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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Few, if any, among the modern French 

 writers understand the Breton character 

 and language better than Anatole Lebraz, 

 one of whose works, An Pays des Par- 

 dons, is devoted to an account of the 

 various pardons celebrated in Brittany. 

 A Breton himself, he has a keener in- 

 sight into the traits of these people and a 

 deeper sympathy with their beliefs, 

 habits, and customs than an outsider 

 could have. 



The pardons are conducted today just 

 as they were centuries ago, and no one 

 not to the manner born can appreciate 

 their full significance to every Breton 

 man, woman, and child. 



"It is, in fact, impossible to overesti- 

 mate the importance in the life of the 

 true Breton of the pardon of his parish, 

 for from his earliest childhood it is asso- 

 ciated with the most solemn moments of 

 his existence. As an infant, he is carried 

 by his mother to the church or shrine 

 which is the point of departure of the 

 procession ; as soon as he can walk he is 

 allowed to take part in the latter, and he 

 tramps happily along with his playfel- 

 lows of the village, never owning to wea- 

 riness, however long the pilgrimage ; and 

 when he is old enough he competes ea- 

 gerly for the honor of carrying one of the 

 banners. It is often at a pardon that he 

 falls in love with his douce, as he poetic- 

 ally calls his sweetheart, and it is gener- 

 ally at the dance in the open air that fol- 

 lows the completion of the religious 

 duties of the day that the final words are 

 spoken binding him to her for life. 



"It is at the next pardon after their 

 betrothal that the affianced pair win a 

 blessing on their union, and it is at a 

 pardon that they return thanks for the 

 birth of their first child. The sailor or 

 fisherman who has attended a pardon on 

 the eve of a voyage feels secure from the 

 perils of the deep ; it is at a pardon that 

 the peasant prays for the fertility of his 

 little holding. To the women of Brit- 

 tany the annual ceremony is the one event 

 of the year ; the dress to be worn at it 

 occupies the thoughts of the young for 

 months beforehand, and large sums are 

 often expended on it; whilst to the old 



it is a time sacred to memories of the 

 past, when the spirits of those that 

 are gone seem to be present once more, 

 and the days of their own girlhood are 

 recalled, when to them, as to their grand- 

 children of today, all things seemed pos- 

 sible."* 



The pardon that is celebrated with spe- 

 cial zeal in the coastwise regions is that 

 of the fishermen and sailors on Saint 

 Anne's day. The people from the differ- 

 ent parishes and from adjacent districts 

 assemble in their characteristic costumes 

 and with their sacred banners and relics. 



The procession starts from the church 

 and traverses the main streets, the rich 

 banners borne by men and women at the 

 head of different detachments and the 

 images of patron saints carried on a plat- 

 form by women in special dress. A 

 prominent place in the procession is occu- 

 pied by those who have been saved from 

 wreck and drowning, and these are fol- 

 lowed by the widows of lost sailors and 

 fishermen. 



One of the events of special interest 

 that we may witness is the arrival of a 

 party from one of the outlying islands, 

 where, owing to storms, the inhabitants 

 are sometimes isolated for weeks at a 

 time. It is among these insular people 

 that the ancient customs and beliefs per- 

 sist most strongly, and it is on an occa- 

 sion like this that we may discover new 

 features of interest in the dress, speech, 

 and manners of the Bretons. 



Those who go to Brittany to find sub- 

 lime or awe-inspiring scenery will be dis- 

 appointed, for there is none ; but those 

 who are satisfied with quiet sights will 

 find much that is most pleasing and at- 

 tractive. 



The waters that wash the shores of 

 Brittany are proverbially boisterous, and 

 the Bay of Biscay in particular is liable 

 to fierce storms. The much-broken coast 

 is skirted with many protecting islands, 

 which, like the mainland, are rocky and 

 in some places quite precipitous. The 

 huge promontory of Finistere might 

 easily pass for the sister promontory in 

 Cornwall, and the extremity of Finis- 



* Bell's "Picturesque Brittany." 



