Consult E. Ernault, Petite Grammaire bretonne (Saint-Brieuc, 1897); L. Le Clerc, Grammaire bretonne (Saint-Brieuc, 1908); J. P. Treasure, An Introduction to Breton Grammar (Carmarthen, 1903). For the dialect of Vannes see A. Guillevic and P. Le Goff, Grammaire bretonne du Dialect de Vannes (Vannes, 1902).
Lit. ‘long stone,’ a megalithic monument. See Chapter II, “Menhirs and Dolmens.” Students of folk-lore will recognize the symbolic significance of the offering. We seem to have here some connexion with pillar-worship, as found in ancient Crete, and the adoration of the Irminsul among the ancient Saxons.
For the Breton original and the French translation from which the above is adapted see Villemarqué, Barzaz-Breiz, p. 112.
That it was Neolithic seems undoubted, and in all probability Alpine—i.e. the same race as presently inhabits Brittany. See Dottin, Anciens Peuples de l’Europe (Paris, 1916).
Which might be rendered:
All here is symbol; these grey stones translate
A thought ineffable, but where the key?
Say, shall it be recovered soon or late,
To ope the temple of this mystery?
A Scottish sixteenth-century magical verse was chanted over such a stone:
“I knock this rag wpone this stone,
And ask the divell for rain thereon.”
The writer’s experience is that unlettered British folk often possess much better information concerning the antiquities of a district than its ‘educated’ inhabitants. If this information is not scientific it is full and displays deep personal interest.
See Ballads and Metrical Tales, illustrating the Fairy Mythology of Europe (anonymous, London, 1857) for a metrical version of this tale.
Paris, 1670. Strange that this book should have been seized upon by students of the occult as a ‘text-book’ furnishing longed-for details of the ‘lost knowledge’ concerning elementary spirits, when it is, in effect, a very whole-hearted satire upon belief in such beings!
In folk-tales of this nature a ladder is usually made of the bones, but this circumstance seems to have been omitted in the present instance.
See Le Braz, La Légende de la Mort, t. i, p. 39, t. ii, pp. 37 ff.; Albert Le Grand, Vies des Saints de la Bretagne, p. 63; Villemarqué, Chants populaires, pp. 38 ff.
Villemarqué avouches that this version was taken down by his mother from the lips of an old peasant woman of the parish of Névez. It bears the stamp of ballad poetry, and as it has parallels in the folk-verse of other countries I see no reason to question its genuineness.
For the criticism on Villemarqué’s work see H. Gaidoz and P. Sébillot, “Bibliographie des Traditions et de la Littérature populaire de la Bretagne” (in the Revue Celtique, t. v, pp. 277 ff.). The title Barzaz-Breiz means “The Breton Bards,” the author being under the delusion that the early forms of the ballads he collected and altered had been composed by the ancient bards of Brittany.
Barzaz-Breiz, p. 335. Sébillot (Traditions de la Haute-Bretagne, t. i, p. 346) says that he could gain nothing regarding this incident at the village of Saint-Cast but “vague details.”
This incident is common in Celtic romance, and seems to have been widely used in nearly all medieval literatures.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
A
Abélard. A Breton monk;
the story of Héloïse and, 248-253
Aberlady Bay. A bay in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, 357
Abernethy. A town in Scotland;
the Round Tower at, 52
Aberystwyth. A town in Wales;
Taliesin buried at, 22
Adder’s Stone. A substance supposed to have magical properties, employed in Druidic rites, 247;
Héloïse, represented as a sorceress, said to have possessed, 252
Alain III. Count of Brittany (Count of Vannes);
drives back the Northmen, 25
Alain IV (Barbe-torte). Arch-chief of Brittany;
defeats the Northmen, 25-26
Alain Fergant. Duke of Brittany, 30
Alain. Son of Eudo of Brittany, 29
Albert le Grand. Monk of Morlaix, 278
Alchemy. The art of;
the position of, in the fifteenth century, 175;
Gilles de Retz experiments in, 175-179
Algonquins. A race of North American Indians;
mentioned, 302
Ali Baba. The story of;
mentioned, 316
All Souls’ Day. The custom of leaving food for the dead on, 383
Aloïda. A maiden;
in the ballad of the Marriage-girdle, 234-236
Amenophis III. An Egyptian king;
mentioned, 43
America. See United States
Angers. A town in France;
St Convoyon goes to, to obtain holy relics from the cathedral, 336
Animals. Frequently the bearers of divine aid, in legends of the saints, 347;
St Pol noted for his miraculous power over wild beasts, 366
Animism, 86-87
Ankou, The. The death-spirit of Brittany, 101-102
Annaïk. A maiden;
in a story of the Marquis of Guérande, 199-202
Anne. Duchess of Brittany;
married to Charles VIII of France, and then to Louis XII, 36;
the oratory of, in the château of Dinan, 209;
gives the château of Suscino to John of Châlons, 210
Antwerp. The city;
relics of St Winwaloe preserved in the Jesuit church of St Charles at, 371;
mentioned, 205
Apple, The. Said to have been introduced into Brittany by Telio, 18
Ardmore. A town in Ireland;
the Round Tower at, 51-52
Arez, Mountains of. Same as Montagnes d’Arrée, which see
Argoed. A place in Wales;
battle of, 22
Armagh. A city in Ireland;
Budoc made Bishop of, 356
Armenia. The country;
were-wolf superstition in, 291
Armor (‘On the Sea’). The ancient Celtic name for Brittany, 13
Armorica. The Latin name for the country of Brittany, 13, 15;
Julius Cæsar in, 16;
two British kingdoms in, 19;
the first monastery in, founded by Gwénnolé, 185;
King Arthur hunts wild beasts in, 278;
St Samson bidden to go to, 349
Arthur, King. British chieftain, of legendary fame;
his finding of Excalibur, 256-257;
his encounter with the giant of Mont-Saint-Michel, 275-277;
his existence doubted by Bretons in the twelfth century, 278;
his fight with the dragon at the Lieue de Grève, 278-281;
carried to the Isle of Avalon after his last battle, 282;
Gugemar at the Court of, 292;
his contest with Modred, 344;
his sister Margawse the wife of King Lot of Lothian, 357;
Arthur. Duke of Brittany, son of Geoffrey Plantagenet;
murdered by King John of England, 30
Arthurian Romance. Resemblances in Villemarqué’s Barzaz-Breiz to, 224;
the controversy as to the original birthplace of, 228, 254-255;
indigenous to British soil, 255
Arz. See Ile d’Arz
Ash-tree, The Lay of the. One of the Lais of Marie de France, 317-320
Auchentorlie. An estate in Scotland;
inscribed stones at, 46
Auchinleck MS. A manuscript containing a version of the story of Tristrem and Ysonde, 272
Audierne, Bay of. A bay on the Breton coast;
national costume in the district of, 376
Aulnoy, Comtesse d’. Noted seventeenth-century French authoress;
mentioned, 144
Avalon, Isle of. A fabled island to which King Arthur was carried after his last battle, 282
Avenue of Sphinxes. At Karnak, Egypt, 43
Azénor. Mother of St Budoc of Dol, 354-356
Azénor the Pale. A maiden;
the legend of, 360-364
B
Bacchus. The Greek god of wine;
mentioned, 189
Balon. Monastery of;
St Tivisiau and, 338-339
Ban. King of Benwik;
father of Sir Lancelot, 257
Bangor Teivi. A village in Wales;
Taliesin said to have died at, 22
Baranton, The Fountain of. A magical fountain in Broceliande, 70-71
Bard. Singer or poet attached to noble households;
late survival of the custom of maintaining, 364
Barking Women. A phenomenon connected with religious festivals, 380
Baron of Jauioz, The. A ballad, 145-147
Barron. A fictitious youth;
in a story of Gilles de Retz, 178
Barzaz-Breiz (“The Breton Bards”). A collection of Breton ballads made by Villemarqué;
cited (under sub-title, Chants populaires de la Bretagne), 57 n.;
criticism of, 211-212
Bass Rock. An islet in the Firth of Forth, 359
Batz.
I. An island off the coast of Brittany; St Pol settles on, 365-366
II. A town in Brittany, 373
Bayard, The Chevalier de. A famous French knight;
mentioned, 31
Bean Nighe (‘The Washing Woman’). An evil spirit of the Scottish Highlands, 100
Beaumanoir. A Breton noble house, 229
Beauty and the Beast. The story of;
mentioned, 137
Beauvau. Matthew, Seigneur of;
in the story of the Clerk of Rohan, 190-193
Bedivere, Sir. One of King Arthur’s knights;
accompanies Arthur on his expedition against the giant of Mont-Saint-Michel, 275-277
Beignon. A town in Brittany, 360
Belgium. Mentioned, 52
Beliagog. A giant;
in the story of Tristrem and Ysonde, 271
Belsunce de Castelmoron, Henri-François-Xavier de. Bishop of Marseilles;
mentioned, 195
Benediction of the Beasts. A festival held at Carnac, 45
Berhet. A village in Brittany;
the custom of ringing the sacring bell still observed in the church of St Bridget at, 380
Berry. Caroline, Duchess of;
imprisoned in the castle of Nantes, 205
Bertrand de Dinan. A Breton knight, 29
Bieuzy. A town in Brittany;
the Holy Well of St Bieuzy at, 381
Bigouden. A cap worn by the women in some parts of Brittany, 376
Biniou. A musical instrument resembling the bagpipe;
one of the national instruments of Brittany, 229;
played at weddings, 386
Birds. In Breton tradition, the dead supposed to return to earth in the form of, 227;
frequently messengers in ballad literature, 233;
in the legends of the saints, commonly the bearers of divine aid, 347
Black Mountain. The name of one of the peaks of the Black Mountains, 197
Black Mountains. A mountain chain in Brittany, 196
Blanche of Castile. Mother of Louis IX, 208
Blancheflour. Princess, sister of King Mark, mother of Tristrem;
Blois. A famous French château;
mentioned, 206
Blois, Charles of. Duke of Brittany;
contests the succession to the duchy, 30-32;
taken prisoner by Joan of Flanders, 31;
the marriage of, with Joan of Penthièvre, 32;
defeated at Auray, 35;
the château of Suscino taken by, 210
Bluebeard. The villain in the nursery-tale;
Gilles de Retz identified with, 174, 180;
the story of, identified with the story of Comorre and Triphyna, 180
Blue Chamber. A boudoir in the château of Tourlaville, 209
Bodmin. A town in Cornwall;
mentioned, 278
Boncotest, College of. One of the colleges of the old University of Paris;
Fontenelle at, 229
Bonny Kilmeny. A ballad by James Hogg;
mentioned, 327
Bourdais, Marc. A peasant, nicknamed Maraud;
in the story of the Lost Daughter, 75-77
Bouteville. John of, Seigneur of Faouet;
mentioned, 335
Boy who Served the Fairies, The. The story of, 88-95
Bran (‘Crow’). A Breton warrior;
the story of, 225-227;
analogies between the story of, and the poem of Sir Tristrem, 227-228
Brenha, Father José. A Portuguese antiquary;
mentioned, 47
Breochan. A legendary Welsh king, father of St Nennocha, 340
Bréri. A Breton poet, 255
Breton. The language, 15-16
Bretons. The race;
their origin and affinities, 13-15, 17, 37 n.;
Bretons join William of Normandy in his expedition against England, 29, 232, 233;
send an expedition to help Owen Glendower, 234;
defeat the English in a naval battle, 236
Brevelenz. A village in Brittany;
a fireplace in the church of, 381
Brezonek. The language spoken by the Bretons, 15-16
Brian. Son of Eudo of Brittany, 29
Britain. Celts flee from, to Brittany, before the Saxon invaders, 15, 17;
subject kingdoms of, in Brittany, 19;
immigrants from, in Brittany, form a confederacy and fight against the Franks, 22-23;
the headquarters of the Druidic cult, 245;
Arthurian romance indigenous to, 255;
St Patern founds religious houses in, 348;
St Samson fled from, to Brittany, 350;
Procopius’ story of the ferrying of the Breton dead over to, 383-384
Brittany. Divisions and character of the country, 13;
Julius Cæsar in, 16;
the Latin tongue did not spread over, 17;
the origin of the name, 17;
Nomenoë wins the independence of, 23;
invaded by Northmen, 25;
the Northmen expelled from, 26;
division of, into counties and seigneuries, 27;
relations with Normandy, 27-30;
French influences in, 30;
the War of the Two Joans, 30-31, 35-36;
annexed to France by Francis I, 36;
the prehistoric stone monuments of, 37-53;
the fairies of, 54-95;
the sprites and demons of, 96-105;
‘world-tales’ in, 106-155;
folk-tales of, 156-172;
popular legends of, 173-202;
the châteaux of, 202-210;
hero-tales of, 211-240;
sends help to Owen Glendower in his conflict with the English, 234;
a British army in, 237;
the black art in, 241-253;
Arthurian romance in, 254-282;
Arthur found Excalibur in, 256;
the scene of the Lais of Marie de France, 284;
the saints of, 332-371;
many saints in, 350;
costumes of, 372-377;
customs of, 378-388;
religious observance in, 377-378;
holy wells in, 381-382;
observances relating to the dead and interments, 382-384, 386-388;
Calvaries in, 384-385;
wedding ceremonies in, 385-386
Brittany, Counts and Dukes of. See under Alain; Arthur; Blois, Charles of; Conan; Dreux; Eudo; Francis; Geoffrey; Hoel; John; and Salomon
Brittia. Procopius’ name for Britain, 383
Broceliande. A forest in Brittany, 54-73;
the shrine of Arthurian story, 55;
the Korrigan a denizen of, 56;
the scene of the adventures of Merlin and Vivien, 64;
the fountain of Baranton in, 70-71;
lines on, 71;
in the story of Bruno of La Montagne, 72-73;
the wood of Helléan a part of, 221;
mentioned, 338
Brodineuf. A Breton château, 207
Brownies. Elfish beings of small size;
distinct from fairies, 87
Brunhilda. Queen of Austrasia;
mentioned, 31
Bruno of La Montagne. The story of, 72-73
Bruyant. A friend of Butor of La Montagne;
in the story of Bruno of La Montagne, 72-73
Bugelnoz, or Teus. A beneficent spirit of the Vannes district, 100
Buron. A knight;
in the Lay of the Ash-tree, 318-320
Butor. Baron of La Montagne;
in the story of Bruno of La Montagne, 72