Welsh Journals

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of the western country it fed an extremely rich popular literature still showing many reminis- cences of the splendours gone by. With that obstinacy which is perhaps the main characteris- tic of our race, the Bretons stuck to their language with such a success that down to modern times the new linguistic frontier has scarcely varied. It was only in 1532 that Brittany accepted union with France, much against her will it must be admitted, but it was carefully stipulated in the Act of Union that she would retain her liber- ties, the privileges of her Parliament and States- General being especially provided for. In spite of that the story of the two countries down to the French Revolution forms a wearisome tale of ceaseless attempts on the part of the French Mon- archy to curtail the liberties of the Dukedom, and it is largely for that reason that the middle classes threw in their lot with the French Revolu- tionists in 1789. The peasants, on the contrary, as soon as they saw the new French Government attack their Catholic faith, rose up in arms against it. The national idea in Brittany after those troublous times was not dead; Le Gonidec wrote a Breton grammar which attracted much atten- tion and was the signal for the awakening of a Breton written literature. The patriotic gram- marian himself published a few excellent books of a religious character. Brizeux who was a master of the French language, also composed remarkable poetical works in the nationa' language, as for instance, Telen Arvor (The Harp of Armorica); the Vicomte de la Ville marque (Kermarker), the Breton Macpherson, gave us the Barzaz-Breiz, a collection of so called popular songs which, no matter who was their real author, are certainly beautiful in the extreme. It would be tedious to give here a dry list of authors down to the war of 1870, but some certainly were very gifted. The war for a time put a stop to such activities and the national spirit slumbered more or less. Then came the development of the railways, com- pulsory military service and the creation of the so-called national schools throughout the length and breadth of the land. All those things militated in various degrees against the language and paved the way for the French Press and litera- ture. The great pity was that the people realised but dimly the value of their ancestral tongue which, as it had not been cultivated for many centuries, had lost some of its treasures, and had not adapted itself to modern conditions, all of which handicapped it heavily in its struggle against the conquering and highly polished French language. However, in this country of ours, we cling strenuously to our characteristics and cherish our national ideals even when we do not quite realise it ourselves, and once more, the Phoenix was to rise from its ashes. About 1900, men like Vallee and Jaffrennou startled the sleep- ers by calling forth the people to battle, and made an earnest endeavour for the cause of the nation. A quarter of a century ago the powerful society called the Union Regionaliste Bretonne was founded to defend the language, traditions and interests of every sort of Brittany, the bards and litterateurs formed the Gorsedd which was affil- iated to the Welsh institution, and books, papers and reviews began to appear in great numbers. The fight against the centralising tyranny was carried on vigorously, but, unfortunately, the leaders could not always agree amongst them- selves and an active minority seceded from the Union Regionaliste to group themselves into a new society, reproaching the former with an alleged lukewarmness. Some young men went even farther and called themselves separatists. Others, more practical, set up Sunday schools in the country to teach the children how to read and write the only language they knew well, but which is ostracised in the national schools, for we still have with us even now as I write the replica of the "Welsh Note." (The children call it "ar vioc'h" — the cow.) Then once again war came and the Bretons were called to the colours; it is reckoned that out of our population of three and a quarter mil- lions we lost a quarter of a million precious lives. We fought to ensure that peoples our boys had never heard of before should have the right to cultivate their own languages and so, when the war was over and peace came, Breton, our own dear tongue, was again left in the cold. Worse than that the Paris Government, afraid of us for some silly reason or other, wanted to par- tition our country. It was the last straw and a huge and impressive Congress was then called together in Rennes in October, 1920; it was at- tended by eminent men of all creeds and parties and represented 360,000 Bretons who protested against such treatment being meted out to their country. It was one of the last public functions at which appeared our venerable Breton-speaking Cardinal-Archbishop of Rennes and I shall always remember the emotion I felt myself when I addressed the Congress in the Palace that was formerly our House of Parliament. Unfortunately a Breton writer had got it into his head to ask that a French western region should be carved and that it should include Brit- tany. The proposal was laughed at, but he per- severed, although it was pointed out that Brittany had no right to annex, even if she could, pro- vinces that were not Breton in any sense of the word, and had their own respectable ideals. It was also said with good reason that Brittany would be lost in that artificial creation if it came to anything, and that her Celtic-speaking dis- tricts would then be hopelessly outnumbered and overwhelmed. But all to no avail, and after hav- ing been elected President of the Society that seceded from the Union Regionaliste he has since