Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-03-20
DAILY EVENING Star.
THE GHOST OF A Lowe TsToRY.
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legend az ESPsft1Ny. TSseig
In an excursion once made in Brit
tany, larrIved one evening al the Httl,
town OF Pontayen in Lower Cornwall. Il
was beautiful summer, and the charm
ing country had never looked NOR
smiling and agreeable. i was on my wa +,
TO Quimper, the capital of the district
and need not have ventured on such far,
a the very shabby inn offered: but had
fancy to stop in order to have an op
portunity of visiting the ruins ola castl,
which / had obsei 5ed on my way. crown
ing hill rising above a village called
Nixon, . short walk from Pontaven.
As | was well aware that to view q
ruin aiight, one should Ego visit it by
the pale moonlight, +" and the moon being
then in her highest noon,"I meditated
an excursion with my companions-one
of whom was Breton born. and the
other a brisk little native of Normandy
to the Castle of Rustefan, as soon As ou
supper had little restored US after a
day S journey on bad roads, s,il ~ .-nl - 1 "
Ihewaik was extremely pretty through
deep shaded lanes, across which the clear
rays Of the moonlight danced as they
escaped through the leaves, stirred by a
S0it breeze We soon reached the VIII
lage. and mounted the steep hill, at the
highest point of which rose the numerous
walls aad towers of what must have been
large castle. In what had been the
inner court, the ground was covered with
soft turf-where, formerly, the, village
fetes and dances were held. sss2s
One night, merry party ef Young
people were dancing on this green, and
had not yet ceased, when the clock of the
chapel of Nixon tolled twelve. Exacslv
at that, moment, although the weather
had been beautiful until then, for it was
warm Summer, a sudden chill, came
over all. the moon became obscured, and
the wind rose in sharp gusts which yio-
lently shook the thick ivy garlands Oh
the wall. The party stopped in the
midst Of their dance, for every one had
felt the influence of the change, and. as
the ky grew darker and the wind louder,
they clung to each other in actual fear.
Presently, those who had courage to look
around them were aware that, gazing at
them from the pointed ruined window OF
the donjon, stood figure in the dress OF
a monk, with the shaven crown and hol-
low, lustrous eyes. As the great revolu
tion had long since cleared the country
of mOnasteries, and as no monk had evcl
been seen in the locality except in pic
ture, the general astonishment was great.
The terror increased when the figure.
slowly moving from the window, reap
pearcd at lower one, as If descending
the broken stair, and finally was seen tf
emerge from beneath the stone portal
into the interrupted moonlight, and ap.
peared-sti!l fixing his luStrous eyes
upon them-to be advancing. With
general cry of terror, and with rapidity
which only fear could give, all rushed
towards the opposite entrance, and near
ly falling over each othe- i'm their eager.
ness to escape, darted from the castle,
and made the best Of their way to the
bottom Of the hill, nor stopped until they
had regained the cottages. 20. -
After this, the ruins were never visited
10y night; but occasionally it happened
that stranger, coming from distance.
would have to cross the lower part of the
hill which the castle crowned, and, if he
looked up from the marshy lake into
which drains all the water from the
heights round about, and which is one of
the most dismal, dreary-looking spots in
the neighborhood, he was sure TO see.
the hull and advancing slowly
10 the chief entrance to the castle, a fune.
raj procession conducting bier covered |
with white cloth, and having four ta-
pers at the corners, just as is usual on the |
coffin of young girl. This would enter
the castle gate and disappear.
Others have heard, as they ypassed under
the walls, the sound of weeping and la
and sometimes of q low, melan-
choly singing, and have been witnesses to
the appearance on the walls of a female |
figure, and Of very young girl, dressed in
robe of green satin strewed with golden
lowers, who walks mournfully along,
altering sighs and sObs, and occasionally |
singing, in a fearful voice, " ords which |
no one has been able to comprehend. 2
My Breton friend, to whom all the le-
sendS Of his country were familiar, find |
ing that Was interested in the account |
IF these apparitions of the castle, thus
satisfied my longing to know how the be.
lief could have arisen Of these appearances
IF monk and lady. =
q suppose it was to give a elomier
horror to the legend that our friends the
peasants of Nixon fixed upon monk for |
their ghost. The fact is, it is a priest |
who appears, with shayen head and bril- |
liant eyes; one of those whom you may |
meet any day in the parish Indeed, the |
real hero of the tale filled that very office. 4
You may have observed two names fire |
Iuently repeated over the shops, both in
The village below and at PontavenLboth
Naour and Flecher are common here
ibouts. The first are extremely proud
If their name, for it proves them to be
descendants of the once powerful lord OF
Rust efan, in days when lords were people
who had the command of all the country
md all the peasants within their ken.
As for Flecher, it was never more illus
.rious than it is now; yet it is connected
with the history Of these old ruins as
much as the other. @-t1ia II = |
The peasants of Brittany are very
ambitious that their sons should cutter
the church. 1t removes them from evil
habits and hard labor It gives them
education and certain superiority I
which every mother wishes her child to
in their opinion, it Sc
cuors them heaven, and provides prayers