work of an Italian
artist, and was given by Anne of Brittany.

The whole village scene is picturesque and striking. You feel at home at
once; it is marked by a certain refinement, a delicious quietness and
repose in which there is something singularly soothing. Lying in a
hollow, it seems to have carefully withdrawn from the outer world. It is
warm and sunny, and marked and beautified by a wealth of flowers.
Surrounding the churchyard are some of the small houses of this mediaeval
village.

The inn opposite the gothic gateway looks the very picture of
cleanliness and quiet comfort. Through an open window you see a table
spread with a snow-white cloth, a capital ensign for an inn, promising
much that is loyal. The whole of the exterior is a wealth of blossom,
roses and wisteria covering the white walls, framing the casements,
overflowing to the roof.

[Illustration: ST. THEGONNEC.]

On the churchyard walls sat some of the village girls knitting; and as
we took them with our instantaneous cameras, some rushed shyly across
the road and disappeared in the small houses; whilst others, made of
bolder material, placed themselves in becoming attitudes, and looked the
very image of conscious vanity. The men came and talked to us
freely--an exception amongst Breton folk; but it was often difficult to
understand their mixture of languages. They were rather less rough and
sturdy-looking than the ordinary type of Breton, and had somewhat the
look of having descended from the mediaeval days of their village,
becoming pale and long drawn out in the process. Probably the sheltered
position of the village has much to do with it.

[Illustration: ST. JEAN-DU-DOIGT.]

St. Jean-du-Doigt takes its name from the fact of the church possessing
the index finger of the right hand of St. John the Baptist, carefully
preserved in a sheath of gold, silver and enamel, a work of art executed
in 1429. The church considers it its greatest possession, and it has
been the object of many a pilgrimage. The treasures of St. Jean-du-Doigt
are unusually rich and beautiful.

The chief village fete of the year, that in Holland and Belgium would be
called Kermesse, in some parts of France Ducasse, is in Brittany called
_Pardon_. These are the occasions when the little country is seen at its
best, and when all the costume that has come down to the present day
exhibits itself. The Bretons take their pleasures somewhat sadly it is
true, but even owls someti