Over Strand and Field: A Record of Travel through BrittanyFlaubert, Gustave
General
Over Strand and Field: A Record of Travel through Brittany
Flaubert, Gustave
Brittany (France) -- Description and travel
A stone placed on another one is called a "dolmen," whether it be
horizontal or perpendicular. A group of upright stones covered by
succeeding flat stones, and forming a series of dolmens, is a "fairy
grotto," a "fairy rock," a "devil's stable," or a "giant's palace"; for,
like the people who serve the same wine under different labels, the
Celto-maniacs, who had almost nothing to offer, decorated the same
things with various names. When these stones form an ellipse, and have
no head-covering, one must say: There is a "cromlech"; when one
perceives a stone laid horizontally upon two upright stones, one is
confronted by a "lichaven" or a "trilithe." Often two enormous rocks are
put one on top of the other, and touch only at one point, and we read
that "they are balanced in such a way that the wind alone is sufficient
to make the upper rock sway perceptibly," an assertion which I do not
dispute, although I am rather suspicious of the Celtic wind, and
although these swaying rocks have always remained unshaken in spite of
the fierce kicks I was artless enough to give them; they are called
"rolling or rolled stones," "turned or transported stones," "stones that
dance or dancing stones," "stones that twist or twisting stones." You
must still learn what a _pierre fichade_, a _pierre fiche_, a _pierre
fixée_ are, and what is meant by a _haute borne_, a _pierre latte_ and a
_pierre lait_; in what a _pierre fonte_ differs from a _pierre fiette_,
and what connection there is between a _chaire à diable_ and a _pierre
droite_; then you will be as wise as ever were Pelloutier, Déric, Latour
d'Auvergne, Penhoet and others, not forgetting Mahé and Fréminville.
Now, all this means a _pulvan_, also called a _men-hir_, and designates
nothing more than a stone of greater or lesser size, placed by itself in
an open field.
I was about to forget the tumuli! Those that are composed of silica and
soil are called "barrows" in high-flown language, while the simple heaps
of stones are "gals-gals."
People have pretended that when they were not tombs the "dolmens" and
"trilithes" were altars, that the "fairy rocks" were assembling places
or sepultures, and that the business meetings at the time of the Druids
were held in the "cromlechs." M. de Cambry saw in the "swaying rocks"
the emblems of the suspended world. The "barrows" and "gals-gals" have
undoubtedly been tombs; and as for the "men-hirs," people went so far as
to pretend that they had a form which led to the deduction that a
certain cult reigned throughout lower Brittany. O chaste immodesty of
science, you respect nothing, not even a peulven!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account