“I have seen the fountain beside which Azénor plucked flowers to make a bouquet for her ‘sweet Clerk of Mezléan,’” says the Vicomte Hersart de la Villemarqué, “when the Seigneur of Kermorvan passed and withered with his glance her happiness and these flowers of love. Mezléan is in ruins, no one remains within its 364 gates, surmounted by a crenellated and machicolated gallery.”
There is a subscription at the end of the ballad to the effect that it was written on a round table in the Manor of Hénan, near Pont-Aven, by the “bard of the old Seigneur,” who dictated it to a damsel. “How comes it,” asks Villemarqué, “that in the Middle Ages we still find a seigneur of Brittany maintaining a domestic bard?” There is no good reason why a domestic bard should not have been found in the Brittany of medieval times, since such singers of the household were maintained in Ireland and Scotland until a relatively late date—up to the period of the ’45 in the case of the latter country.
St Pol of Léon
St Pol (or Paul) of Léon (sixth century) was the son of a Welsh prince, and, like so many of the Breton saints, he was a disciple of St Iltud, being also a fellow-student of St Samson and St Gildas. At the age of sixteen he left his home and crossed the sea to Brittany. In the course of time other young men congregated round him, and he became their superior, receiving holy orders along with twelve companions. Near these young monks dwelt Mark, the King of Vannes, who invited Pol to visit his territory and instruct his people. The Saint went to Vannes and was well received, but after dwelling for some time in that part of the country he felt the need of solitude once more, and entreated the King that he might have permission to depart and that he might be given a bell; “for,” as the chronicler tells us, “at that time it was customary for kings to have seven bells rung before they sat down to meat.”
The King, however, vexed that Pol should wish to leave him, refused to give him the bell, so the Saint went without it. Before leaving Vannes Pol visited his sister, who lived in solitude with other holy women on a little island, but when the time came for him to depart she wept and entreated him to stay, and the Saint remained with her for another three days. When he was finally taking leave of her, she begged him that as he was “powerful with God” he would grant her a request, and when Pol asked what it was she desired him to do, she explained that the island on which she dwelt was small “and incommodious for landing” and requested him to pray to God that it might be extended a little into the sea, with a “gentle shore.” Pol said she had asked what was beyond his power, but suggested that they should pray that her desire might be granted. So they prayed, and the sea began to retreat, “leaving smooth, golden sand where before there had been only stormy waves.” All the nuns came to see the miracle which had been wrought, and the sister of St Pol gathered pebbles and laid them round the land newly laid bare, and strewed them down the road that she and her brother had taken. These pebbles grew into tall pillars of rock, and the avenue thus formed is to this day called ‘the Road of St Pol.’ Thus do the peasants explain the Druidical circles and avenue on the islet.
After this miracle Pol departed, and rowed to the island of Ouessant, and later he travelled through Brittany, finally settling in the island of Batz, near the small town encompassed by mud walls which has since borne his name. There he founded a monastery. The island was at that time infested by a dreadful monster, sixty 366 feet long, and we are told how the Saint subdued this dragon. Accompanied by a warrior, he entered its den, tied his stole round its neck, and, giving it to his companion to lead, he followed them, beating the animal with his stick, until they came to the extremity of the island. There he took off the stole and commanded the dragon to fling itself into the sea—an order which the monster immediately obeyed. In the church on the island a stole is preserved which is said to be that of St Pol. Another story tells us how St Jaoua, nephew of St Pol, had to call in his uncle’s aid in taming a wild bull which was devastating his cell. These incidents remind us of St Efflam’s taming of the dragon. St Pol is one of the saints famous for his miraculous power over wild beasts.
The Saint’s renown became such that the Breton king made him Archbishop of Léon, giving him special care and control of the city bearing his name. We are told how the Saint found wild bees swarming in a hollow tree, and, gathering the swarm, set them in a hive and taught the people how to get honey. He also found a wild sow with her litter and tamed them. The descendants of this progeny remained at Léon for many generations, and were regarded as royal beasts. Both of these stories are, of course, a picturesque way of saying that St Pol taught the people to cultivate bees and to keep pigs.
St Pol’s early desire to possess a bell was curiously granted later, as one day when he was in the company of a Count who ruled the land under King Childebat a fisherman brought the Count a bell which he had picked up on the seashore. The Count gave it to St Pol, who smiled and told him how he had longed 367 and waited for years for such a bell. In the cathedral at Saint-Pol-de-Léon is a tiny bell which is said to have belonged to St Pol, and on the days of pardon “its notes still ring out over the heads of the faithful,” and are supposed to be efficacious in curing headache or earache.
In the cathedral choir is the tomb of St Pol, where “his skull, an arm-bone, and a finger are encased in a little coffer, for the veneration of the devout.” St Pol built the cathedral at Léon, and was its first bishop. Strategy had to be resorted to to secure the see for him. The Count gave Pol a letter to take in person to King Childebat, which stated that he had sent Pol to be ordained bishop and invested with the see of Léon. When the Saint discovered what the letter contained he wept, and implored the King to respect his great disinclination to become a bishop; but Childebat would not listen, and, calling for three bishops, he had him consecrated. The Saint was received with great joy by the people of Léon, and lived among them to a green old age.