Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-10-03

ciety, Washington. D. C)
III one were asked what part of
France is least French he might he
led to think of the provinces recently
reWon from Germany, or regions
touching Italy or Spain. But the land
mat bests merits this description is
the large peninsula at the northwest
ern corner of France-Brittany-
region that has been French almost
as long as any soil Of the republic.
Brittany has no political existence,
and is not even represented by name
on some modern maps; but the Bre-
tons, differing in ancestry, language,
and temperament from their neigh
bors, have held aloof and maintained
their racial characters in way AL
most unparalleled in European his
tory. Fierce wars have left their
scars. and the concomitants of mod
ern civilization have made their en-
during impress on people and COM
try, but so much of the ancient GUS
toms and landmarks has survived that
Brittany is still a well-marked ge-
ographical and chronological entity and
bids fair to remain such for MANY
generations.
This isolation Of Brittany from the
remainder of France, while at the
same time the province is compare
lively easy to reach and traverse. has
for many years made it a popular
holiday and vacation resort for Parish
ans and LondOners, and has attracted
the notice of regular travellers and
tourists who, having done" the Alps,
the Rhine, the Norwegian fjords, the
Riviera and the European capitals,
are seeking new worlds to conquer.
Artists of all lands have likewise
found this a most agreeable field for
work and recreation.
The original name of Brittany was
Armorica, which was changed in conse-
quence Of extensive immigration from
Great Britain in the Fifth and Sixth
centuries. The Armorican tribes
formed part of that race of which
the Irish, Highland Scotch, and Manx
constitute one division, and the Welsh,
Cornish and Bretons the other The
Celtic language there spoken at thhe
present time is divided. into three or
four rather distinct dialects, and is
understood, If not actually used, by a
very large percentage Of the native
population. Many Of the older Bre-
tons cannot speak French, and in 1902
1t was found that the French language
was unknown or unused by 100000 Of
the people. The government now re-
quires the young to learn French, so
the gradual disuse and final death Of
this ancient tongue may be expected
Has a Romantic History.
In prehistoric times the Gauls con-
quered the earliest of Brittany's
races and then came the Roman con-
quest and the Roman occupation of
Gaul until the Fourth century, up to
which time the peculiar religious prac-
tees of the aboriginal race appear to
Gauls or Romans.
Then the real Bretons arrived. In
3S3 Macmillan, son-in-law of Octavi-
us of England, and his nephew, Conan
Meriadec, went over to Armorica and
endeavored to displace the Romans.
This venture cost the lives of some
$4,000 soldiers. Then Macmillan took
over a huge army and eventually over
came the Romans. Conan became king
of the country, which he called Little
Britain, or Bretagne: and, making his
capital at Nantes, he invited his -coun-
trymen, who were then very hard
pressed by the Scots and Picts and
Saxons, to come over and join him.
Many thousands responded to this and
subsequent invitations, and by the
time of Conan's death, In 421, Chris
tianity, that had been introduced with
the Briton immigrants, had been es-
tablished and paganism almost aboi-
lshed over a large part of the coun-
try.
In the Middle Ages the dukes OF
Brittany exercised semi-royal prerog-
atives, and the people had separate
parliament for many years preceding
the French Revolution. AT the out
break of that momentous struggle the
Bretons lived up to their reputation
for conservatism and remained loyal
to the monarchy, and forcibly resisted
the establishment of the republic long
after the other parts of France had
accepted the new regime. This san
culinary chapter in the history of the
country has been wildly portrayed In
Balzac's stirring novel, "The Chouans.'
The Blittons. at first the friends and