Brittany

by S. Baring-Gould

LE KREISKER, S. POL DE LÉON

* S. POL DE LÉON (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. An ancient cathedral town, but the diocese has been united to that of Quimper. The cathedral has two western towers and spires and façade of 1st pointed. The nave is entirely 2nd pointed and has a very beautiful arcade. The cleristory is quite simple, mostly with 1st pointed windows. The side aisles have an arcade under the windows. The transepts are double, i.e. with aisles to the east, fine 2nd pointed. The E. aisle of the S. transept contains very bad flamboyant windows. The choir, ending in an apse, is flamboyant 1431-50, and contains fine carved oak stalls of 1512. The choir has double aisles, N. and S. On the N. side is the Chapel of S. Paul, with his skull, hand, and bell in shrines. The pillars and vaulting of the S. aisle may be noticed.

The Chapel of Kreisker possesses a tower and spire that are supposed by Bretons to be the glory of Finistère. It is badly proportioned; the spire and spirelets overload the summit of the tower. It may be regarded as curious and a clever bit of architecture, but it is not pleasing. This tower is central. The windows are all flamboyant but affect an earlier type. The chapel has triforium and circular cleristory windows on the S. side but none on the N. There is a noble N. porch very richly carved. A very rich W. window. The E. window contains bad modern glass reproducing old figures of Breton saints. The S. side has an arcade under the windows with small lights pierced at intervals. There is a good piscina in the S. aisle. The Church of S. Pierre is now turned into a cemetery chapel. It is 15th cent. but has a baroque west front. Ossuaries (small) are in the wall surrounding the cemetery. On the way to Roscoff, just beyond the railway, is an allée couverte or dolmen.

Roscoff is a quaint place, with an old house or two, situated near the sea, and commanding the Island of Batz. The church has a very remarkable renaissance tower and spire (1550), more fantastic than pleasing, with ships carved on it and cannons or culverins as gargoyles. It is in three stages with galleries. The church is late flamboyant. There are two ossuaries; one is very rich. In the church are preserved the panels of an alabaster retable of the 15th cent. of Flemish work. The Chapel of S. Ninian in the street is in ruins; it was erected by Mary Stuart to commemorate her landing at Roscoff, 1548. The hospital dates from 1573. A Chapel of Ste. Barbe is on a height. P. of Santec, 2nd Sunday after Trinity. P. of Ste. Barbe, 3rd Monday in July. P. in the parish church, August 15.

Sibiril. The Château of Keronzéré erected in 1458 was restored in 1602.

Ile de Batz. It takes a quarter of an hour to cross from Roscoff to the island, and is only to be attempted when the sea is calm. The tide here rises 30 ft. But a visit hardly repays the trouble. When Paulus Aurelianus, a native of Glamorganshire, landed on the west coast of Finistère, he heard that a kinsman, Withur, was living in these parts, and had made himself count or chieftain. He went to visit him, and found him on the Isle of Batz, very old, busy making a copy of the Gospels with his own hand. Withur received him cordially, and advised him to settle among the ruins of an old Roman town on the mainland. Paulus did so, and hence the city of S. Pol de Léon. Legend says that there was a dragon on the island, which S. Paul tamed by binding his stole about its neck and then bidding it precipitate itself into the sea. This is an allegorical way of saying that he put an end to paganism in Batz. The Toul-ar-Sarpant, where the dragon is supposed to have haunted, is pointed out, and the stole of S. Paul, a piece of Byzantine work, is preserved in the church. It is a silk tissue, with a blue ground worked over with white and yellow, to figure a set of warriors facing each other, with a sort of turban head-dress and holding falcons on their wrists, and with a dog between the legs of each horse. A Romanesque chapel stood on the site of S. Paul's monastery on the island. This is called the Peniti; the chapel is ruinous and half-buried in sand. There is a lighthouse on the island.

Saint Rénan (F.) chl. arr. Brest. Pleasantly situated in a woody basin, through which flows the little stream of the Aberildut. The church has a Romanesque choir, and a tower and spire, ill proportioned, of 1772. There are some old and picturesque houses.

Lanrivoaré. The church has a tower in two stages and spire of the usual type but erected in 1727. The church itself is flamboyant. The chancel is Italian. In the N. transept is a singularly uncouth flamboyant window. Above the arches into the choir, transept and nave, the twelve apostles are painted. On the south side of the church is a walled-in quadrangular space where, according to tradition, a whole Christian population was massacred by pagans. No certain details exist, and it is probable that the pagans were the Northmen, who committed frightful atrocities in Brittany in the 10th cent. In the midst of the enclosure is the graveyard of the unnamed saints, laid down with polygonal and various shaped pieces of granite. It is enclosed by a dwarf wall overlaid with pieces of slate. At the east end is a sort of altar sustaining a cross and some fragments of carving. Before the altar lie eight rolled boulders. These are popularly supposed to have been loaves turned into bread. S. Huarvé asked a woman to give him bread, and she refused. As a judgment for her hardheartedness all her loaves were petrified. Actually these pebbles are "cursing stones," and such boulders exist in several chapels in Ireland, and are used for calling down disease or destruction on an enemy. The person invoking the curse, after a certain number of prayers turns the stone round seven times. That these pebbles have been so employed is probable, as the under surfaces of the stones are well rubbed. But happily this pagan usage is no longer in resort, and the stones remain with only the childish legend attached to them to explain their presence. S. Rivoaré, the patron of the church, was a priest, brother of Rivanon the mother of S. Huarvé or Hérvé, the blind bard saint. It is not unusual to see pilgrims, also the parishioners of Lanrivoaré enter the enclosure, take off their shoes and stockings, kneel, and recite prayers and then pace on the slates thrice about the burial place, taking care to step on each slab of slate, and omit none. In the village is a curious stone cross with a clothed figure of Christ upon it. A short walk from Lanrivoaré leads to the ruined Château of Kergroades, situated in beautiful woods, with avenues of oak and chestnut. It is difficult to find, and a guide must be taken. The château is in a charming position; it is of renaissance architecture throughout, and the court of honour front is in fair condition. But the gates are locked and admission is not easily obtained. The patronal feast at Lanrivoaré is on the 3rd Sunday in October, and P. at the Chapel of Lanvennec the 4th Sunday in September.

Saint Servan (I.V.) chl. arr. S. Malo; see S. Malo.