Chapter 13

FOUGÈRESIn the Forest of Fougères is a fallen dolmen, Pierre du Tresor, also an alignment of 80 stones, called Le Cordon des Druides, near the ruins of a convent founded in 1440.La Gacilly(M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Near the town on the road to Malestroit, a menhir 15 ft. high, La Roche Piqué, and near it another of the same height but fallen. On the Lande de Signé E. of Gacilly a circular camp and the slope of the hill is pitted with excavations. The parish church was formerly chapel to the castle and was of 14th cent., but was altered and enlarged 1626-31.The Chapel of S. Jugon, 4 kilometres W.N.W. Jugon was a peasant boy who led a devout life. P. Whitsun-Monday. Peasants take little bags of seed to have it blessed at the end of Mass. This is then mingled with what is to be sown.Cournon.A fine dolmen, La Tablette. One of the coverers was broken in 1820. W. is a menhir 9 ft. high, further W. other blocks that may be the remains of an alignment.Les Fougerêts.A pretty gorge with grottoes in the sides called Les Chambres du Coucou.S. Congard(Cyngar) near Bignac. An allée couverte measuring 43 ft. long and 4 ft. 6 in. high within. It has five coverers, of which one only has fallen. A menhir near the wood of Misny. The Chapel of N.D. de Quimperis an object of pilgrimage on Whitsun-Monday, and here, possibly, may still be heard the barking of the pilgrims, an hysterical phenomenon, that formerly accompanied the Pardon of Josselin. At Wesley's revivalist meetings a similar phenomenon was noticed.* GUINGAMP (C.N.). A pleasantly situated town in green surroundings, with the little river Trieux flowing through it. The finest view of the town with the towers of the church is from the garden of the Hôtel de France, whence water, foliage and old buildings group admirably. The Church of N.D. de Bonsecours is indebted to a miraculous image for the lavish expenditure upon it. This image stands in the N. porch, and has been accorded a gold crown from the Pope, and has been profusely "indulgenced." The church was formerly the chapel of the Counts of Ponthièvre. It was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th cents. and added to in the 16th. The church consists of a nave with four aisles, double transepts and an ambulatory round the choir. The transept and S. transept front are of the 12th cent. The central tower and spire of the 13th. To the same period belong the tower and turret on the N.W. The arcade on the N. of the nave is of the 13th cent. On the S. side the arcade is renaissance. In the spandrils are the cardinal virtues sculptured in relief, and corbels support statues. Above the arcade is a triforium consisting of three ranges. Above the arcade on the north side the triforium is of the 14th cent. The choir is composed offour bays of the 15th cent. The apse is of the same date. A curious feature is the carrying of the triforium across the church above the chancel arch. The transepts are lighted by rose windows of the 14th cent. The principal porch containing the miraculous image is closed by a grating and converted into a chapel; it contains modern statues of the apostles. The W. doorway is a magnificent specimen of renaissance work. Owing to the windows being all filled with modern coloured glass overloaded with colour, the interior cannot be well seen except on sunny days. The vaulting of the choir is sustained by flying buttresses within the church. The fine S.W. tower is an excellent but unfinished work of the renaissance. In the market-place is a leaden fountain of the renaissance. A few picturesque old houses remain. The P. is on the 1st Sunday in July. A procession with torches takes place on the Saturday night, and bonfires are lighted in the Place. After the religious ceremonies follow dances. N. of Guingamp on a height is the little Chapel of S. Lambert with some early 11th cent. work, but for the most part it was transformed in the 18th cent. The abbey of Ste. Croix is of the 16th cent., but the church has the piers of the transept of the 13th.Grâces.The church is entirely flamboyant of 1508, and a typical specimen. All the aisle windows are under gables. The baptistery is of the end of the 16th cent. The relics of Charles de Blois are preserved here.Pedernec.A menhir 25 ft. high. On one face three cup-hollows. The church was rebuilt in 1847, but the S. side aisle and arcade and a good rose window in the transept, of the 16th cent., have been preserved. Also a delicately carved roodscreen, out of its proper place.Coadout.An allée couverte at Pen-poul-ar-hus, destroyed in 1863, except for three stones, has one much polished. On this, according to local tradition, S. Illtyd and S. Briac were wont to meet and pray together, and it contains hollows supposed to have been worn by their knees.Pommeret-le-Vicomte.Remains of a dolmen at Kerbic, one coverer and four supports still in situ. The church is of various periods. The oldest portion is the east end, and is of the 14th cent. with a large window. The tower and spire of 1712. In the graveyard a Calvary of the 15th cent. with a pulpit at its base. The Chapel of N.D. du Paradis is interesting, 16th cent., with a Calvary of the same period, with the apostles carved in relief on the octagonal base.Gourin(M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. An unattractive spot with poor hotel accommodation. Hence conveyances may be had to Le Faouët. At Kerbiguet a menhir 12 feet high and two others prostrate. The parish church is of 1500 with a tower of 1745. Numerous chapels are scattered over the parish: that of S. Hervé to the N.E. is of the 16th cent. and has stained glass representing saints, and scenes in our Lord's life.Langonnet.A menhir at Bodéro, 13 feet high. The parish church has flamboyant windows and doorways, but a few pillars of the 12th cent. remain. The tower is modern. On the S. side of the church is an ossuary. In the cemetery a lech. The chapel of the Trinity, 1500-68, with fine old glass representing the Jesse tree, the Passion, and the Last Judgment, and the Life of the Virgin. The abbey of Langonnet was founded in 1130 and is on the bank of the Ellé. It is converted into a reformatory. Chapel of N.D. de la Pitié, P. 15th Aug.Le Saint(S. Samuel). Partly Romanesque, but with flamboyant windows. The chapel of S. Adrian is an object of pilgrimage.Grand-Champ(M.) chl. arr. Vannes. On the north the Lande de Lanvaux, which was once crowded with megalithic remains. Many still are to be seen. A fine dolmen is on a rocky elevation a kilometre N. of Locperet. The capstone measures 16 feet long. Numerous menhirs further on in the direction of Croix-de-bois, perhaps the relics of an alignment. The church (S. Tugdual) has been destroyed and replaced by a structure of 1866. At Locperet is a flamboyant Chapel of S. Bridget. Another of N.D. de Burgo is of 1528 and 1538, and near it a Holy Well. P. at Locmaria-Grandchamp on Aug. 10th; at Moustoir des Fleurs on the 4th S. in August. At Grand-Champ itself on the 2nd S. in Sept.Locqueltas.A menhir, called Le Fuseau de la Femme de Gargantua, 15 feet high. AtPlaudrenanother 18 feet high, and bearing the same name. It is near the road to Josselin on the Lande. The whole neighbourhood is strewn with remains of dolmens and with fallen menhirs.Guéméné(M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. Anciently Kemenet-Guegnant, owes its origin to a castle of Guegnant, nephew of Alan Canhart, who erected it. The fief passed to the family of Rohan. The castle was converted into a prison for English soldiers in 1792. It is now a ruin.Silfiac.A Chapel of S. Laurent of the 16th cent. with curious carvings; near it the Holy Well of S. Nodez, which is supposed to cure corns, and other maladies of the feet.Langoelan.A dolmen on the E. of the hamlet of Villeneuve and in an islet of the Scorff. The church is flamboyant. Le Merzer marks the spot where Selyf or Solomon, King of Devon and Cornwall, coming to Armorica to see his domains there, encountered the pagan natives and was murdered by them. He was son of Geraint, who fell at Langport in Somersetshire in 522, fighting against the Saxons. His wife was S. Gwen, sister of Nonna, mother of S. David, and he was the father of S. Cuby. The Chapel of S. Solomon has been destroyed.* GUÉRANDE (L.I.) chl. arr. S. Nazaire. An interesting town surrounded by its machicolatedwalls of granite, erected in 1431 by John V., and flanked by ten towers. There are four gates; that of S. Michel is a veritable fortress in itself defended by two lofty towers. The Church of S. Aubin is of the 12th and 16th cents., and has two porches, and an external pulpit of stone of the 16th cent. Within the church the pillars have carved Romanesque capitals. There is good glass of the 16th cent. N.D. la Blanche is a graceful chapel, erected in 1348 by Jean de Montfort. A menhir with cup-markings at Escoblac. Dolmens at Kerléour, Kerlo, and Sandun. A circle of stones at Kerbourg. Guérande is a good place for a botanist to stay at who desires to study the flora of the saltmarshes on one hand, and of the Grande Brière on the other. The production of salt goes on largely in the salines, and is carried on by private owners. It requires about 40 consecutive dry days between June and September to evaporate the water. The annual production averages 6600 tons. The Grande Brière is divided into 17 communes, and is a vast freshwater peat bed occupying the basin of an ancient lake.S. Lyphardwas a Roman station at the point where the lake of La Brière formerly discharged into the sea. The church is of the 11th cent. The peasants of the Bruyère wear a peculiar costume, and are true Bretons.La Guerche(I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. The church, of which portions belong to the 13th and 14th cents., contains some old stained glass.At 2 kilometres to the S. is the Church of Rannée, in part Romanesque.Guichen(I.V.) chl. arr. Redon. Old chateaux at Gaylieu and Gressillonnoye.Hédé(I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. Ruins of the castle on a rock. The church is Romanesque.S. Gaudran, good glass of the 17th cent. in the church, and two silver reliquaries of the 12th cent.Hennebont(M.) chl. arr. Lorient. Prettily situated on the river Blavet. The town is divided into the Ville Clos within its ancient walls and the new town. A bridge connects them. The old town was fortified by Duke Jean I. (1237-86). It played a signal part in the War of Succession. Jean de Montfort had secured the place. At the end of May 1342, Charles of Blois laid siege to it. Within was the Countess Jeanne, who held out with determination, set fire to the camp of the enemy, and leaving the town unperceived threw herself into Auray, where she gathered reinforcements which she introduced into Hennebont without the feeble Charles being aware what she was about. At last provisions failed, and the magistrates insisted on capitulation. The countess entreated for a couple of days' delay, and at the last moment saw gleaming in the west on the sea the sails of an English fleet sent to her relief. Charles hastily retreated, but again a few months later laid siege to the place. He was, however, again repulsed. The parish church (N.D. de Paradis) on the further sideof the river. It is the principal monument in Hennebont, and was erected in 1514-24, and is consequently flamboyant before it sank in debasement. The W. front is light and graceful and has a porch and a tower flanked by a couple of turrets tied to it by galleries sustained on flying buttresses. The spire rises to 150 feet. The choir ends in an apse lighted by two stages of windows. A procession takes place on the last Sunday in Sept. in commemoration of the cessation of an epidemic in 1699. The chapel of S. Antoine is partly Romanesque.Kervignac.A fine dolmen near the road from Hennebont to Landévant. On the south, near Kermadio, is another. A third, small, near Lopriac. This is one of the most ancient parishes in the diocese of Vannes. It is mentioned as early as the 6th cent. At this time a cloud of locusts came down on the country, and the Count Weroch, fearing famine, sought Gunthiern, a refugee king of Gwent, who had settled at Quimperlé and was in great repute for his austerities. Gunthiern gave water he had blessed to the envoys of Weroch, and this drove the locusts away. In return for this favour, Weroch granted to Gunthiern the plou of Vineac. The Chapel of N.D. de la Clarté is of the 15th cent. That of S. Laurent contains some remains of the screen. A Holy Well of S. Gildas is still in request in the hamlet of Kanden.* HUELGOAT (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. A picturesquely situated townlet at the extremityof a lake that discharges amongst masses of granite down a ravine. The ruinous condition of the granite is not due to earthquake or to glacial action as supposed by some, but to its composition. It contains a large amount of soluble silicate of potass. This disappears under the action of the rain and the granite crumbles away. Huelgoat is four miles from the nearest railway station. The road is through the valley of the Argent, between pine-clad hills. The granite here encounters the schist. The church is a mean renaissance structure, but the Chapel of N.D. des Cieux is more interesting. It is of the 16th cent. and contains some old glass of the period. A camp on a height above the town is attributed to King Arthur.S. Herbot.A chapel in the parish of Loqeffret is a picturesque structure at the roots of the Monts d'Arrée. A stream here falls in a pretty cascade 400 feet over rocks, and at no great distance from the chapel are the inconsiderable remains of the renaissance Château de Rusquec. The Chapel of S. Herbot is actually a large church and merits attentive study. It possesses a fine square tower without spire or pinnacles. The date is 1516. The W. front is fine. Throughout, the carving of the granite is admirable, the foliage is treated with great boldness. The tower of S. Herbot seems to have served as a model for that of Carhaix, which is a few years later. On the south is a deep porch also well sculptured, with the apostles within, and 24 little statues in the arcade of theentrance. The date of the porch is 1498. The apse is flamboyant like the rest of the church, but the buttresses are later additions in 1618 and 1619. The interior is adorned with a beautiful renaissance screen and returned stalls, but no roodloft. On the W. face the twelve apostles, on that inside the minor prophets and the sibyls. In the chancel is the tomb of the Saint, a hermit of whom nothing authentic is known. It is a work of the 15th cent. There are some old stained glass windows. That on the S. at the E. end represents S. Yves between a rich man and a poor suitor. The date is 1556. The central window contains the story of the Passion, that on the N., S. Laurence on the gridiron. The date 1556, which is also probably that of the central window. Outside the screen are two altars piled up with cows' tails. These are offered to the Saint. Formerly they were hung about the sanctuary. There is a little ossuary on the W. side of the porch. The E. window is of earlier character than the rest in the church, and is of the same character as that of Pont l'Abbé with a transom supporting a rose. Most of the windows testify to the decline of flamboyant, when the flames assume a tadpole form and the lights are uncusped. In the churchyard is a Calvary.Brennilishas a church with tower and W. façade of 1485. There are two windows of good old glass representing the Conception, S. Christopher, and a monk. Also the life ofthe Virgin. The church possesses a processional cross of 1650.Janzé(I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. The church is partly Romanesque. In the suburbs a menhir with a hole cut in the face to receive an image of the B.V.M.Essé.Here is one of the finest covered avenues in Brittany. It consists of a main structure with an ante-chamber, and is divided within into compartments. The total length is 43 feet.LA ROCHE AUX FÉES, ESSÉJosselin(M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. The capital of the ancient county of Porhoet (Poutre-coet = the land beyond the wood). The story goes that once upon a time a workman here found an image of the Virgin in a bramble bush. As it soon established its character as miraculous, a town sprang up about the sanctuary. Guethenoc, Count of Porhoet, planted a castle here and called it after his son, who completed his father's work in 1053. The castle became the headquarters of the counts and then dukes of Rohan. The original castle had been taken in 1168 by Henry II. of England, and utterly destroyed, but it was rebuilt by Eudes II. in 1173, and was held throughout the War of Succession by the partisans of Charles de Blois. In 1370 it was acquired by Olivier de Clisson, when fresh fortifications were added, notably the keep. Alan IX. Viscount, (1429-62) constructed the beautiful front towards the court. Richelieu had the towers and about half the castle blown up, in 1629, and in 1760 the dukehimself pulled down two more towers. What remains of the castle has been most carefully and tastefully restored by the present duke, who graciously allows it to be shown to visitors. The front to the river which bathes its walls is furnished with three towers resting on the rock, and gives some idea of what the castle must have been when complete. The inner façade that looks upon what was the Cour d'honeur is a superb example of domestic architecture in the 15th cent., already under the influence of renaissance ideas. The ten gables of the dormer windows are connected by a balustrade of the richest design, greatly varied, but repeating the device of the Rohans, A Plus. The Church of Notre Dame was originally late Romanesque, and still retains pillars and a window of the period, but the bulk of the church is much posterior. The choir and lateral chapels and the crossing of the transepts date from 1390-1407. The rest of the church is later still. The N. transept was added in 1491. In this church, in 1351, the Franco-Breton company of Thirty made their communion before meeting in deadly combat the Anglo-Bretons of the same number at the cross of Mi-voie. They made a vow before the statue of S. Cadoc that still remains in the church. In Notre Dame is the tomb of Olivier de Clisson, 1507, who married Marguerite de Rohan. An "indulgenced" procession takes place here on Whitsun-Monday. Formerly it was accompanied by barking women, taken withhysterical excitement which made them utter sounds like the barking of dogs. This phenomenon first appeared in 1728 and was renewed annually. Nothing of the sort takes place now. The bold square tower is of the 17th cent. with picturesque slate cap. A new tower and spire are being added at the E. end. This is well enough, if the old tower be left, and the grouping will be effective; but if the latter be pulled down as is proposed, the new spire will be a poor substitute. Inside the church on the right hand is a niche containing a skull to which the peasants make offerings of grain, to cure headaches. None know whose skull it is, but it has recently been enclosed in a wooden silvered bust of S. Laurence.THE COURT, JOSSELINThe priory church of Ste. Croix is of the 11th cent. Romanesque. S. Martin's was erected in the 12th cent. and is now a ruin. In 1793 the Republican garrison of Josselin swept the country to capture the priests, and was fallen upon and defeated by the exasperated peasantry. In 1795 they burned the church of Guegon and smashed the Calvary, but were again attacked and driven off by the peasants.The famous Battle of the Thirty took place on theLande de Mi-Voie, between Ploermel and Josselin. The English-Bretons were under Captain Bramber or Bemborough, and the French-Bretons under the Sire de Beaumanoir, governor of Josselin. Although it has been regarded as a battle between English and French, there were actually but three or four of Englishnationality on the De Montfort side, the rest were Gascons, Angevins and Flemings. Success would perhaps have been with the Anglo-Bretons, had not one of the French perfidiously violated the rules laid down before the engagement, mounted his horse and by this means broke the Anglo-Breton line.The country around is well-wooded and pretty. The town is dirty and ruinous.Guegon.The church is in the late Romanesque of the 12th cent., when the style was in transition to 1st pointed. The south aisle is of 1560 and late flamboyant. In a window is stained glass representing the apostles; it is of 1563. The tower and spire were the loftiest in the diocese, but were struck by lightning in 1705.S. Servan.To this parish Gobrian, Bishop of Vannes, retired in 717 and here died in 725. He was buried in his oratory. A village grew up about his tomb that bore his name. This is now a chapelry, and the chapel is of the 11th cent. with additions of the 15th cent. The nave is floored, forming an upper chamber which served as a hospital for the sick seeking health at the tomb of the Saint.Jugon(C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. A prettily situated town at the junction of two valleys, each occupied formerly by a lake and dominated by a strong castle at the fork. One of the lakes has been drained and the castle has been destroyed. The church has nave and S. tower, 2nd pointed and good. There is acurious W. doorway. Choir and transepts are flamboyant. The church has been "restored" in execrable taste. The road from Jugon to Dinan runs over high and dreary country, moors only partially reclaimed.Lamballe(C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. A little town in a plain dominated by a ridge of granite that runs to the east and is crowned at its W. termination by the beautiful Chapel of Notre Dame, and by a windmill at the E. termination. In Lamballe are some picturesque old houses, and there is a haras for the improvement of the breed of horses in Brittany. The town possesses three churches, one of which is Notre Dame, and was a chapel of the counts of Penthièvre, and is by far the finest in the town, but it is now only occasionally that divine service is performed in it.The parish church of S. Jean is of the late middle pointed style, 1425, with an octagonal tower of 1420 at the base, but much later at the crown. The church has been atrociously mutilated, all the tracery cut out of the windows in the 18th cent. to be replaced by an iron framework to sustain the glass. The Church of S. Martin was of early Romanesque of the beginning of the 11th cent., but the arches to the east show the beginning of the pointed style. The S. transept possesses a good middle pointed geometric window. The tower was begun in 1551 and became purely renaissance before completion. The quaint wooden porch was added in 1519.The Church of Notre Dame is a magnificentstructure, and richly repays a close study. The most ancient portions are the N. transept, with lancet windows, the noble gateway and the W. front, together with the arcade of the nave. But the side aisles are late flamboyant. The choir and S. transept were erected by Charles de Blois and are admirable examples of 2nd or middle pointed architecture at its very best. The choir is vaulted but not the nave. To sustain the vault on the S. side are buttresses within the church forming side chapels and pierced with delicate tracery. There is a double triforium. The choir has a square end lighted by a noble E. window, very tall and of only four lights. The clustered pillars on the S. side of the choir and the piers sustaining the central tower are remarkably fine. There is a little flamboyant screen with a renaissance organ-case above it in the S. aisle of the choir.S. Aaron.On the Lande du Chêne-hut is an allée couverte composed of 13 stones, three of which are coverers, and two others lie in the soil. The whole is 30 feet long.Meslin.Five allées couvertes on the Lande du Gras. One is in the middle of the Lande, one just below the mill, a third in the Champ des Caves, a fourth at Bourdonnais. In the Lande du Gras is a menhir 10 feet high.*Landerneau(F.) chl. arr. Brest. An excellent centre for many interesting excursions. The town is commercial and thriving. It possesses a few old houses and a quaint mill. The Church of S. Houardon has been rebuilt,but the beautiful tower and superb porch have been preserved. The date of the porch is 1604, and the tower is of much the same date. Landerneau was a great artistic centre in the 16th and 17th cents., and its architects and sculptors erected the splendid work in the Elorn valley and the region around. The style they created is very original and deserves attention. They delighted in adorning the churches with noble porches, bold, and often with the gable crowned with a spirelet. Within, niches hold statues of the twelve apostles. When all other detail is Italian, the foliage remains of flamboyant character. The second church in Landerneau is that of S. Thomas à Becket, 1607, small and uninteresting. To the W. is an ossuary of 1632 converted into a habitation. The valley of the Elorn presents many scenes of considerable beauty. The rocks are of white quartz breaking through the leafy covert of the hills.Pencran.A steep ascent of a mile leads to this very interesting church, with fine porch and two calvaries and a spire. The date of the porch is 1553. The sculpture here in Kersanton stone is peculiarly rich and delicate. Among the groups of figures may be distinguished Adam and Eve, and the serpent, the expulsion from Paradise, Cain and Abel, Adam delving whilst Eve spins, the Ark and the drunkenness of Noah. In the tymphanum is the Nativity, much mutilated. Within the church are the Descent from the Cross and the Mater dolorosa, groups carved in 1517.La Roche Maurice.In a most picturesque situation, the church embowered in trees on a height above the river, and a ruined castle on a rock of white quartz. The castle belonged to the dukes of Rohan whose eldest sons bore the title of Princes de Léon, on account of the large family possessions in Léon. The church has a slim tower with double galleries and two sets of open bell cages, and is an excellent typical example of a style very common in the Department of Finistère. Its date is 1589. The porch with some fine foliage in Kersanton stone is of 1530-40. In the churchyard is a good ossuary of 1640. On it is represented Death darting at all sorts and conditions of men, with the inscription "Je vous tue tous." At the entrance to the churchyard are three pillars that support the cross of Christ and the two thieves. Within the church the magnificent east window with its stained glass of 1539 at once arrests the eye. It represents the story of the Passion and reproduces that in S. Mathieu at Quimper, and that in the church of Tourch. After the stained glass, the screen attracts attention. It is renaissance and is the sole example left in its proper position in a parish church in the dioceses of Léon and Quimper. P. Ascension Day. But at Pontchrist, a ruined renaissance church by the river in a picturesque situation, on the 4th S. in July.La Martyr.This was the scene of the murder of Solomon, King of Brittany, in 874. Solomon had assassinated his cousin Erispoe,who was king, before the altar of the church of Penpont, and so won the crown for himself. He was a contemptible creature. He proceeded to buy off the Northmen and to promise to pay tribute to Charles the Bald, and undertook to undo all the ecclesiastical organisation formed by Nominoe and surrender the jurisdiction over the Breton sees to the Archbishop of Tours, if the Pope would absolve him of the murder. But this was too much for the Bretons to endure, they rose in revolt, headed by Pasquitien, son of the assassinated king, and Solomon, finding himself deserted on all hands, fled with his son towards the coast, hoping to take refuge in England. But he was overtaken where is now La Martyr, where he had taken sanctuary in the church, dragged forth along with the boy and both were killed (874). For some unaccountable reason the Bretons have regarded this despicable murderer as a saint. The tower of the church belongs to the 13th cent. The entrance to the churchyard is by a triumphal arch adorned with statuary. This is the earliest of the kind in the country and belongs to the 16th cent. The porch is remarkable for its style and for the delicacy and richness of the sculpture. It belongs to the latter part of the 15th cent. The ossuary is of 1619 and is attached to the porch. The interior of the church is of the 14th cent. It had originally a fine screen in Kersanton stone, that has been destroyed, but the basement of the parclose screens remains. Four stained windows of 1567 represent the Passion,the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Noli me tangere, the apparition of the risen Christ to His mother, and the Ascension. Also the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin, and a Jesse tree. The Duke and Duchess of Rohan are represented as the donors. The church possesses a magnificent reliquary of the renaissance period. P. on the 2nd S. in July. A great horse fair follows, lasting three days.S. Divy.This church possesses a ceiling painted with a series of subjects from the life of S. David. P. Sunday after Ascension and 2nd S. in September.Dirinon(S. Nonna). The name signifies the steps of Nonna. The church stands on very high ground. It is in the usual style of transition between flamboyant and renaissance (1588-93). A chapel in the churchyard contains the tomb of S. Nonna, mother of S. David, and wife of Sandde, grandson of Ceredig, who drove the Irish out of S.W. Wales and gave its name to Cardigan. The tomb, however, is a work of the 15th cent. At a little distance from the village is her well (1623). At the further end of the village is that of S. David. P. 2nd S. after Trinity.Plougastel.The costumes of this district are very picturesque. The men wear blue or violet jackets and three waistcoats and sashes. The church is modern, but in the churchyard is a marvellous Calvary (1602-4) consisting of an arcade under a platform crowded with statues, and a frieze surrounds it, carved with subjects inbas-relief. P. at La Fontaine Blanche, Easter Monday and the 15th August; at S. Jean on the 24th June. By the Chapel of S. Guénolé is a rude stone, against which barren women rub themselves in the hope of becoming mothers.* LANDIVISIAU (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A small town on the high road from Morlaix to Brest. It forms an excellent starting point for several interesting excursions. The church is modern, but has a tower and spire of 1590, partaking of the fault of all those in Léon and Cornouailles of this period. It is thin and pinched. The date of the superb porch is 1554. It is an interesting study, as it serves as a link between those of pure flamboyant and such as are true renaissance. About the great arch are subjects from the Old Testament. Within are the twelve apostles; the corbels supporting them are curious and varied; symbolical. For instance, one represents two drunken soldiers carrying off two girls, one carrying a mirror, another a sceptre, signifying that damsels with vanity or arrogance fall an easy prey. In the cemetery outside the town is an ossuary, date about 1620. In the town is the Holy Well of S. Divisiau, almost buried among houses. It supplies a large public washing basin. Two ranges of an arcade surmount it, containing ten panels that have come from some tomb of the 16th cent. Landivisiau, with its comfortable hotel, is a good starting-place for excursions to places where the accommodation is not all that could be desired.CALVARY AND OSSUARY, S. THÉGONNECS. Thégonnec.This place is richly deserving of a visit with its church, and churchyard overcrowded with piles of granite, Calvary and ossuary and triumphal arch. The last mentioned is of 1587 and is cumbrous but effective. These triumphal arches first made their appearance at the close of the Gothic period. This is wholly Italian in character. The ossuary adjoins it and belongs to a later period, but is far purer in design, 1676-7. The façade is very rich and beautiful. Within in a crypt is a Holy Sepulchre, life sized figures of 1702. The Calvary dates from 1610 and represents scenes of the Passion. The oldest portion of the church is the west doorway with the little bell-turret rising above it; this dates from 1563. At a later date the huge tower was erected on the south with a porch in its basement, built between 1599 and 1610, the statues added in 1632. Above the porch is the statue of S. Thégonnec (To-quessnac, a disciple of Paul of Léon). The window tracery is modern and does not faithfully represent the old tracery. The nave was built in 1777. The furniture of the church is interesting. The pulpit, though late, is fine. A niche with shutters painted with scenes from the Saint's life contains a statue of the patron. Opposite is another statue of the B.V.M. with painted shutters. The tower is heavy, and the effect of chamfering the angles very unpleasing. To support the gallery the angles of the tower are very massive, buttresses are added and between them the wall is reduced,and the gallery sustained on heavy corbels. The platform is surmounted by a dome and lantern and little side pepper-boxes. The interior effect of the church is rich and harmonious in gold and colour, if somewhat barbaric.Locmelaris reached by ascending a pretty valley that contains an affluent of the Elorn. The church is late flamboyant, with apse and gables. The porch is of the common type of the period and contains statues of the apostles. There is a Calvary. The tower dates from 1656. Over a side altar is a painting representing in a series of groups the legend of S. Hervé, a blind bard saint who contributed greatly to the downfall of Conmore, acting in conjunction with Gildas and S. Samson.Bodilis.The tower of this church was erected when Gothic architecture was in its decline. It is surmounted by a spire with spirelets at the angles rising from a gallery. The porch is of 1570, and is of unusual beauty. Within are the apostles; below the niches runs a band of marvellous richness of sculpture and great variety. The font is surmounted by a baldachin in Kersanton stone of 1680. P. on Ascension Day.S. Servais.This church has an early renaissance tower with double galleries and two bell cages, the whole surmounted by a spire and pinnacles. The body of the church is of the latter half of the 17th cent. The graveyardcross has sculptured scenes on it, and there is an ossuary like that at Landivisiau.Guimiliau.Annually numerous tourists visit this village to see its very remarkable ecclesiastical monuments, its church, porch, sacristy, calvary, and the little Chapel of Ste. Anne. The porch rivals that of Bodilis and Landerneau. The doorway into the porch has a series of biblical scenes in sculpture in the mouldings. The date is 1617. The voluted keystone alone proclaims the abandonment of Gothic for Italian architecture. To the west side of the porch is attached an ossuary, the roof supported by columns. The sacristy was erected in 1683. The Calvary consists of a mass of masonry, pierced by arches in the angle buttresses, the whole sustaining a frieze covered with sculptured figures, and the platform above crowded with statues. The whole surmounted by the cross with SS. Mary and John at the sides. The groups are very curious and represent soldiers and peasants of the close of the 16th cent. The Calvary was erected in 1581. Near the Calvary is the mortuary chapel of Ste. Anne, 1648. The interior of the church contains a magnificent baldachino over the font in carved oak; it was constructed in 1675. The organ case is of much the same date, the pulpit of 1677. The church possesses two embroidered banners of 1678. Guimiliau (Vicus Miliai) has as patron Miliau, King of Cornouaille, who was basely assassinated by his brother Rivold in 537, who also mutilated his nephew Melor,by amputating a hand and a foot, and finally by having him murdered by his foster-father, whom he had bribed to do the deed.There is a Holy Well of S. Miliau outside the village.Lampaul-Guimiliau.The great tower of this church (S. Paul of Léon) was founded in 1573, and is very lofty and surmounted by a spire which has remained incomplete. The porch is fifty years older. Within are the apostles in very quaint niches. The sculpture of the Holy Water Stoup and of the inner doorway is remarkably rich. The font is of 1651, and is surrounded and surmounted by a baldachino of 1650. The pulpit, that is late, is a fine piece of wood carving. The east end of the choir terminates in an apse with gables. The Calvary, triumphal arch, and ossuary belong to 1668. P. 1st S. in May. At the Chapel of S. Anne, S. after 15th August.See alsoLambaderandPlouneour-Menez.* LANMEUR (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. The church surmounts a crypt that is very curious and rude, and is attributed to the 10th cent. In this crypt was once the tomb of S. Melor (see underGuimiliau), whose body was transferred in the 9th cent. by refugee Bretons to Amesbury. There is a fountain in the crypt. Of the upper church only four piers and a small door belong to the original building. Near the church is the Romanesque Chapel of Kernitron (12th cent.). It is a cross church with a boldcentral tower. Some of the windows are late. The P. of Kernitron is on the 15th August.S. Jean du Doigtis a complete and interesting collection of structures such as were wont to be grouped about a parish church. There is first the monumental church itself, in the midst of a graveyard entered by a triumphal arch, a Holy Well, a Calvary, an ossuary, and an open oratory, where mass is celebrated before an enormous crowd on the occasion of the Pardon, and, finally, the church possesses a rare collection of precious ornaments, such as belong to no other parish in the diocese. The triumphal arch is of the 15th cent. The Holy Well is in the churchyard, and is a noble renaissance structure composed of a large basin, with two superposed vessels, from which heads of angels spout water. The whole is surmounted by a group representing the Baptism of Christ. Almost in face of this is a pretty oratory of 1574, very elaborately and quaintly sculptured. The tower is surmounted by spire and spirelets covered with lead. The east end of the church has in it a noble rose window. At the foot of the tower is an ossuary, and a second of 1618 is on the S.W. The S. porch has a parvise chamber above the doorway. The interior is rich, and the inner doorway is surmounted by a statue of the Baptist in a Gothic niche with wings. The church was commenced in 1440, and was completed in 1513, so that it belongs to an excellent period of flamboyant, of which unfortunately examples are few. Internally the exaggerated height of the pillars ascompared with the arches deserves notice. The treasury is extraordinarily rich in chalices, reliquaries, and a processional cross of the 16th cent. A reliquary of the finger of S. John is of 1429. The P. is on the 24th June, and draws vast crowds of pilgrims. The object of the cult is a finger of the Baptist, which is supposed to have its nail pared annually. It was stolen from some chapel in Normandy by a native of Plougasnou, who successfully conveyed it to his native village. There is, of course, not a particle of evidence worth a rush that substantiates the relic as genuine.Plougasnouhas an interesting church on a storm-beaten coast. The interior is Romanesque, but the exterior dates from 1574. It has a tower of 1582. A curious Chapel of N.D. de Lorette with caryatides is shaped like an old Lycian tomb.Guimaec.Here are two cromlechs or stone-circles.Lannilis(F.) chl. arr. Brest. The church modern and bad. The tower is of 1774, in the true Léon style, and interesting as showing to how late a date the style continued. It has two galleries for four bells, and spire with ample spirelets. The line is carried on to the sea, where there is a watering place atAbervach. The coast is not remarkable, but there are good sands.Plouguerneau.On the east is the site of Tolente, a town that was completely destroyed by the Northmen in 875. P. of Tréminachon 1st S. after the 10th Aug. P. of S. Cava on the last S. in August; at S. Michel on the last S. in September.Locbrévelaire.The valley of the Abervach is here pretty. The place is mainly of interest to the geologist. The whole hill on which Locbrévelaire stands is composed of Tertiary Oligocene, the ruins of granite, and is of a spongy nature, full of kaolin and with lumps and bands of quartz undissolved, and much mica. It is quarried for road-making, but the quartz alone is of value for that purpose. Almost certainly below this spongy mass a bed of kaolin would be found. The church (S. Brevelaire = S. Brendan) lies on one side of the valley in a lap of the hills, and opposite are the noble woods and park of the Château de Liscoat. The church contains an arcade of the 11th cent., very rude. The S. wall is 17th cent. The tower of the same. There is, in the churchyard wall, a Holy Well surmounted by a statue of the Saint. S. Brendan, afterwards Abbot of Clonfert, was forced to leave Ireland in 520, owing to his having unintentionally caused the death of one of his pupils, and he spent seven years away from it, during which time he founded a monastery on the island of Cézambre, opposite S. Malo, and another in a different part of Brittany. This latter may be Locbrévelaire.*LANNION (C.N.) chl. d'arr. A picturesquely situated town on the Guer that reaches the sea seven kilometres below. The tidereaches as far as Lannion, and it has a little port. The Church of S. Jean de Balay consists of a nave and four aisles under one roof, and without clerestory and without transepts. It is lighted through side windows under gables. These windows are of various periods. One is of the 14th cent., others of the 16th, and there are instructive examples of the debased tracery of the 17th. In the market place are some picturesque old houses. By the river is a fine pile of buildings now used as a hospital. Particularly noticeable is a rich late window, an attempt—and an expiring one—to design a rose with flowing and beautiful tracery. In another twenty or thirty years, as may be seen in the windows of S. Jean de Balay on the N. side, the skill was wholly lost. Divided from Lannion by a deep valley is the Church of Brévelenz. The east part and crypt are Romanesque. There is a good early pointed porch. An ossuary and a mortuary chapel are in the graveyard. The pinnacles, one a chimney to the fireplace for heating baptismal water, at the porch are peculiar.Loquivyis in a charming situation. The church (S. David) is interesting. In the churchyard is a noble renaissance fountain, and outside the graveyard a Holy Well, flamboyant, surmounted by a statue of the patron saint of Wales. The church is of the 16th cent. An old carved oak retable representing the Adoration of the Magi and a crowd of other figures is in the baptistery.Ploubezre.The church was rebuilt in 1851, but the fine tower is of 1577. Within have been preserved two Romano-byzantine capitals from the old church, and one window of the 14th cent. remains. The chapel ofKerfonsis flamboyant, and is in the form of a T. One of the gables bears the date 1559. The magnificent roodscreen is of 1533. It is a beautiful example of good flamboyant work, with apostles and other figures on the gallery on one side, and tracery on the other. The castle ofCoetfrecoccupies the summit of a hill above the Guer. Four towers remain, and the castle is in a tolerable condition. The court is looked into by the windows of the state apartments, in one of these, a fireplace with bold chimney-piece, remains. The Château deKergristis a ruin, complete.Tonquedecis another old castle in a most picturesque situation. On the N. is the donjon, which is reached by a door high up in the wall. The Chapel of S. Gildas is of 15th cent., with the legend of the Saint within in sculptured oak.Lanvollon(C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. Reached by carrier from Châtelaudren, is a dull town with one curious old house in it at the junction of two streets; it is of wood and plaster, the wood covered with carving. The church (S. Vollon = Foelan) belongs internally to the 14th cent., and has a good E. window, but externally the church has been sadly maltreated by incompetent "restorers."* LESNEVEN (F.) chl. arr. Brest. Anuninteresting place in itself, but headquarters to one attending the Pardon at Folgoët. Its fine halles of the 15th or 16th cent. has been destroyed to make way for a "place" with a statue in the midst of a General Floh, of bronze. When this statue was sent down, and the Mayor opened the case, to his dismay he found it was green. So he set his wife, cook, and house-maid to sandpaper and scrape it, till it shone as gold, and then had it hoisted to its pedestal, and it was solemnly unveiled. But the artist, who beheld it thus burnished, was furious, and complained to the prefêt and the authorities at Paris, and orders came to the Mayor to take down the statue and restore to it the green rust. He was obliged accordingly to re-erect the scaffold and crane, and have General Floh transferred to his own house again, where he expended some barrels of cider over him to reinvest him in verdigris. The church is very ugly, but it has a late renaissance porch in the basement of the tower on the N. side.The branch line is carried on toBrignogan, which is a watering-place, and where there is a fine menhir 30 ft. high, the most remarkable in the Department. AtPlounéour-trezthe church is new, but the old tower and spire are retained till they also can be pulled down and replaced by something more in proportion with the new church. The windows represent scenes in Breton history. The coast is not fine, the sandy shore slopes very gently into the waves. But the good bathing is an advantage.Folgoët.This famous pilgrimage church was founded in the 14th cent. 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.

FOUGÈRES

In the Forest of Fougères is a fallen dolmen, Pierre du Tresor, also an alignment of 80 stones, called Le Cordon des Druides, near the ruins of a convent founded in 1440.

La Gacilly(M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Near the town on the road to Malestroit, a menhir 15 ft. high, La Roche Piqué, and near it another of the same height but fallen. On the Lande de Signé E. of Gacilly a circular camp and the slope of the hill is pitted with excavations. The parish church was formerly chapel to the castle and was of 14th cent., but was altered and enlarged 1626-31.

The Chapel of S. Jugon, 4 kilometres W.N.W. Jugon was a peasant boy who led a devout life. P. Whitsun-Monday. Peasants take little bags of seed to have it blessed at the end of Mass. This is then mingled with what is to be sown.

Cournon.A fine dolmen, La Tablette. One of the coverers was broken in 1820. W. is a menhir 9 ft. high, further W. other blocks that may be the remains of an alignment.

Les Fougerêts.A pretty gorge with grottoes in the sides called Les Chambres du Coucou.

S. Congard(Cyngar) near Bignac. An allée couverte measuring 43 ft. long and 4 ft. 6 in. high within. It has five coverers, of which one only has fallen. A menhir near the wood of Misny. The Chapel of N.D. de Quimperis an object of pilgrimage on Whitsun-Monday, and here, possibly, may still be heard the barking of the pilgrims, an hysterical phenomenon, that formerly accompanied the Pardon of Josselin. At Wesley's revivalist meetings a similar phenomenon was noticed.

* GUINGAMP (C.N.). A pleasantly situated town in green surroundings, with the little river Trieux flowing through it. The finest view of the town with the towers of the church is from the garden of the Hôtel de France, whence water, foliage and old buildings group admirably. The Church of N.D. de Bonsecours is indebted to a miraculous image for the lavish expenditure upon it. This image stands in the N. porch, and has been accorded a gold crown from the Pope, and has been profusely "indulgenced." The church was formerly the chapel of the Counts of Ponthièvre. It was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th cents. and added to in the 16th. The church consists of a nave with four aisles, double transepts and an ambulatory round the choir. The transept and S. transept front are of the 12th cent. The central tower and spire of the 13th. To the same period belong the tower and turret on the N.W. The arcade on the N. of the nave is of the 13th cent. On the S. side the arcade is renaissance. In the spandrils are the cardinal virtues sculptured in relief, and corbels support statues. Above the arcade is a triforium consisting of three ranges. Above the arcade on the north side the triforium is of the 14th cent. The choir is composed offour bays of the 15th cent. The apse is of the same date. A curious feature is the carrying of the triforium across the church above the chancel arch. The transepts are lighted by rose windows of the 14th cent. The principal porch containing the miraculous image is closed by a grating and converted into a chapel; it contains modern statues of the apostles. The W. doorway is a magnificent specimen of renaissance work. Owing to the windows being all filled with modern coloured glass overloaded with colour, the interior cannot be well seen except on sunny days. The vaulting of the choir is sustained by flying buttresses within the church. The fine S.W. tower is an excellent but unfinished work of the renaissance. In the market-place is a leaden fountain of the renaissance. A few picturesque old houses remain. The P. is on the 1st Sunday in July. A procession with torches takes place on the Saturday night, and bonfires are lighted in the Place. After the religious ceremonies follow dances. N. of Guingamp on a height is the little Chapel of S. Lambert with some early 11th cent. work, but for the most part it was transformed in the 18th cent. The abbey of Ste. Croix is of the 16th cent., but the church has the piers of the transept of the 13th.

Grâces.The church is entirely flamboyant of 1508, and a typical specimen. All the aisle windows are under gables. The baptistery is of the end of the 16th cent. The relics of Charles de Blois are preserved here.

Pedernec.A menhir 25 ft. high. On one face three cup-hollows. The church was rebuilt in 1847, but the S. side aisle and arcade and a good rose window in the transept, of the 16th cent., have been preserved. Also a delicately carved roodscreen, out of its proper place.

Coadout.An allée couverte at Pen-poul-ar-hus, destroyed in 1863, except for three stones, has one much polished. On this, according to local tradition, S. Illtyd and S. Briac were wont to meet and pray together, and it contains hollows supposed to have been worn by their knees.

Pommeret-le-Vicomte.Remains of a dolmen at Kerbic, one coverer and four supports still in situ. The church is of various periods. The oldest portion is the east end, and is of the 14th cent. with a large window. The tower and spire of 1712. In the graveyard a Calvary of the 15th cent. with a pulpit at its base. The Chapel of N.D. du Paradis is interesting, 16th cent., with a Calvary of the same period, with the apostles carved in relief on the octagonal base.

Gourin(M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. An unattractive spot with poor hotel accommodation. Hence conveyances may be had to Le Faouët. At Kerbiguet a menhir 12 feet high and two others prostrate. The parish church is of 1500 with a tower of 1745. Numerous chapels are scattered over the parish: that of S. Hervé to the N.E. is of the 16th cent. and has stained glass representing saints, and scenes in our Lord's life.

Langonnet.A menhir at Bodéro, 13 feet high. The parish church has flamboyant windows and doorways, but a few pillars of the 12th cent. remain. The tower is modern. On the S. side of the church is an ossuary. In the cemetery a lech. The chapel of the Trinity, 1500-68, with fine old glass representing the Jesse tree, the Passion, and the Last Judgment, and the Life of the Virgin. The abbey of Langonnet was founded in 1130 and is on the bank of the Ellé. It is converted into a reformatory. Chapel of N.D. de la Pitié, P. 15th Aug.

Le Saint(S. Samuel). Partly Romanesque, but with flamboyant windows. The chapel of S. Adrian is an object of pilgrimage.

Grand-Champ(M.) chl. arr. Vannes. On the north the Lande de Lanvaux, which was once crowded with megalithic remains. Many still are to be seen. A fine dolmen is on a rocky elevation a kilometre N. of Locperet. The capstone measures 16 feet long. Numerous menhirs further on in the direction of Croix-de-bois, perhaps the relics of an alignment. The church (S. Tugdual) has been destroyed and replaced by a structure of 1866. At Locperet is a flamboyant Chapel of S. Bridget. Another of N.D. de Burgo is of 1528 and 1538, and near it a Holy Well. P. at Locmaria-Grandchamp on Aug. 10th; at Moustoir des Fleurs on the 4th S. in August. At Grand-Champ itself on the 2nd S. in Sept.

Locqueltas.A menhir, called Le Fuseau de la Femme de Gargantua, 15 feet high. AtPlaudrenanother 18 feet high, and bearing the same name. It is near the road to Josselin on the Lande. The whole neighbourhood is strewn with remains of dolmens and with fallen menhirs.

Guéméné(M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. Anciently Kemenet-Guegnant, owes its origin to a castle of Guegnant, nephew of Alan Canhart, who erected it. The fief passed to the family of Rohan. The castle was converted into a prison for English soldiers in 1792. It is now a ruin.

Silfiac.A Chapel of S. Laurent of the 16th cent. with curious carvings; near it the Holy Well of S. Nodez, which is supposed to cure corns, and other maladies of the feet.

Langoelan.A dolmen on the E. of the hamlet of Villeneuve and in an islet of the Scorff. The church is flamboyant. Le Merzer marks the spot where Selyf or Solomon, King of Devon and Cornwall, coming to Armorica to see his domains there, encountered the pagan natives and was murdered by them. He was son of Geraint, who fell at Langport in Somersetshire in 522, fighting against the Saxons. His wife was S. Gwen, sister of Nonna, mother of S. David, and he was the father of S. Cuby. The Chapel of S. Solomon has been destroyed.

* GUÉRANDE (L.I.) chl. arr. S. Nazaire. An interesting town surrounded by its machicolatedwalls of granite, erected in 1431 by John V., and flanked by ten towers. There are four gates; that of S. Michel is a veritable fortress in itself defended by two lofty towers. The Church of S. Aubin is of the 12th and 16th cents., and has two porches, and an external pulpit of stone of the 16th cent. Within the church the pillars have carved Romanesque capitals. There is good glass of the 16th cent. N.D. la Blanche is a graceful chapel, erected in 1348 by Jean de Montfort. A menhir with cup-markings at Escoblac. Dolmens at Kerléour, Kerlo, and Sandun. A circle of stones at Kerbourg. Guérande is a good place for a botanist to stay at who desires to study the flora of the saltmarshes on one hand, and of the Grande Brière on the other. The production of salt goes on largely in the salines, and is carried on by private owners. It requires about 40 consecutive dry days between June and September to evaporate the water. The annual production averages 6600 tons. The Grande Brière is divided into 17 communes, and is a vast freshwater peat bed occupying the basin of an ancient lake.

S. Lyphardwas a Roman station at the point where the lake of La Brière formerly discharged into the sea. The church is of the 11th cent. The peasants of the Bruyère wear a peculiar costume, and are true Bretons.

La Guerche(I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. The church, of which portions belong to the 13th and 14th cents., contains some old stained glass.At 2 kilometres to the S. is the Church of Rannée, in part Romanesque.

Guichen(I.V.) chl. arr. Redon. Old chateaux at Gaylieu and Gressillonnoye.

Hédé(I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. Ruins of the castle on a rock. The church is Romanesque.S. Gaudran, good glass of the 17th cent. in the church, and two silver reliquaries of the 12th cent.

Hennebont(M.) chl. arr. Lorient. Prettily situated on the river Blavet. The town is divided into the Ville Clos within its ancient walls and the new town. A bridge connects them. The old town was fortified by Duke Jean I. (1237-86). It played a signal part in the War of Succession. Jean de Montfort had secured the place. At the end of May 1342, Charles of Blois laid siege to it. Within was the Countess Jeanne, who held out with determination, set fire to the camp of the enemy, and leaving the town unperceived threw herself into Auray, where she gathered reinforcements which she introduced into Hennebont without the feeble Charles being aware what she was about. At last provisions failed, and the magistrates insisted on capitulation. The countess entreated for a couple of days' delay, and at the last moment saw gleaming in the west on the sea the sails of an English fleet sent to her relief. Charles hastily retreated, but again a few months later laid siege to the place. He was, however, again repulsed. The parish church (N.D. de Paradis) on the further sideof the river. It is the principal monument in Hennebont, and was erected in 1514-24, and is consequently flamboyant before it sank in debasement. The W. front is light and graceful and has a porch and a tower flanked by a couple of turrets tied to it by galleries sustained on flying buttresses. The spire rises to 150 feet. The choir ends in an apse lighted by two stages of windows. A procession takes place on the last Sunday in Sept. in commemoration of the cessation of an epidemic in 1699. The chapel of S. Antoine is partly Romanesque.

Kervignac.A fine dolmen near the road from Hennebont to Landévant. On the south, near Kermadio, is another. A third, small, near Lopriac. This is one of the most ancient parishes in the diocese of Vannes. It is mentioned as early as the 6th cent. At this time a cloud of locusts came down on the country, and the Count Weroch, fearing famine, sought Gunthiern, a refugee king of Gwent, who had settled at Quimperlé and was in great repute for his austerities. Gunthiern gave water he had blessed to the envoys of Weroch, and this drove the locusts away. In return for this favour, Weroch granted to Gunthiern the plou of Vineac. The Chapel of N.D. de la Clarté is of the 15th cent. That of S. Laurent contains some remains of the screen. A Holy Well of S. Gildas is still in request in the hamlet of Kanden.

* HUELGOAT (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. A picturesquely situated townlet at the extremityof a lake that discharges amongst masses of granite down a ravine. The ruinous condition of the granite is not due to earthquake or to glacial action as supposed by some, but to its composition. It contains a large amount of soluble silicate of potass. This disappears under the action of the rain and the granite crumbles away. Huelgoat is four miles from the nearest railway station. The road is through the valley of the Argent, between pine-clad hills. The granite here encounters the schist. The church is a mean renaissance structure, but the Chapel of N.D. des Cieux is more interesting. It is of the 16th cent. and contains some old glass of the period. A camp on a height above the town is attributed to King Arthur.

S. Herbot.A chapel in the parish of Loqeffret is a picturesque structure at the roots of the Monts d'Arrée. A stream here falls in a pretty cascade 400 feet over rocks, and at no great distance from the chapel are the inconsiderable remains of the renaissance Château de Rusquec. The Chapel of S. Herbot is actually a large church and merits attentive study. It possesses a fine square tower without spire or pinnacles. The date is 1516. The W. front is fine. Throughout, the carving of the granite is admirable, the foliage is treated with great boldness. The tower of S. Herbot seems to have served as a model for that of Carhaix, which is a few years later. On the south is a deep porch also well sculptured, with the apostles within, and 24 little statues in the arcade of theentrance. The date of the porch is 1498. The apse is flamboyant like the rest of the church, but the buttresses are later additions in 1618 and 1619. The interior is adorned with a beautiful renaissance screen and returned stalls, but no roodloft. On the W. face the twelve apostles, on that inside the minor prophets and the sibyls. In the chancel is the tomb of the Saint, a hermit of whom nothing authentic is known. It is a work of the 15th cent. There are some old stained glass windows. That on the S. at the E. end represents S. Yves between a rich man and a poor suitor. The date is 1556. The central window contains the story of the Passion, that on the N., S. Laurence on the gridiron. The date 1556, which is also probably that of the central window. Outside the screen are two altars piled up with cows' tails. These are offered to the Saint. Formerly they were hung about the sanctuary. There is a little ossuary on the W. side of the porch. The E. window is of earlier character than the rest in the church, and is of the same character as that of Pont l'Abbé with a transom supporting a rose. Most of the windows testify to the decline of flamboyant, when the flames assume a tadpole form and the lights are uncusped. In the churchyard is a Calvary.

Brennilishas a church with tower and W. façade of 1485. There are two windows of good old glass representing the Conception, S. Christopher, and a monk. Also the life ofthe Virgin. The church possesses a processional cross of 1650.

Janzé(I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. The church is partly Romanesque. In the suburbs a menhir with a hole cut in the face to receive an image of the B.V.M.

Essé.Here is one of the finest covered avenues in Brittany. It consists of a main structure with an ante-chamber, and is divided within into compartments. The total length is 43 feet.

LA ROCHE AUX FÉES, ESSÉ

Josselin(M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. The capital of the ancient county of Porhoet (Poutre-coet = the land beyond the wood). The story goes that once upon a time a workman here found an image of the Virgin in a bramble bush. As it soon established its character as miraculous, a town sprang up about the sanctuary. Guethenoc, Count of Porhoet, planted a castle here and called it after his son, who completed his father's work in 1053. The castle became the headquarters of the counts and then dukes of Rohan. The original castle had been taken in 1168 by Henry II. of England, and utterly destroyed, but it was rebuilt by Eudes II. in 1173, and was held throughout the War of Succession by the partisans of Charles de Blois. In 1370 it was acquired by Olivier de Clisson, when fresh fortifications were added, notably the keep. Alan IX. Viscount, (1429-62) constructed the beautiful front towards the court. Richelieu had the towers and about half the castle blown up, in 1629, and in 1760 the dukehimself pulled down two more towers. What remains of the castle has been most carefully and tastefully restored by the present duke, who graciously allows it to be shown to visitors. The front to the river which bathes its walls is furnished with three towers resting on the rock, and gives some idea of what the castle must have been when complete. The inner façade that looks upon what was the Cour d'honeur is a superb example of domestic architecture in the 15th cent., already under the influence of renaissance ideas. The ten gables of the dormer windows are connected by a balustrade of the richest design, greatly varied, but repeating the device of the Rohans, A Plus. The Church of Notre Dame was originally late Romanesque, and still retains pillars and a window of the period, but the bulk of the church is much posterior. The choir and lateral chapels and the crossing of the transepts date from 1390-1407. The rest of the church is later still. The N. transept was added in 1491. In this church, in 1351, the Franco-Breton company of Thirty made their communion before meeting in deadly combat the Anglo-Bretons of the same number at the cross of Mi-voie. They made a vow before the statue of S. Cadoc that still remains in the church. In Notre Dame is the tomb of Olivier de Clisson, 1507, who married Marguerite de Rohan. An "indulgenced" procession takes place here on Whitsun-Monday. Formerly it was accompanied by barking women, taken withhysterical excitement which made them utter sounds like the barking of dogs. This phenomenon first appeared in 1728 and was renewed annually. Nothing of the sort takes place now. The bold square tower is of the 17th cent. with picturesque slate cap. A new tower and spire are being added at the E. end. This is well enough, if the old tower be left, and the grouping will be effective; but if the latter be pulled down as is proposed, the new spire will be a poor substitute. Inside the church on the right hand is a niche containing a skull to which the peasants make offerings of grain, to cure headaches. None know whose skull it is, but it has recently been enclosed in a wooden silvered bust of S. Laurence.

THE COURT, JOSSELIN

The priory church of Ste. Croix is of the 11th cent. Romanesque. S. Martin's was erected in the 12th cent. and is now a ruin. In 1793 the Republican garrison of Josselin swept the country to capture the priests, and was fallen upon and defeated by the exasperated peasantry. In 1795 they burned the church of Guegon and smashed the Calvary, but were again attacked and driven off by the peasants.

The famous Battle of the Thirty took place on theLande de Mi-Voie, between Ploermel and Josselin. The English-Bretons were under Captain Bramber or Bemborough, and the French-Bretons under the Sire de Beaumanoir, governor of Josselin. Although it has been regarded as a battle between English and French, there were actually but three or four of Englishnationality on the De Montfort side, the rest were Gascons, Angevins and Flemings. Success would perhaps have been with the Anglo-Bretons, had not one of the French perfidiously violated the rules laid down before the engagement, mounted his horse and by this means broke the Anglo-Breton line.

The country around is well-wooded and pretty. The town is dirty and ruinous.

Guegon.The church is in the late Romanesque of the 12th cent., when the style was in transition to 1st pointed. The south aisle is of 1560 and late flamboyant. In a window is stained glass representing the apostles; it is of 1563. The tower and spire were the loftiest in the diocese, but were struck by lightning in 1705.

S. Servan.To this parish Gobrian, Bishop of Vannes, retired in 717 and here died in 725. He was buried in his oratory. A village grew up about his tomb that bore his name. This is now a chapelry, and the chapel is of the 11th cent. with additions of the 15th cent. The nave is floored, forming an upper chamber which served as a hospital for the sick seeking health at the tomb of the Saint.

Jugon(C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. A prettily situated town at the junction of two valleys, each occupied formerly by a lake and dominated by a strong castle at the fork. One of the lakes has been drained and the castle has been destroyed. The church has nave and S. tower, 2nd pointed and good. There is acurious W. doorway. Choir and transepts are flamboyant. The church has been "restored" in execrable taste. The road from Jugon to Dinan runs over high and dreary country, moors only partially reclaimed.

Lamballe(C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. A little town in a plain dominated by a ridge of granite that runs to the east and is crowned at its W. termination by the beautiful Chapel of Notre Dame, and by a windmill at the E. termination. In Lamballe are some picturesque old houses, and there is a haras for the improvement of the breed of horses in Brittany. The town possesses three churches, one of which is Notre Dame, and was a chapel of the counts of Penthièvre, and is by far the finest in the town, but it is now only occasionally that divine service is performed in it.

The parish church of S. Jean is of the late middle pointed style, 1425, with an octagonal tower of 1420 at the base, but much later at the crown. The church has been atrociously mutilated, all the tracery cut out of the windows in the 18th cent. to be replaced by an iron framework to sustain the glass. The Church of S. Martin was of early Romanesque of the beginning of the 11th cent., but the arches to the east show the beginning of the pointed style. The S. transept possesses a good middle pointed geometric window. The tower was begun in 1551 and became purely renaissance before completion. The quaint wooden porch was added in 1519.

The Church of Notre Dame is a magnificentstructure, and richly repays a close study. The most ancient portions are the N. transept, with lancet windows, the noble gateway and the W. front, together with the arcade of the nave. But the side aisles are late flamboyant. The choir and S. transept were erected by Charles de Blois and are admirable examples of 2nd or middle pointed architecture at its very best. The choir is vaulted but not the nave. To sustain the vault on the S. side are buttresses within the church forming side chapels and pierced with delicate tracery. There is a double triforium. The choir has a square end lighted by a noble E. window, very tall and of only four lights. The clustered pillars on the S. side of the choir and the piers sustaining the central tower are remarkably fine. There is a little flamboyant screen with a renaissance organ-case above it in the S. aisle of the choir.

S. Aaron.On the Lande du Chêne-hut is an allée couverte composed of 13 stones, three of which are coverers, and two others lie in the soil. The whole is 30 feet long.

Meslin.Five allées couvertes on the Lande du Gras. One is in the middle of the Lande, one just below the mill, a third in the Champ des Caves, a fourth at Bourdonnais. In the Lande du Gras is a menhir 10 feet high.

*Landerneau(F.) chl. arr. Brest. An excellent centre for many interesting excursions. The town is commercial and thriving. It possesses a few old houses and a quaint mill. The Church of S. Houardon has been rebuilt,but the beautiful tower and superb porch have been preserved. The date of the porch is 1604, and the tower is of much the same date. Landerneau was a great artistic centre in the 16th and 17th cents., and its architects and sculptors erected the splendid work in the Elorn valley and the region around. The style they created is very original and deserves attention. They delighted in adorning the churches with noble porches, bold, and often with the gable crowned with a spirelet. Within, niches hold statues of the twelve apostles. When all other detail is Italian, the foliage remains of flamboyant character. The second church in Landerneau is that of S. Thomas à Becket, 1607, small and uninteresting. To the W. is an ossuary of 1632 converted into a habitation. The valley of the Elorn presents many scenes of considerable beauty. The rocks are of white quartz breaking through the leafy covert of the hills.

Pencran.A steep ascent of a mile leads to this very interesting church, with fine porch and two calvaries and a spire. The date of the porch is 1553. The sculpture here in Kersanton stone is peculiarly rich and delicate. Among the groups of figures may be distinguished Adam and Eve, and the serpent, the expulsion from Paradise, Cain and Abel, Adam delving whilst Eve spins, the Ark and the drunkenness of Noah. In the tymphanum is the Nativity, much mutilated. Within the church are the Descent from the Cross and the Mater dolorosa, groups carved in 1517.

La Roche Maurice.In a most picturesque situation, the church embowered in trees on a height above the river, and a ruined castle on a rock of white quartz. The castle belonged to the dukes of Rohan whose eldest sons bore the title of Princes de Léon, on account of the large family possessions in Léon. The church has a slim tower with double galleries and two sets of open bell cages, and is an excellent typical example of a style very common in the Department of Finistère. Its date is 1589. The porch with some fine foliage in Kersanton stone is of 1530-40. In the churchyard is a good ossuary of 1640. On it is represented Death darting at all sorts and conditions of men, with the inscription "Je vous tue tous." At the entrance to the churchyard are three pillars that support the cross of Christ and the two thieves. Within the church the magnificent east window with its stained glass of 1539 at once arrests the eye. It represents the story of the Passion and reproduces that in S. Mathieu at Quimper, and that in the church of Tourch. After the stained glass, the screen attracts attention. It is renaissance and is the sole example left in its proper position in a parish church in the dioceses of Léon and Quimper. P. Ascension Day. But at Pontchrist, a ruined renaissance church by the river in a picturesque situation, on the 4th S. in July.

La Martyr.This was the scene of the murder of Solomon, King of Brittany, in 874. Solomon had assassinated his cousin Erispoe,who was king, before the altar of the church of Penpont, and so won the crown for himself. He was a contemptible creature. He proceeded to buy off the Northmen and to promise to pay tribute to Charles the Bald, and undertook to undo all the ecclesiastical organisation formed by Nominoe and surrender the jurisdiction over the Breton sees to the Archbishop of Tours, if the Pope would absolve him of the murder. But this was too much for the Bretons to endure, they rose in revolt, headed by Pasquitien, son of the assassinated king, and Solomon, finding himself deserted on all hands, fled with his son towards the coast, hoping to take refuge in England. But he was overtaken where is now La Martyr, where he had taken sanctuary in the church, dragged forth along with the boy and both were killed (874). For some unaccountable reason the Bretons have regarded this despicable murderer as a saint. The tower of the church belongs to the 13th cent. The entrance to the churchyard is by a triumphal arch adorned with statuary. This is the earliest of the kind in the country and belongs to the 16th cent. The porch is remarkable for its style and for the delicacy and richness of the sculpture. It belongs to the latter part of the 15th cent. The ossuary is of 1619 and is attached to the porch. The interior of the church is of the 14th cent. It had originally a fine screen in Kersanton stone, that has been destroyed, but the basement of the parclose screens remains. Four stained windows of 1567 represent the Passion,the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Noli me tangere, the apparition of the risen Christ to His mother, and the Ascension. Also the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin, and a Jesse tree. The Duke and Duchess of Rohan are represented as the donors. The church possesses a magnificent reliquary of the renaissance period. P. on the 2nd S. in July. A great horse fair follows, lasting three days.

S. Divy.This church possesses a ceiling painted with a series of subjects from the life of S. David. P. Sunday after Ascension and 2nd S. in September.

Dirinon(S. Nonna). The name signifies the steps of Nonna. The church stands on very high ground. It is in the usual style of transition between flamboyant and renaissance (1588-93). A chapel in the churchyard contains the tomb of S. Nonna, mother of S. David, and wife of Sandde, grandson of Ceredig, who drove the Irish out of S.W. Wales and gave its name to Cardigan. The tomb, however, is a work of the 15th cent. At a little distance from the village is her well (1623). At the further end of the village is that of S. David. P. 2nd S. after Trinity.

Plougastel.The costumes of this district are very picturesque. The men wear blue or violet jackets and three waistcoats and sashes. The church is modern, but in the churchyard is a marvellous Calvary (1602-4) consisting of an arcade under a platform crowded with statues, and a frieze surrounds it, carved with subjects inbas-relief. P. at La Fontaine Blanche, Easter Monday and the 15th August; at S. Jean on the 24th June. By the Chapel of S. Guénolé is a rude stone, against which barren women rub themselves in the hope of becoming mothers.

* LANDIVISIAU (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A small town on the high road from Morlaix to Brest. It forms an excellent starting point for several interesting excursions. The church is modern, but has a tower and spire of 1590, partaking of the fault of all those in Léon and Cornouailles of this period. It is thin and pinched. The date of the superb porch is 1554. It is an interesting study, as it serves as a link between those of pure flamboyant and such as are true renaissance. About the great arch are subjects from the Old Testament. Within are the twelve apostles; the corbels supporting them are curious and varied; symbolical. For instance, one represents two drunken soldiers carrying off two girls, one carrying a mirror, another a sceptre, signifying that damsels with vanity or arrogance fall an easy prey. In the cemetery outside the town is an ossuary, date about 1620. In the town is the Holy Well of S. Divisiau, almost buried among houses. It supplies a large public washing basin. Two ranges of an arcade surmount it, containing ten panels that have come from some tomb of the 16th cent. Landivisiau, with its comfortable hotel, is a good starting-place for excursions to places where the accommodation is not all that could be desired.

CALVARY AND OSSUARY, S. THÉGONNEC

S. Thégonnec.This place is richly deserving of a visit with its church, and churchyard overcrowded with piles of granite, Calvary and ossuary and triumphal arch. The last mentioned is of 1587 and is cumbrous but effective. These triumphal arches first made their appearance at the close of the Gothic period. This is wholly Italian in character. The ossuary adjoins it and belongs to a later period, but is far purer in design, 1676-7. The façade is very rich and beautiful. Within in a crypt is a Holy Sepulchre, life sized figures of 1702. The Calvary dates from 1610 and represents scenes of the Passion. The oldest portion of the church is the west doorway with the little bell-turret rising above it; this dates from 1563. At a later date the huge tower was erected on the south with a porch in its basement, built between 1599 and 1610, the statues added in 1632. Above the porch is the statue of S. Thégonnec (To-quessnac, a disciple of Paul of Léon). The window tracery is modern and does not faithfully represent the old tracery. The nave was built in 1777. The furniture of the church is interesting. The pulpit, though late, is fine. A niche with shutters painted with scenes from the Saint's life contains a statue of the patron. Opposite is another statue of the B.V.M. with painted shutters. The tower is heavy, and the effect of chamfering the angles very unpleasing. To support the gallery the angles of the tower are very massive, buttresses are added and between them the wall is reduced,and the gallery sustained on heavy corbels. The platform is surmounted by a dome and lantern and little side pepper-boxes. The interior effect of the church is rich and harmonious in gold and colour, if somewhat barbaric.

Locmelaris reached by ascending a pretty valley that contains an affluent of the Elorn. The church is late flamboyant, with apse and gables. The porch is of the common type of the period and contains statues of the apostles. There is a Calvary. The tower dates from 1656. Over a side altar is a painting representing in a series of groups the legend of S. Hervé, a blind bard saint who contributed greatly to the downfall of Conmore, acting in conjunction with Gildas and S. Samson.

Bodilis.The tower of this church was erected when Gothic architecture was in its decline. It is surmounted by a spire with spirelets at the angles rising from a gallery. The porch is of 1570, and is of unusual beauty. Within are the apostles; below the niches runs a band of marvellous richness of sculpture and great variety. The font is surmounted by a baldachin in Kersanton stone of 1680. P. on Ascension Day.

S. Servais.This church has an early renaissance tower with double galleries and two bell cages, the whole surmounted by a spire and pinnacles. The body of the church is of the latter half of the 17th cent. The graveyardcross has sculptured scenes on it, and there is an ossuary like that at Landivisiau.

Guimiliau.Annually numerous tourists visit this village to see its very remarkable ecclesiastical monuments, its church, porch, sacristy, calvary, and the little Chapel of Ste. Anne. The porch rivals that of Bodilis and Landerneau. The doorway into the porch has a series of biblical scenes in sculpture in the mouldings. The date is 1617. The voluted keystone alone proclaims the abandonment of Gothic for Italian architecture. To the west side of the porch is attached an ossuary, the roof supported by columns. The sacristy was erected in 1683. The Calvary consists of a mass of masonry, pierced by arches in the angle buttresses, the whole sustaining a frieze covered with sculptured figures, and the platform above crowded with statues. The whole surmounted by the cross with SS. Mary and John at the sides. The groups are very curious and represent soldiers and peasants of the close of the 16th cent. The Calvary was erected in 1581. Near the Calvary is the mortuary chapel of Ste. Anne, 1648. The interior of the church contains a magnificent baldachino over the font in carved oak; it was constructed in 1675. The organ case is of much the same date, the pulpit of 1677. The church possesses two embroidered banners of 1678. Guimiliau (Vicus Miliai) has as patron Miliau, King of Cornouaille, who was basely assassinated by his brother Rivold in 537, who also mutilated his nephew Melor,by amputating a hand and a foot, and finally by having him murdered by his foster-father, whom he had bribed to do the deed.

There is a Holy Well of S. Miliau outside the village.

Lampaul-Guimiliau.The great tower of this church (S. Paul of Léon) was founded in 1573, and is very lofty and surmounted by a spire which has remained incomplete. The porch is fifty years older. Within are the apostles in very quaint niches. The sculpture of the Holy Water Stoup and of the inner doorway is remarkably rich. The font is of 1651, and is surrounded and surmounted by a baldachino of 1650. The pulpit, that is late, is a fine piece of wood carving. The east end of the choir terminates in an apse with gables. The Calvary, triumphal arch, and ossuary belong to 1668. P. 1st S. in May. At the Chapel of S. Anne, S. after 15th August.