S. Haude, a damsel carrying her head.
S. Herbot, as an anchorite with an ox at his feet.
S. Hervé, as a blind monk, a boy or a wolf at his side.
S. Meliau, as a king or duke, bearing sword and palm branch, or sceptre.
S. Melor, a boy with one hand and one foot cut off.
Ste. Ninnoc, in robes as a nun, a stag at her feet.
Ste. Noyala, as a princess holding her head in her hands.
S. Paul of Léon, in episcopal habits, treading on a dragon, and with a
bell in his hands.
S. Samson, as archbishop.
S. Solomon, in royal robes, and with a dagger in his breast.
S. Thégonnec, as a bishop with a cart drawn by wolves.
S. Theilo, as an abbot or bishop riding on a stag.
S. Tujean, as a bishop with a mad dog at his side.
S. Vincent Ferrier, in monastic habit, holding a trumpet, and with
wings.
S. Yves, in a white robe with long sleeves and doctor's bonnet, giving
judgment sometimes between a rich suitor and a poor man.
S. Anthony of Padua, as a Franciscan, with the Child Jesus on one arm.
S. Barbara, with a tower at her side.
S. Cornelius, as Pope, with an ox at his feet.
S. Eligius, as bishop, with a horse at his side.
S. Isidore, dressed as a Breton peasant in bragoubraz (baggy breeches),
holding a sickle.
S. Joseph, aged and holding a lily, sometimes with the Child Jesus on
his arm.
S. Roch, as a pilgrim showing a wound in one leg.
VII. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
In the humblest village one may reckon on obtaining good meals, but not
always on having dry sheets. It is not customary to air the latter,
and except in hot dry weather, it is well to be on one's guard in this
matter. Water should never be drunk. Too frequently it is drawn from
the well in the yard, and is contaminated. Coffee in out of the way
parts, even at such headquarters as Carhaix, is not coffee at all,
but roast lupin berries.[1] The ordinary charge for déjeuner at 11.30
is 2.50, with cider and coffee, and 3 francs for dinner at 7 p.m. But
in second class inns is 50 centimes less. A bed is usually 1.50 or 2
francs. Sanitary arrangements are rudimentary. Usually one can rely
on freedom from vermin, but it is well to be provided with a small
bottle of oil of lavender, a preservative against bugs; but it will be
needed exceptionally only. The commercial traveller is all pervading.
He is sometimes interesting, occasionally objectionable, if a _farceur_
usually the latter. On entering a café or railway carriage, it is
customary to raise the hat, so also in leaving. For Maps get those of
the État Majeur, 57 Brest, 73 Châteaulin, 60 Dinan, 41 Lannion, 88
Lorient, 58 Morlaix, 117 Nantes, 40 Plouguerneau, 74 Pontivy, 87 Pont
l'Abbé, 72 Quimper, 90 Redon, 75 Rennes, 59 S. Brieuc, 42 Tréguier, 89
Vannes, 102 Belle Ile, 56 Ouessant. Of these each has 4 sheets, N.W.,
N.E., S.W., S.E., except these--102 Belle Ile has a single sheet, S.E.,
Lannion has only N.E., S.W., S.E., 56 Ouessant has only N.E., 87 Pont
l'Abbé only N.E., Tréguier only N.W., S.W., S.E.
[1] This is mixed with chicory, and is very liable to upset the
stomach.
Each sheet costs about 25 centimes or 2½d. The same can be had in
colours at 1 franc per sheet, but there is no great advantage in these
latter.
In this book routes have not been given, as there is such a diversity
of manner of travelling in these days, some going by train, and some by
bicycle and motor car. For the latter the best map is that published
by the cycling club, as it gives the roads that are suitable, and the
hills are all indicated. The line adopted in this book has been to
give the chefs-lieux d'arrondissement, and a few other places that are
suitable as centres, and to indicate what is to be seen within an easy
range all round.
Less details have been given relative to the Department of
Ille-et-Vilaine, at least as to certain portions of it which do not
offer much of interest to encourage a visit, and with regard to Loire
Inférieure only the truly Breton region of Guérande and S. Nazaire has
been included.
The following list of headquarters is recommended, whence excursions
may be made radiating on all sides. Places of little moment and regions
that need not occupy a visitor's time are omitted.
_Côtes-du-Nord._--DINAN. Thence Lamballe, Plancoet, Ploubalay, Dol,
Jugon, Becherel.
GUINGAMP. Thence Belle-Ile, Pontrieux, Plouagat, Bourbriac.
LANNION. Thence Perros-Guirec, Plestin.
LOUDÉAC. Thence Uzel, Plouguenast, La Chèze, Mur.
PAIMPOL. Thence Lézardrieux, Pontrieux, Plouha and Iles de Bréhat.
PLOUARET. Thence Plestin, Begard and Belle-Ile.
ROSTRENEN. Thence S. Nicolas du Pélem, Maël Carhaix, Goarec.
S. BRIEUC. Thence Etables, Châtelaudren, Quintin, Lamballe.
TRÉGUIER. Thence Lézardrieux, La Roche-Derrien.
_Finistère._--AUDIERNE. The Cap Sizun.
BREST. Thence S. Rénan, Ploudalmezeau, Lannilis, Plabennec, and
Ouessant.
CHÂTEAULIN. Thence Crozon, Le Faou, Pleyben.
CHÂTEAUNEUF-LE-FAOU. Thence Pleyben and Montagnes Noires.
HUELGOËT. The Montagnes d'Arrée.
LANDERNEAU. Thence Daoulas, Ploudiry, Sizun, and the Montagnes d'Arrée.
LANDIVISIAU. Thence S. Thégonnec, Plouzévédé, Ploudiry and Sizun.
LESNEVEN, the coast by Plounéour-trez.
MORLAIX. Thence Lanmeur, Taulé, Plouigneau, S. Thégonnec.
PONT-AVEN. Concarneau, Fouesnant.
PONT L'ABBÉ, the Penmarch peninsula.
PLOUDALMEZEAU, Lannilis, and the coast.
S. POL-DE-LÉON. Plouescat and the Ile-de-Batz.
QUIMPER may be made a centre for much, owing to several lines of
railway diverging from it. Briec, Rosporden, Douarnenez, Pont Croix,
Plougastel S. Germain, Pont l'Abbé.
QUIMPERLÉ. Thence Bannalec, Pont-aven, Pont Scorff.
_Morbihan._--AURAY. Thence Pluvigner, Belz, Carnac, Quiberon.
BAUD. Thence Pluvigner, Locminé and the Blavet River.
GRAND-CHAMP. Thence the Landes de Lanvaux, and S. Jean de Brévelez.
HENNEBONT. Thence Pont Scorff, Plonay, Lorient, Port Louis.
LA FAOUËT. Thence Gourin and Guéméné.
PLOERMEL. Thence Josselin, Mauron, Guer, La Trinité-Porhoet.
PONTIVY. Thence Cleguerec, Guéméné, the Blavet valley, Mur, Rohan.
ROCHEFORT-EN-TERRE. Thence Elven, and the Lande de Lanvaux,
Malestroit, la Gacelly, Questembert.
VANNES. The Morbihan, and Sarzeau, Elven and Grand Champ.
_Ille-et-Vilaine._--BECHEREL. Thence Tinténiac, Hédé.
DINARD. Thence S. Malo, Cancale, S. Servan, Châteauneuf, Dol.
DOL. Thence Combourg.
FOUGÈRES. Thence Louvigné, S. Briac-en-Congles, S. Aubin-du-Cormier.
MONTFORT. Thence S. Méen and Montauban.
REDON. Thence Allaire, la Gacilly, Pipriac, Fougeray, S. Nicolas.
RENNES. Thence Mordelles, Guichen, Château-Giron, Janzé.
VITRÉ Thence Châteaubourg and Argentré-du-Plessis.
_Loire Inférieure._-GUÉRANDE. La Grande Brière and the Saltmarshes.
LE CROISIC. Sea coast and Saltmarshes.
S. NAZAIRE, mouth of the Loire.
_Contractions_
Arr. = Arrondissement.
C.N. = Côtes-du-Nord (Department).
Chl. = Chef-lieu.
Com. = Commune.
F. = Finistère (Department).
I.V. = Ille-et-Vilaine (Department).
L.I. = Loire Inférieure (Department).
M. = Morbihan (Department).
N.D. = Notre Dame.
P. = Pardon.
* = A convenient staying place whence to
make excursions, and where are
tolerable inns.
_Cheflieux and Surroundings_
ARGENTRÉ (I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. In the neighbourhood are many small
lakes, forming one of the arms of the Vilaine, one of the sources
of which is in the forest of Pertré. The château de _Plessis_ is of
the 15th cent. and has been restored. In it is a portrait of Mme. de
Sevigné by Mignard. The circular chapel is of the 17th cent.
At _Primel_ is a chapel of the 15th cent. A calvary is in the parish
churchyard.
At _Etrelles_ the church is of the beginning of the 16th cent.
ARZANO (F.) chl. arr. Quimperlé. An uninteresting place, but some
pretty scenery on the Ellé and Isole. The neighbourhood is best visited
from Quimperlé.
* AUDIERNE (F.) a com. of Pontcroix. A large fishing village, at the
mouth of a tidal creek, into which flows the insignificant Goujen. The
entrance to the harbour is dangerous. The river front of the village or
town is occupied almost wholly by _buvettes_. Sardines are here tinned.
The church, originally dedicated to S. Rumon, the same as S. Ronan,
has been transferred to the patronage of S. Raymond Nonnatus. It is
well-situated, and of renaissance period, but has preserved an earlier
internal arcade. The south porch is of the usual 16th cent. type in
Lower Brittany, but with renaissance details. Ships are carved over the
church. The tower with gallery is mean. A curious recess with stoup
outside the W. end, with broken circle above it. An old house in the
street bears the date 1668. Audierne swarms with children who pester
the visitor with begging. It is an unattractive place, but has good
inns, and forms a centre for an interesting district. _See also_ Pont
Croix.
At _Primelin_ is the Chapel of S. Tugean (a Saint Antianus) in a
hamlet, surrounded with trees. It is a noble structure throughout,
in the flamboyant style. A noble south porch with statues within of
six apostles. The tower without spire is early flamboyant, and has a
curious side turret with spire. The W. doorway is good with the four
doctors of the church above it. The N. transept is double, divided by
round pillars surmounted by Doric capitals. The carved wood roof of
the chancel and N. transept deserve notice. Rich rococo altarpieces.
Paintings (1705) about the baptistery. A good statue of S. Tugean
represents him with a mad dog on one side and a boy kneeling on the
other. The Saint is patron against hydrophobia. Outside the chapel is
a cell into which were thrust those who had been bitten, and were not
cured. They were communicated with the Host, thrust to them at the end
of a stick, and there left to die. S. Tugean's key is preserved in the
church. The P. on the last Sunday in June is very famous. Near the
windmill is a small dolmen, or rather a kistvaen, the cover of which
has been lifted and propped on small stones. This was used by lepers to
lie in, expecting a cure.
_Plogoff_ has a church of the 16th cent., but possesses remains of
an earlier period, pillars with Romanesque capitals. The Chapel of
S. Collodec (Kenan, B. of Duleek) has a pretty spire, and a carved
granite cross. P. 1st Sunday in July. The Pardon at the Chapel of N.D.
de Bon Voyage is on the 3rd Sunday in July. The Enfer de Plogoff is
a chasm into which the sea enters. The Pointe du Raz rises 240 feet
above the sea, which is here rarely at rest. It commands a fine view
of the stretch of coast from the Pointe to S. Mathieu on the north,
and to Penmarch on the south. The _Ile de Seine_ lies nine miles away
to sea, west of the Pointe du Raz, the passage is dangerous on account
of the currents. It possesses little to attract a visitor, a couple of
menhirs, called the Fistillerien or the Gossips, and a dolmen.
The _Baie des Trépassés_ takes its name from the number of dead bodies
washed ashore in it after a wreck. A Byzantine writer speaks of this
bay and tells a curious story about it. He says that here the boatman
was called up at the dead of night to convey passengers to the Ile de
Seine. He took his oars and launched his boat, and heard a sound as of
people entering his barque, but saw no one. The boat settled deep in
the water, and he rowed over with his invisible burden. On reaching
the Isle of Seine, he could hear the passengers disembark, and coins
were cast to him, but still those whom he had ferried over remained
invisible. He had, in fact, conveyed the souls of the dead to the Isle
of the Dead. And this strange occurrence took place repeatedly.
The _Etang de Laoual_ is supposed to cover the cursed city of Is, where
Ahes, daughter of King Grallo, carried on high revelry and debauch. The
wrath of heaven was kindled, and the sea overwhelmed the city. Remains
of a Roman city remain at _Troguer_, and this was the termination of
the Roman road from Carhaix (Vorganium). At the Chapel of S. They (the
Cornish S. Day) the P. is on the 1st Sunday in July.
_Cleden-Cap-Sizun._ The coast here is bold, and there are numerous
prehistoric monuments. At _Goulien_ is a menhir 18 ft. high, and there
are remains of a Roman camp.
_Beuzec-Cap-Sizun._ The church (S. Budoc) has a fine 16th cent. tower.
Near the hamlet of Kerbanalec is an allée couverte. The holy well of
Ste. Azenora (the Cornish Sennara), mother of S. Budoc, is supposed to
have the peculiarity of filling with milk the breasts of any man who
drinks thereof. Mothers nursing their children frequent it. P. at N.D.
de la Clarté on the Sunday after the 15th August.
* AURAY (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. On a height above the river of Auray
and the harbour. The river is a tidal creek, very unsavoury when in
flow or when left dry. A large export of pine logs takes place hence
to Cardiff for the mines. There are several old houses in the town,
especially by the bridge. The halles have a vast roof on bold timber
work. The Church of S. Gildas was built in 1636, and is utterly
Italian, except for the vaulting. The south entrance is not without
merit. The Church of S. Goustan dates from the 16th century. In the
chapel of the Pêre Eternel is rich carved stall work derived from the
Chartreuse.
[Illustration: THE BRIDGE, AURAY]
Within an easy stroll from Auray is the _Chapel de Ste. Avoye_. Here,
according to legend, the Saint, who is the same as the Cornish S. Ewe,
arrived in a stone boat from Britain. The chapel is surrounded by a
few farmhouses and trees. It is a renaissance structure. The W.
tower consists of only three sides, two bold buttresses carried up a
great height, with a back, sustaining a pent-house roof, which in turn
supports a spirelet of slate. The arrangement is probably unique. There
was a porch below, but it has fallen. The tracery has been removed from
the windows, and some good stained glass sold. Within is a fine but
late screen with the twelve apostles on one side and cardinal virtues
and other allegorical figures on the other. In the nave is a piece of
the so-called "boat of S. Avoye," in which she is supposed to have
come over. Actually it is, probably, a large grinder for corn polished
within. On it are cut three symbols, one a cross, one like a T, and the
third like I. Children that are delicate are placed in the "Boat" to
recover strength. Over the altar is a painting representing S. Avoye in
prison fed by the B. V. Mary. There are two Pardons, the principal on
the 1st S. in May, the second on the 3rd S. in September. Outside the
chapel are stone benches along the wall. In Breton the Saint is Santez
Avé.
_Ste. Anne d'Auray_ is a great pilgrimage resort, with a pretentious
modern church in nondescript style intended for renaissance, 1866-75,
with bad glass. In 1623 a peasant dug up an image, probably of one of
the Deæ Matres of Gallo-Roman times, so common in Brittany, at a place
called Ker-anna. He jumped to the conclusion that it represented the
mother of the B. Virgin. The Carmelites heard of it and resolved on
making capital out of it; they ran it with great success and built a
convent and church on the spot in 1645. The statue was destroyed in
1790, but the cult continues unabated. The Pardon is on the Sunday
after July 26, and attracts vast crowds. In front of the church is a
Santa Scala copied from that at Rome, and indulgenced with nine years
for every step ascended by pilgrims on their knees. A large tank
receives the miraculous spring of S. Anne, and is dominated by her
statue. The pilgrims sing lustily the cantique of Ste. Anne d'Auray to
this air:--
[Illustration: Musical score]
There is here a statue of the Duc de Chambord (1891) in bronze, flanked
by those of Bayard, Du Guesclin, Ste. Geneviève, and Joan of Arc.
[Illustration: STE. ANNE D'AURAY]
The _Chartreuse_ near the Auray railway station is now a deaf and
dumb asylum. It occupies the site of the battle in which, in 1364,
Jean de Monfort defeated and killed Charles de Blois. He founded
the monastery, but only a small portion of the old structure remains.
Here is the chapel, on the N. side of the church, in which rest the
bodies of the royalists who had been landed from English transports
at Quiberon, and whom Hoche and his republican soldiers shot down in
cold blood to the number of 952 between 1st and 25th August 1795. The
butchery took place not far from the Chartreuse, and the bodies were
buried on the spot since called le Champ des Martyrs. In 1814 they were
transferred to this chapel erected to contain them. It was completed in
1829. In the midst of the chapel is the mausoleum of white marble.
The chapelle expiatoire is situated at a quarter of an hour's walk from
the Chartreuse and is in the Greek style, and is on the site of the
massacre. Near by is a cross commemorative of Montfort's victory over
Charles de Blois.
_Plougoumelin._ The parish church modern and bad. The Chapel of N.D. de
Becquerel has a fine west porch of the Breton commingling of flamboyant
and renaissance. An unfailing spring issues from under the wall of the
apse. The water is thought to cure diseases of the mouth. Several lechs
are in the parish. One called the Pierre du Serment is about 4 ft. 6
in. long, is in the churchyard and lies prostrate. Another is between
the parsonage and the cemetery, and a third, round, with three hollows
sunk in it, is at the presbytère. A tumulus by the river of Auray at
Le Rocher covers an allée couverte. There are six others, smaller, in a
line with it running from S.W. to N.E. They have yielded copper vessels
and flint weapons, and belong to the intermediate age, before alloy was
introduced for the formation of bronze.
_Crach._ Here in the commune are numerous prehistoric remains. Rather
over a mile from Auray on the road to Crach is a fine dolmen, the
coverer 22 ft. long, and having on it a circle of hollows. Other
dolmens at Keryn, Kergleverit, and Parq-er-Gueren, near the Chapel
of S. Jean. Several menhirs on the common. The Château de Plessisker
is of the 17th cent. P. at Crach on the 1st S. in July. _See also_
Locmariaquer.
BAIN (I.V.) chl. arr. Redon, on the Route nationale from Rennes to
Nantes. In the cemetery a cross of the 16th cent. Château de la Noé of
the 15th cent. By a little lake are the remains of a castle converted
into a farmhouse.
* BAUD (M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. A district in which much hemp is grown
and cordwaining is carried on. The women wear coiffes like sunbonnets,
and sabots with leather toe-pieces and straps neatly embroidered. The
church, a mean structure of 1687, is about to be pulled down. It is
dominated by the far more stately Chapel of N.D. de la Clarté of the
16th cent. Vaulted throughout with very peculiar straight groining and
vaulting in the S. aisle. The chapel has an apse, the tracery has been
removed from the windows and the old stained glass got rid of to make
way for sad modern rubbish. The tower is later than the chapel and is
unfinished. A huge ducal crown of Brittany is suspended in the apse.
The crown is closed above, a right claimed by the dukes. P. 2nd July.
In the woods of the old château of Quinipili (guide advisable) is the
rude granite statue of the famous Venus of Quinipili removed from
Castannec on the Blavet. It is 6 ft. high, with the hands crossed
over the breast and with a sort of stole hanging down in front, and a
band about the head on which are cut IIT. The statue, which received
idolatrous worship, was transferred in 1695 to Quinipili, by Count
Pierre de Lannion, along with a huge granite basin that stood before
it. He set it up on a pedestal in his grounds and cut a pseudo-classic
inscription on the base. As the original statue was indecent, he set
a sculptor to alter it, and probably the stole is due to this man's
chisel.
_Camors._ There are two dolmens in the forest, and an allée couverte
at Kerpenru. Of menhirs, one is on the lande of Penher, three at
Kerguelen, a stone-row of twenty uprights at Kernoul. Seven menhirs
in the wood at Floranges, and six in the forest of Camors. At
Porhoet-er-Saleu, are the remains of the castle of Conmore, Count of
Poher, and regent of Domnonia. He is regarded as the Bluebeard of
Brittany, although he was actually only thrice married, to the sister
of Jonas, King of Domnonia, to that of Meliau, King of Cornouaille,
and lastly to Triphena, daughter of Weroch, Count of Vannes. This
latter marriage was effected by the persuasion of S. Gildas. Conmore,
however, so ill-treated his wife that she ran away to her father at
Vannes. Gildas, who was at the time at Castannec, was furious with
Conmore, and local legend asserts, that he came before this castle,
gathered up a handful of earth, and casting it against the walls cursed
it, that it should never again be inhabited. S. Triphena is invoked
in the neighbourhood by women with troublesome husbands, and little
wooden crosses may be found on the site of the castle set up by them
in token that they have made a vow to S. Triphena to rid them of their
annoyance. The church of Camors is dedicated to S. Senan, abbot of
Iniscathy.
_Guénin._ The church is of 1773. The Chapel of N.D. de Menez-guen is
flamboyant but late, 1577, with alterations made in 1604 and 1751. It
is a cross church with a central tower. One descends by several steps
into the chapel. Lean and lanky girls go to it and pray for fat to be
laid on. P. 1st S. in July. Pilgrims take water from the fountain to
give to their cattle.
_Questinic._ Chapel of S. Mathurin, P. 2nd S. in May. Chapel of
Locmaria, renaissance 1574, a cross church with central tower and
spire, and some old glass.
_Bieuzy._ The station of _S. Nicolas des Eaux_ gives access to several
points of historical and architectural interest. The train from Auray
to Pontivy cuts by a tunnel through a neck of land round which the
river Blavet makes a great loop. This loop was occupied in Roman times
by a walled town Sulim, of which numerous remains have been found;
and the sides are so precipitous that no enemy could attack it, save
on the north. The road from the station to Bieuzy has been engineered
by a great sweep up the height, but the pedestrian can ascend to the
Chapel of La Trinité by a sharp scramble, and by clinging to the broom
and heather. This finger of land, almost surrounded by the river on
all sides, was covered with ruins in the beginning of the 6th cent.
S. Gildas came hither from Rhuys about the year 530, and founded a
little colony of monks where is now the hamlet of Castannec. Finding
that there was a gross image of Venus among the ruins that the people
worshipped, he and Budoc (Bieuzy) his disciple threw it down and
rolled it along to their monastery and built their wall over it.
The image remained buried thus under the wall till the ruin of the
monastery by the Northmen, and perhaps for some time after. Castannec
was never restored to any extent, by the returned monks of Rhuys.
In 1125 Castannec was made into a parish, and the church was where
is now the Chapel of La Trinité, and it was served by the monks of
Redon, but the population was small and the revenue insufficient, and
was united to Bieuzy. Then it was that in removing the remains of the
old priory the image of the Venus was restored to light, and at once
received a religious cult from the peasants, who called it Groah en
Goard, the Woman of la Couarde, which is the name of the promontory.
It was placed near a large basin scooped out of granite, and in this
women came to bathe, invoking the assistance of the Venus of Couarde.
In 1661 a mission was held at Baud, and the missioners besought Count
Claude of Lannion to destroy the idol. He had it accordingly rolled
down the hillside into the river. However, the peasants fished it up
and replaced it in 1664. Then the Bishop of Vannes interfered, and at
his request the Count sent masons to smash it. They, however, contented
themselves with injuring one arm and one of the breasts and again
rolled it down into the Blavet. In 1695, Pierre de Lannion, who had
succeeded his father, drew it forth from the water and had it conveyed
to Baud to ornament his château of Quinipili; and there it remains to
the present day with the granite basin before it, but not in quite the
same condition, for, as has been said already, the Count employed a
sculptor to work the statue over and give it a more decent appearance.