Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-11

of all these little people; but for some in
explicable reason the wild moors strewr
with dolmens and pillar stones are es
pecially the domain of powerful evil spirits
ARE THOUGHT WONDERFUL HEALERs
The 'Teuz' issue from their abodes IN
| friendly benefcence to assuage all manner
of ills at the humble Breton ireside, and tc
exert the kindliest Offices with the sodden
peasant in his interminable toll in the fields
or to aid the fisherman in his hazardous
lsbors along the bowling coast; but the
'Korils," those malevolent imps OF Breton
superstition, are ever on the alert TO annoy
and distress. They dance and perform the
widest orgies around dreary dolmens and
pillar stones from nightfall until daybreak;
and all manner of evil will befall him who
chances upon their enchanted ground during
these witching hours. The least penalty be
will suffer is to be compelled to dance with
such fury that every bone in his body seems
breaking, until the growing of the cock at
the first streak of dawn; disbelieving ones
who have braved their powars have been
whisked through the air never to reappear
in mortal form; drunken pipers, desecrating
their roadside haunts with saucy rondeaux
snd roulades, when returning from the vii
lage fetes, have paid penance with their
lives; and these elfin enemies of mankind
are at the bottom of every manner of mis-
chief and misfortune Detailing the humber
classes of Brittany.
Breton folk have no sad and mournful
"banshee," as have the Irish; but what
could be more touching than the universal
superstition that on the eve of the Fete des
Morts, in November, the souls of the de-
parted are allowed to visit their loved ones
upon earth and reinhabit the places they
sol Ill
tent? On that night there is not an humble
home in Brittany where, on the awed and
hushed retiring of the occupants, the fire.
place is not banked high with blazing fir,
and the table set with the best viands the
household possesses, for the possible use of
the ghostly company. $50 numerous in the
house" SouVestre tells, "as the leaves in
the deep Breton lanes" Out of this belief
and practice has grown a superstition of the
grimmest character. The return of the
spirits of the dead compels the appearance
of grisly retinue. These attendants are
known as "Lavandieres de Nuit"-washer-
women Of the night. These phantoms wash
the shrouds OF the dead.
MONSTERS GUARDING TREASURES.
There is also in Brittany a numerous
brood of monsters, dragons and unhappy
spirits whose offices are especially to watch
over the untold treasures concealed beneath
pillar-stones and dolmens. Once each year
at the hour of midnight mass OF Christmas
eve, these tortured spirits are freed from
antagonisms to fraternize with each other, or
to quench their burning thirst at wells and
streams. At this moment, all these wonder
full treasures lie Unguarded, and if the places
are approached with certain herbs entwined
with cinquesoil, a chance is given mortals to
obtain the coveted wealth. The difficulty
in securing it, however, has always been the
fear on the part of the peasants that the stony
hosts would rush back pell-mell from their
yearly diversions to sentinel their posts and
claim the treasure seareher's spirit as their
own.
Brittany, always rich in heroic legends, Is
so in those eyer-delightful ones
which wreathe the memory of Britain's
stainless King, Arthur ofthe Table Round.
Though Cornwall lays claim to Arthur's
birth place, and place Of death, at Camelford,
BriGtany's tenderest heritage Of legend and
song is in the imperishable traditions of his
heroic exploits upon her soil. There is rock
in Finistere to w&eh for IL years he fast
ened his steed. On the strand at Launion he
slew the dragon. At Mont ST. Michael dwelt
the terrible giant who tell by Arthur's arm.
From the summit of the Menez-Arrez
Mountains his shadoBy hosts is seen to de-
file at break of day whenever war is impend-
ing;
'Horsemen all mounted on war steeds Of gray.
like the mist wraiths;
COursers that snort with the cold on the heights
OF the mountains.
That shadowless isle of Avalon to which he
was conveyed after his mortal hurt is held
by Breton folk to be little islet off the Cot
tes du Nord. And among the peasantry there
Il, LIZ
Arthur's final return, in fulfllment of Mer-
Inns prophecy.
AN ARRAY OF sUPERsTITIoNs.
Along down this line of Breton wrath.
mystery and portent come countless troops
Of everyday superst1tions. Many books
might be filed with them. Here are few
anv one can gather in this quaint land
within fortnight: Blight will come upon
all infants unless blessings are bestowed be-
fore they are fed, or if passers fail to call
out, "God bless you I" to its mother. Pass
ing a sick person through the split trunk of
a live fir tree will remove disease. To shoot |
q raven will bring down a curse, as King |
Arthur's spirit went into the Breton raven.
The oxen at midnight of Christmas eve NAV |
be found upon their knees groaning in |
prayer. The souls of fishermen lost at |
sea, without grace, 'hail their names" |
along the coast at each anniversary |
Of loss of life. To put wooden |
shoes on the wrong feet is certain presage of
coming temptation to great crime. As in |
Cornwall in the departments of Morbihan |
and Finistere bullock calves are still secretly /
burned to drive evil spirits from the herds. |
Hundreds repair annually to men-an-tol,
Or holed pagan stone, near Carnac to be |
lraWn through it for the cure of rheuma-
ism. 1t the flame in the fireplace ever as
'umes the form of coffin, death will pres
,ntly come to that house. If one observes
proper conditions of dress and mind and can
place foot upon the plant herbe dor or
elago, the language OF any animal will
become as plain to him as mans. The
I'D pagan custom of st. Johns eve fires
s universal in Brittany. Any Breton
,irl who dances around nine of these fires
,eiore midnight, will marry within
he year. Cattle driven through their en-
Ders will be preserved from wi1ch-evils. Any
me who will walk nine times around the
,reat men-an-tol, near Lannion, nine times
t midnight may ever after enjoy powers of
be evil one; cnd a woman may become q
Eitch by sacrificing the blood of black cat
t the same witchfng hour on a "stone of the
,etrayed spouses." The bowling Of a dog
nth his head toward the house; the Growing
f March roosters before midnight; the sud- +
len appearance of swarms of butterflies; or
he losing by COW of her cud, bodies death.
'he crops of blackbirds hold the souls of
hose exposed to purgatorial fires; and the
nagpie is the repository of the soul Of an
vil-minded woman.
EDGAR L. wAKEMAN.
II RAPID TRANSIT TO FLORIDA.