In the mind of the general reader Brittany is unalterably associated
with the prehistoric stone monuments which are so closely identified
with its folk-lore and national life. In other parts of the world
similar monuments are encountered, in Great Britain and Ireland,
Scandinavia, the Crimea, Algeria, and India, but nowhere are they
found in such abundance as in Brittany, nor are these rivalled in
other lands, either as regards their character or the space they
occupy.
To speculate as to the race which built the primitive stone monuments
of Brittany is almost as futile as it would be to theorize upon the
date of their erection.[6] A generation ago it was usual to refer all
European megalithic monuments to a 'Celtic' origin, but European
ethnological problems have become too complicated of late years to
permit such a theory to pass unchallenged, especially now that the
term 'Celt' is itself matter for fierce controversy. In the immediate
neighbourhood of certain of these monuments objects of the Iron Age
are recovered from the soil, while near others the finds are of Bronze
Age character, so that it is probably correct to surmise that their
construction continued throughout a prolonged period.
_What Menhirs and Dolmens are_
Regarding the nomenclature of the several species of megalithic
monuments met with in Brittany some definitions are necessary. A
menhir is a rude monolith set up on end, a great single stone, the
base of which is buried deep in the soil. A dolmen is a large,
table-shaped stone, supported by three, four, or even five other
stones, the bases of which are sunk in the earth. In Britain the term
'cromlech' is synonymous with that of 'dolmen,' but in France and on
the Continent generally it is exclusively applied to that class of
monument for which British scientists have no other name than 'stone
circles.' The derivation of the words from Celtic and their precise
meaning in that tongue may assist the reader to arrive at their exact
significance. Thus 'menhir' seems to be derived from the Welsh or
Brythonic _maen_, 'a stone,' and _hir_, 'long,' and 'dolmen' from
Breton _taol_, 'table,' and _men_, 'a stone.'[7] 'Cromlech' is also of
Welsh or Brythonic origin, and is derived from _crom_, 'bending' or
'bowed' (hence 'laid across'), and _llech_, 'a flat stone.' The _allée
couverte_ is a dolmen on a large scale.
_The Nature of the Monuments_
The nature of these monuments and the purpose for which they were
erected were questions which powerfully exercised the minds of the
antiquaries of a century ago, who fiercely contended for their use as
altars, open-air temples, and places of rendezvous for the discussion
of tribal affairs. The cooler archæologists of a later day have
discarded the majority of such theories as untenable in the light of
hard facts. The dolmens, they say, are highly unsuitable for the
purpose of altars, and as it has been proved that this class of
monument was invariably covered in prehistoric times by an earthen
tumulus its ritualistic use is thereby rendered improbable. Moreover,
if we chance upon any rude carving or incised work on dolmens we
observe that it is invariably executed on the _lower_ surface of the
table stone, the upper surface being nearly always rough, unhewn,
often naturally rounded, and as unlike the surface of an altar as
possible.
Recent research has established the much more reasonable theory that
these monuments are sepulchral in character, and that they mark the
last resting-places of persons of tribal importance, chiefs, priests,
or celebrated warriors. Occasionally legend assists us to prove the
mortuary character of menhir and dolmen. But, without insisting any
further for the present upon the purpose of these monuments, let us
glance at the more widely known of Brittany's prehistoric structures,
not so much in the manner of the archæologist as in that of the
observant traveller who is satisfied to view them as interesting
relics of human handiwork bequeathed from a darker age, rather than as
objects to satisfy the archæological taste for discussion.
For this purpose we shall select the best known groups of Breton
prehistoric structures, and shall begin our excursion at the
north-eastern extremity of Brittany, following the coast-line, on
which most of the principal prehistoric centres are situated, and, as
occasion offers, journeying into the interior in search of famous or
interesting examples.
_Dol_
Dol is situated in the north of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine,
not far from the sea-coast. Near it, in a field called the Champ
Dolent ('Field of Woe'), stands a gigantic menhir, about thirty feet
high and said to measure fifteen more underground. It is composed of
grey granite, and is surmounted by a cross. The early Christian
missionaries, finding it impossible to wean the people from
frequenting pagan neighbourhoods, surmounted the standing stones
with the symbol of their faith, and this in time brought about the
result desired.[8]
_The Legend of Dol_
A strange legend is connected with this rude menhir. On a day in the
dark, uncharted past of Brittany a fierce battle was fought in the
Champ Dolent. Blood ran in streams, sufficient, says the tale, to turn
a mill-wheel in the neighbourhood of the battlefield. When the combat
was at its height two brothers met and grappled in fratricidal strife.
But ere they could harm one another the great granite shaft which now
looms above the field rose up between them and separated them.
There appears to be some historical basis for the tale. Here, or in
the neighbourhood, A.D. 560, met Clotaire, King of the Franks, and his
son, the rebel Chramne. The rebellious son was signally defeated. He
had placed his wife and two little daughters in a dwelling hard by,
and as he made his way thence to convey them from the field he was
captured. He was instantly strangled, by order of his brutal father,
in the sight of his wife and little ones, who were then burned alive
in the house where they had taken refuge. The Champ Dolent does not
belie its name, and even thirteen centuries and a half have failed to
obliterate the memory of a savage and unnatural crime, which, its
remoteness notwithstanding, fills the soul with loathing against its
perpetrators and with deep pity for the hapless and innocent victims.
_A Subterranean Dolmen Chapel_
At Plouaret, in the department of Côtes-du-Nord, is a curious
subterranean chapel incorporating a dolmen. The dolmen was formerly
partially embedded in a tumulus, and the chapel, erected in 1702, was
so constructed that the great table-stone of the dolmen has become the
chapel roof, and the supporting stones form two of its sides. The
crypt is reached by a flight of steps, and here may be seen an altar
to the Seven Sleepers, represented by seven dolls of varying size. The
Bretons have a legend that this structure dates from the creation of
the world, and they have embodied this belief in a ballad, in which it
is piously affirmed that the shrine was built by the hand of the
Almighty at the time when the world was in process of formation.
_Camaret_
Camaret, on the coast of Finistère, is the site of no less than
forty-one standing stones of quartz, which outline a rectangular space
600 yards in length at its base. Many stones have been removed, so
that the remaining sides are incomplete. None of these monoliths is of
any considerable size, however, and the site is not considered to be
of much importance, save as regards its isolated character. At
Penmarch, in the southern extremity of Finistère, there is an
'alignment' of some two hundred small stones, and a dolmen of some
importance is situated at Trégunc, but it is at Carnac, on the coast
of Morbihan, that we arrive at the most important archæological
district in Brittany.
_Carnac_
The Carnac district teems with prehistoric monuments, the most
celebrated of which are those of Plouharnel, Concarneau, Concurrus,
Locmariaquer, Kermario, Kerlescant, Erdeven, and Sainte-Barbe. All
these places are situated within a few miles of one another, and a
good centre from which excursions can be made to each is the little
town of Auray, with its quaint medieval market-house and shrine of St
Roch. Archæologists, both Breton and foreign, appear to be agreed that
the groups of stones at Ménéac, Kermario, and Kerlescant are portions
of one original and continuous series of alignments which extended for
nearly two miles in one direction from south-west to north-east. The
monolithic avenue commences quite near the village of Ménéac,
stretching away in eleven rows, and here the large stones are
situated, these at first rising to a height of from 10 to 13 feet, and
becoming gradually smaller, until they attain only 3 or 4 feet. In all
there are 116 menhirs at Ménéac. For more than three hundred yards
there is a gap in the series, which passed, we come to the Kermario
avenue, which consists of ten rows of monoliths of much the same size
as those of Ménéac, and 1120 in number.
Passing on to Kerlescant, with its thirteen rows of menhirs made up of
570 individual stones, we come to the end of the avenue and gaze
backward upon the plain covered with these indestructible symbols of a
forgotten past.
Carnac! There is something vast, Egyptian, in the name! There is,
indeed, a Karnak in Egypt, celebrated for its Avenue of Sphinxes and
its pillared temple raised to the goddess Mut by King Amenophis III.
Here, in the Breton Carnac, are no evidences of architectural skill.
These sombre stones, unworked, rude as they came from cliff or
seashore, are not embellished by man's handiwork like the rich temples
of the Nile. But there is about this stone-littered moor a mystery, an
atmosphere no less intense than that surrounding the most solemn ruins
of antiquity. Deeper even than the depths of Egypt must we sound if we
are to discover the secret of Carnac. What mean these stones? What
means faith? What signifies belief? What is the answer to the Riddle
of Man? In the words of Cayot Délandre, a Breton poet:
Tout cela eut un sens, et traduisit
Une pensée; mais clé de ce mystère,
Où est elle? et qui pourrait dire aujourd'hui
Si jamais elle se retrouvera?[9]
_A Vision_
Over this wild, heathy track, covered with the blue flowers of the
dwarf gentian, steals a subtle change. Nor air nor heath has altered.
The lichen-covered grey stones are the same. Suddenly there arises the
burden of a low, fierce chant. A swarm of skin-clad figures appears,
clustering around a gigantic object which they are painfully dragging
toward a deep pit situated at the end of one of the enormous alleys of
monoliths. On rudely shaped rollers rests a huge stone some twenty
feet in length, and this they drag across the rough moor by ropes of
hide, lightening their labours by the chant, which relates the
exploits of the warrior-chief who has lately been entombed in this
vast pantheon of Carnac. The menhir shall serve for his headstone. It
has been vowed to him by the warriors of his tribe, his henchmen, who
have fought and hunted beside him, and who revere his memory. This
stone shall render his fame immortal.
And now the task of placing the huge monolith in position begins.
Ropes are attached to one extremity, and while a line of brawny
savages strains to raise this, others guide that end of the monolith
destined for enclosure in the earth toward the pit which has been dug
for its reception. Higher and higher rises the stone, until at last it
sinks slowly into its earthy bed. It is held in an upright position
while the soil is packed around it and it is made secure. Then the
barbarians stand back a space and gaze at it from beneath their low
brows, well pleased with their handiwork. He whom they honoured in
life rests not unrecognized in death.
[Illustration: RAISING A MENHIR]
_The Legend of Carnac_
The legend of Carnac which explains these avenues of monoliths bears a
resemblance to the Cornish story of 'the Hurlers,' who were turned
into stone for playing at hurling on the Lord's Day, or to that other
English example from Cumberland of 'Long Meg' and her daughters. St
Cornely, we are told, pursued by an army of pagans, fled toward the
sea. Finding no boat at hand, and on the point of being taken, he
transformed his pursuers into stones, the present monoliths.
The Saint had made his flight to the coast in a bullock-cart, and
perhaps for this reason he is now regarded as the patron of cattle.
Should a bullock fall sick, his owner purchases an image of St Cornely
and hangs it up in the stable until the animal recovers. The church at
Carnac contains a series of fresco paintings which outline events in
the life of the Saint, and in the churchyard there is a representation
of the holy man between two bullocks. The head of St Cornely is said
to be preserved within the edifice as a relic. On the 13th of
September is held at Carnac the festival of the 'Benediction of the
Beasts,' which is celebrated in honour of St Cornely. The cattle of
the district are brought to the vicinity of the church and blessed by
the priests--should sufficient monetary encouragement be forthcoming.
_Mont-Saint-Michel_
In the neighbourhood is Mont-Saint-Michel,[10] a great tumulus with a
sepulchral dolmen, first excavated in 1862, when late Stone Age
implements, jade celts, and burnt bones were unearthed. Later M.
Zacharie Le Rouzic, the well-known Breton archæologist, tunnelled into
the tumulus, and discovered a mortuary chamber, in which were the
incinerated remains of two oxen. To this tumulus each pilgrim added a
stone or small quantity of earth, as has been the custom in Celtic
countries from time immemorial, and so the funerary mound in the
course of countless generations grew into quite a respectable hill,
on which a chapel was built, dedicated to St Michael, from the doorway
of which a splendid prospect of the great stone alignments can be had,
with, for background, the Morbihan and the long, dreary peninsula of
Quiberon, bleak, treeless, and deserted.
_Rocenaud_
Near Carnac is the great dolmen of Rocenaud, the 'cup-and-ring'
markings on which are thought by the surrounding peasantry to have
been made by the knees and elbows of St Roch, who fell upon this stone
when he landed from Ireland. When the natives desire a wind they knock
upon the depressions with their knuckles, murmuring spells the while,
just as in Scotland in the seventeenth century a tempest was raised by
dipping a rag in water and beating it on a stone thrice in the name of
Satan.
_Cup-and-Ring Markings_
What do these cup-and-ring markings so commonly discovered upon the
monuments of Brittany portend? The question is one well worth
examining at some length, as it appears to be almost at the
foundations of Neolithic religion. Recent discoveries in New Caledonia
have proved the existence in these far-off islands, as in Brittany,
Scotland, and Ireland, of these strange symbols, coupled with the
concentric and spiral designs which are usually associated with the
genius of Celtic art. In the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and in the
south-west of Scotland generally, stones inscribed with designs
closely resembling those on the New Caledonian rocks have been found
in abundance, as at Auchentorlie and Cockno, Shewalton Sands, and in
the Milton of Colquhoun district, where the famous 'cup-and-ring
altar' was discovered. At Shewalton Sands in particular, in 1904, a
number of stones were found bearing crosses like those discovered in
Portugal by Father José Brenha and Father Rodriguez. These symbols
have a strong resemblance to certain markings on the Breton rocks, and
are thought to possess an alphabetic or magical significance. In
Scotland spirals are commonly found on stones marked with ogham
inscriptions, and it is remarkable that they should occur in New
Caledonia in connexion with a dot 'alphabet.' The New Caledonian
crosses, however, approximate more to the later crosses of Celtic art,
while the spirals resemble those met with in the earlier examples of
Celtic work. But the closest parallel to the New Caledonian
stone-markings to be found in Scotland is supplied by the examples at
Cockno, in Dumbartonshire, where the wheel symbol is associated with
the cup-and-ring markings.
The cup-and-ring stones used to be considered the peculiar product of
a race of 'Brythonic' or British origin, and it is likely that the
stones so carved were utilized in the ritual of rain-worship or
rain-making by sympathetic magic. The grooves in the stone were
probably filled with water to typify a country partially covered with
rain-water.[11]
From these analogies, then, we can glean the purpose of the
cup-and-ring markings upon the dolmens of Brittany, and may conclude,
if our considerations are well founded, that they were magical in
purpose and origin. Do the cup-shaped depressions represent water, or
are they receptacles for rain, and do the spiral symbols typify the
whirling winds?
_The Gallery of Gavr'inis_
Nowhere are these mysterious markings so well exemplified as in the
wonderful tumulus of Gavr'inis. This ancient place of sepulture, the
name of which means 'Goat Island,' lies in the Morbihan, or 'Little
Sea,' an inland sea which gives its name to a department in the south
of Brittany. The tumulus is 25 feet high, and covers a fine gallery 40
feet long, the stones of which bear the markings alluded to. Whorls
and circles abound in the ornamentation, serpent-like figures, and the
representation of an axe, similar to those to be seen in some of the
Grottes aux Fées, or on the Dol des Marchands. The sculptures appear
to have been executed with metal tools. The passage ends in a square
sepulchral chamber, the supports of which are eight menhirs of grained
granite, a stone not found on the island. Such of the menhirs as are
carved were obviously so treated before they were placed _in situ_, as
the design passes round the edges.
_The Ile aux Moines_
The Ile aux Moines ('Monks' Island') is also situated in the Morbihan,
and has many prehistoric monuments, the most extensive of which are
the circle of stones at Kergonan and the dolmen of Penhapp. On the Ile
d'Arz, too, are megalithic monuments, perhaps the best example of
which is the cromlech or circle at Penraz.
The folk-beliefs attached to the megalithic monuments of Brittany are
numerous, but nearly all of them bear a strong resemblance to each
other. Many of the monuments are called Grottes aux Fées or Roches aux
Fées, in the belief that the fairies either built them or used them as
dwelling-places, and variants of these names are to be found in the
Maison des Follets ('House of the Goblins') at Cancoet, in Morbihan,
and the Château des Paulpiquets, in Questembert, in the same district.
Ty en Corygannt ('The House of the Korrigans') is situated in the same
department, while near Penmarch, in Finistère, at the other end of the
province, we find Ty C'harriquet ('The House of the Gorics' or
'Nains'). Other mythical personages are also credited with their
erection, most frequently either the devil or Gargantua being held
responsible for their miraculous creation. The phenomenon, well known
to students of folk-lore, that an unlettered people speedily forgets
the origin of monuments that its predecessors may have raised in times
past is well exemplified in Brittany, whose peasant-folk are usually
surprised, if not amused, at the question "Who built the dolmens?"
Close familiarity with and contiguity to uncommon objects not
infrequently dulls the sense of wonder they should otherwise naturally
excite. But lest we feel tempted to sneer at these poor folk for their
incurious attitude toward the visible antiquities of their land, let
us ask ourselves how many of us take that interest in the antiquities
of our own country or our own especial locality that they demand.[12]
_Fairy Builders_
For the most part, then, the megaliths, in the opinion of the Breton
peasant, are not the handiwork of man. He would rather refer their
origin to spirits, giants, or fiends. If he makes any exception to
this supernatural attribution, it is in favour of the saints he
reverences so profoundly. The fairies, he says, harnessed their oxen
to the mighty stones, selected a site, and dragged them thither to
form a dwelling, or perhaps a cradle for the infant fays they were so
fond of exchanging for human children. Thus the Roches aux Fées near
Saint-Didier, in Ille-et-Vilaine, were raised by fairy hands, the
elves collecting "all the big stones in the country" and carrying them
thither in their aprons. These architectural sprites then mounted on
each other's shoulders in order that they might reach high enough to
place the mighty monoliths securely in position. This practice they
also followed in building the dolmen near the wood of Rocher, on the
road from Dinan to Dol, say the people of that country-side.
But the actual purpose of the megaliths has not been neglected by
tradition, for a venerable farmer at Rouvray stated that the fairies
were wont to honour after their death those who had made good use of
their lives and built the dolmens to contain their ashes. The presence
of such a shrine in a country-side was a guarantee of abundance and
prosperity therein, as a subtle and indefinable charm spread from the
saintly remnants and communicated itself to everything in the
neighbourhood.[13] The fairy builders, says tradition, went about
their work in no haphazard manner. Those among them who possessed a
talent for design drew the plans of the proposed structure, the less
gifted acting as carriers, labourers, and masons. Apron-carrying was
not their only method of porterage, for some bore the stones on their
heads, or one under each arm, as when they raised the Roche aux Fées
in Retiers, or the dolmen in La Lande Marie.[14] The space of a night
was usually sufficient in which to raise a dolmen. But though 'run up'
with more than Transatlantic dispatch, in view of the time these
structures have endured for, any charge of jerry-building against
their elfin architects must fall to the ground. Daylight, too,
frequently surprised the fairy builders, so that they could not finish
their task, as many a 'roofless' dolmen shows.
There are many Celtic parallels to this belief. For example, it is
said that the Picts, or perhaps the fairies, built the original church
of Corstorphine, near Edinburgh, and stood in a row handing the stones
on, one to another, from Ravelston Quarry, on the adjacent hill of
Corstorphine. Such is the local folk-tale; and it has its congeners in
Celtic and even in Hindu myth. Thus in the Highland tale of Kennedy
and the _claistig_, or fairy, whom he captured, and whom he compelled
to build him a house in one night, we read that she set her people to
work speedily:
And they brought flags and stones
From the shores of Cliamig waterfall,
Reaching them from hand to hand.[15]
Again, the Round Tower of Ardmore, in Ireland, was built with stones
brought from Slieve Grian, a mountain some four or five miles distant,
"without horse or wheel," the blocks being passed from hand to hand
from the quarry to the site of the building. The same tradition
applied to the Round Tower of Abernethy, in Perthshire, only it is in
this case demonstrated that the stone of which the tower is composed
was actually taken from the traditional quarry, even the very spot
being geologically identified.[16] In like manner, too, was Rama's
bridge built by the monkey host in Hindu myth, as recounted in the
_Mah[=a]bh[=a]rata_ and the _R[=a]m[=a]yana_.
Tales, as apart from beliefs, are not often encountered in connexion
with the monuments. Indeed, Sébillot, in the course of his researches,
found only some dozen of these all told.[17] They are very brief,
and appear for the most part to deal with fairies who have been shut
up by the power of magic in a dolmen. Tales of spirits enclosed in
trees, and even in pillars, are not uncommon, and lately I have
heard a peculiarly fearsome ghost story which comes from Belgium, in
which it is related how certain spirits had become enclosed in a
pillar in an ancient abbey, for the saintly occupants of which they
made it particularly uncomfortable. Mr George Henderson, in one of
the most masterly and suggestive studies of Celtic survivals ever
published, states that stones in the Highlands of Scotland were
formerly believed to have souls, and that those too large to be moved
"were held to be in intimate connexion with spirits." Pillared
stones are not employed in building dwellings in the Highlands,
ill luck, it is believed, being sure to follow their use in this
manner, while to 'meddle' with stones which tradition connects with
Druidism is to court fatality.[18]
_Stones that Travel_
M. Salomon Reinach tells us of the Breton belief that certain sacred
stones go once a year or once a century to 'wash' themselves in the
sea or in a river, returning to their ancient seats after their
ablutions.[19] The stones in the dolmen of Essé are thought to change
their places continually, like those of Callernish and Lewis, and,
like the Roman Penates, to have the gift of coming and going if
removed from their habitual site.
The megalithic monuments of Brittany are undoubtedly the most
remarkable relics of that epoch of prehistoric activity which is now
regarded as the immediate forerunner of civilization. Can it be that
they were miraculously preserved by isolation from the remote
beginnings of that epoch, or is it more probable that they were
constructed at a relatively late period? These are questions of
profound difficulty, and it is likely that both theories contain a
certain amount of truth. Whatever may have been the origin of her
megaliths, Brittany must ever be regarded as a great prehistoric
museum, a unique link with a past of hoary antiquity.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] That it was Neolithic seems undoubted, and in all probability
Alpine--_i.e._ the same race as presently inhabits Brittany.
See Dottin, _Anciens Peuples de l'Europe_ (Paris, 1916).
[7] But _tolmen_ in Cornish meant 'pole of stone.'
[8] Ostensibly, at least; but see the remarks upon modern pagan
survivals in Chapter IX, p. 246.
[9] Which might be rendered:
All here is symbol; these grey stones translate
A thought ineffable, but where the key?
Say, shall it be recovered soon or late,
To ope the temple of this mystery?
[10] Not to be confused, of course, with the well-known island mount
of the same name.
[11] A Scottish sixteenth-century magical verse was chanted over such
a stone:
"I knock this rag wpone this stone,
And ask the divell for rain thereon."
[12] The writer's experience is that unlettered British folk often
possess much better information concerning the antiquities of a
district than its 'educated' inhabitants. If this information
is not scientific it is full and displays deep personal
interest.
[13] _Collectionneur breton_, t. iii, p.55.
[14] See _Comptes rendus de la Société des Antiquaries de France_, pp.
95 ff. (1836).
[15] J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands_.
[16] Small, _Antiquities of Fife_.
[17] _Traditions de la Haute-Bretagne_, t. i, p. 26.
[18] Henderson, _Survivals in Belief among the Celts_ (1911).
[19] _Cultes, Mythes, et Religiones_, t. iii, pp. 365-433.