of the great towns, and will listen, not for
hours only, but for days together, to a drama
that is being made while it is being acted.
If a Breton singer happens to be a man of
conscience as well as of talent, he can do
much good. This was the case with a
lame peasant of Basse-Cornouaille, who was
exercising, a few years ago, a great influence
over the people. He was nicknamed Loïz-
Kam, or Louis the Lame, and looked like one
of the dwarfs kept at a king's court of old;
he was full of sense, and wit, and quick
perception. He had no objection to be thought
a conjuror, and was not offended at the
strange stories that were current on the
subject of his powers; such a belief gave him an
advantage over his uneducated hearers, which
he did not use for an ill purpose. Drunkenness
prevails amongst the lower order of
the Bretons, and, at their grand Pardons, it
is seldom that the solemnity passes away
without scenes of distressing brutality. Louis
Kam always took occasion in his own parish,
to attract an immense crowd round him, and
by persuasive eloquence and vivid pictures,
drawn in songs, upon the horror of this
beastly vice, he achieved throughout his own
district a triumph similar to that of Father
Mathew.

Quite lately I happened to be witness of a
scene at St. Pol de Léon, which was very
striking and characteristic. There had been
a frightful murder in the district, which,
being the newest and most fascinating event,
was chosen for his theme by a blind minstrel
at the fair. A large crowd had assembled
round him, and he had already named his
subject, and prefaced his poem by an exordium,
when he paused suddenly and addressed
the auditors:

"Christians," said he, " before we go
further let us all say a Pater and a De
profundis for the assassin and his victim."

At these words he took off his hat, a
movement which was generally followed. All
made the sign of the cross; he then recited
several expiatory prayers, to which the rest
responded; having done that he resumed his
ballad, and so went on to relate his story.

When cholera prevailed in Brittany, the
wandering singers took that as their theme,
and, instructed by the doctors and the
authorities, put into song the proper remedies
which should be used in the treatment of the
malady. Thus people were taught readily
to take those precautions which their
indolence or ignorance would in no other way
have cared to study.

I have alluded to the great religions meetings
of the Bretons, called their Pardons.
They are quite peculiar to the province, and
they date their origin back to the early ages
after Druidism had disappeared. In fact
they are remnants of the ceremonies of the
ancient pagans, of which a great number of
vestiges occur in Brittany.

Every great Pardon lasts at least three
days. On the eve of the first day, all the
bells of all the churches are set ringing; all
the chapels are adorned with garlands and
vases of fresh flowers; the saints in their
niches, and over their altars, are dressed in
the national costume; and, in particular, the
saint who is the patron of the district, is
dressed like a bride or bridegroom, as the
case may be. If the saint be a female, she
has a white coif put upon her head,
ornamented with a multitude of little mirrors,
such as earthly brides in Brittany wear
on the wedding-day. If the saint be a
gentleman, he wears in his breast the
customary bouquet, gay with floating
ribbons, which distinguishes a bridegroom in
his glory.

Towards evening the chapel is swept, and
it is customary to throw chapel dust up into
the air, in order that the wind may be
favourable to those who are coming in from
the adjacent islands on the morrow.
Immediately afterwards all the gifts that are to be
offered to the holy patron of the place, are
spread out in a conspicuous part of the nave.
These gifts are generally sacks of corn, hanks
of flax, fleeces of young lambs or ewes, new
hives of honey, and such rustic treasures.
Less than a century ago it was usual at this
time to dance in the chapel; but at present
the dance takes place on the green in front,
where there is sure to be a fountain dedicated
to a saint.

Formerly the bonfire never was omitted late
at night, but of late years even the bonfire has
fallen a good deal into disuse. In some
hamlets, however, it is still abided by, with
all the rites thereto belonging. A high pole
adorned with a garland is set up in the midst
of light wood shavings and heather. To the
light shavings fire is set, and the whole
company, with wild cries, songs, and prayers,
watches until the flame shall have leaped up
high enough to catch the garland at the top.
Directly after this has happened, all dance
twelve times round the pole, and then the
old men place a circle of stones round the
fire, in the midst of which there is a cauldron
fixed. Formerly meat for the priests used to
be cooked in that pot, but now people content
themselves by filling it with water. Children
throw into the water, as it boils, pieces of
metal, and then fixing bits of reed to the two
handles, they cause the whole machine to
discourse excellent music.

By daybreak the next morning visitors
come in bands to the Pardon, from all parts
of Brittany, singing and shouting prayers.
As soon as each band gets within sight of the
church spire, all the people in it go down on
their knees, and make the sign of the cross.
If the Pardon be held in a town near the sea,
the water is at this time covered with vessels,
from every one of which proceeds the same
chorus or prayer.

Sometimes whole cantons arrive at once,
bringing the banners of their parishes, and