Collected Works, Editions and Reprints,—J. Gwenogvryn Evans and John Rhys, Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest (2 vols. Oxford, 1887-1890), Pedeir Kainc y Mabinogi (Oxford, 1897); J. Gwenogvryn Evans, The Black Book of Carmarthen (Oxford, 1907; also in facsimile, Oxford, 1888), Llyvyr Job trans. by Dr Morgan, 1558 (reprinted 1888), Oll Synwyr pen [Salesbury] (Bangor, 1902); J. Morris Jones and John Rhys, Llyvyr Agkyr Llandewivrevi (Oxford, 1894); Aneurin Owen, Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales (2 vols., London, 1841), Brut y Tywysogion (London, 1863); J. Williams ab Ithel, Gododin with Notes and Translation (Llandovery, 1852); T. Stephens, Gododin with Notes and Translation, ed. by T. Powel (London, 1888); R. Williams, Selections from the Hengwrt MSS. (2 vols., London, 1876-1892); T. Powel, Ystorya de Carolo Magno (London, 1883); Psalmau Dafydd trans. by W. Morgan (facsimile, 1896); Owen Jones (Myfyr) and W. Owen (Pughe), Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym (London, 1789); Walter Davies and J. Jones, Poetical Works of Lewis Glyn Cothi (1837); Prince Louis Bonaparte, Athrawaeth Gristnogavl by Morys Clynoc (facsimile London, 1880); Walter Davies, Caniadau Huw Morus (2 vols., 1823); Psalmau Dafydd gan W. Middleton (Llanfair, 1827); J. Morris Jones, Gweledugaethai y Bardd cwsg gan Elis Wynne (Bangor, 1898); R. Jones, The Poetical Works of Goronwy Owen (2 vols. London, 1876); W.J. Gruffydd, Cywyddau Goronwy Owen (Newport, 1906); T.E. Ellis, Gweithiau Morgan Llwyd (Bangor, 1899); J.H. Davies, Yn y Llyvyr hwn (Bangor, 1902); S.J. Evans, Drych y Prif Oesoedd gan Th. Evans (Bangor, 1902); W.P. Williams, Deffyniad Ffydd Eglwys Loegr gan Morys Kyffin (Bangor, 1908); N. Cynhafal Jones, Gweithiau W. Williams Pantycelyn (2 vols., 1887-1891); O.M. Edwards, Gweithiau Islwyn (1897).
(W. J. G.)
V. Breton Literature.—Unlike the literature of Wales, the literature of Brittany is destitute of originality, and we find nothing to compare with the Mabinogion. Till the 19th century all the monuments which have come down to us are copies of French models, though the retention down to the 17th century of that intricate system of versification found in Welsh and Cornish may indicate that what was really Breton in spirit has not been preserved (v. J. Loth, La Métrique galloise, ii. 177-203). It is usual to divide the literature into three periods in conformity with the language in which the monuments are written—Old, Middle, and Modern Breton. No connected monuments of the first period (8th to 11th centuries) have come down to us. For our knowledge of the language of this period we must have recourse to the manuscripts containing glosses and the names occurring in ancient documents. The chief collections of glosses are (1) the Oxford glosses on Eutychius; (2) the Luxemburg glosses; (3) the Bern glosses on Virgil; (4) the glosses on Amalarius (Corpus Christi, Cambridge); (5) five Collationes Canonum, the chief manuscripts being at Paris and Orleans. All these glosses have been published in one volume by J. Loth (Vocabulaire Vieux-Breton, Paris, 1884). From a linguistic point of view the Breton names in the Latin lives of saints are very important, particularly those of St Samson, St Paul, Aurelian, St Winwaloe, St Ninnoc, St Gildas and St Brieuc. Of even greater value are the names in the Charter of Redon, which was written in the 11th century, but dates largely from the 9th (published by A. de Courson, 1865); we may also mention the Charter of Landevennec (11th century). In the Middle Breton period, which extends from the 11th to the 17th centuries, we are obliged, down to the 15th century, to rely on official documents such as the Charter of Quimperlé. French seems to have been the language of the aristocracy and the medium of culture. Hence the oldest connected texts are either translated or imitated from French, and are full of French words. We might mention a Book of Hours belonging to the 16th century, published by Whitley Stokes, and three religious poems bound up with the Grand Mystère de Jésus; further, the Life of St Catherine (1576) in prose (published by Ernault, Revue celtique, viii. 76), translated from the Golden Legend, the Mirror of Death, containing 3360 verses, which was composed in 1519 and printed in 1576, the Mirror of Confession, a translation from the French in prose (1621), the Christian Doctrine, a translation in verse (1622), a collection of carols (An Nouelou ancien, 1650, Rev. celt. vols. x.-xiii.) and the Christian Meditations of J. Cadec, 1651 (Rev. Celt. xx. 56). The earliest Breton printed work is the Catholicon of Jean Lagadeuc, a Breton-Latin-French dictionary, dated 1464 but printed first in 1499 (reprinted by R.F. Le Men, Lorient, 1867). Modern Breton begins with the orthographical reforms of the Jesuit, Julien Maunoir, whose grammar (Le Sacré Collège de Jésus) and dictionary appeared in 1659. Throughout the modern period we find numerous collections of religious poems and manuals of devotion in prose and verse, which we cannot here attempt to enumerate. But the bulk of Breton literature before the 19th century consists of mysteries and miracle plays. This class of literature had a tremendous vogue in Brittany, and the native stage was only killed about 1850. It is stated, for instance, that no less than 15,000 copies were sold of the Tragedy of the Four Sons of Aymon, first published in 1815. It is impossible to give the titles of all the dramas which have come down to us (about 120). The manuscript collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris is described in the Revue celtique, xi. 389-423 (many since published) and Le Braz gives a useful list of other manuscripts in the bibliographical appendix to his Théâtre 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 Mystère de Jésus (1513) follows the French play of Arnoul Gresban and Jean Michel (published by H. de la Villemarqué, Paris, 1865). A French original is also followed in the Mystère 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 Gwennolé, 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 Melargé (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 grét 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 Quimperlé in 1862 under the title of Bleuniou Breiz, Poésies 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’Abbé 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 Villemarqué (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 Villemarqué 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. Sébillot, “Bibliographie des traditions et de la littérature populaire de la Bretagne” (Revue celtique, v. 277 ff., and G. Dottin in the Revue de synthèse 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 (Quimperlé, 1870). The same author published Les Légendes chrétiennes de la Basse-Bretagne (Paris, 1881) and Veillées bretonnes, moeurs, chants, contes et récits 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 Légende de la mort (1902²). 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 Régionaliste 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 (Annaïk, Paris, 1880; Breiz, Poésies 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 grèves, Rennes, 1903), abbé 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’âme 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 synthèse 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 Théâtre celtique (Paris, 1904); H. Gaidoz and P. Sébillot, “Bibliographie des traditions et de la littérature populaire de la Bretagne” (Revue celtique, v. 277-338; supplement by P. Sébillot, Revue de Bretagne, de Vendée, et d’Anjou, 1894); F.M. Luzel, “Formules initiates et finales des conteurs en Basse-Bretagne” (Revue celtique, iii. 336 ff.); L.F. Sauvé, “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 xviiie siècle” (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 Zeuss², 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 Théâtre 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.