Part 5

_Plougonvelen._ Fine coast scenery. Here, in an imposing position above the sea, are the ruins of the Abbey of S. Mathieu. The monastery was destroyed at the Revolution. The church (1152-1208) was much altered in the 14th and 15th cents. The abbey was founded in the 6th cent. by S. Tanguy. Near it is now a lighthouse. Of the parish church the only portions that are ancient are the porch and the N. transept. P. Sunday nearest 21st Sept. Off the promontory can be seen the clusters of islands leading in a N.W. direction to _Ouessant_. Of these the Ile de Banque, le Guéménés, and the Ile Molène are the principal. Ouessant and these islands can be reached from Conquet, a steamer leaving there thrice a week. The _Ile Molène_ is only three-quarters of a mile long and about half-a-mile wide, and contains 570 inhabitants. Property in it is minutely subdivided. It was here that the bodies were washed ashore after the wreck of the _Drummond Castle_ on June 16, 1896. The _Ile d'Ouessant_ is about seven miles long and three broad; plenty of fresh water is found on the island, that contains 2280 inhabitants. It was here that Paulus Aurelianus, a native of Glamorganshire, landed when migrating from Britain at the head of a considerable party. He, however, did not remain above two or three years in the island, and then crossed over to the mainland. The church Lampaul (Lann-Paul) on Ouessant was founded by him. The cliffs are abrupt, and the rocks pierced with caves and natural arches. The island produces potatoes, and gives good feed to sheep. It is in process of being extensively fortified for the protection of Brest.

BROONS (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Bertrand du Guesclin was born here in 1320. The castle has completely disappeared, but a column has been erected on the site in commemoration of the fact.

_Sevignac._ The Château of Brondineuf of the 12th cent. is well preserved.

CANCALE (I. V.) chl. arr. S. Malo. A little port, and a favourite watering place. It is noted for its oysters. During one part of the year nearly all the male population is absent on the banks of Newfoundland engaged in the cod-fisheries. The rochers de Cancale are a mass of granite rising precipitously above the sea not far from the mainland. Much granite is quarried at Cancale. The church of S. Méen is modern.

* CARHAIX (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. An old Roman town, Vorganium, lies high and in dreary country. Scanty remains of a Roman aqueduct are pointed out. The church (S. Tremor) is modern and good, with a fine East window; the tower is of 1529-35, with a West doorway, the carving of foliage on which is deserving of notice. More interesting is the church of Plouguer, originally very early in the 11th cent., containing some arches and piers and clerestory windows. It was enlarged in the 16th cent. (1574), and was ruthlessly mutilated in the 18th when the flamboyant tracery was hacked out of the windows, and the screen was demolished. The tower is remarkably fine, with bold splayed belfry windows. It was intended to support a spire which was never added. There is a handsome old house in the town of carved stone and timber. P. at S. Roque last S. but one in August.

_Carnoet_ on very high ground. Here is the _peniti_ or place of retreat of Gildas with a chapel, by the river, and high up in a clump of trees under a camp that dates from the invasion of Brittany by the Northmen, is a curious chapel of S. Gildas of late flamboyant melting into renaissance. It has a W. spirelet, gallery and two bells, the spirelet sustained on an arch. Within, sunk in the pavement, is an 11th cent. sarcophagus, reputed to be the bed of S. Gildas, who died in 570. In the N. aisle is a range of six stages of fowl hutches. On the Pardon, 29th Jan., the peasants make offerings of fowls and horsehair; the former are put into these hutches where they cluck and cackle through mass, and then are sold by auction for the benefit of the chapel and its maintenance. The camp above is an admirable typical example of the Norseman fortress, consisting of a tump, hollowed out in the middle, that sustained a wooden superstructure; and a base-court.

_Cleden-Poher_ has a large church of the middle of the 16th cent., but with alterations made in 1689, at which date the sacristy was built. It has a fine west porch, and in the apse a good flamboyant window in six bays with a column up the centre against which, within, stands a statue. In a Chapel of N.D. de Cleden the vault is covered with paintings of the 18th cent. The high altar has a retable into which are let sculptured panels of the 16th cent., and others, representing the seven sacraments, are about the apse. The venerated image of N.D. dates from the 14th cent. The Calvary in the graveyard is of 1575. At the N.E. corner of the churchyard is an ossuary, transition between flamboyant and renaissance. P. 15th Aug.

_Treffrin_ (C.N.) possesses a fine Roman camp at Kermoisan, with remains of a tower in it. The Church of N.D. is of 1580, the porch of 1582, richly decorated, and contains niches within containing statues of the twelve apostles; the corbels supporting them are all different in design.

_Locarn._ The church is of the 12th cent. with additions and alterations of the 16th. It contains the tomb of the patron, S. Harn, in granite, 14th cent. The east window has stained glass of 1572 representing scenes of the Passion. The pulpit is renaissance, syrens occupy the angles. There is a Holy Well with an early statue of the Saint above it. A Calvary, the base ornamented with sculptured dolphins. In the presbytère is a magnificent silver-gilt processional cross of the 16th cent. In the parish are several menhirs, at Quellence Buis, Loquevel, Grand Follezon, etc., but of no great height.

_Le Moustoir_ (C.N.). Church of 1507, in the shape of a T. The cornice, on which rests the vault, represents grotesque figures and groups. The E. window retains its old glass, representing the Life of the Virgin. In the tracery are the four great prophets. On the N. side a fireplace for heating the water for baptism.

_Maël Carhaix_ (C.N.). On the Place is a Roman military milestone with inscription stating that it was erected in the reign of Septimius Severus. The Church of S. Pierre (1530) has old stained glass representing the Fathers of the Church and Bishops. The glass is of the same date as the church. At Maël Carhaix is the cave whence issues the spring that supplied Vorganium with water by an aqueduct.

* CARNAC, com. of Quiberon. Noted for the vast numbers of its prehistoric monuments. It lies on the low flat shores of the Baie de Quiberon, and is a great place for the cultivation of oysters. To obtain a good general view of the place it is well to ascend first of all the Mont S. Michel, a huge cairn piled up over a natural elevation of granite. It is oblong in shape and rises to about 60 feet. On the summit is a chapel of the Archangel, with an old granite cross. The mound was dug into in 1863 when a dolmen was discovered that contained over a hundred polished stone axes, a necklace, and other objects of the early bronze age. Further excavation in 1890 has disclosed another dolmen, in which, along with some stone implements, were two bronze buttons. The cairn is built up carefully of stones laid in order over a sheet of pebbles, and above them more of the same and of seaweed had been spread, and then above this fresh stones have been piled. From the summit the alignments of Carnac can be seen on the north. To visit these latter the following course should be pursued. Take the road to Ker Malvezin, and in a few minutes, on a bit of rising ground on the left is seen a dolmen on which a cross has been erected. Very soon after the road traverses the lines of Le Menec. There are still standing eleven of these rows and they run from E.N.E. to W.S.W. The total length is 3510 feet, and there are 1169 stones in them. The tallest of them is 13 feet high, but the majority from 3 to 4 feet. It is well to turn to the left and pursue the rows to the western extremity where is a semi-circular enclosure, evidently not in its original condition, and it is doubtful whether it be not a modern erection made out of stones pilfered from the rows to form a farm enclosure attached to the farm of Le Menec.

Having retraced our steps to the road, we cross it and follow the avenues of upright stones till we reach and cross another road, that to Ploemel. The road has broken through the lines, which continue only a few yards to the east, and then are brought to a conclusion by blocking stones, that is to say, slabs set at right angles to the lines. From this point ensues a gap for about 345 yards where is a little plantation of Austrian pines, a stone quarry, and some furzy enclosures. The lines are not, however, wholly interrupted; a few upright stones and several that are prostrate testify that there was some continuation. We follow a new road through the plantation and between walls till we come abruptly on a fresh cluster of stones, and these the largest we have yet seen. This is the commencement of the Kermario group. These started from several tumuli enclosing dolmens, but of such only one, an allée couverte pertaining to the southernmost line, remains. The lines though mutilated are instructive. They start from this allée couverte and run about 250 yards to a pair of blocking stones, planted at right angles to the rows. The Kermario alignments run N.E. up a hill crowned by a disused windmill that has been constructed out of the blocks, then they continue some way till walls and a wood interrupt their course. Ten rows remain, and the number of the standing stones is 982. The largest of the menhirs is prostrate; apparently it had been purposely thrown down to form a coverer to a Gallo-Roman grave that has been discovered beneath it. What is of special interest is the fact that a Roman camp was formed in these lines, and that those who constructed the camp made use of the stones for their wall of enclosure, breaking up some, and employing others in their original position where it served their purpose. From the easternmost end of the Kermario group occurs an interruption of about 398 yards, and then we come upon a third set of stone rows, that of Kerlescant, which stretches 885 yards, but is much mutilated about the village. Thirteen lines can be traced containing 540 stones, but there were others, some 40, that lie to the north, and are the poor remains of another series of stone rows. On the east again the alignment is supposed to describe a curve towards the north, and then recommence and run east again to the Crach estuary. Near the rows is also a ruined allée couverte. The whole extent of rows cannot be estimated as short of 4½ miles.

Poor fragments of other alignments remain at Ste. Barbe, near a couple of windmills by the station of Plouharnel, and again, and remains of a stone circle by the dolmen of Keriaval. The dolmens are very numerous, but not in the commune of Carnac to the extent that they are in the adjoining parishes. An enumeration of them may be omitted here, as at Carnac for a franc at the Musée Milne may be had a serviceable little book, "Carnac et ses Monuments," by M. Le Rouzic, with a map. One word of caution must however be given--not to accept the wild theories promulgated relative to dolmens and alignments. A close and scientific comparative study of these monuments has led to a pretty certain determination as to their purposes. The dolmens and allées couvertes were sepulchres, family or tribal; and the alignments consist of stones erected by members of the tribe or families belonging to the tribe in honour of the several dead who were laid in the dolmens. The stone circles were either places where the dead were burned and funeral feasts were held, or were places of tribal gatherings for palavers; generally they served both purposes. Isolated menhirs were either memorials to the dead, or boundary marks between tribal lands. All dolmens were originally buried under cairns or tumuli.

The parish church at Carnac was rebuilt in 1639 and has a well proportioned tower and spire, with spirelets at the angles. Above the west door is a statue of S. Cornelius, who throughout Lower Brittany is the patron of horned beasts, as S. Eloi (Eligius, B. of Noyon) is of horses. On the north side is an extravagant baroque porch, with a stone crown or baldachin above it. The fountain of S. Cornély is west of the church. A tramway now connects Carnac with Belz and Erdeven.

The Pardon of S. Cornély takes place on Sept. 13, and is a curious sight. Cattle are brought to the church and offered to S. Cornély, and those thus offered are sold afterwards by auction, and are eagerly bought.

_Plœmel._ East of S. Cado is a menhir standing and two others fallen; east of S. Laurent by the roadside a menhir leaning, opposite a stone cross. In the tumulus of Mané-Bodgad near Kermarquer, a sepulchral chamber. The church has been rebuilt and is a despicable structure. In the cemetery is a lech fallen. Another found there has been trimmed and set on the top of the tower.

_Plouharnel._ The largest dolmen in the Department is that of Corconneau in this parish. It measures 6 feet high inside, and is 25 feet long. Four hundred paces to the east are the remains of an alignment composed of 21 menhirs. To the south the ground is strewn with ruined dolmens and menhirs either fallen or standing, relics of alignments that have been plundered. At Ste. Barbe, to which allusion has already been made, some 30 stones remain of an alignment, and the remains of a stone circle. At Vieux Moulin are six standing stones, and a little further the dolmens of Mané-Rémor and Runmeur. Further north at Kernevez a dolmen that has had its coverer displaced, and at Cosquer two or three more. On descending to the south at Runesto a dolmen half buried, and at Kerguvat, on the way to Carnac, a dolmen with a gallery. Between the village and the station is the tumulus of Rondossec that contains three dolmens, one of which when explored gave up two gold torques. The church is modern and bad.

For _Erdeven_ see under Belz.

CAULNES (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Once a Roman station. Relics found there are preserved in the Mairie. The church has undergone great alterations. The tower was rebuilt in the 18th cent., but the old W. entrance of the 16th cent. was preserved.

_Guitée._ Alignments of quartz blocks standing on others in which are cavities that have been found to contain ashes. There are five rows and run N. and S. One has in it 15 stones fallen, and 7 standing; one of them is 11 feet high. Another, a blocking stone, is 15 feet high. The second row has 12 stones fallen, and 2 upright; one of the prostrate blocks measures 15 feet 6 inches. The third line has 11 stones, all prostrate. The fourth line consists of 7 stones standing and 4 fallen. One of those erect is 18 feet 6 inches high.

CHÂTEAUBOURG (I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. The church has a renaissance portal. There are remains of a priory of the 14th cent. converted into a private house.

CHÂTEAUGIRON (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. Ruins of a castle. Two towers fairly well preserved.

CHÂTEAULIN (F.) chl. d'arr. Prettily situated on the Aulne which is canalised, so as to connect Brest with Nantes. The hills rise to a considerable height above Châteaulin, as here the Monts d'Arrée and the Montagnes Noires draw together, the latter to be prolonged into the Peninsula of Crozon. But though prettily planted, there is not much of interest in the town. The church (S. Idumet) is modern and unsatisfactory. On a rock on the right bank of the river is the site of the castle that has been completely destroyed. The chapel however remains. The piers and arches are of the 12th cent. The tower is renaissance and is beautifully proportioned. The archway into the churchyard is 16th cent., and the cross and ossuary of the same period. P. 1st Sunday in Sept. From Châteaulin the _Menez-hom_ (990 ft.) may be visited for the sake of the view over the Rade de Brest and the Bay of Douarnenez. Ste. Marie du Menez-hom is a chapel (1574-91), with renaissance bell tower. The iron gate to the churchyard is of 1730, the Calvary of 1544.

_S. Nic_, most picturesquely situated, has a quaint granite church of the prevailing style of fusion of Gothic with renaissance.

_S. Ségal_ (Cadwalader). In this parish the Chapel of S. Sebastian is of the dimensions of a church. It possesses some old glass. The Calvary is of the same type as that at Ste. Marie du Menez-hom. It consists of a cross with a double pair of arms beneath; on the topmost are SS. Mary and John, on the lower Roman soldiers on horseback. P. Sunday after 22nd July.

_Loperec._ The church (S. Bridget) has a spire of 1668, and an interesting Calvary of 1552. The porch dates from 1586, with niches containing statues of the twelve apostles, these carved in 1615. In the church is some fine work of the barbaric style of Louis XIV., especially the retable of the altar of the Rosary. P. last Sunday in August.

_Cast._ Has a Holy Well of the 15th cent., much resorted to, especially on the Pardon, 2nd Sunday in May. At Lelzach are menhirs. The Mur du Diable is a wall rudely constructed of blocks not set in mortar, probably prehistoric.

_Quéménéven_ (S. Ouen, who has displaced S. Eugene, B. of Ardstraw). In this parish is the Chapel of Kergoat, one of the most renowned and favourite places of pilgrimage in Lower Brittany. The great Pardon is on the Sunday after the 15th August.

* CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-FAOU (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. A picturesquely situated town on the Aulne. The well timbered heights of the Montagnes Noires rise to the south. The castle has disappeared, and its site is occupied by the hideous modern chapel of N.D. des Portes in a parody of Romanesque. The very interesting 16th cent. chapel was destroyed to make way for this monstrosity. However, the beautiful doorway (1430) has been preserved. The Pardon, very largely attended, with a procession bearing candles on the eve, is on the last Sunday in August. The parish church (S. Theilo, B. of Llandaff) has been rebuilt and is successful. The tower of the old church, 17th. cent., remains. The patron has been relegated to a place of no consideration in the S. transept to make room for saints more modern and in the Roman Martyrology.

_Spezet._ The interesting Chapel of N.D. du Crann is of 1502, and possesses seven magnificent stained glass windows of 1548. There are chapels of S. Tudy, P. 3rd Sunday in July, and S. Bridget, P. Sunday after the Ascension. But the P. at N.D. du Crann, the most important, is on Trinity Sunday.

_Landeleau._ The church (S. Theilo) is fine and has a porch of 1540. P. Monday in Whitsun Week.

CHÂTEAUNEUF (I.V.) chl. arr. S. Malo, on the high road from S. Malo to Dinan. It is near the estuary of the Rance but is not on it. The castle has been almost wholly destroyed and a modern castle built on the site. The parish church, which is small, has a picturesque tower and some flamboyant windows.

_S. Suliac_ possesses an interesting church of the 13th century. It contains the tomb of the Saint Tysilio, as the Welsh call him, who is the reputed author of the original History of the Britons, from which Geoffrey of Monmouth drew some of the facts which he embroidered with elaborate fiction. He was the son of Brocwel, King of Powys. On his father's death, an elder son succeeded to the principality, but reigned only two years and died childless. Thereupon the widow proposed to marry Tysilio, and take him out of his monastery to become King of Powys. Tysilio had no inclination either for the lady or for the crown, and refused. His sister-in-law was exasperated and so harassed him and his monastery, that he deemed it expedient to quit Wales. He came to Brittany and landed at Aleth (S. Servan) and founded a monastery where is now Saint Suliac. On the death of his sister-in-law he returned to Wales, and became Bishop of S. Asaph in succession to Asaph, who was his first cousin. In his old age he seems to have retired to die in his Breton Monastery.

CHÂTELAUDREN (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. The castle, originally a Roman camp, was the residence of Aldor or Audrien, prince of the British colonists who settled here. The castle was destroyed in 1808. It is now in private grounds, prettily situated above a little tarn. The parish church is modern, but on the height above the town is N.D. du Tertre, a church, 2nd pointed but with a flamboyant east window. There are remains of old glass. There is a 2nd pointed stone altar of S. Margaret. The spire was added later and there are internal buttresses. The wooden ceiling is covered with paintings. Near the chapel is a picturesque 16th cent. mansion. In the parish church alabaster bas reliefs of the 16th cent. are preserved in the sacristy.

_Bocqueho_, on the main road to Quintin, has a flamboyant Chapel of N.D. de Pitié with stained glass of the period representing scenes of the Passion.

CHÈSE, LA (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac. There are halles of the 17th cent., and a church of the 18th.

_La Ferrière._ The church is partly of the 13th and partly of the 14th cent. The south chapel is of the 16th, with good glass of 1546 and 1551. Ruins of the abbey of Lantenac, founded in 1150; a portion of the cloisters remain, and a chapel of the 15th cent.

_Plèmet._ Chapel of S. Lubin of the 16th cent. with contemporary glass. In one window the legend of S. Lubin; in another the life of S. John the Baptist.

CLEGUEREC (M.) chl. arr. Pontivy. Church modern, but in the churchyard a cross of the 17th cent. In the Chapel of S. Morvan is the tomb of the Saint, a rude granite sarcophagus. Near the church, by the roadside, is a lech with crosses cut on it. In the chapel of the Baptist is 16th cent. glass. Several allées couvertes are in the parish. One at Parc-er-bé, near the hamlet of Rotherbaz, 36 ft. long. At Bod-er-Mohet remains of another, 72 ft. long, divided into compartments within. Near by a menhir 12 ft. high. P. at S. Gildas, 1st S. in May. P. at S. Jean, S. after the 24th June. That at S. Anne 4th S. in July. Pretty lake at Ste. Brigitte.

COMBOURG (I.V.) chl. arr. S. Malo. Church modern and very bad. The castle belongs to the Châteaubriant family, and is shown on Wednesdays. It is a structure of the 14th and 15th cents., and has been carefully restored. It stands above a little lake in a picturesque situation, and has good grounds and trees about it. In the dining-room is a bust of Françoise de Foix, who was the wife of the Count of Châteaubriant. The count was compelled to be at Court, but long refused to allow his wife to appear there, and only yielded when Francis I. insisted upon it. The King fell desperately in love with her, and made her his mistress. The count was forced to swallow his rage, but when the fickle king turned to Mlle. d'Helly, afterwards Duchesse d'Etampes, then he carried her back to Châteaubriant where he starved her to death. The castle is supposed to be haunted by an old Châteaubriant with a wooden leg and by his black cat. The author of Réné and Athalie spent much time here in his youth, and his room and chair are shown. A ruined dolmen is at Chevot.

_S. Leger._ Church of the 15th cent. A prehistoric monument goes by the name of La Chaise de Saint Leger.

_Cugnon._ A menhir called La Pierre longue, 20 ft. high.