THE PEOPLE OF BRITTANY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21146, 23 April 1934, Page 20

THE PEOPLE OF BRITTANY

FISHERMEN AND FARMERS

LECTURE BY MR SYDNEY

THOMPSON

The life of the Breton people, the ln-.1. cousins of the Welsh and Cornish folk, who have their own small nation within the borders of France, is full or old custom and has a quaint, simplicity which has attracted the interests of artists all over the world. A well-known Christchurch artist, Mr Sydney Thompson, who spent many years in France, saw much of the life of the Bretons, and on Saturday evening he gave an address on Brittany to members and friends of the "Workers' Educational Association. His lecture was illustrated by some fine pictures of the Bretons, their elaborate costunics, and their ancient buildings. Mr Thompson went to Brittany with several other art students from Paris in 1901. The party chose Concarjieau he said, because it was then, as now, the painters' happy hunting ground. As soon a s a visitor entered Brittany he could not help noticing that the whole aspect of the place was different from that of any other part cf France. It was thickly wooded. All the hedges were planted with oak and chestnut trees, and the wood from these was used by the farmers to make their furniture. It was cut in the autumn and when it was well seasoned the cabinetmaker came to the farm and lived there while he worked at his trade.

Fishins Industry Living in Concarneau, which was one of the principal fishing ports of Brittany, he came into close contact with the fishermen, whom he described as an intensely interesting race. Formerly sardine fishing was the principal industry, but now tunny fishing had taken fir.it place owing to the scarcity of sardines. Concarneau was the biggest tunny fishing port in Hie world, and on some days there ■were n-.ore than 500 of the gracefully rigged tunny boats in harbour. It had been very interesting to watch the gradual change at the fishing ports. Everything changed slowly in Brittany, for the Bretons were a conservative race, but the force of circumstances had been too great and old fishing methods had had to give way to new. In the old days the sardine boats resembled Chinese junks with their square hulks and sails, but now they v.cre becoming more like the tunny boats with graceful lines and beautiful sails. He and other painters, bo.vever. preferred the, older type as they had more character, and seemed to be more in keeping with the big. solid men and the whole atmosphere id the place. Beauty was largely a question of fitness, he thought. * The Bretons were originally fairhaired, and to-day the sailors often had those blue eyes which were always associated with seafaring folk. "When a visitor saw the rocky coast of Brittany he realised how extremely brave those men who go to sea must be. In many parts the harbours were entered through narrow channels, and in bad weather the sea was nothing but a surging white mass of foam. Usually during the summer months there was calm weather, but in the month of October storms came up unexpectedly, and on one occasion Many lives were lost. Fishermen's Harvest The fishing season began about July ]5 and finished in October. In that f aorl space of time great quantities of tunny were landed in Concarneau. where there were 30 canning factories. 'Tunny boats came in from all along the coast to sell their fish, and between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 francs' worth was handled at the port in a .good year. All the fish was canned in the factories along the coast, most of this work being done by women. The fishermen of Brittany spent money freely after a good season, and the market places on Mondays and Fridays were a great sight. The farmers and their wives drove in from the country also, in carts loaded with produce. The Bretons preferred buying in open markets rather than buying from shops, because they loved bargaining. The women of Brittany worked exIrcmely hard. The farmers' wives assisted with the work on the land. Betides doing housework they milked <'ind fed cows, went out into the fields and did weeding, and helped with the threshing at harvest time. One of France's greatest modern painters had clten painted the women working in the fields. The Bretons were very thrifty and every penny they could lave was hoarded as a provision for <.! d age or for a daughter's dowry. The Breton peasants loved the soil Ihcy and their forefathers had tilled, and they could resist its appeal no more than could the fishermen resist the appeal of the sea. The Breton was still at heart a moncirchist, although the fishers, factory Vorkers, and schoolmasters showed signs of communistic tendencies. The religion of Brittany, like the rest of France, was Roman Catholic, and the country was full of beautiful churches. ?hc Bretons were a devout people.