
allied to the Teuton Franks.
_Bretons and Normans_
During the latter half of the tenth and most of the eleventh century
the Counts of Rennes gained an almost complete ascendancy in Brittany,
which began to be broken up into counties and seigneuries in the
French manner. In 992 Geoffrey, son of Conan, Count of Rennes, adopted
the title of Duke of Brittany. He married a Norman lady of noble
family, by whom he had two sons, Alain and Eudo, the younger of whom
demanded a share of the duchy as his inheritance. His brother made
over to him the counties of Penthièvre and Tréguier, part of the old
kingdom of Domnonia in the north. It was a fatal transference, for he
and his line became remorseless enemies of the ducal house, with whom
they carried on a series of disastrous conflicts for centuries. Conan
II, son of Alain, came under the regency of Eudo, his uncle, in
infancy, but later turned his sword against him and his abettor,
William of Normandy, the Conqueror.
Notwithstanding the national enmity of the Normans and Bretons, there
existed between the Dukes of Normandy and the Dukes of Brittany ties
of affinity that rendered the relations between the two states
somewhat complicated. At the time when Duke Robert, the father of
William of Normandy, set out upon his pilgrimage, he had no nearer
relative than Alain, Duke of Brittany, the father of Conan II,
descended in the female line from Rollo, the great Norse leader, and
to him he committed on his departure the care of his duchy and the
guardianship of his son.
Duke Alain declared the paternity of his ward doubtful, and favoured
that party which desired to set him aside from the succession; but
after the defeat of his faction at Val-ès-Dunes he died, apparently of
poison, doubtless administered by the contrivance of the friends of
William. His son, Conan II, succeeded, and reigned at the period when
William was making his preparations for the conquest of England. He
was a prince of ability, dreaded by his neighbours, and animated by a
fierce desire to injure the Duke of Normandy, whom he regarded as a
usurper and the murderer of his father Alain. Seeing William engaged
in a hazardous enterprise, Conan thought it a favourable moment to
declare war against him, and dispatched one of his chamberlains to him
with the following message: "I hear that you are ready to pass the sea
to make conquest of the kingdom of England. Now, Duke Robert, whose
son you feign to consider yourself, on his departure for Jerusalem
left all his inheritance to Duke Alain, my father, who was his cousin;
but you and your abettors have poisoned my father, you have
appropriated to yourself the domain of Normandy, and have kept
possession of it until this day, contrary to all right, since you are
not the legitimate heir. Restore to me, therefore, the duchy of
Normandy, which belongs to me, or I shall levy war upon you, and shall
wage it to extremity with all my forces."
_The Poisoned Hunting-Horn_
The Norman historians state that William was much startled by so
hostile a message; for even a feeble diversion might render futile his
ambitious hopes of conquest. But without hesitation he resolved to
remove the Breton Duke. Immediately upon his return to Conan, the
envoy, gained over, doubtless, by a bribe of gold, rubbed poison into
the inside of the horn which his master sounded when hunting, and, to
make his evil measures doubly sure, he poisoned in like manner the
Duke's gloves and his horse's bridle. Conan died a few days after his
envoy's return, and his successor, Eudo, took especial care not to
imitate his relative in giving offence to William with regard to the
validity of his right; on the contrary, he formed an alliance with
him, a thing unheard of betwixt Breton and Norman, and sent his two
sons to William's camp to serve against the English.
These two youths, Brian and Alain, repaired to the rendezvous of the
Norman forces, accompanied by a body of Breton knights, who styled
them Mac-tierns.[5] Certain other wealthy Bretons, who were not of the
pure Celtic race, and who bore French names, as Robert de Vitry,
Bertrand de Dinan, and Raoul de Gael, resorted likewise to the Court
of the Duke of Normandy with offers of service.
Later Brittany became a bone of contention between France and
Normandy. Hoel, the native Duke, claimed the protection of France
against the Norman duchy. A long period of peace followed under Alain
Fergant and Conan III, but on the death of the latter a fierce war of
succession was waged (1148-56). Conan IV secured the ducal crown by
Norman-English aid, and gave his daughter Constance in marriage to
Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of Henry II of England. Geoffrey was crowned
Duke of Brittany in 1171, but after his death his son Arthur met with
a dreadful fate at the hands of his uncle, John of England. Constance,
his mother, the real heiress to the duchy, married again, her choice
falling upon Guy de Thouars, and their daughter was wed to Pierre de
Dreux, who became Duke, and who defeated John Lackland, the slayer of
his wife's half-brother, under the walls of Nantes in 1214.
_French Influence_
The country now began to flourish apace because of the many
innovations introduced into it by the wisdom of its French rulers. A
new way of life was adopted by the governing classes, among whom
French manners and fashions became the rule. But the people at large
retained their ancient customs, language, and dress; nor have they
ever abandoned them, at least in Lower Brittany. On the death of John
III (1341) the peace of the duchy was once more broken by a war of
succession. John had no love for his half-brother, John of Montfort,
and bequeathed the ducal coronet to his niece, Joan of Penthièvre,
wife of Charles of Blois, nephew of Philip VI of France. This
precipitated a conflict between the rival parties which led to years
of bitter strife.
_The War of the Two Joans_
Just as two women, Fredegonda and Brunhilda, swayed the fortunes of
Neustria and Austrasia in Merovingian times, and Mary and Elizabeth
those of England and Scotland at a later day, so did two heroines
arise to uphold the banners of either party in the civil strife which
now convulsed the Breton land. England took the side of Montfort and
the French that of Charles. Almost at the outset (1342) John of
Montfort was taken prisoner, but his heroic wife, Joan of Flanders,
grasped the leadership of affairs, and carried on a relentless war
against her husband's enemies. After five years of fighting, in 1347,
and two years subsequent to the death of her lord, whose health had
given way after his imprisonment, she captured her arch-foe, Charles
of Blois himself, at the battle of La Roche-Derrien, on the Jaudy. In
this encounter she had the assistance of a certain Sir Thomas Dagworth
and an English force. Three times was Charles rescued, and thrice was
he retaken, until, bleeding from eighteen wounds, he was compelled to
surrender. He was sent to London, where he was confined in the Tower
for nine years. Meanwhile his wife, Joan, imitating her rival and
namesake, in turn threw her energies into the strife. But another
victory for the Montfort party was gained at Mauron in 1352. On the
release of Charles of Blois in 1356 he renewed hostilities with the
help of the famous Bertrand Du Guesclin.
_Bertrand Du Guesclin_
Bertrand Du Guesclin (_c._ 1320-80), Constable of France, divides with
Bayard the Fearless the crown of medieval French chivalry as a mighty
leader of men, a great soldier, and a blameless knight. He was born of
an ancient family who were in somewhat straitened circumstances, and
in childhood was an object of aversion to his parents because of his
ugliness.
One night his mother dreamt that she was in possession of a casket
containing portraits of herself and her lord, on one side of which
were set nine precious stones of great beauty encircling a rough,
unpolished pebble. In her dream she carried the casket to a lapidary,
and asked him to take out the rough stone as unworthy of such goodly
company; but he advised her to allow it to remain, and afterward it
shone forth more brilliantly than the lustrous gems. The later
superiority of Bertrand over her nine other children fulfilled the
mother's dream.
At the tournament which was held at Rennes in 1338 to celebrate the
marriage of Charles of Blois with Joan of Penthièvre, young Bertrand,
at that time only some eighteen years old, unhorsed the most famous
competitors. During the war between Blois and Montfort he gathered
round him a band of adventurers and fought on the side of Charles V,
doing much despite to the forces of Montfort and his ally of England.
Du Guesclin's name lives in Breton legend as Gwezklen, perhaps the
original form, and approximating to that on his tomb at Saint-Denis,
where he lies at the feet of Charles V of France. In this inscription
it is spelt "Missire Bertram du Gueaquien," perhaps a French rendering
of the Breton pronunciation. Not a few legendary ballads which recount
the exploits of this manly and romantic figure remain in the Breton
language, and I have made a free translation of the following, as it
is perhaps the most interesting of the number:
THE WARD OF DU GUESCLIN
Trogoff's strong tower in English hands
Has been this many a year,
Rising above its subject-lands
And held in hate and fear.
That rosy gleam upon the sward
Is not the sun's last kiss;
It is the blood of an English lord
Who ruled the land amiss.
"O sweetest daughter of my heart,
My little Marguerite,
Come, carry me the midday milk
To those who bind the wheat."
"O gentle mother, spare me this!
The castle I must pass
Where wicked Roger takes a kiss
From every country lass."
"Oh! fie, my daughter, fie on thee!
The Seigneur would not glance
On such a chit of low degree
When all the dames in France
Are for his choosing." "Mother mine,
I bow unto your word.
Mine eyes will ne'er behold you more.
God keep you in His guard."
Young Roger stood upon the tower
Of Trogoff's grey château;
Beneath his bent brows did he lower
Upon the scene below.
"Come hither quickly, little page,
Come hither to my knee.
Canst spy a maid of tender age?
Ha! she must pay my fee."
Fair Marguerite trips swiftly by
Beneath the castle shade,
When villain Roger, drawing nigh,
Steals softly on the maid.
He seizes on the milking-pail
She bears upon her head;
The snow-white flood she must bewail,
For all the milk is shed.
"Ah, cry not, pretty sister mine,
There's plenty and to spare
Of milk and eke of good red wine
Within my castle fair.
Ah, feast with me, or pluck a rose
Within my pleasant garth,
Or stroll beside yon brook which flows
In brawling, sylvan mirth."
"Nor feast nor flowers nor evening air
I wish; I do entreat,
Fair Seigneur, let me now repair
To those who bind the wheat."
"Nay, damsel, fill thy milking-pail:
The dairy stands but here.
Ah, foolish sweeting, wherefore quail,
For thou hast naught to fear?"
The castle gates behind her close,
And all is fair within;
Above her head the apple glows,
The symbol of our sin.
"O Seigneur, lend thy dagger keen,
That I may cut this fruit."
He smiles and with a courteous mien
He draws the bright blade out.
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF MARGUERITE IN THE CASTLE OF TROGOFF]
She takes it, and in earnest prayer
Her childish accents rise:
"O mother, Virgin, ever fair,
Pray, pray, for her who dies
For honour!" Then the blade is drenched
With blood most innocent.
Vile Roger, now, thine ardour quenched,
Say, art thou then content?
"Ha, I will wash my dagger keen
In the clear-running brook.
No human eye hath ever seen,
No human eye shall look
Upon this gore." He takes the blade
From out that gentle heart,
And hurries to the river's shade.
False Roger, why dost start?
Beside the bank Du Guesclin stands,
Clad in his sombre mail.
"Ha, Roger, why so red thy hands,
And why art thou so pale?"
"A beast I've slain." "Thou liest, hound!
But I a beast will slay."
The woodland's leafy ways resound
To echoings of fray.
Roger is slain. Trogoff's château
Is level with the rock.
Who can withstand Du Guesclin's blow,
What towers can brave his shock?
The combat is his only joy,
The tournament his play.
Woe unto those who would destroy
The peace of Brittany!
In the decisive battle of Auray (1364) Charles was killed and Du
Guesclin taken prisoner. John of Montfort, son of the John who had
died, became Duke of Brittany. But he had to face Oliver de Clisson,
round whom the adherents of Blois rallied. From a war the strife
degenerated into a vendetta. Oliver de Clisson seized the person of
John V and imprisoned him. But in the end John was liberated and the
line of Blois was finally crushed.
_Anne of Brittany_
The next event of importance in Breton history is the enforced
marriage of Anne of Brittany, Duchess of that country in her own
right, to Charles VIII of France, son of Louis XI, which event took
place in 1491. Anne, whose father, Duke Francis II, had but recently
died, had no option but to espouse Charles, and on his death she
married Louis XII, his successor. Francis I, who succeeded Louis XII
on the throne of France, and who married Claude, daughter of Louis XII
and Anne, annexed the duchy in 1532, providing for its privileges. But
beneath the cramping hand of French power the privileges of the
province were greatly reduced. From this time the history of Brittany
is merged in that of France, of which country it becomes one of the
component parts in a political if not a racial sense.
We shall not in this place deal with the people of modern Brittany,
their manners and customs, reserving the subject for a later chapter,
but shall ask the reader to accompany us while we traverse the
enchanted ground of Breton story.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Consult E. Ernault, _Petite Grammaire bretonne_ (Saint-Brieuc,
1897); L. Le Clerc, _Grammaire bretonne_ (Saint-Brieuc,
1908); J. P. Treasure, _An Introduction to Breton Grammar_
(Carmarthen, 1903). For the dialect of Vannes see A.
Guillevic and P. Le Goff, _Grammaire bretonne du Dialect de
Vannes_ (Vannes, 1902).
[2] Lit. 'long stone,' a megalithic monument. See Chapter II,
"Menhirs and Dolmens." Students of folk-lore will recognize the
symbolic significance of the offering. We seem to have here
some connexion with pillar-worship, as found in ancient Crete,
and the adoration of the Irminsul among the ancient Saxons.
[3] Charles the Bald.
[4] For the Breton original and the French translation from which the
above is adapted see Villemarqué, _Barzaz-Breiz_, p. 112.
[5] 'Sons of the Chief.' MacTier is a fairly common name in Scotland
to-day.