S. Cast, a watering place with good sands. In 1758, the English fleet under Admiral Howe, after having bombarded S. Malo and burnt Dol, disembarked a body of men here. The Duc d'Aiguillon, then governor of Brittany, hastened to the spot, and in spite of the fire of the fleet defeated and almost exterminated the invaders. A monument marks the site of the windmill in which the duke watched the engagement.
Pléboulle. The Templar church is of the 16th cent. except the apse which is earlier. Remains of the octagonal tower of Montbrun on a rock, commanding a sweep of the river Frémeur.
Plévenon. In this commune is the noble headland of Cap Fréhel, of old red sandstone. Here is a lighthouse. The Fort de Latte is on a point of rock in the sea 5 kilometres from Cap Fréhel, and entered by two bridges cast over precipices 300 ft. deep. Facing the fort is a rude stone 9 ft. high surmounted by a cross, probably a menhir.
Mauron (M.) chl. arr. Ploermel. Stands on high ground, watered by the Yvel and Doeft, which unite above Ploermel in the pretty lake of Le Duc. In 1352 the Castle of Mauron was held by Bentley with a body of Anglo-Bretons. The Marshal d'Offemont, at the head of an army of the adherents of Charles de Blois, resolved on taking the place. Bentley marched out against him and obtained a complete victory. Thirteen lords fell, among them the Marshal and the Viscount de Rohan. A hundred and forty knights also succumbed. The Parish Register, 1591, is headed:—"Baptismal Register of Mauron made after the Prince of Darkness with the English and the lancequenects of his company had passed. They spent the Sunday here, September 8, 1591, pillaged and plundered all they could lay hands on in the church, and carried off the baptismal register—on which account this book is now begun." The church is modern but retains some old carving in panels of the 16th cent. near the porch on the S. side, and in the sacristy is a painting of the crucifixion of 1682.
S. Lery. A church of the 15th cent. except the chancel which is modern. In a chapel of the S. transept of flamboyant date is some fine old glass representing the marriage of the Duchess Anne with Charles VIII. of France. On the north of the nave is the tomb of S. Lery, and on it the Saint is represented with a pastoral staff in his hand, a book in the other, and his feet resting on a hare. S. Lery was a native of Wales who crossed over to Armorica and was well received by Judicael. As he desired a retreat, the Queen turned Ilogan, an Irish saint, out of his, and gave his lair warm to Lery, who had no compunction in receiving it. He died in the 7th cent.
Merdignac (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac, stands on the road from Loudéac to S. Méen. West of the town is the fortified enclosure of the Vielle Court. Excavations have shown that the wall was vitrified.
S. Launeuc near a pretty lake. Here are the ruins of the Castle of Hardouinaye almost destroyed, where Gilles de Bretagne was starved to death in 1450. Gilles had been left by his father a sum of money, and he complained to his brother, Duke Francois I., and asked to be given some fief in the duchy. But Francis refused his request and threw in his teeth that he favoured the English rather than the French. Gilles married the heiress of Châteaubriant and Dinan. Arthur de Montauban, Marshal of Brittany, who had desired the heiress for himself, was thereby made his mortal enemy. He determined on his destruction, and to effect this spread calumnies against Gilles, to the effect that he was purposing to introduce the English into Brittany, and he obtained leave from Francis to arrest him in his Castle of Guildo. This he effected whilst Gilles was engaged on a game of tennis. He carried him off to Dinan, where was Francis, who refused to see his brother. Francis I. requested the parliament of Brittany to condemn Gilles unheard. At its refusal to do so, he handed him over to Arthur de Montauban to make away with, and the Marshal hurried him away to Hardouinaye and left him to die of starvation in its dungeon.
Muzillac (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Church of Bourg Peaul with side aisles, Romanesque, and with a slated tower. Chancel 1505. The very rich and curious Calvary was restored in 1894.
Billiers. Here are the remains of the Cistercian Abbey of N.D. de Prières, founded in 1252. The church was pulled down in 1715 to make way for a hideous structure in the taste of the period.
Noyal Muzillac. The church (S. Noyala) was rebuilt in 1850, but the transepts and chancel of the 15th cent. remain. The tower was struck by lightning in 1630 and rebuilt. The Château de Keralio, of the 15th cent., is in ruins.