THE RESCUE BY SIR WALTER MANNY. 223

and an assurance that they should keep their goods, &c., unhurt. They then separated, and the Bishop re-entered the town.

"The Countess had strong suspicions of what was going forward, and begged of the lords of Brittany, for the love of God, that they would not doubt but she should receive succours before three days were over. But the Bishop spoke so eloquently, and made use of such good arguments, that these lords were in much suspense all that night. On the morrow he continued the subject, and succeeded so far as to gain them over, or very nearly so, to his opinion; insomuch that Sir Hervé de Léon had advanced close to the town to take possession of it with their free consent, when the Countess, looking out from a window of the castle towards the sea, cried out most joyfully, 'I see the succours I have so long expected and wished for coming!' She repeated this twice, and the townspeople ran to the ramparts and to the windows of the castle, and saw a numerous fleet of great and small vessels, well trimmed, making all the sail they could towards Hennebont. They rightly imagined it must be the fleet from England, so long detained at sea by tempests and contrary winds."

The lords of Brittany took heart at this, and the Bishop indignantly left them and went to the French camp, while the Countess, in the mean time, "prepared and hung with tapestry halls and chambers to lodge handsomely the lords and barons of England whom she saw coming."

Sir Walter Manny, the leader of the English, did not lose any time, but the day after his arrival proceeded to the attack of the large machine which was placed so near the walls. He "sallied quickly out of one of the gates, taking

with him three hundred archers, who shot so well that those who guarded the machine fled; and the men-at-arms who followed the archers, falling upon them, slew the greater part, and broke down and cut in pieces this large machine. And though the French came up in great numbers, and the English," after a brave onslaught, were obliged to retreat, they did so "in good order until they came to the castle ditch. There the knights made a stand till their men were safely returned. Many brilliant actions, captures, and rescues might have been seen. . . . . The chiefs of the French army perceiving they had the worst of it sounded

As soon

a retreat, and made their men retire to the camp. as they were gone the townsmen re-entered the gates, and went each to his quarters. The Countess of Montfort came down from the castle to meet them, and with a most cheerful countenance kissed Sir Walter Manny and all his companions one after the other, like a noble and valiant dame."

The besiegers lost heart, and on the morrow left Hennebont and set out for Auray, which the Lord Charles was besieging.

We tried to call up the scene as we looked down from the wooded height on to the river and the Ville Close орроsite, and really the Vieille Ville is so grey and grass-grown that one might almost fancy it had been asleep since the time of its wonderful rescue by Sir Walter Manny and his archers. It was very pleasant to see with our own eyes the theatre of so many childish imaginings, for I fancy the episode of Sir Walter Manny and the heroic Countess of Montfort has always been a favourite with English children. Hennebont is certainly a place to be visited; there is a special charm about it not to be found in any other town ;

but this may be said of so many towns in Brittany, that perhaps it hardly conveys the special distinction which seems to characterize Hennebont.

About a mile along the right bank of the Blavet are the ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of la Joie, founded at the end of the thirteenth century by Blanche de Champagne, wife of Duke John le Roux. She died at the castle of Hédé, but was buried at La Joie in 1283.

On the railway between Auray and Hennebont there is a station called Landevant. There is a fine view here, and once there was a fine church, but it has been most shamefully dealt with in its restoration.

It is usual to go on from Hennebont to L'Orient, but as we heard that this town was extremely uninteresting we went on by rail to Quimperlé, passing on our way through some of the loveliest country we had yet seen, and feeling ourselves at last in Lower Brittany. L'Orient is only two hundred years old, says M. Fouquet, and has therefore no attraction for the antiquary; but it appears to be a wellbuilt modern town, with long streets, a handsome suspension bridge, and a fine military port and arsenal at the mouth of the Scorff.

The two most interesting points of L'Orient to the traveller are, in the cemetery, the tomb of Brizeux, the national poet of Brittany, and, near the principal church, on the Place Bisson, a column bearing a bronze statue of Hippolyte Bisson, a young officer of the French navy, born at Gueméné-sur-Scorff, who in 1827, in the Archipelago, blew up his own vessel, with the Greek pirates who had boarded her, having first allowed the survivors of his crew to escape.

Q

FINISTÈRE.

CHAPTER XV.

QUIMPERLÉ.

QUIMPERLE seemed to us, as we approached it by

railway, the prettiest town in Brittany we had yet seen. As we arrived we found ourselves on a level with the top of the church, for the railway is higher even than the upper town in which is the church of St. Michel. The valley in which the rivers Elle and Isole meet lies much lower, and we looked down from a height on the old town built on the rivers which run through the narrow picturesque streets.

This old town in the valley was formerly the Ville Close, but the ancient walls of Quimperlé were all destroyed in the seventeenth century; only one old tower still exists-at the end of the Rue du Château. The houses in this street are very picturesque, with pretty gardens forming a sort of terrace beside the river Elle or Isole, for the street runs between the two rivers, and in the distance there is a view of the lovely hills which surround the town.

The Hôtel des Voyageurs is well kept, and the landlord, who is also the chef, is most attentive to his guests.

It would be difficult to overpraise the attractions of Quimperlé. It is perhaps the most exquisitely placed town in Brittany, and its environs are full of charming scenery.

CHURCH OF STE. CROIX.

227

The only historical monument possessed by Quimperlé was its abbey church of Ste. Croix, rebuilt in 1029 for a community of Benedictines by Alain Caignart, Count of Cornouaille; but while repairs were in progress in 1862 the central tower fell down and destroyed the church. It has been very well restored on its old model, but of course no longer possesses its ancient interest. It is a basilica in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Under the choir is a curious crypt, which remains in its original condition; it consists of a nave and two aisles, divided by short columns. Here is the tomb of St. Gurloës, Abbot of Ste. Croix, said to have been martyred here in 1057. In his hand is the crosier, and his feet rest on a dragon. The saint's Breton name is St. Urlon, and his intercession is chiefly invoked for gout, which is called "le mal de St. Urlon."

The site of the ancient abbey of Ste. Croix was in the sixth century occupied by the hermitage of Gunthiern, a Welsh king, who, after his abdication, sought shelter in Brittany, and gave himself up to a religious life, and was the founder of the original monastery. Till the Revolution the tomb of Alain Caignart was to be seen in this crypt.

The inn, Lion d'Or, was once the house of the Abbots of Ste. Croix, and had fine gardens running down to the river. The Place in front of this inn, with its quadrangle of clipped trees, is very quaint.

When the first De Montfort, the husband of Jeanne-laFlamme, died at Hennebont, he was buried at Quimperlé, beneath the high altar of the Jacobin or Dominican convent called the Abbaye Blanche, from the colour of the robes worn by the monks. There now only remain of this