Lexington Leader. (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, September 10, 1909 Page: 3 of 8
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The home is never brightened bf
th' roseate hues on the end! of a
r> straightest roa.l to heaven
on(j on which you can do mo:
Icrri'VINC tlie law peninsula
at the northwestern corner of
France washed by '.he* Eng-
lish channel and th'* Hay of
Biscay—is a rnggec country,
• iih rugged inhabitants, who art* less
French than any other people of the
'•ppbllc, Brittany lias no pclitlcal ex-
st«nce and is not even repn -rented on
•nine modern map/., because it termi-
nated its individual career in the clos-
nvr years of the eighteenth century;
iiiT the Bretons, differing i- ancestry,
ngunge and temperament rora their
leighbors, have held aloof .nd ntaln-
lined their racial character in a way
«I most nri paralleled in European bis*
ory. Fierce wars have left -heir scars
iml the concomitants of mo iern civili-
t!on have made their ensuring im-
By Hugh {Yl. Smith
Deputy Commissioner
U. <3. 3 urea a o/ Fisheries
than the entire stule or Maryland. ;
The abundance of stone everywhere
and the scarcllji r Umber In man*
temiilied tlie bulMIni *'
most of the house*.
structures in
for any reason build-
ii or otherwise lack-
liave often had re-
••historic monuments
si ml eh urelies.
: j i a i kuniv en-
ut Hud employ-
places lun i
material for i
i-liuri'hcs and
Hrltiauy Wilt:
ins1 stone is set
ill);, the people
measured
faults
family may
out to learn how
might v well to
I heir homes
The chill
uji m iterial to
hit
l>" man Ii
make iiii)u>
i n how i
i
and un
much
There's nothing a girl lik
v hen she is going to m
•
tetter
ngaged to as to writ
liiui
riptions you niak
the i" >ple who!
out. of you act as it
I ihcm
H'rg that interests a woman
about a wedding is ITio people thr
bride's mother said were *o be pres
but they wouldn't com
■Lear u/- oo/iro /n row.
It wi?3 the scene of t>; ui'.,st atrocious massaen
tnfl j n:11y SO/"*1'1 toen. women and children
wete here bulehe.red
Gvcrv observant traveler soon mull/.
dominant note in the Breton character is the univer-
sal ai d ineradicable belief in a higher power, which
k „„t only worshipped, hut is regarded as influencing
>r determining every incident in their daily
Most peculiar religious superstitions are
witchcraft, charms and antidotes are believed in. and
fairies and other <reatures of a childlike imagination
•re have a very real existence to both young and old
All of the people are now nominally Christians, but
Druidism flourished in some remote sections
f man's* birthday pr«
from the beginning
Bathing suits nearlj
hoi da\
ybody on
be\\ lid
Even th
(I. disapi
sinus bats ha\
d look
who does not preach with what
will never Persuade with that
is lat
fite
Keep your motives pure and your
results will lake care of themseh
i all things with kindness
Ilnd it a "pretty line ol0
-
mm
w orld
-yHSSO&r/HG- AftD /I Q&ArtG/rfGr
<S/iiiD/rt£3 FOX Dfi Y/tf
i/i Ji Y
-oHQ/riE
rung w
D&Y/flQ OtfOR/LLJ
■ .-s on people and country; !>ul &o
much of the ancient customs and land-
marks has survived that Brittany is
-.till a well-marked geographical and
ethnological entity and bids fair to re-
main such for many generations.
This isolation of Brittany from the
T.-inainder of France, while at the
same time the province is compara-
tively easy to reach ami traverse, has
lor many years made it a popular hoii-
• lay and vacation resort for Parisians
and Londoners and has attracted the
notice of regular travelers and tourists
who. having "done" the Alps, the Rhine,
the Norwegian fjords the Riviera and
the European capitals, are Seeking new
woi Ids to conquer. Artists of all lands
have likewise found this a most agree-
able field for work and recreation. The
Tioyhilarity of the region is attested by
a score of modern books of travel,
some written and illustrated by clever artistn.
l-scribing the quaint charm of country and
people and always giving the reader a keen
desire to go and see for himself.
Stome years ago I was privileged to visit
Brittany in the interest of the bureau of fish-
flies and the personal observations I then
made incidental to the special inquiries in
hand form the basis for these necessarily des-
ultory remarks
The original name of Brittany was
Vrmorlca. which was changed iu con-
sequence of extensive immigration
from (Jreat Britain in the fifth and
sixth centuries. The, Armorican tribes
formed a part of that race of w hich the
Irish, Highland Scotch and Manx con-
stitute one division and the Welsh.
•Cornish and Breton the other. The
Celtic language there spoken at the
present time itf divided into three or
four rather distinct dialects and is un-
lerstood. if not actually used by a very
large percentage of the native popula-
tion. Many of the older Bretons can-
not speak French and in 1902 it was
found that the tench language was
unknown or unused by 700,000 of the
people. The government now requires
the learning of French by the young.
so we may expect the gradual disuso
•and final death of this ancient tongue.
Taking a brief glance at the history
of Brittany, we may note that at a very
remote period this country ber.\me
thickly settled by a dark-skinned
people that, starting a westward mi-
ration from some part of Asia, left
monuments along their route through-
out central and northern Europe and
july ceased • their wanderings when
topped by the sea in Scandinavia, Ire-
and, Great Britain. France, Portugal
and Spain. In prehistoric times the
< onquered this early lace, and then came the
Roman conquest and the Roman occupation
of Gaul until the fourth.century, up to which
time the peculiar religious practices of the
aboriginal race appear to have flourished un-
molested by either (tauls or Romans.
We read that in Maximilian, son-in-law
of Octavlus of England, and his nephew, Co-
nan Meriadec, went over to Armoriea and en-
deavored to displace the Romans. This ven-
ture cost the lives of some 15,000 soldiers.
Then Maximilian took over a huge army and
eventually overcame the Romans. Conan be-
, , me king of the country, which he called
Little Britain, or Bretagne, and. making his
capital at Nantes, he invited his countrymen,
vho were then very hard pressed by the Scots
• nd PIcts and Saxona, to come over and join
I,fm. Many thousands responded to this >ind
subsequent invitations and by the time of Co-
nan's death, in 421, Christianity, that had
been introduced with the Briton immigrants,
had been established and paganism almost
abolished over a large part of the country.
In the middle ages the dukes of Brittany
exercised semi-royal prerogatives and the
people had a separate parliament for many
preceding
Bretons lived up to their rep-
utation for conservatism and
remained loyal to the mon-
archy and forcibly resisted I
the establishment of the re-
public long after the other
parts of France had accept-
ed the new regime. This
sanguinary chapter in the
history of the country has
ft
/t 3P£TO/i P£/iS/l/ira COrr/7G£ ■-!—-
.is the seventeenth century, and it is an intei-
estiiis fact that the veneration accorded the
heathen deities in the earliest centuries of
Breton history was easily transferred to the
Holy Family and the Christian saints when
the new religion reached the country. In no
other part of Europe, if indeed in any other
part of the world, lias Christianity absorbed
so much of earlier creeds, and it requires no
particularly astute observer to appreciate that
many features of llreton religious practice to-
day are relict of prehistoric paganism.
It is easy to understand how the supersti-
tious temperament ol the Ilretons litis I" et
developed by their isolated geographical posi-
tion and the impressive character of the
try. by their distinct language and by
being brought constantly in contact with
strange megalithic remains which are
numerous than anywhere else.
eleventh century, they
present a most interesting record of
1111. evolution and program of eccle-
rchitecture. Large castles
are rare and in practically every com-
munity it Is the church that Is the
most imposing structure.
house - of peasants and fisher- j
men are for the most part small, one- j
storied, with deep, thatched roof. In a
; | noticed the walls formed
)'f upright granite blocks
vpven or eight feet high. Windows
U,fu n without glass I are small, few
in number and not infrequently alto-
,,,.ther lacking in tho poorest houses.
Doors are of dirt, which is
often converted into mud and re-
mains so. and the interiors tire usu-
ally chilly and cheerless. In many
families there is a common bedroom
in each houEe. with a bed In each
corner and it is no unusual thing to
same room shared by a litter of pigs
haps several goals.
llut the leading product or the waters of
Brittany is the sardine. This country has its
"In "culiar attractions for the arils the
linguist and other specialists,
v tourists are often impelled
hither; but the fen'
Sometimes people become so Ion*,
some t hut they want to howl like ^
dog,
A eonipromlse is merly something
which each sides grumbles at, but
pti'iuls for because the other Bide
didn't get all it wanted
yet, after hearing what her
ay about liltu, and what his
ly about her,Love .is generally
laugh at knoeksmiths.
Business inevitably comes before
pleasure generally about fifty weeks
of it before you can garner enough
for a brief two weeks' spurt.
OKLAHOMA DIRECTORY
Nice light bread and flaky biscuits
can be made from
Insist on this brand and you
are sure to have the best
YOl'II «.m < T:I* SKI.1.S I
find th
and lie
SOUTHERN ALBERTA WHEAT LAND
IRRIGABLE. r.*
OR TERMS. .
NORTHWEST LAND CO. .
W. S. BAIRD
BUSINESS
COLLEGE
Write To-
arch
eologist, t
even ordinary tc
Mend their trav
V hicli appeals most strongly to the great-
•is not their
it thr I .argent School in tlir Southwest
ilav (or new ctlilreue an<i special ri
for September opening.
HILL'S BUSINESS COLLEGE. - Oklah
i City
mbi
i f Americans
,rtistie or sc
ik through
!'. rdine. Oth«
Fran<
•lit il
produ
• \ C I
fllC
es, but their
medium of the
ountries and other
sardines, but the
nit's from Rrittany.
MALTHOID
AND
"C. & G."
BEST EVER
Curtis & Gartside Co., Oklahoma City
Wholesale Manufacturers of Sash and
Doors, Hardwood Finish Office and Bank
Fixtures. Ask your Lumber Dealer.
301111-
their
hen
OO/UCr ro
Gauls been vividly portrayed
novel, "The Chouans."
Balzac's stirring
the French revolution,
the outbreak of that momentous struggle
the
The Britons, at first friends anil kindred
of the Bretons, eventually became their hered-
itary enemies. For centuries the British pri-
vateers and naval vessels ravaged the coast,
blockaded the harbors, bombarded the towns,
landed fighting parties and the long-continued
ami deep-seated animosity thus engendered
still abides in ibis land, wheie changes ill
habits and customs and sentiment occur very
slowly.
The present population of Brittany Is about
3,26(1,000. The principal cities are Brest, the
great naval port of France, beautifully located
on one of the best harbors in all Kurope,
Rennet, in the interior, brought prominently
to the world's notice some years ago as the
scene of Dreyfus' first trial; and Nantes, on
the Loire, the largest and one of the most in-
teresting placcs in all Brittany. Its chief at-
traction is Its hoary age and romantic history.
It is mentioned by Caesar, Pliny and other
writers of their time and was a city of note
long before Caesar divided all Gaul into three
parts lu the middle ages it was one of the
most valuable possessions of the semi-royal
dukes of Brittany and when, in 1409, Anne of
Brittany here wedded Louis XII. it passed to
the crown of France. During the revolution
more
A sympathetic foreigner has given mi ad
mirable estimate of Brittany and the Breton
character that should always be borne in
mind:
"Those who would wish to see Brittany as
she really is inust not look at her wild and
barren plains, her bleak, dreary mountains,
her dark and sombre forests, her stormy and
rock-bound shores and her lonely, lovely \al
leys with the hasty glance they east on any
other passing landscape, with the hard prac
ticsl eye and fastidious tastes'of modern trav
elers; they must think of her as the land
that has been consecrated Uy the earliest feats
of chivalry, perhaps the only spot in the mod
ern world that has preserved in her legend
untarnished the 'eternal youth or phantasy
Here, it Is not only 'the spirit that haunts ti"
lust years' bowers.' but the spirit of ages past
that looks you in the face.
"The traveler must not regard" the melim
choly Breton, alternately taciturn and eh>
ipient, simply as an unlettered .nd more,:-,
peasant, but as a h.-igg cradle,I in supersii
Hon. endowed by nature and tihie.ition with u
livid imagination, with a deep, true, poetical
sense, with strong and gloomy religious view-,
to whom the •spirit-land' is tin ever-present. An
ever-living reality, and who idemnilies himself
for his hard lot on earth by a constant refei
ence to the future joys of heaven
Brittany is ti small country. Its extreno
length from north to south is only K.0 miles,
and its greatest wtylth Is about the satin The
area is lXti'.IU square miles, or a little larger
that
persi
rittany i- tlie center of the sardine tish-
.trul h:is all of the numerous establish-
s for the canning of the fish. In an aver-
seasoii the Brittany sardine fishermen
,01 2,-.,ooo to ::0,000 and catch 100,000.000
I, OOii,000 .pounds of surdities, for which
receive $1.
industries
oyment to 20 000 other persons, mostly
3S SHORTHAND
3,000 to $3,000,000. while the
ependont on the fishery give
SCHOOL BOOKS, POST CARDS
TABLETS. SCHOOL SUPPLIES
OKLAHOMA BOOK CO.
Tikii/e F0R ST0CK AND ST0RAGE
lANKo CULVERTS
SWANDA BROS.
and th
ruin, star
the iiion
irectly or indirectly supported by
Ijiil ire of the fish to come means
vatiqn and death to many people in
Isolated places.
ics are round on the coasts of Brit-
mghout the year, but occur in great-
dai«c« in summer and autumn The
h, in demand for canning purposes,
ii hatched from eggs laid in the pre-
lum r at a considerable distance from
schools at "or near the sur-
100,000 have be<*n taken at
i from one school, but the
n i.
DRESSMAKING
Mi and g'
As man>
of ti
wnarkably
ic fish, of
•rring are
varies in
WESTERN NATIONALINS 00
not r«| rM«iiW<l m >< ' i " ' « '• l!< ' • .
BOOKKEEPING
RAINARDS BOOKKIIP
Jr l\U.PS SiTAJ-to* ///«►
BRAINAKI) S BODKKEI PING TRAINING SCHOOL
c-
as
r \ IT,
Hi. the s
only to
udance.
need to
which
than f«
i sap
) wed
i rdine
be fo
All sorts of
account for
inpear to be
ELECTRIC
ELECTRIC SUPPLIES
S. W. ELECTRIC CO.,
DEERE MPLEMENTS
and VELIE VEHICLES mk your d«ale.
CR JOHN DEERE PLOW CO., 0['.LAHOMA CITt
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Fox, J. O. Lexington Leader. (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, September 10, 1909, newspaper, September 10, 1909; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc110380/m1/3/?rotate=180: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.