The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-05-23
AZ INLAND OF wo1ru.


- Ousssaat An the work Il Doao ~
The PettAcoat Brigade.
a visitor to Ouessant. or the Brit.
tany coast, Will ses few, II any. Oues-
santaiA All that he viii zee are >Oues-
santalses- women Of Ouessent, harvest
inS. says the London Standard. The
men are at sea. The women do all
the work of the land, and one may
zee them In their quaint short black
petttcoats, their tight bodices, their
black kerchiefs on their headA binding
and carrying corn and bending in siren
nous labor over the fail. The men OF
Ouessant do no farm work. They be-
long to the sea and the sea Is a jealous
mistress. At Is the lads go on as sail
orA Then they serve In the navy.
When the navy sets them free they usu-
ally re-enlist 30 as to earn a pension
when they are too old to work. Others
are In the merchant service, and all,
navy men or merchant men, are mar
ried. A very few are fishermen, but
they are at sea nearly always and you
VIII rarely meet them about In the
island When the sea Is too rough they
sit and watch her. They do not know
or care about the land The land is
woman's business
One sees this idea In the women'a
costume and In their hair, which they
wear short, as the men peasants OF
old time used to wear it. They are
straight, well built, handsome women,
dark, with big brown or big slate-col-
ored eyes. They are entirely unlike the
Breton women of the mainland, and
look more like Italians. They are calm
and dignifed and kindly to the
stranger, and they are afraid Of nothing
except the photographer. They do not
like photographers, for they fear that
their pictures may go abroad on post.
cards, and that they would not like.
When news comes Of loss at sea-
and such news often comes-the widow
and friends Of the dead man hold q
wake. In the living room Of the little
cottage, little waxen cross, called the
"Proella," is put on clean napkin in
the center of a table, and round 1t are
placed few lighted candles. The dead
mans relatives and friends are there,
end nun reads chapter from the
Lives Of the Saints and munbles pray
ers for the dead. The door and win
dows Of the cottage are left open, 50
that the spirits which are abroad at
night (the Ouessantais believe In wan
dering spirits) may stop and listen to
the prayer. Those present drink and
eat a little Of the national pastry called
LIE gar. The few men there tell Of the
dangers from which they have escaped
at sea. The women tell Of dangers
which their men have met at sea, and
Of their dreams at home, and SO the
night passes. In the morning the priest
comes with his incense swingers for
the Proella, and gives dissolution at the
house door. The little church's bell
sounds the glas, or funeral knell. The
widow, followed by the priest and her
friends, carries the Proella down to
the church. There there are prayers
and everybody kisses the small waxen
Cross, and on the following day of the
dead" which Is the day after Ash We'd
nesday, the Proella Is carried to the
cemetery where 1t is placed with many
others in a special place. All round
the resting place Of the Proella are
COMMISSIONERS And the names on the
tombstones are names Of women only
For all Ouessant men have died at sea.