xi. 389-423 (many since published) and Le Braz gives a useful list of

other manuscripts in the bibliographical appendix to his _Theatre celtique_. A few of these plays belong to the Middle Breton period. The _Life of St Nonn_, the mother of St David, belongs to the end of the 15th century, and follows the Latin life (published by Ernault in the _Revue celtique_, viii. 230 ff., 405 ff.). _Le Grand Mystere de Jesus_ (1513) follows the French play of Arnoul Gresban and Jean Michel (published by H. de la Villemarque, Paris, 1865). A French original is also followed in the _Mystere de Sainte Barbe_ (1st ed., 1557, 2nd ed., 1647, reprinted by Ernault, Nantes, 1885). These mystery plays may be divided into four categories according to the subjects with which they deal: (1) Old Testament subjects; (2) New Testament subjects; (3) lives of saints; (4) romances of chivalry. There is occasionally a dash of local colouring in these plays; but the subject matter is taken from French sources or, in the case of the third category, from Latin lives. Even when the life of a Breton saint, e.g. St Gwennole, is dramatized, the treatment is the traditional one accorded to all saints of whatever origin. Amongst the most favourite subjects in addition to those already mentioned we may note the following: _Vie des quatre fils Aymon_, _Ste Tryphine et le roi Arthur_, _Huon de Bordeaux_, _Vie de Louis Eunius_, _Robert le Diable_. These mysteries commonly contain from 5000 to 9000 lines of either 12 or 8 syllables apiece. For the sake of completeness we may add the names of three farces, described by Le Braz: _Ar Farvel goapaer_ (_Le bouffon moqueur_), _Ian Melarge_ (_Mardi-gras_), _La Vie de Mardi-gras, de triste Mine, sa femme, et de ses enfants_. The actors, who were always peasants, came to be regarded with an unfavourable eye by the clergy, who finally succeeded in killing the Breton stage.

We look in vain for any manifestation of originality in Breton literature until we reach the 19th century. The consciousness of nationality then awakened and found expression in verse.

The movement led by Le Gonidec (described above in the section on Breton language) caused ardent patriots to endeavour to create a national literature, more especially when the attention of the whole world of letters was directed to Brittany after the publication of the _Barzas Breiz_. The most prominent of these pioneers were Auguste Brizeux, F.M. Luzel and Prosper Proux. Brizeux (1803-1858), better known as a French poet, wrote a collection of lyrics entitled _Telen Arvor_, or the _Armorican Harp_ (Lorient, 1844, reprinted Paris, 1903). Luzel's original compositions were published under the title of _Bepred Breizad, Toujours Breton_ (Morlaix, 1865), and Prosper Proux is known as the author of _Canaouenno gret gant eur C'hernewod_ (1838) and _Ar Bombard Kerne_, or _The Hautboy of Cornouailles_ (Guingamp, 1866). Dottin also mentions _Telenn Remengol_, by J. Lescour (Brest, 1867); _Telenn Gwengam_, by the same writer (Brest, 1869), a volume of _Chansoniou_ by Y.M. Thomas (Lannion, 1870), and another by C. Rannou. This was a very creditable beginning, but the themes of these writers are apt to be somewhat conventional and the constant recurrence of the same situation or the same idea grows monotonous. An anthology of poems connected with this movement appeared at Quimperle in 1862 under the title of _Bleuniou Breiz, Poesies anciennes et modernes de la Basse-Bretagne_ (reprinted, Paris, 1905). Several of La Fontaine's fables were published in a Breton dress by P.D. de Goesbriand (Morlaix, 1836), and a collection of fables in verse which is thought very highly of by cultivated Bretons appeared under the title of _Marvaillou Grac'h koz_ by G. Milin (Brest, 1867). A book of Georgics in the dialect of Vannes appeared under the title of _Levr al labourer_ (The Farmer's Book) by l'Abbe Guillome (Vannes, 1849), and Le Gonidec prepared a translation of the Scriptures, which was revised by Troude and Milin, and published at St Brieuc in 1868. But the real literature of Brittany consists of legends, folk-tales and ballads. The first to tap this source was Hersart de la Villemarque (1815-1895), who issued in 1839 his famous collection of ballads entitled _Barzas Breiz_, but which cannot be regarded as an anthology of Breton popular poetry. The publication of this work gave rise to a controversy which is almost as famous as that caused by Macpherson's forgeries. De la Villemarque was endowed with considerable poetic gifts, and, coming as he did at a time when folk-poetry was the fashion, he determined to collect the popular literature of his own country. However, he was not content to publish the poems as he found them circulating in Brittany. With the aid of several collaborators he transformed his material, eliminating anything that was crude and gross. The poems included in his collection may be divided into three classes: (1) Poems rearranged by himself or others. These consist mainly of love-songs and ballads. (2) Modern poems transferred to medieval times. (3) Spurious poems dealing with such personages as Nominoe and Merlin. The compiler of the _Barzas Breiz_ unfortunately laboured under the delusion that these Breton folk-songs were in the first instance the work of medieval bards corresponding to Taliessin and Llywarch Hen in Wales, and that it was possible to make them appear in their primitive dress. The very title of the collection indicates the artificial nature of the contents. For _Barzas_ (in the 2nd edition of 1867 spelt _Barzaz_) is not a Breton word at all but is formed on Welsh _barddas_ (bardic poems). For the whole controversy the reader may consult H. Gaidoz and P. Sebillot, "Bibliographie des traditions et de la litterature populaire de la Bretagne" (_Revue celtique_, v. 277 ff., and G. Dottin in the _Revue de synthese historique_, viii. 95 ff.). In Brittany it is usual to divide the popular poetry into _gwerziou_ and _soniou_. The _gwerziou_ (complaintes) deal with local history, folk-lore, religious legends and superstitions, and are in general much more original than the other class. The _soniou_ consist of love-songs, satires, carols and marriage-lays, as well as others dealing with professional occupations, and seem in many cases to show traces of French influence. The first scholar who published the genuine ballad literature of Brittany was F.M. Luzel, who issued two volumes under the title of _Gwerziou Breiz-Izel, chants populaires de la Basse-Bretagne_ (Lorient and Paris, 1868, 1874). This collection contains several of the originals of poems in the _Barzas Breiz_. Luzel is also the author of a collection of Breton tales in French translation, _Contes bretons recueillis et traduits par F.M. Luzel_ (Quimperle, 1870). The same author published _Les Legendes chretiennes de la Basse-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1881) and _Veillees bretonnes, moeurs, chants, contes et recits populaires des Bretons-Armoricains_ (Morlaix, 1879). Another indefatigable collector of Breton legends is Anatole le Braz, who was commissioned by the minister of public instruction to investigate the stories current with reference to _An Ankou_ (death). Le Braz's results are to be found in his _La Legende de la mort_ (1902[2]). A well-known collection of stories with a French translation was issued by the lexicographer Troude under the title of _Ar marvailler brezounek_ (Brest, 1870), and one of the most popular books at the present day is _Pipi Gonto_, by A. le Moal (St Brieuc, vol. i. 1902, vol. ii. 1908). A recent collection of stories with a religious tendency is C.M. le Prat's _Marvailhou ar Vretoned_ (Brest, 1907). The modern movement, which started in the 'nineties of last century, has already produced numerous dramas and volumes of lyrics, and it may now be affirmed in all seriousness that Brittany is producing something really national. The scope of the writers of the earlier movement was very limited and little originality was displayed in their productions. The literary output of the last ten years in Brittany may truly be termed prodigious, and much of it reaches quite a high level. The dramas which are being produced are mainly propagandist in the interests either of the _Union Regionaliste Bretonne_ or of temperance reform. These are for the most part very crude, but they have been received with great enthusiasm, and this has led to the revival of the old mysteries, though in a somewhat modified form. The foremost living writer is Fanch Jaffrennou, who writes under the name of "_Taldir_" (Brow of Steel) and is the author of two very striking volumes of lyrics--_An Hirvoudou_ or _Sighs_ (St Brieuc, 1899) and _An Delen Dir_ or _The Harp of Steel_ (St Brieuc, 1900). The latter is the most interesting outcome of the modern movement. Among other poets we may mention N. Quellien (_Annaik_, Paris, 1880; _Breiz, Poesies bretonnes_, Paris, 1898), Erwan Berthou (_Dre an Delen hag ar c'horn-boud, Par la harpe et par le cor de guerre_, St Brieuc, 1904), C.M. le Prat, who writes under the name of Klaoda (_Mouez Reier Plougastel_, "The Voice of the Cliffs of Plougastel," St Brieuc, 1905), J. Cuillandre (_Mouez an Aochou, La Voix des greves_, Rennes, 1903), abbe Lec'hvien, _Gwerziou ha soniou_ (St Brieuc, 1900), and, further, two anonymous volumes of verse, _An Tremener, Gwerziou ha soniou_ (Brest, 1900), and _Kanaouennou Kerne_ (Brest, 1900). Two older collections are mentioned by Dottin--J. Cadiou, _En Breiz-Izel_ (Morlaix, 1885) and _Ivona_ (Morlaix, 1886). An anthology of latter-day lyrics appeared at Rennes in 1902 under the title of _Bleuniou Breiz-Izel, Dibab Barzoniezou_. Of the numerous plays those most deserving of mention from a literary point of view are perhaps _Ar Vezventi_ by T. le Garrec; the comedy _Alanik al Louarn_ by J.M. Perrot (Brest, 1905) based on the farce of Pathelin; Tanguy Malmanche, _Le Conte de l'ame qui a faim_, in which Breton superstitions connected with the spirits of the dead are introduced with strange effect; J. le Bayon, _En Eutru Keriolet_ (Vannes, 1902), which deals with the life and death of a blaspheming Breton nobleman of the early part of the 17th century; F. Jaffrennou, _Pontkallek_ (Brest, 1903), which tells of the betrayal of a noble Breton who was put to death by the French in 1720; and the farce _Eur Pesk-Ebrel_ by L. Rennadis (Morlaix, 1900).

AUTHORITIES.--A history of Breton literature does not exist, though we possess ample materials for such a work. The following works and articles may be consulted: G. Dottin. _Revue de synthese historique_, viii, 93-104, contains a full bibliography; J. Loth, _Chrestomathie bretonne_ (Paris, 1890); L.C. Stern in _Die Kultur d. Gegenwart_, i. xi. 1, pp. 132-137; A. le Braz, _Le Theatre celtique_ (Paris, 1904); H. Gaidoz and P. Sebillot, "Bibliographie des traditions et de la litterature populaire de la Bretagne" (_Revue celtique_, v. 277-338; supplement by P. Sebillot_, Revue de Bretagne, de Vendee, et d'Anjou_, 1894); F.M. Luzel, "Formules initiates et finales des conteurs en Basse-Bretagne" (_Revue celtique_, iii. 336 ff.); L.F. Sauve, "Formulettes et traditions diverses de la Basse-Bretagne" (_Revue celtique_, v. 157 ff.); _Charmes_, "Oraisons et conjurations magiques," ib vi. 66 ff.; "Devinettes bretonnes," _ib._ iv 60 ff.; "Proverbes et dictons de la Basse-Bretagne," _ib._ i-iii. For Breton proverbs see also A. Brizeux, "Furnez Breiz," in _Oeuvres de A. Brizeux_ (Paris, 1903); J. Loth, "Chansons en bas-vannetais" (_Revue celtique_, vii. 171 ff.); N. Quellien, _Chansons et danses des Bretons_ (Paris, 1889); E. Ernault, "Chansons populaires" (_Revue celtique_, xxiii. 121 ff.); P. le Roux, "Une Chanson bretonne du xviii^e siecle" (_Revue celtique_, xix. 1). Since 1901 a complete bibliography of modern works pertaining to Breton language and literature appears from time to time in the _Annales de Bretagne._ (E. C. Q.)

VI. CORNISH LITERATURE.--The literature of Cornwall is more destitute of originality and more limited in scope than that of Brittany, and it is remarkable that the medieval drama should occupy the most prominent place in both. The earliest Cornish we know consists of proper names and a vocabulary. About 200 Cornish names occur among the manumissions of serfs in the Bodmin Gospels (10th century). They were printed by Whitley Stokes in the _Revue celtique_, i. 232. Next comes the Cottonian Vocabulary, which seems to follow a similar Anglo-Saxon collection and is contained in a 12th-century MS. at the British Museum. It consists of seven pages and the words are classified under various headings, such as heaven and earth, different parts of the human body, birds, beasts, fishes, trees, herbs, ecclesiastical and liturgical terms. At the end we find a number of adjectives. This vocabulary was printed by Zeuss[2], p. 1065, and again in alphabetical order by Norris in the _Ordinalia_. The language of this document is termed Old Cornish, although the forms it contains correspond to those of Mid. Welsh and Mid. Breton.

The first piece of connected Cornish which we know consists of a poem, or portion of a play(?), of forty-one lines discovered by Jenner in the British Museum. This fragment was probably written about 1400 and deals with the subject of marriage (edited by W. Stokes in the _Revue celtique_, iv. 258). A little later is the _Poem of Mount Calvary_ or _the Passion_, of which five MSS. are in existence. The poem has been twice printed, first by Davies Gilbert with English translation by John Keigwin (1826), and again by W. Stokes for the London Philological Society in 1862. It consists of 259 stanzas of eight lines of seven syllables apiece, and contains a versified narrative of the events of the Passion made up from the Gospels and apocryphal sources, notably the Gospel of Nicodemus. But the bulk of Cornish literature is made up of plays, and in this connexion it may be noted that there still exist in the west of Cornwall the remains of a number of open-air amphitheatres, locally called _plan an guari_, where the plays seem to have been acted. The earliest representatives of this kind of literature in Cornwall form a trilogy going under the name of _Ordinalia_, of which three MSS. are known, one a 15th-century Oxford MS. from which the two others are copied. The _Ordinalia_ were published by Edwin Norris under the title of _The Ancient Cornish Drama_ (Oxford, 1859). The first play is called _Origo Mundi_ and deals with events from the Old Testament down to the building of Solomon's temple. The second play, the _Passio Domini_, goes on without interruption into the third, the _Resurrectio Domini_, which embraces the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection and Ascension, the legend of St Veronica and Tiberius, and the death of Pilate. Here again the pseudo-Gospel of Nicodemus is drawn upon, and interwoven with the Scriptural narrative we find the Legend of the Cross. As the title _Ordinalia_ indicates, these plays are of learned origin and are imitated from English sources. The popular name for these dramas, _quari-mirkle_, is a literal translation of the English term miracle play, and Norris shows that whole passages were translated word for word. Many of the events are represented as having taken place in well-known Cornish localities, but apart from this scarcely any traces of originality can be discovered. The same remark holds good in the case of another play, _Beunans Meriasek_ or the _Life of St Meriasek._ This deals in an incoherent manner with the life and death of Meriasek (in Breton _Meriadek_), the son of a duke of Brittany, and interwoven with this theme is the legend of St Silvester and the emperor Constantine, quite regardless of the circumstance that St Silvester lived in the 4th and St Meriasek in the 7th century. The MS. of this play was written by "Dominus Hadton" in the year 1504, and is preserved in the Peniarth library. The language is more recent than that of the _Ordinalia_, and there is a certain admixture of English. The _Life of St Meriasek_ falls into two parts, and at the end of each the spectators are invited to carouse. St Meriasek was in earlier times the patron saint of Camborne, where his fountain is still to be seen and pilgrims to it were known by the name of _Merra-sickers._ In this play, consequently, we might expect to find something really Cornish. But le Braz has shown that the author of this motley drama was content to draw his materials from Latin and English lives of saints. The story of Meriasek himself was taken from a Breton source and closely resembles the narrative of the 17th-century Breton hagiographer, Albert le Grand. The last play we have to mention is _Gwreans an Bys_ (The Creation of the World), of which five complete copies are known. Two of these are in the Bodleian and one in the British Museum, which also possesses a further fragment. The oldest text was revised by William Jordan of Helston in 1611, but there are indications that parts of it at any rate are older than the Reformation. This play bears a great resemblance to the first part of the _Origo Mundi_, and may have been imitated from it. It was printed first by Davies Gilbert in 1827 with a translation by John Keigwin, and again by W. Stokes in the _Transactions of the London Philological Society_ for 1864. The language shows considerable signs of decay, and Lucifer and his angels are often made to speak English. The only other original compositions of any length written in Cornish are _Nebbaz Gerriau dro tho Carnoack_ (A Few Words about Cornish), by John Boson (printed in the _Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall_, 1879), and the _Story of John of Chy-an-Hur_ (Ram's House), a folk-tale which appears in Ireland and elsewhere. The latter was printed in Lhuyd's _Grammar_ and in Pryce's _Archaeologia_. Andrew Borde's _Booke of the Introduction of Knowledge_ (1542) contains some Cornish conversations (see _Archiv f. celt. Lexikographie_, vol. i.), and in Carew's _Survey of Cornwall_ a number of words and phrases are to be found. Apart from the Cornish preface to Lhuyd's _Grammar_, the other remains of the language consist of a few songs, verses, proverbs, epigrams, epitaphs, maxims, letters, conversations, mottoes and translations of chapters and passages of Scripture, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Commandments, King Charles's Letter, &c. These fragments are to be found (1) in the Gwavas MS. in the British Museum, a collection ranging in date from 1709 to 1736; (2) in the Borlase MS. (1750); (3) in Pryce's _Archaeologia Cornu-Britannica_ (1790); (4) in D. Gilbert's editions of the _Poem of the Passion_ (1826) and the Creation of the World (1827). They are enumerated, classified and described by Jenner in his _Handbook._

AUTHORITIES.--H. Jenner, _Handbook of the Cornish Language_ (London, 1904); A. le Braz, _Le Theatre celtique_ (Paris, 1905); E. Norris, _The Ancient Cornish Drama_ (2 vols., Oxford, 1859); T.C. Peter, _The Old Cornish Drama_ (London, 1906); L.C. Stern, _Die Kultur d. Gegenwart_, i. xi. 1, pp. 131-132. (E. C. Q.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] J. Loth gives it as his opinion that as late as 1400-1600 a Cornishman and a Breton might have been able to understand one another.

[2] It is indeed probable that Myrddin is a purely fictitious character, whose name has been made up from Caer Fyrddin (=Maridunum), which was certainly not a personal name.

[3] Another derivation of this word is from _llad_, "profit" + _hai_, a suffix denoting the agent. Others derive it from or connect it with the Irish _slad-_.

CELT, a word in common use among British and French archaeologists to describe the hatchets, adzes or chisels of chipped or shaped stone used by primitive man. The word is variously derived from the Welsh _cellt_, a flintstone (that being the material of which the weapons are chiefly made, though celts of basalt felstone and jade are found); from being supposed to be the implement peculiar to the Celtic peoples; or from a Low Latin word _celtis_, a chisel. The last derivation is more probably correct. The word has come to be somewhat loosely applied to metal as well as stone axe-heads. The general form of stone celts is that of blades approaching an oval in section, with sides more or less straight and one end broader and sharper than the other. In length they vary from about 2 to as much as 16 in. The largest and finest specimens are found in Denmark: one in an English collection being of beautiful white flint 13 in. long, 1-1/2 in. thick and 3-1/2 in. broad. Those found in Denmark are sometimes polished, but usually are left rough. Those found in north-western Europe are ground to a more or less smooth surface. That some were held in the hand and others fixed in wooden handles is clear from the presence of peculiar polished spaces produced by the friction of the wood. In the later stone adzes holes are sometimes found pierced to receive the handles.

The bronze celts vary in size from an inch to a foot in length. The earlier specimens are much like the stone ones in shape and design, but the later manufactures show a marked improvement, the metal being usually pierced to receive the handles. It is noteworthy that the celtmakers never cast their axes with a transverse hole through which the handle might pass. Bronze celts are usually plain, but some are ornamented with ridges, dots or lines. That they were made in the countries where they are found is proved by the presence of moulds.

A point worthy of mention is the position which stone celts hold in the folk-lore and superstitious beliefs of many lands. In the West of England the country folks believe the weapons fell originally from the sky as "thunderbolts," and that the water in which they are boiled is a specific for rheumatism. In the North and Scotland they are preservatives against cattle diseases. In Brittany a stone celt is thrown into a well to purify the water. In Sweden they are regarded as a protection against lightning. In Norway the belief is that, if they are genuine thunderbolts, a thread tied round them when placed on hot coals will not burn but will become moist. In Germany, Spain, Italy, the same beliefs prevail. In Japan the stones are accounted of medicinal value, while in Burma and Assam they are infallible specifics for ophthalmia. In Africa they are the weapons of the Thunder-God. In India and among the Greeks the hatchet appears to have had a sacred importance, derived, doubtless, from the universal superstitious awe with which these weapons of prehistoric man were regarded.

See Sir J. Evans's _Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain_; Lord Avebury's _Prehistoric Times_ (1865-1900) and _Origin of Civilization_ (1870); E.B. Tylor's _Anthropology, and Primitive Culture_, &c. For the history of polished stone axes up to the 17th century see Dr Marrel Bandouin and Lionel Bonnemere in the _Bulletin de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris_, April-May 1905.