Aug 06 2009
Legends of Langourla in Brittany
 Pic: NegroTruc |
Langourla is a small village in the Côtes d’Armor, in the North-West of Brittany. The oldest traces of civilization is the menhir of Coudre (other menhirs have been destroyed over the centuries). Langourla is an ancient parish; there are traces of its existence in 1211. Langourla territory once extended as far as Merdrignac and St. Launeuc, which spawned the parishes of Saint-Vrana and Mérillac: little by little, these two grew in the parish, but Langourla had the privilege of being the "mother church" of the three parishes. The parish was until 1312 administered by the Knights Templar. |
There was a rumour that circulated in the nineteenth century that there was buried treasure under the menhir so much digging and excavating resulted in the foundations of the menhir becoming very unstable. Eventually it slipped to the side at the angle we can see it at today. A menhir is a dressed stone originating in the Iron Age (somewhere between 3500 and 2000 BCE) and possibly providing evidence of Druidic activity in the Langourla area. We’re probably all familiar with the term ‘menhir’ from the Asterix (our favourite Gaul) books, but what does it mean? The word comes from two words in the Breton language: maen "stone" and hir, "long". Long-stone is an excellent description 
The Miracle Oak
| Right next to the Chapelle Saint-Joseph, stands the Miracle Oak. The Chapel is home today to a 15th century stained glass window in the west gable which watches over the miraculous oak . This old oak is dead, but his carcass remains. A new oak tree has been replanted in the same place and its trunk is now mixed with the remains of the old oak. Today, the Miracle Oak is still a wonderful symbol of the death and rebirth within nature. Already revered in the time of the Druids, the oak is a legendary symbol of fertility. Traditionally, women wanting a child or a husband had to rub their buttocks on the tree at night to make their wish come true. According to Caroline in her Blog, Miscellany, young women who rub their bottoms against the trunk on St Joseph’s day will be either married or pregnant within a year (accounts vary, although it might be worth clarifying before you visit…). The ritual was still being followed in the 1920s, and this kind of legend is not uncommon in Brittany although such fertility rites more usually involve rubbing against a menhir. |  |
Death By Mattress and the Four Oxen
 Pic: NegroTruc |
The chapel of Saint-Gilles-des-Prés is located southwest of the town, near the village of Plessis. Its construction dates back to mid 15th century. The archives of the parish tell that by the year 1450, Gilles de Bretagne died smothered between two mattresses in the castle of Saint-Hardouin Launeuc. His body was to be transported to the Abbey to Boquen Plénée-Jugon. The four oxen that were pulling the funeral bier stopped at the place that the chapel is now built. They refused to go any further. The priest and others in the procession then began to pray to God and Saint-Gilles to come to their aid. One horse then struck a rock with its hoof and you can still see the hoof-mark today. The animals once more carried on to Boquen and Saint Gilles had a chapel built in his honour. |
Langourla, as we mentioned earlier, is in the Côtes-d’Armor. The Côtes-d’Armor is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to Côtes-d’Armor (ar mor meaning the sea in Breton). The name also has a historical connotation recalling the Roman province of Armorica. The inhabitants of the department are called Costarmoricain but the inhabitants of Langourla are called Langourlaciens. Fascinating, huh?
