es in the department of
Ile-et-Vilaine, where they grow as abundantly as described by Madame de
Sevigne, when writing from the Chateau des Roches, in the same department:
"Pour nous, ce sont des chataignes qui font notre ornement. J'en avois
l'autre jour trois au quatre paniers autour de moi. J'en fis bouillir,
j'en fis rotir, j'en mis dans mes poches, on en sert dans les plats, on
marche dessus, c'est la Bretagne dans son triomphe."

Ploermel derives its name (plo-ermel, land or territory of Armel) from an
anchorite of the sixth century, who treated a dragon which ravaged the
country in the time of King Childebert in the same manner as St. Pol de
Leon disposed of the monster at Batz.

The facade of the church of Saint Armel has a number of grotesque
carvings--the sow playing the bagpipes, the cobbler sewing up the mouth of
his wife, &c.; but it is principally remarkable for its eight painted
windows of the sixteenth century, lately restored, and the monumental
effigies of two Dukes of Brittany; the one, John II., who was killed at
Lyons, where he went to settle some differences with his clergy, on the
occasion of the coronation of Pope Clement V. A wall, loaded with
spectators, fell, and the Duke was crushed in its ruins; the Pope escaped
with being only thrown from his mule.

The other effigy is that of Duke John III., or the Good, whose death was
the signal for the War of Succession. He died at Caen. These tombs were
formerly in the Carmelite convent founded by John II., who, on his return
from the Holy Land, established the first Carmelite convent in Brittany,
and brought monks from Mount Carmel to inhabit it.

The tombs were destroyed in the Revolution, but the two statues were
saved. They are of white marble, and are placed on a monumental slab, side
by side, with this inscription: "De tous temps la fidelite Bretonne rendit
hommage a ses souverains." Duke John II. is represented in a hauberk of
mail, the hood turned back, with cotte d'armes, shield, and sword. Duke
John III. has his head encircled by the ducal crown, his hair long, his
genouillieres, cuissarts, &c., of plate armour. His shield and cotte
d'armes are seme of ermines, and by his side is the dagger of misericorde,
which served to kill the fallen enemy unless he cried for mercy. When
James II. passed through Ploermel after the Battle of the Boyne, a
fugitive and a dethroned monarch, the Carmelite monks would not take him
in; but he found in the litt