on the war in Normandy, had taken Avranches, and was on his way to Mont St. Michel, where he intended to sleep. While passing over the sands towards the mount, he was accosted by a monk who wished to speak with him in private. The duke stopped; the monk told him of the state in which his brother was, and in the name of the prince cited him to appear before the tribunal of God within the space of forty days. The mouk retired. The duke, naturally of a weak mind, was alarmed at the awful nature of the summons, and before the time had elapsed sickened and died. We must now pass from the history to the original language of Britanny. The language of Britanny; the ancient, but now lost one of Cornwall; the Welsh, the Irish, and the Gaelic, are all derived from one common Celtic stock. The two latter pre- serve the pure and primitive forms of the original and more ancient Celtic, which was spoken by those first tribes which passed from the East by way of the Euxine, and along the Danube, into Gaul. These were succeeded by the Cymri, who followed in their rear, and gradually displaced them in England and Armorica, where their own language was substituted instead of the earlier Celtic. The Celtic and the Cymraig differ too much to be considered as dialects of the same tongue; but they resemble each other quite enough to be called sister languages, having the same origin from some more ancient and mother tongue. The Celtic and Cymraig," says Murray, "though probably little corrupted by ancient revolutions, have both undergone those changes which affect the purest dialects. Excepting in the terms which it has borrowed from the Latin and English, the Celtic possesses an unrivalled and striking originality in its words, a resemblance to the oldest varieties of language, and internal evidence that it is derived from the earliest speech of Europe. At the same time it has suffered from a barbarous mode of pronunciation. Many words have been corrupted by the unnecessary introduction of aspirates and guttural sounds. The Cymraig being exposed for so many centuries to the influence of Latin, Saxon and Norman, is not so pure as the Celtic. The power of corrupt pronunciation has been felt by the Welsh, as well as by the Irish, dialects. The orthography of the Welsh has been absurdly changed, with a view to adopt a written to a spoken language. The Irish has escaped this needless depravation. The Welsh is least corrupted when well spoken. The Irish is least corrupted when well written. Ireland enjoyed the use of writing very early. The dialect of the Irish written monuments is far more original and authentic than the vernacular Scotch, or even Irish Celtic. The Scottish dialect must be viewed as a distinct, but at the same time modern, variety of the Irish."* To enable our readers to History of the European Languages," vol. ii, p. 318. 64 see at a glance the resemblance between the Irish and the Scotish Gaelic, we will transcribe the first two verses of the parable of the prodigal son. IRISH. "Do bhadar dias mac ag duine airighe. "Agus a dubhairt an ti dob óige aca ré na athair: Athair, tabhair dhmah an chuid roitheas misi dod mhaóin: agus do roinn seision a mhaoin eatorra.” Tiomna nuadh, &c. Re Huilliam o Domhnuill, Shacklewell, 1813. GAELIC. "Bha aig duine araidh dithis mhac. "Agus thubhairt am mac a be ôige dhiubh r'a athair: Athair, thoir dhomhsa a'chuid-roinn a thig orm do d'mhaoin. Agus roinn e eatorra a bheathachadh,”-Tiomnadh nuadh, &c. Edinb., 1813. We shall quote the same verses in two several dialects of Britanny, and point out the words that are common to the Cornish and the Welsh. The words in Italics are pure Cornish, the authority for which is "Pryce's Archæologia Cornu-Britannica." Where the letter D. is added, the authority is " Davies' Welsh and Latin Dictionary." DIALECT OF LEON, OR DEPARTMENT OF FINISTErre. said "A man he had two sons: and the younger of them "Eunn den1 en doa daou vab2:* hag ar1 iaouanka anezo a lavaras1 to his father: my father give to me the portion of fortune which d'he dads: va zad roid1 d'in al loden falls to me. zigoves in. zanvez And his father gave his portion to him." DIALECT OF treguier, or DEPARTMENT OF COTES Du Nord. a of them anee "A mau he had two sons : and the younger "Eunn den1 an efoa daou vab: bag3 art iaounonkan said to his father: my father give to me the portion of goods a laras d' he dads: ma zad9 reido d' in al loden which falls to me: And he divided." mado vab is here put for mab. This change in the initial letter depends upon a rule of euphony belonging to the Breton language: thus t, in the word tad, is sometimes replaced by d, sometimes by z, according to the word or particle which precedes it. The same is common to the Welsh. 6 3 8 a'r, Welsh. dyn, Welsh D. 2 deau mab, Corn.; dau, Welsh. ac, Welsh. ieuangaf, Welsh. anedlo, anedhe, Corn. 7 llefaru, Welsh D. tat, Corn. 10 rhoi, Welsh. 11 rannys, Corn.; rannodd, Welsh. 9nhad, Welsh. Rostrenen, in the preface to his "Dictionnaire François-Celtique," mentions a very old Breton manuscript preserved in the King's Library in Paris, entitled "Des Prédictions de Guinclan, Astronome Breton. Il marque au commencement de ses prédictions qu'il écrivoit l'an de salut 240, demeurant entre Roc'hhellas et le Porz-guem, entre Morlaix et Treguier." The very great age ascribed to this is, we fear, sufficient to warrant a disbelief of its genuineness. He quotes also "Les Statuts Synodaux du diocèse de Léon du 13me, 14me, 15me siècle, écrits en Latin, mais dont une partie étoit traduite en Breton en faveur de ceux qui n'entendroient pas le Latin." This is a MS. The first printed book in the language that we have been able to meet with, is "Une tragédie en vers Bretons de la passion et la résurrection de Jésus-Christ et du trépas de la Sainte Viergeimprimée à Paris, en caractère gothique, 1530, chez Yves Quilbeveré, Rue de la Bucherie." The Breton language had the honour of persecution. The Council of Rheims, held in 813, declared all who continued obstinately to use it, "barbares, ante-chrétiens, et inhabiles aux fonctions publiques." As a specimen of the poetry of the Bas-Bretons, we will place before our readers a ballad of the sixteenth century, which has been published by M. Frémenville, with a translation into modern French. The name of the author is unknown: it is still, however, a great favourite with the peasants, who sing it to a simple Breton air, perhaps contemporaneous with the poem. The heroine of the ballad is Marie de Keroulas, the only daughter of François de Keroulas and Catherine de Lanuzouarn. The mother, being left a widow, compels her daughter, contrary to her inclinations, to marry the Marquis de Mesle, of the noble house of Du Chatel. The affections of Marie, however, had been bestowed upon another, and she employed tears and entreaties to obtain permission to be married to him. The mother remained obdurate; her vanity being flattered by an alliance with the rich and powerful marquis. Marie, submissive and obedient, yields, gives her hand to François du Chatel, and dies of grief a short time after. The ballad opens with the supposed happiness of Marie in being so richly dressed, and in being permitted to join in the dance with the gentlemen; for the Marquis de Mesle had arrived at her mother's with a large train. Marie, however, hears of his arrival with pain, thinks that it forbodes ill to her, and wishes that she was a pigeon-blue that she might listen to the conversation of her mother and the Marquis. She speaks also of her love for Kerthomas (who was a younger son of the house of Gouzillon), who also is alarmed at this visit of the Marquis. Marie tells her mother how much disturbed she had been ever since the arrival of the Marquis, entreats to be allowed to marry Kerthomas, whose addresses had hitherto been sanctioned by her mother, and whose feelings she tries to enlist on her side by describing the grandeur of the mansion of Kerthomas. But all in vain; her mother bids her abandon such thoughts, as she was promised to the Marquis. She then returns the presents which had been made to her by Kerthomas. The verses in which she does this we shall quote, with Frémenville's translation: "Eur gaolen aour ag eur signet, Gant Kerthomas oent din roet; Dalc 'hit, Kerthomas, ho koalen aour, "Un anneau et un signet d'or, M'avoient été donnés par Kerthomas Puisqu'il n'est pas permis de vous accepter, The ballad goes on to describe the great regret felt at her departure-her own farewell-the affecting leave which she takes of all-the kiss she bestows upon the door. She bids the poor be comforted, and to come to her new abode at Chateaugal, where she will distribute daily alms-an exercise of charity which does not please the Marquis. Shortly after her arrival at the chateau of her husband she anxiously inquires for some one who will take a letter to her mother. A page hastens with it. As soon as her mother receives it she sets forth immediately for Chateaugal, and on her arrival learns that her daughter is dead. She reproaches herself bitterly for her cruelty in compelling the marriage, and retires to a nunnery. The whole story is told with simplicity and pathos. The rhymes of the original are very inartificial, the same word being allowed at the end of each verse of the couplet; and a recurrence of the same syllable, sometimes only of the same letter, is all that seems to have been required. From the language we naturally turn to the monuments of very remote antiquity, which abound in the province; but of these we shall at present describe only the Roche aux Fées, and the far famed stones of Carnac. The Roche aux Fées is about six leagues S. E. of Rennes, and a mile and half S. of Essé, and is situated in a field which takes its name from the monument, and is called the field of the Roche aux Fées. When perfect it was composed of forty-two stones, thirty-three of which, fixed upright in the ground, formed the sides of the gallery, if we may so call it the other nine formed the roof. Some of the upright stones, from not being sufficiently strong to bear the superincumbent weight of the others, have lost their perpendicularity; some have given way altogether, and the covering stones have in consequence fallen. Three of the stones, which form the southeastern entrance, appear to have been roughly squared on the principal face; the rest have never been touched by any tool. The direction of this curious work is from south-east to northwest. It is divided into two distinct chambers: † the one towards the south-east is small, and covered with a single stone, and is much lower than the others; that towards the north-west is much larger. Conjecture has, of course, been busy to endeavour to ascertain what was the object for which it was erected. Ogée, in his Dictionnaire de Bretagne, supposes it to have been the tomb of a Roman general:-a supposition which has nothing to bear it out. Deric, in his Ecclesiastical History of Britanny, speaks of it as a building which had been dedicated to pagan ceremonies, and thinks that the smaller chamber was a sanctuary. Others ascribe it to the Druids. Either of the latter hypotheses may be true. Formerly a forest surrounded it. It was at one time preserved with great care; but since the revolution, much injury has been done to it by the wanton folly of the peasantry, who imagined that a treasure lay buried under it. But of all parts of Britanny, of France, and we might say of all parts of the world, there is no place so full of objects interesting to the student of Celtic antiquities as the department of Morbihan. Cromlechs, Kistvaens, Menhirs, meet our view at almost every step. And in that department so rich in these remains, the richest spot is in the neighbourhood of Lochmaria * There are many monuments of a similar kind in different parts of France ascribed to the same agents, the Fairies. La Cabane des Fées in the department of Creuse, La Tioule de las Fadas in the department of Cantal, La Motte aux Fées in the department of the Maine and Loire, La Tour aux Fées in the wood of Marshain, not far from Le Mans; besides many single stones in Britanny and elsewhere which are called Pierres des Fées. The only rival in the British dominions to the Roche aux Fées is the sepulchral monument at New Grange, near Drogheda. + La Grotte des Fées, about three leagues from Tours, is similar to the Roche aux Fées, but much smaller it is about the same height, and is covered in the same manner; and there is the like division into a smaller and a larger chamber. Fragments of stone have been turned up by the plough in its neighbourhood, though there is no quarry near, as if there had been stone huts about it. |