[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 sometimes become excited and frivolous, and the Breton, if ever gay and lively, is so at his Pardon.

The Pardon of St. Jean-du-Doigt is, however, not all merriment.  It is in some ways one of their saddest days, and it is certainly not all picturesqueness.

On the 23rd June, the day of the Pardon, many of the beggars of Brittany, the extreme poor afflicted with lameness and all sorts of unsightly diseases, make a pilgrimage to the church.  A religious service is held, during which they press forward and crowd upon each other that the priest may touch their eyes with the finger of St. John, which is supposed to possess miraculous powers of healing.

Before this, they have all crowded round the fountain in the cemetery, to bathe their eyes and faces in the water, which also has miraculous charms.  Then a procession is formed, and begins slowly winding its way to the top of one of the hills:  a long procession, consisting of inhabitants, beggars, afflicted, and priests of the church carrying banners, crosses and other signs and symbols.  The scene is best seen from the platform of the tower, where you may escape contact with the crowd and enjoy the lovely surrounding view, listen to the surging multitude on one side, and—­rather in imagination—­the surging of the sea in the Bay of St. Jean on the other.