ia!" One day a party of marauding soldiers accosted him. In answer to
their questions, he replied, "I am neither for Blois nor Montfort, I am
the servant of the Lady Mary." This simple life he led for nearly forty
years, when at last he fell ill and died, repeating his favourite words
"Ave Maria." He was found dead near the fountain, and was buried by his
neighbours. After a time, when the memory of the poor idiot boy had nearly
passed away, there suddenly sprung up from his grave a white lily with the
words "Ave Maria" inscribed in letters of gold upon its petals. The news
of the miracle spread throughout all Brittany, Duke John sent
commissioners; the grave was opened, and it was found the lily proceeded
from the mouth of Salaun,--"ceste royale fleur sortait par sa bouche du
creux de son estomach"--a testimony of the innocence and piety "du plus
beau mignon de la reine des Cieux." Duke John vowed to erect a church to
our Lady over the fountain of the poor mendicant, whose faith had been
thus recognised;(12) and, faithful to his promise, the first stone was
laid by him in 1366, as a thank-offering for his success the previous year
at the battle of Auray, which had fixed the crown upon his head. His wife,
Joan of Navarre, not only made a pilgrimage to the Folgoet in 1396, but
also contributed to the building of the church. It was completed by John
V., about 1419. The Queen-Duchess Anne of Brittany went there in
pilgrimage after the recovery from illness of Louis XIII. Anne of Austria
founded six masses at the Folgoet, in gratitude for the birth of Louis
XIV., and several popes granted indulgences to those who made pilgrimages
to this shrine. This church is one of the finest in Brittany. Its colour
is sombre; it is the oldest monument in Brittany in which the Kersanton
stone is employed. This stone is a volcanic rock called hornblende, of
very fine grain, with minute specks of mica. There is a large quarry near
St. Pol de Leon; but it is found principally on the west of the harbour of
Brest, near a village from which it takes its name. Kersanton stone is of
a dark-green colour, approaching to bronze, gives out a metallic sound
when struck, and is easily worked in the quarry, in blocks of from twenty
to forty feet cube, but hardens on exposure to the air. Time has no
destructive effect on it; the most delicate, lightest, and most ornamental
sculptures executed in it remain uninjured, while the hardest granites,
erected at