314 WOLF-HUNTING. 



From the adoption of the word ar gourren, then, it may fairly 

 be inferred that the game of wrestling was derived from the 

 Romans who, in the time of Caesar, occupied in great numbers 

 the country of Armorica, when it was constituted a province and 

 called " Lugdunensis Secunda ; " but, from the still earlier visits 

 of the Phoenicians to that country, it may have had even an older 

 origin, though, as it has been already remarked, the Bretons have 

 had no ancient chronicler to record the fact. A comparatively 

 modern one, however, has informed us how, on the Field of the 

 Cloth of Gold, in the time of Francis I., a grand wrestling-match 

 took place between the French and English athletes ; and how, 

 when England gained the mastery, the greatest regret was ex- 

 pressed that the Bretons had not been sent for to oppose the 

 English, as they were deemed unconquerable champions in this 

 manly game. The accounts, too, of the treasurers to the Dukes 

 of Brittany constantly make mention of sums of money given to 

 their wrestlers ; it being the object of the Government to cultivate 

 the muscle and bodily strength of the people by such gym- 

 nastics. 



Having so far referred to the antiquity of the sport in that 

 country, let me endeavour to describe a wrestling-match, such as 

 every summer may be seen at Pleyben, a small town in Finisterre, 

 nearly midway between Chateaulin and Chateauneuf-du-Faou. 

 To him, however, who has ever witnessed a gathering for the 

 like purpose in Cornwall or Devon, I cannot, I fear, hope to 

 contribute information either of a novel or startling character; 

 still, although the game may be somewhat similar, a strange 

 difference exists in the picturesque and mediaeval appearance 

 of a Breton assemblage from that of our Western counties. 



On a favourable grass-plat, and under the shade of a clump of 

 chestnut-trees, the spectators were compelled to form a vast ring, 

 which, although unroped, was admirably kept by a staff of men 

 appointed for that purpose. These, answering in some degree to 



