Miracles and Murders - An Introductory Anthology of Breton Ballads

The highly dramatic Breton ballad tradition is relatively little-known. This volume explores the nature of the songs and the contexts in which they have been performed. A selection of songs is presented here in the original Breton with English translations and musical notation. The accompanying CD provides examples sung by traditional singers.

List of contents

• Introduction


• The Ballads


• Lord Count and the Fairy


• Saint Henori and the King of Brest


• Skolvan, a penitent soul


• Maharit Laurans saved from the gallows


• Dom Jean Derrian's journey to Santiago de Compostela


• Saint Iañn Bubry, murderer and rapist


• Berhet, midwife to the Virgin Mary


• The plague in Langonnet


• The bridegroom and the mad dog


• Seven years at sea


• Shipwreck at Penmarc'h


• The siege of Guingamp


• The Heiress of Keroulaz: a forced marriage


• Lord Villaudrain and the merchants


• Fontanelle and his bandits


• The kidnap and suicide of Jeannedig ar Rous


• Marharit Charles and her bandits


• Love and Leprosy: Iannik Kokard


• Janedig the witch


• The wax child


• The lead tower


• Cleric Laoudour and his sweetheart


• The murder of Lord Penanger


• The reprieve of Contrechapell


• Marivonnik abducted by English sailors


• Sea-changes: Catherin An Troadec


• Infanticide and penance: Mari Kelen


• The murdered servant girl


• The drowning of Toussaint de Kerguézec


• The execution of the Marquis de Pontcallec


• Loeiz Er Ravalleg murdered by his friends


• The twice-married woman


• The recruit: Garan Ar Briz


• The death of the chouan Jean Jan


• Our Lady of Port-Blanc

About the author

Mary-Ann Constantine is a Reader in Welsh and English literature at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. Her work is concerned with the relations between and mutual influence of the different cultures and languages of Britain (and to some extent beyond) in the late-C18th and early-C19th centuries. She has published books on Breton folklore, ballads and songs, Romantic-era forgery, and Welsh responses to the French Revolution. Her current work is focused on travel writing, the Welsh Tour, and the writings of Thomas Pennant (1726-98).

Éva Guillorel is an Associate Professor in Early Modern History at the Université de Caen Normandie. Her studies have included History, Ethnology and Celtic Languages, and she has held postdoctoral fellowships in Brittany, Québec, United States and England. Her works is concerned with oral cultures and languages in early modern Europe and Americas, mainly songs. She published her Ph.D. on the links between Breton Ballads and History. Her current work is focused on the circulation and transformation of oral cultures over space and time, including cultural transfers between Europe and North America.

Summary

This is a vivid introduction, by two of the foremost scholars in the field, to one of the most fascinating and little-known song traditions in Europe, the Breton gwerz, or ballad. These narrative songs, collected in Western Brittany from the 19th century to the present day, recount a wealth of stories based on tragic local events or legends. They tell of shipwrecks, abductions, accidents and murders, miraculous rescues, penitent souls, and strange journeys. Quite unlike songs from the neighbouring French tradition, and distinct from anything else in the other Celtic languages, these ballads unfold in clear, spare verses, filled with striking imagery: they are often highly dramatic in nature.

Historians of popular culture will find much to explore here, as will medievalists interested in tracing themes and legends across different European cultures, or linguists looking for rare material in Breton. But the gwerziou speak to readers and listeners of all kinds, with stories of violence, love, and grief that touch us directly today. This generous selection of songs is presented here for the first time in the original Breton with English translations and musical notation; an accompanying CD showcases some of the most famous Breton traditional singers. A comprehensive introductory essay offers insights into the history of ballad collection in Brittany, the nature of the songs, and the contexts in which they have been performed.

Additional text

[Although], the widely accepted notion that the menacing impact of globalisation and consequent cultural homogeneity have provoked a renewed and defensive interest in 'smaller', local identities and cultural heritage indicates that Miracles and Murders will attract a much wider, general readership. The provision of these scholarly, literary translations into English of the Breton ballads thus has the potential not merely to enrich the pursuits of academic researchers, but also to stimulate the imagination of all those who look to the past, or to a Celtic heritage, to reinforce a sense of belonging in this modern age. In achieving this dual appeal, Constantine and Guillorel will undoubtedly succeed in their aim to 'give the Breton gwerziou a new lease of life' (p. 29).

Product details

• Authors: Mary-Ann Constantine, Mary-Ann (Reader in Welsh and English Constantine, Mary-Ann (Reader in Welsh and English Literature Constantine, Eva Guillorel, Eva (Associate Professor in Early Modern History Guillorel
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 04.05.2017
• EAN: 9780197266199
• ISBN: 978-0-19-726619-9
• No. of pages: 250
• Series: British Academy Monographs; British Academy Monographs Series
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Music > Music history