Brittany. Baring-Gould Sabine

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СКАЧАТЬ has a 2nd pointed arcade and E. windows and N. aisle. The rest flamboyant. The gallery at the W. end is one removed from the chapel of Keramanach, with the vaulting wantonly taken away. The tower, renaissance, has been restored recently. The chapel of Keramanach (S. Fiacre) may be visited equally well from Belle Ile or from Plouaret. It is late 2nd pointed with square end, E. window and S.E. window of same period, as also N. aisle. There are remains of good stained glass in the windows. The porch has rich 16th cent. groining. The W. bell turret has a gallery. The chapel contains a fine alabaster reredos of the 15th cent., each panel has been let into a wooden frame. On the road from Plounevez to Trégrom is a menhir 30 ft. high.

       Locquenvel. Church of 15th and 16th cents. with stained glass representing the legend of S. Envel.

      Belz (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. In very desolate country. The road from Auray runs through plantations of Austrian pine grown for the Welsh collieries, or over furzy moors. Belz itself is an utterly uninteresting place, with an ugly church, and a ruinous but large chapel near it. Belz lies, however, near the curious inland sea of Etel, and was formerly head of a pou or pagus. A mile and a half beyond Belz is the hamlet of S. Cadou, occupied entirely by fishermen and their families. The women wear scarlet petticoats which they take care to display. A stone causeway 140 ft. leads to the Isle of S. Cadou and his chapel. S. Cadoc, son of Gwynllyw, King of Gwent or Monmouthshire, arrived here about 525 and founded a monastery and school on the island. To facilitate the passage and repassage of his pupils he constructed the causeway, having learned the art of dyking at Llancarvan. It was here, pacing it with Gildas, that they discussed the salvability of Virgil. Cadoc, who loved that author, could not believe that he was lost, but Gildas held the harsher view. As they talked, Cadoc turned over his Virgil to point out some remarkable passages, probably the prophecy of the Incarnation, to his friend, when the wind swept the volume out of his hand into the sea. He slipped in rushing to recover it, and some pieces of iron in the causeway are supposed to indicate where his foot slid. Only with difficulty did Cadoc recover the precious book. The chapel has an early Romanesque apse, with rudely carved capitals to the pillars supporting the chancel arch. The chapel was much spoiled at its alteration in 1842. In the S. transept is the stone bed of S. Cadoc with a receptacle under it, in which strange sounds are thought to be heard. These are due to the echo of the waves and winds. The gallery of the flamboyant screen has been removed to the W. end. In the nave are four paintings. (1) S. Cadoc arriving at the isle; (2) S. Cadoc settling on it; (3) Pirates land and he protests that he has nothing; (4) Cadoc departing, with the inscription: —

      Oratoire mon œuvre adieu, dit-il pleurant,

      Belz t'oublierai je? Non. Il cingla de céans.

      P. S. after 21st Sept. Numerous megalithic remains are to be found about Belz. A menhir at Kervoen, another at Mélionec; remains of an allée couverte 30 ft. long at Kernours; a dolmen in good condition at Kerlutu; others at Kerhuen, Kervoen and Kerlourd. At Crubelz in a tumulus is a chamber of masonry nearly 11 ft. high. Roman bricks were found in it, and it would seem to have been constructed in Gallo-Roman times, but in accordance with earlier traditions and usages.

       Locoal, on an arm of the sea of Etel, united to the mainland by a causeway like that at S. Cadou. Locoal was a locus penitentiæ of S. Gudeval or Gurval, Bishop of Aleth. He scooped out a cave and dwelt therein. Disciples came to him to the number of 188. To protect themselves against the high tides they erected the dykes that still remain. At length, desiring greater retirement in his extreme old age, Gudeval retired with seven disciples into the forest of Camors, where he died in 640. Some lechs remain; one near the cemetery is 4 ft. high, with a cross cut on it in relief, surmounted by a circle and cross. Another on the way from Locoal to Mendon, 7 ft. 6 in. high, with two crosses cut on it, bears on it the words CRUX PROSTLON; it is the tombstone of the wife of Count Pasquitien, the murderer of King Solomon. She died in 875. The parish church was burnt by the Spaniards in 1592, and again accidentally in 1765.

      Etel, at the mouth of the channel that connects the inland sea with the ocean, is a small port partly closed by a rock and by moving sands. Near the village is a dolmen with seven supporters. A little further on is one with five.

       Erdeven (Ar deven = on the sand-downs). All this district is covered with wind-blown sands. The most remarkable prehistoric monument is the alignment of Kerzerho, which extends over two miles and a quarter, and is composed of 1030 stones, with, however, gaps caused by pilferers. Unhappily the stones are still being broken up and carried away. The lines are on the S. and S.E. of the village. After passing an isolated menhir and a ruined cairn, the rows are reached running east. Then comes a gap where the stones have been carried off to build walls, but presently they reappear, the blocks smaller. Then ensues another hiatus, and then another succession of ranges of fine stones stretching to a tumulus. The northern line reaches to a tumulus, the Mané Bras. On the summit are the ruins of two dolmens, with traces of an enclosing circle of uprights. To the east of Kerangre is another group of monoliths. At Mané Groh are two dolmens. The dolmen of Corcomo is the finest in Morbihan.

      Plouhinic. Near Kerfourchen two fallen dolmens and a menhir. From the windmill to the west alignments running S.E. Near the Mill of Gueldra the lines recommence in eight rows, and may be traced to Kervué and Kervelhué.

      Bourbriac (C.N.) chl. arr. Guingamp. The church is in part Romanesque, and possesses a crypt. The windows are of 15th cent. The tower 1635. At Tanvedou is a tumulus enclosing a dolmen.

      S. Adrien. Chapel of Avangour, 1576, with marble retable of same period.

      Cadout (S. Illtyd). Church of 14th and 15th cents., with a sculptured retable. On high ground the manor house of Bois-de-la-Roche, 15th cent. restored.

      Bréhat (Isle de) (C.N.). Opposite Roscoff lighthouses. On the Isle of Lavré the remains of a Celtic monastery have been traced, consisting of a group of bee-hive huts and an oblong chapel. One hut is fairly perfect, and is kept in repair as a sea mark. In the church is preserved a piece of oriental silk called the stole of S. Pol de Léon.

      * BREST (F.) chl. d'arrond. Was a fishing village about a mediæval castle on the site of a Roman camp, till Cardinal Richelieu resolved on giving to France the command of the seas, when he fixed on Brest for a great dockyard, 1631. His undertaking was not followed up by Mazarin, but Colbert pursued it with energy, and extensive works were executed. Thanks to this great minister and to Admiral Duquesne, Brest became a naval and military port of the first class. The Breton parliament had not relished the undertaking, and forbade the delivery of timber to the royal works, and ordered the cessation of the forging of cannon, but the royal will was supreme, and the opposition of the parliament disregarded. The port was extended, and the rocks blasted; barracks, storehouses, workshops, were created, and fine quays were constructed. Vauban fortified it, Recouvrance was united to Brest by a turning bridge. From Brest issued a fleet of 80 ships of the line under Tourville in the naval campaigns of 1690 and 1691. In 1694 an Anglo-Dutch fleet in vain attempted an attack on Brest. In the 18th cent. its quays and fortifications were extended. Granite basins were constructed capable of receiving vessels of 120 guns. Dajot, whilst engaged on the defences of the place, constructed the terrace planted with elms, that gives such a fine view of the harbour. Issuing from Brest, the fleet commanded by d'Orvilliers met, July 27, 1778 the English fleet off Ouessant. A French convoy was guarding a fleet of vessels laden with grain from America, when it was attacked by Admiral Howe. The French were under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse. The English fleet, which had been in quest, had been for four days unable to find the French owing to fog. The engagement took place on the 27th July. There were 26 French men-of-war and 35 English.

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