when an imbecile youth died who could say no other words than Ave
Maria, Salaun a zepre bara, or Salaun wants bread. A lily grew out of
his grave and it was concluded accordingly that he was a saint. This
was in 1358. At the west end are two towers. That on the north is
admirably proportioned with spire and angle spirelets of the period,
1365, when Jean de Montfort laid the first stone. That on the S.
was never finished. It is surmounted by an upper stage with Ionic
pillasters added in the 17th cent. The S. side has a noble porch and
transept, the E. wall of which is a continuation of that of the choir.
The E. and S. transept windows are examples of the geometric style
in Brittany, a rose resting on a transom. Within the stone screen is
formed of three compartments, and though fine, is certainly inferior
to such as are in wood. A spring wells up under the high altar and is
conveyed to a Holy Well outside. La Doyenne is a picturesque building
with turrets erected by Anne of Brittany, converted into Mairie and
school. The P. is on the 7th and 8th September, and begins with vespers
and a procession bearing candles; many beautiful costumes may be seen
on this occasion.
The processions arrive with banners for High Mass, singing this hymn.
[Illustration: Musical score with lyrics
Pa-tronez dous ar Fol-goat, Hor mam ak non
I-troun, An dour en non da-ou-lagat Ni no-ped a ga-toun!
Har-pit an I-liz san-tel! A-vel-di-roll-a
ra Tenn ok hir eo ar brezel! Ar peoc'h, O ma-ri-a!]
_Goulven._ The church is late flamboyant with a fine renaissance tower
and porch within which are the apostles. Side by side may be seen
a doorway of the earlier and of the later periods. There is a fine
painted 16th cent. reredos in the church to a side altar. The gallery
of the roodscreen has been made into a west gallery. About a mile
distant is the Holy Well, with a stone trough at the side in which
patients were placed and given a bath in the miraculous water. No such
an attempt to recover health has however been made of late years. There
is a chapel at the Peniti of S. Goulven at a little distance. A double
dolmen at a junction of two lanes has been much injured, several of
the stones that composed one of the chambers, and perhaps an enclosing
circle, have been employed for the hedge. The P. is on June 30, the
costumes then seen are very rich, and the parish possesses very fine
old embroidered banners then produced.
_Treflez._ Tomb of 16th cent. of S. Elfleda or Ediltruda, daughter of
Oswy, King of Northumberland, and Abbess of Whitby. She died in 715,
but how her body comes to be at Treflez passes knowledge.
_Guiseny._ Church of S. Sezni (Setna or in Cornwall, Sithney)
renaissance. There is a N. late flamboyant porch. Curious early Calvary
with four figures on the branches. P. 3rd Sunday in September.
LÉZARDRIEUX (C.N.) chl. arr. Lannion, on a little tidal port, between
Pampol and Tréguier. An excursion may be made to the Ile Modez. _See_
Bréhat.
LOCMARIAQUER (M.) com. in arr. Auray. A most interesting place that
seems to have been crowded with monuments of the prehistoric dead,
and although destruction has been carried on for two thousand years,
many still remain. Locmariaquer is situated on a spit of land between
the estuary of Crach and the Rivière de la Trinité, but it is itself
split by the creek of S. Philibert. The shores that are low are covered
far inland at the high tides, and the sea has gained considerably on
the land. Roman constructions noted in 1727 are now permanently under
water. A camp in the hamlet of Lannbric is now eaten into by the waves.
The principal prehistoric monuments are the Mané-er-hroeg, south of the
village; a tumulus containing a dolmen that was explored in 1863 and
yielded 103 polished stone axes, a collar of callais, and a jade ring.
Near it was found a slab on which are mysterious markings representing
cartouches, celts with handles, and other symbols unexplained. On the
summit of the tumulus were found coins of Tiberius and Trajan. The
tumulus of Mané Lud to the N.E. of the village contained two skeletons,
one a case of carnal interment, the other had been burnt. At the W. end
of the tumulus is a sepulchral chamber led to by a passage, and here
also are carvings. Between this tumulus and the village is the huge
dolmen called Table des Marchands. On the stone at the back are also
carvings. Close to this is the longest menhir known. It is 64 ft. long,
but was struck by lightning, thrown down and broken into four pieces.
In a field near the village is the Mein Rutal, another dolmen of
considerable size. West of the village and near the sea are the remains
of an allée couverte, 74 ft. long, called Les Pierres plates. On this
also are inexplicable carvings, next to those on Gavr Inis, the most
remarkable in the country. There are smaller dolmens at Pont-el-leu,
Kercadoret-er-Gal, Coetcourzo, Kerhan, Porher, Kerlud, Locperhet,
Pont-er-vel, Kervéres, Kerdaniel, Kervoch, and Cocordeau; and menhirs
at Kerpenhir, Bronso, Porher, Mané-er-hroeg, Kerguelvan and Lannbric.
Locmariaquer was a Roman station. P. 1st Sunday in July; that of S.
Philibert on the 3rd Sunday in August.
LOCMINÉ (M.) chl. arr. Pontivy (Locus Monachorum). A considerable
district was here made over to Gildas who founded a monastery where
now stands the village of Moustoir. Owing to the ravages of the
Northmen the monks of S. Gildas de Rhuys and of Locminé fled into
Berry. They returned in 1001, and set about restoring their ruined
monasteries, but the old site at Moustoir was not rebuilt upon; the
abbey was transferred to Locminé. The parish church and the Chapel of
S. Columbanus are side by side, in communication through an arch. The
latter owes its origin to some relics of S. Columbanus having been
brought hither. The chapel is late flamboyant, but has a 17th cent.
tower, under it an earlier doorway with mutilated tracery above it. The
parish church has a slated spire, that of S. Columbanus is surmounted
by a small cupola. A quaint ossuary of good renaissance work is on
the N. side. The east window of the chapel contains 16th cent. glass
representing the life of S. Columbanus in four groups, but in a very
poor condition. East of the chapel is the beautiful Chapel of N.D. de
Plasquer, of the finest flamboyant work. The W. doorway has disengaged
pinnacles and some curious carving. The E. window tracery forms three
fleurs-de-lys. Within is a pretty flamboyant credence in the N. chapel
under the tower. In a corner thrown aside is a noble carved oak statue
of S. Gildas of the 15th cent. with his symbol, a snarling dog, at his
side. P. 31st June, but that of Locminé is the Sunday nearest 27th
June and lasts three days.
_Remungol_ has a Holy Well near the church, a work of the 16th cent.
LORIENT, chl. d'arr. A port. The town is composed of Lorient itself,
a fortified place, and the Faubourg of Kérentrech, where a suspension
bridge crosses the Scorff. Lorient owes its origin to the East India
Company. That company, created in 1664, was in quest of a port. The Duc
de la Meilleraye offered Port Louis, and in 1666 royal authority was
granted to the company to form there quays, factories and storehouses.
The village founded by La Compagnie de l'Orient took thence its name.
The company having got over a financial crisis in 1669 bought up land
in the neighbourhood. In 1712 the settlement comprised 700 families;
it was raised to be a parish in 1709. In 1717 the company began to
build and lay out quays and form basins on a grand scale, and in 1739
Lorient attained the dignity of being accounted a town. In 1745, the
company had reached its highest point of prosperity, and had become
a veritable maritime power, with 35 frigates in the harbour. Its
flag was blue charged with a fleur-de-lys _or_, and it had as device
Florebo quocunque ferar. English jealousies were aroused, and in
1746 an English fleet anchored in the Bay of Pont-du. Seven thousand
men were disembarked under General Sinclair and summoned the town to
surrender. As this was refused it was besieged, but after a few days
General Sinclair withdrew without having effected anything. Curiously
enough, the garrison had resolved on surrender, and sent to notify
their purpose to the general, but found that the English had departed.
The company failed, partly through internal dissension, mainly through
the loss of Bengal, which was secured by the English in 1753. From
this time the fortunes of the company declined, and at last it became
bankrupt in 1769. It was then that Lorient passed to the Crown. The
town is supremely uninteresting, and no visitor will stay in it except
under constraint.
_Port Louis._ The Church of N.D., 1665. The citadel of the 18th cent.,
at one time served as a prison to Louis Napoleon.
_Ploemeur._ A circle of standing stones 20 ft. in diameter surrounds
a tumulus, on the top of which is a dolmen fallen, thrown down by
clumsy excavators. Near Kerroch a dolmen, the table sustained by
three uprights, and near it the supporter of another. On the S. some
menhirs, the remains of an alignment. At Kerpape, near the powder mill,
another dolmen. At the Pointe du Tallut a menhir 12 ft. high, and near
it another fallen. Ploumaur, the Great Tribe, was one of the largest
parishes in the diocese; it was settled by S. Ninnoc, supposed to have
been a daughter of the King of Brecknock. Her double monastery for
both sexes was destroyed by the Northmen, and it was not rebuilt till
the 12th cent. The church contains Romanesque work, but the tower was
built in 1686, and the chancel was altered and disfigured in 1783. P.
1st Sunday in May. The Chapel of N.D. de Larmor was built in 1506, the
tower and spire added in 1615. It was a great place of pilgrim resort
till S. Anne d'Auray drew away the seamen who were wont to resort to
Larmor. The benediction of the sea takes place on the 24th June.
_Plouhinec._ On the N. near Kerfourches two ruined dolmens and a
menhir. The W., near the mill of Keronsine, alignments running parallel
with the coast. Near Kersur a small menhir and four dolmens. At the
mill of Gueldro the alignments recommence in seven or eight rows, and
run on to Keroué and Kervelhué. At Magouer a tumulus with a dolmen and
a group of menhirs, most of them fallen, and others have been split and
used for building purposes.
_Kervignac._ On the N. a fine dolmen near the road to Hennebont.
Another to the south near Kermado.
_Nostang._ S. of the village near the river Etel an alignment of 19
menhirs. For _Ile de Groix_, _see under_ Pont-aven.
LOUVIGNÉ DU DESERT (I.V.) chl. arr. Fougères. Church (S. Padarn) of
the 15th cent. with a tower of 1702. A circle of upright stones. The
Château of Monthorion with tombs of Raoul II. de Fougères (1194) and
Françoise de Foix in the chapel.
MALESTROIT (M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. The castle is on an islet of the
Saudraye; it was constructed in the 11th cent. No traces of it now
remain, or none of any importance. The town, built under the shadow of
the castle, was fortified in 1463. It was attacked with fury by the
League, but always resisted the enemy, till a third siege by Mercœur in
1592, but two months later it was retaken by the Royalists. Now all the
walls are gone. The place retains a number of old houses, one of these
near the parish church has on it grotesque figures, as a sow spinning,
a hunter playing the horn, with beside him a hare performing on the
biniou; a man beating his wife, etc. The church (S. Giles) consists of
two churches side by side and in different styles. One retains remains
of a Romanesque original. The rest is of 1511-31, and some good glass
is in the windows, representing Jesus among the Doctors, the Baptism,
the Passion, etc. The Chapel of S. M. Magdalen is partly Romanesque.
MATIGNON (C.M.) chl. arr. Dinan. The parish church is modern but the
Chapel of S. Germain is the old parish church and has a Romanesque
doorway.
_S. Cast_, a watering place with good sands. In 1758, the English fleet
under Admiral Howe, after having bombarded S. Malo and burnt Dol,
disembarked a body of men here. The Duc d'Aiguillon, then governor of
Brittany, hastened to the spot, and in spite of the fire of the fleet
defeated and almost exterminated the invaders. A monument marks the
site of the windmill in which the duke watched the engagement.
_Pléboulle._ The Templar church is of the 16th cent. except the apse
which is earlier. Remains of the octagonal tower of Montbrun on a rock,
commanding a sweep of the river Frémeur.
_Plévenon._ In this commune is the noble headland of Cap Fréhel, of old
red sandstone. Here is a lighthouse. The Fort de Latte is on a point
of rock in the sea 5 kilometres from Cap Fréhel, and entered by two
bridges cast over precipices 300 ft. deep. Facing the fort is a rude
stone 9 ft. high surmounted by a cross, probably a menhir.
MAURON (M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. Stands on high ground, watered by the
Yvel and Doeft, which unite above Ploermel in the pretty lake of Le
Duc. In 1352 the Castle of Mauron was held by Bentley with a body of
Anglo-Bretons. The Marshal d'Offemont, at the head of an army of the
adherents of Charles de Blois, resolved on taking the place. Bentley
marched out against him and obtained a complete victory. Thirteen
lords fell, among them the Marshal and the Viscount de Rohan. A
hundred and forty knights also succumbed. The Parish Register, 1591,
is headed:--"Baptismal Register of Mauron made after the Prince of
Darkness with the English and the lancequenects of his company had
passed. They spent the Sunday here, September 8, 1591, pillaged and
plundered all they could lay hands on in the church, and carried off
the baptismal register--on which account this book is now begun." The
church is modern but retains some old carving in panels of the 16th
cent. near the porch on the S. side, and in the sacristy is a painting
of the crucifixion of 1682.
_S. Lery._ A church of the 15th cent. except the chancel which is
modern. In a chapel of the S. transept of flamboyant date is some fine
old glass representing the marriage of the Duchess Anne with Charles
VIII. of France. On the north of the nave is the tomb of S. Lery, and
on it the Saint is represented with a pastoral staff in his hand,
a book in the other, and his feet resting on a hare. S. Lery was a
native of Wales who crossed over to Armorica and was well received
by Judicael. As he desired a retreat, the Queen turned Ilogan, an
Irish saint, out of his, and gave his lair warm to Lery, who had no
compunction in receiving it. He died in the 7th cent.
MERDIGNAC (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac, stands on the road from Loudéac
to S. Méen. West of the town is the fortified enclosure of the Vielle
Court. Excavations have shown that the wall was vitrified.
_S. Launeuc_ near a pretty lake. Here are the ruins of the Castle of
Hardouinaye almost destroyed, where Gilles de Bretagne was starved to
death in 1450. Gilles had been left by his father a sum of money, and
he complained to his brother, Duke Francois I., and asked to be given
some fief in the duchy. But Francis refused his request and threw in
his teeth that he favoured the English rather than the French. Gilles
married the heiress of Châteaubriant and Dinan. Arthur de Montauban,
Marshal of Brittany, who had desired the heiress for himself, was
thereby made his mortal enemy. He determined on his destruction, and to
effect this spread calumnies against Gilles, to the effect that he was
purposing to introduce the English into Brittany, and he obtained leave
from Francis to arrest him in his Castle of Guildo. This he effected
whilst Gilles was engaged on a game of tennis. He carried him off to
Dinan, where was Francis, who refused to see his brother. Francis I.
requested the parliament of Brittany to condemn Gilles unheard. At its
refusal to do so, he handed him over to Arthur de Montauban to make
away with, and the Marshal hurried him away to Hardouinaye and left him
to die of starvation in its dungeon.
MUZILLAC (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Church of Bourg Peaul with side aisles,
Romanesque, and with a slated tower. Chancel 1505. The very rich and
curious Calvary was restored in 1894.
_Billiers._ Here are the remains of the Cistercian Abbey of N.D. de
Prières, founded in 1252. The church was pulled down in 1715 to make
way for a hideous structure in the taste of the period.
_Noyal Muzillac._ The church (S. Noyala) was rebuilt in 1850, but the
transepts and chancel of the 15th cent. remain. The tower was struck
by lightning in 1630 and rebuilt. The Château de Keralio, of the 15th
cent., is in ruins.
MONTAUBAN (I.V.) chl. arr. Montfort. A modern church. The castle on the
edge of the forest is of the 14th and 15th cents., and was once the
seat of a powerful family to which it gave its name.
MONTCONTOUR (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc, still possesses remnants of its
ancient walls. The church (S. Mathurin) is mainly of the 16th cent.;
the spire is covered with lead. Six windows retain magnificent old
glass representing the life of the Saviour, that of S. John Baptist,
the legend of S. Barbara, that of S. Yves, remains of a Jesse tree, and
the legend of S. Mathurin (1535). Montcontour lies on very high ground,
and commands a magnificent view. S. Mathurin is much sought by pilgrims
who have the highest belief in his powers. The P. is on the eve of
Whitsunday with procession carrying lights, and on Whitmonday, with
dancing.
_Trébry._ A dolmen at Ville-Valen, consisting of four supports and a
coverer.
_Trédaniel._ The Chapel of N.D. du Haut is mainly of the 14th cent.,
and has a fine porch of the 16th.
MONTFORT (I.V.) chl. d'arr. At the junction of the Mieu and the Garun.
A great round tower of the 15th cent. and a portion of wall adjoining
are all that remain of the ancient ramparts. The Church of S. Jean
Baptiste is modern, but contains retables of the 17th cent. The remains
of the Abbey of S. Jacques, founded in 1152, has a church of the 14th
cent. and buildings of the 18th. In the hospital of S. Lazare is an
altar of the 13th cent. To the S.E. of the tower on the edge of the
forest of Coulon is a prostrate menhir called Le Grés de S. Méen.
MORDELLES (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes, on the Meu.
[Illustration: MORLAIX]
* MORLAIX (F.) chl. d'arr., is situated in a deep cleft valley at the
junction of the Jarlot and Qufflent, and has a tidal port. The town is
spanned and dwarfed by the magnificent viaduct of the railway to Brest.
The town has only one interesting church, S. Melaine (1489-1574). A
flight of steps leads to the west door. The S. porch is fine. The
baldachino of the font is of 1660, and the organ and gallery are of
about the same date and rich. Morlaix contains a number of picturesque
houses with galleries about interior courts. The newels of the stairs
are often effectively carved. Admission to some may be obtained by
application at the door. In the Rue des Nobles is the house of the
Duchesse Anne, erected in 1500. The church of the Dominican Convent,
founded in 1237, is desecrated. A floor has been introduced at the
height of the capitals of the pillars, the basement is made into a
lumber chamber, and the upper storey into a museum. It possesses a
beautiful window of the 13th cent., a transom sustaining a rose, lights
below the transom cusped and sustaining trefoils. This window deserves
a study. By descending the Rue des Vignes and turning to the right,
the Rue des Fontaines is reached where are two Holy Wells. At N.D.
des Fontaines a wall is enriched with tracery under an arch, above
which is a delicately beautiful rose window. At this spot, according
to legend, S. Drennael, disciple of Joseph of Arimathea, preached, and
set up an image of the B. Virgin. The chapel, which formed a portion of
a Carmelite church, has been ruined along with the church. The tower
of S. Mathieu was built in 1548. On the right bank of the river is the
Fontaine des Anglais that marks the spot where, in 1522, six hundred
English, who had disembarked to attack the town, were surprised when
asleep, and killed. The town was taken by the English in 1532. To guard
against surprise, the castle of Le Taureau was constructed on an island
at the entrance to the estuary.
For objects of interest in the neighbourhood, _see_ under _Taulé_.
MUR (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac. Two menhirs by the road from Mur to
Corlay, one at Botrain is a rude quartz block, square and tapering to
a point 12 ft. high. The church is modern. The Chapel of Ste. Suzanne,
1760, has the legend of the Saint painted on the ceiling.
_Caurel._ By the road from Pontivy to Guingamp, at the hamlet to
Belaire, is a menhir of slaty schist 15 ft. high. On the Lande de
Caurel another slate menhir 10 ft. high, and five others prostrate.
Another on the same Lande 15 ft. high and shaped like a rectangular
blade, a niche has been cut in it and a cross planted on the top. On
the Lande de Belaire an allée couverte of slate rock 25 ft. long,
composed of six slabs set on end supporting three coverers. There are
others in ruins hard by. The church dates from 1654.
_S. Guen._ Church of the 18th cent. A Calvary of the 15th cent. with
a stone seat at the foot. The Chapel of S. Tugdual of the 14th cent.
contains the remains of a rood screen.
PAIMPOL (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. An important fishing place, the
headquarters of the Iceland fleet. The whole of this portion of
Côtes-du-Nord facing east formed anciently the county of Goelo. The
"Icelanders" fleet starts on February 20, and is absent till the
autumn. As many as 180 vessels leave Paimpol and the other little ports
on the Bay of S. Brieuc for this annual fishing in the polar seas. The
blessing of the fleet takes place with solemnity before it departs.
Paimpol is the scene of Pierre Lotti's novel, "Pécheur d'Islande." The
church of 1525 has a fine flamboyant east window. There are several old
houses in the streets. The isle of _Bréhat_ may be visited, _see under_
Bréhat.
_Kerfot._ The oldest parts of the church are of the 14th cent., but the
rest from 1514 to 1682. Remains of the roodscreen have been converted
into a pew.
_Kerity._ Fine ruins of the Abbey of _Beauport_, an unique example in
Brittany of a monastic establishment that has preserved its original
buildings of the 13th cent. All the rest were rebuilt in the 17th and
18th cents. The roof of the church has fallen in. The abbey consists
of a series of buildings about a cloister; on the N. are kitchen and
refectory over the cellars; S. is the church; E. the dormitory and
infirmary of the monks and the chapterhouse; W. the abbot's house.
LE PALAIS (M.) chl. arr. Lorient, in the island of Belle Ile. It has
a citadel constructed by Vauban. The old walls remain. A military
hospital and a reformatory for young criminals are at Le Palais.
The castle of Foulquet commands the little port of that name. The
church (S. Géran) bears as its dedication the name of the heroic
king of British Domnonia, who fell at Langport in Somersetshire in
522 fighting the Saxons. He had a fleet in the Severn, and his wife
was the beautiful Enid, whose story has been revived by Tennyson in
the Idylls of the King. The Bretons having forgotten who he was have
identified him now with S. Senan of Iniscathy and then with S. Curig,
and represent him as a bishop.
* PERROS GUIREC (C.N.) chl. arr. Lannion. The church has a Romanesque
nave with semi-circular arches resting on the N. side on capitals with
cable mouldings. The arcade on the S. side is somewhat later. The
chancel is early pointed, with an extraordinary east window of the 17th
cent., an instance of the complete extinction of the skill to design
and power to execute stone tracery. There is a Romanesque S. door. Of
the windows one is middle pointed, one flamboyant, and one debased 17th
cent., all in the S. aisle. The tower at the W. end and the porch under
it with open tracery are quaint.
N.D. de la Clarté is a delightful example of flamboyant work at its
best, 1414. The little harbour of Perros Guirec is illumined by five
lighthouses on account of its dangerous character, and there are five
more on the Sept Iles. The sandy cove of _Trestraou_ has a town built
round its lap that lives only in the bathing season, at all other times
it is uninhabited.
_S. Quay._ The church has no side aisles but double transepts, and is
good 2nd pointed. The W. tower is good renaissance of 1732.