of climate alone shall produce the dark coloured eye, and therefore the change of temperature cannot be so marked; whereas the whole of Brittany, with the exception of one small headland, lies more to the south than the latitude of Paris; and, in the low and warm districts, the climate has naturally a greater tendency to darken the complexion; and, as far as my observations have extended, I have always found that a change to a colder temperature, in consequence of the greater elevation of the land, has precisely the same effect upon the complexion as a similar change occasioned by a more northern degree of latitude.

But although in Great Britain the mere climate would never produce the black coloured iris, nevertheless there are some artificial local causes in operation in Great Britain, which have the effect of producing that hue of complexion, and so powerful is their influence, that they are found to counteract the effects of our northern climate even in the greatest habitable elevations.

I have occasionally seen assertions made by some who had visited the Bas Bretons, that they bear a strong personal resemblance to the Welsh; but, for my own part, I have never been able to satisfy myself of this resemblance, and rather suspect that it exists only in the preconceived notions of those by whom such statements were made. Indeed I am inclined to think that, if those persons had not been previously acquainted with the identity of language and origin of the two nations, they would never have perceived any particular resemblance between them. The Welsh, it is true, in many of the poorer districts of the Principality, live upon very hard fare, and so do the Bretons in general, and so far there may be a resemblance, as it is reasonable to suppose that, in this case, a similarity of habits of living will stamp such a corresponding impression upon the countenance, as that both shall proclaim the poverty and scantiness of their food; but this will be found to hold good between any two nations whatever. In person, however, the Bretons are by no means so robust as the Welsh; and I am disposed to think, that their features approach nearer to those of their French neighbours, than to any other; though really, in some parts of the country, their visages are so very thin and haggard, that it is scarcely possible to discover what they would be, if they were better covered with flesh.

The same persons who make the above assertions respecting the Bretons, assure us also that they resemble the Welsh in their mental disposition, but of this fact I have not made sufficient stay in the country to form a judgment, though I should expect to find that they partake more of the lively disposition of the French. But how can any general description be given of the character of a people, who are allowed, even by their own writers, to vary so much among themselves? For M. Villeneuve, in his Descriptive Itinerary of Finistère, says, that the river of Morlaix separates

two districts, in which the inhabitants afford a striking example of this difference of character. On the right bank, that is, on the coast of Tréguier, he says, they are more lively and cheerful, their dances are more animated, and their airs brisker, than on the coast of Leon, where they are slower in their gait, and more grave and taciturn, and that there is also a difference in the physiognomy and in the dialect. The same writer says, that as striking a difference occurs in many other towns of the department. He also states, that the people of Plougastel are more robust than those of some other districts.

The truth seems to be, that as the climate of Brittany, as well as the face of the country, varies so greatly, so also does the character of the people, both mental and personal.

It may be said that, as the languages of Wales and Brittany continue so much alike, why may not the people? To this I answer, that many causes tend to alter the personal character, which cannot affect the language. And even should it be said, that the Bretons have remained to this day very little altered in their national peculiarities, yet we know that the Welsh have undergone numerous changes according to the progress of civilization among them; and, if it be allowed that a gradual change has been proceeding in both nations for twelve or fourteen hundred years, I think it will be unreasonable to expect any very striking resem. blance between them at the present day.

Among other proofs of similarity, it is urged that both nations are musical. The pretensions of the Welsh to this character cannot be disputed, as they possess a superb style of national music, forming a class in itself; but then, they have always had the advantage of that noble instrument the harp, to preserve and cultivate it, both in its melody and harmony; whereas the Bretons, having no such national instrument, are very far behind them in musical science. The bagpipes are frequently seen among them, as they are in other parts of France, and so is the violin, but they can scarcely be called national here, and the performers on those instruments as frequently play French airs as Breton. Therefore

if the music of Brittany was ever the same with that of Wales, (as it must have been in some degree,) it is not surprising that, at the present day, they bear no resemblance to each other. Indeed, it seems impossible to preserve a style of music traditionally, without the assistance of some instrument; for it would seem that the voice, when left to itself, without any instrumental guide to lead and direct it, will in a short time deviate exceedingly from the proper notes which it is intended it should follow; and, in a few generations, would probably lapse into a vicious and imperfect scale, and only chant a monotonous recitative, very different to the established gamut, or division of notes.

The Bretons are certainly fond of singing, but nevertheless they

6

can scarcely be called a musical people in the strict sense of the word; for, though they have a great number of songs, and what they call a variety of airs, yet there seems such a sameness throughout them all, that a stranger might imagine each succeeding song to be only a repetition of the one he heard last, except where the time and measure is manifestly different. The airs are all short, simple, and of very small compass; seldom having any thing striking in their composition, or even beyond the most common arrangement of notes; in short, they resemble our old English "Chevy Chase," or "Cease rude Boreas," more than any thing else, and that not only in the style of the music, but in the length of the song; for if the tunes are short, the words seem interminable. When I had listened to this Chevy Chase style of singing for some time, I would occasionally ask if they had no other sort of song, and was always answered, that they had a great number; and, upon my requesting to be favored with one, they would strike up Chevy Chase again with the greatest composure, always appearing to estimate the singing according to the merits of the words, the air being a very secondary consideration.

But still, not liking to be foiled in my object, I have persisted in my inquiries, "but have you no others of a different style to any of these?" "O, yes! a great abundance:" and then comes the same eternal Chevy Chase as before. Did a similarity of musical taste argue an identity of origin, I should say the Bretons are more nearly allied to the English than to the Welsh. Could we not find out some theory concerning the Loegrian Britons* from

this?

But as it may not be uninteresting to the musical readers of the Cambrian Quarterly, I shall, by way of illustration, insert a Bas Breton air, which is a great favorite with the peasants, and is no bad specimen of their taste; and never having been published, it may be the more acceptable.+ The subject of the song is satirical; it was given me by a Breton gentleman, who wrote it down, together with many others, from the mouths of the peasants who sang them. The same gentleman also favored me with several curious particulars relative to the Bas Bretons, whom he had every opportunity of acquainting himself with, having, during the revolution, resided among them in some of the most secluded parts of the country.

* The Loegrian Britons were those who inhabited the present England, and were conquered by, and coalesced with, the Saxon invaders.-EDITORS.

I am indebted to Mr. Parry for the bass to this and the following air; the originals consisting of the melody only.

But among all the various specimens of songs and tunes, which exist in different collections, as there are none more simple, so perhaps there are none more ancient than those of the nursery. And however slightly, in our maturer age, we may be disposed to esteem them, either in their wording or music, possibly their moral influence is much more extensive than we would always choose to admit. And in those moments of the revival of early impressions, which occasionally occur, when the prejudices of the child rise up

and confound the man, the nursery song, and nursery tale, may often prove more powerful in its operation than the lecture of the philosopher or the divine.

But however this may be, I shall perhaps be pardoned for inserting here a Breton nursery song, which was given me by the gentleman who favored me with the one above, and which has also never been published. And although it cannot pretend to any other influence than that of hushing a Breton child to sleep; yet, in point of composition, it is by no means inferior to some which, among us, are honoured with dissipating the waking moments of those of a larger growth.

The subject, though of the most primitive simplicity, yet is one of vast importance in a Breton nursery. The nurse tells her child that she was going to make a bake-stone cake; but, on looking for the fuel to bake it, she finds it is yet uncut in the wood, and the hatchet for cutting it is without a helve! and each succeeding verse brings with it some new disaster: the meal is yet unground at the mill; the butter is in the market; the tripod is at the smith's forge, unmade; and the bake-stone plate is yet unbought, in the shop at Perros!

NÉNIE.

Ou, Chanson d'une Bretonne pour endormir son Enfant.