322 WOLF-HUNTING. 



This dance, which is held in high contempt by the French 

 bourgeoisie, is not altogether confined to the peasant class of 

 Lower Brittany ; for it has been my lot to meet more than one 

 member of the old Breton noblesse, whose proficiency in footing 

 it was the talk of the country, and who, whenever the tunes 

 of the bagpipe invited them to a caper, never missed an oppor- 

 tunity of mingling with the peasants, and indulging their fancy in 

 this provincial amusement. It was said of a fine young fellow, 

 who frequently joined our wolf-hunting expeditions, a cadet of 

 the ancient house of de Morlaix, that his passion for dancing the 

 " Jabadao " had been the ruin of his life. He was engaged to 

 be married to a lady, who, in addition to great personal charms, 

 was reputed to be the wealthiest heiress in all Brittany ; the 

 day had been fixed, the trousseau provided, and wedding guests 

 bidden to the ceremony, from the storm-beaten cliffs of Penmarch 

 to the chateau of Larochejaquelin on the distant Loire. A week 

 or so before the event was to have taken place, his presence was 

 required at Quimper to meet the father of the bride elect, the 

 Baron St. Pol-de-Leon, between whom and himself certain legal 

 documents, relating to the lady's settlements, were to be signed 

 and attested by both parties. St. Pol, one of the few specimens 

 left of the Grand Monarque School, punctilious, proud, and 

 treating the slightest liberty taken with himself as an affront to 

 his dignity, was duly in attendance at the appointed time. Not 

 so, however, young de Morlaix, who, in passing through a village 

 between Le Faou and Quimper, unfortunately heard the strains 

 of a bagpipe playing the " Jabadao " tune, and, unable to resist 

 the attraction, had fastened his horse to a tree and flung himself 

 into the circle with the spirit of a Spaniard dancing the Bolero. 



While he was thus engaged, amusing himself and fascinating 

 a peasant girl, who was the belle of the district and his partner 

 in the dance, the horse broke his bridle, and, turning his head 

 in the direction of his own stable, trotted off unseen by a human 



