A call the soul of the soul might understand,

But never, ah, never the mind, the steeps of soul assailing.

72

Bruno of La Montagne

The old fragmentary romance of Bruno of La Montagne is eloquent of the faëry spirit which informs all Breton lore. Butor, Baron of La Montagne, had married a young lady when he was himself of mature years, and had a son, whom he resolved to take to a fountain where the fairies came to repose themselves. The Baron, describing this magic well to the child’s mother, says (we roughly translate):

“Some believe ’tis in Champagne,

And others by the Rock Grifaigne;

Perchance it is in Alemaigne,

Or Bersillant de la Montagne;

Some even think that ’tis in Spain,