Horses in Breton culture

Probably revered since ancient times, the horse is the subject of rites, witchcraft, proverbs and numerous superstitions, sometimes involving other animals.

[4] According to Éphrem Houël, this pride is so great "that it is not uncommon to see, on market days, very lightly loaded carts coming to the towns, pulled by five or six strong horses".

[5] Paul Sébillot relates a proverb: "Bon dieu d'en haut, prends ma femme, laisse les chevaux" (Take my wife, leave the horses).

Éphrem Houël links the regions where chivalry is celebrated with the quality of horse breeding:[7][8] The glory of chivalry [...] must go in part to Brittany: it was in its cool valleys that the steeds of Tristan du Léonnais and the Preux of the Round Table rose; it was on its wild hills that the cavales of the tender Guinevere and Iseult of Cornwall leaptToday the European tourist market is leading to a "folklorization" of these equestrian traditions, particularly those of the farming world.

[6] The horse was certainly worshipped by various Armorican tribes, with the cult of the warrior's steed gradually replacing that of a probable Neolithic mother goddess.

[16] Bretons know many saints associated with horses: Éloi (against illness[17][18]), Gildas (fertility and protection rite at the Penvenan pardon), Hervé, Nicodème, Herbot, Cornély, Vincent.

[19] Salomon de Bretagne (857-874) is considered a patron saint of cavalrymen, a status he certainly achieved thanks to his military role in Brittany's cavalry.

[28] Alongside religious rites and appeals to holy healers, there is a long tradition of caring for horses through magic, secular beliefs and the use of witchcraft or bewitchment on animals, right up to the 1950s.

[34] Many of these beliefs are detailed, specifically for horses, in an anonymous work published in Vannes in 1694: Les Maladies des Chevaux, avec leurs remèdes faciles et expérimentez.

[36] The Bretons invoke Saint Éloi (Sant Alar) at the birth of each foal to protect themselves and attract good luck to their animals.

Generally speaking, the presence of a toad has a negative influence on horses, as do small animals such as shrews, field mice, weasels and hedgehogs.

[46] The custom of burying an animal dead from bewitchment with its legs in the air to protect the rest of the herd from bad luck is known from the end of the 17th century.

[53] According to testimonies collected in the mid-20th century, it's possible to spot who has been a sorcerer in his or her life by observing the horses pulling the dead man's hearse on the day of his funeral: they either can't move the coffin, or start running around.

This is no doubt why the treatise on horse care published in Vannes in 1694 recommends a religious formula to cure colic,[58] and why Abbé Thiers mentions the use of the sign of the cross to heal sprains.

[59] The formula for curing colic using Saint Éloi appears to be extremely common in the Breton countryside, as it is widely disseminated in grimoires and through oral tradition.

[63] Lutins are reputed to visit stables at night, leaving traces of their passage in the form of twisted manes, which they use to make stirrups (the famous "fairy knots").

[66] Exorcism sessions were carried out, but were poorly accepted by the local population, according to this testimony collected by Paul Sébillot: "if you burn the manes with a blessed candle, the goblin never returns, but the animals are, as a result of his departure, exposed to withering away".

[67] Paul Sébillot also relates popular beliefs about several horse lutins that lead travellers astray or drown them, including the Mourioche from Upper Brittany, the maître Jean, the Bugul-noz and the white mare from Bruz.

While most are linked to the element of water, there are also several attestations of "Devil's horses"[69] and symbolic associations between the animal and death[70] (notably in Anatole Le Braz's collections) or the stars.

[72] The popular song Marzhin barzh (bard Merlin) also celebrates horse racing: Gant direnn-flamm 'neus hen houarnet :Ur c'habestr 'neus lakaet 'n e benn Hag un dorchenn skañv war e gein :E kerc'henn e c'houg ur walenn Hag en-dro d'e lost ur seizenn :Ha war e c'horre 'mañ pignet Hag er fest nevez degouezhet :E park ar fest pa oa degoue'et Oa ar gern-bual o vonet :Hag an holl dud en ur bagad Hag an holl virc'hed o lampat :« An hini en devo treuzet Kleun bras park ar fest en ur red :En ul lamm klok, distak, ha naet, Merc'h ar Rou' en do da bried » :E ebeulig ruz, pa glevas, War-bouez e benn a c'hristilhas :Lammat a reas, ha kounnariñ, Ha teurel c'hwezh tan gant e fri :Ha luc'hed gant e zaoulagad Ha darc'h en douar gant e droad :Ken a oa ar re all trec'het Hag ar c'hleun treuzet en ur red :« Aotroù Roue, 'vel peus touet, Ho merc'h Linor renkan kaouet »[73] He shod him in polished steel He bridled him, And threw a light cover over his back.

In Boqueho, legend has it that in the moonlight, horses come to drink from the stream near the Kergoff menhir, making a lot of noise, but without anyone being able to see them.

[87] In Les Quatorze Juments,[89] also entitled Le cheval du Monde, Riwall seeks to obtain the largest and most powerful horse in the world.

The closely related L'Homme-cheval (collected by Paul-Yves Sébillot[90]) and L'homme-poulain (Luzel)[91] recount the trials and tribulations of a young man (changed into a horse by a fairy, and born with the head of a foal, respectively) seeking to marry.

He calls in barbers to shave off his abundant mane, and then kills them, until one is left, who finally divulges the secret by digging a hole in the ground, where reed later grows and the first biniou is made.

[96] According to Gaël Milin, the horse ears with which he is adorned in the Breton story featuring Morvarc'h are not a mark of shame, but proof of his sovereign legitimacy, a symbolism shared in all Celtic countries.

[70] For Léon Fleuriot, these toponyms don't necessarily derive from the animal, as there is confusion with King Marc'h, whose stories and traditions come from the same geographical area.

[70] Among the Breton nobility, the Gouvello family has adopted equestrian figures on its roll of arms: Argent, an iron of mule Gules between three spur rols of the same.

[107] The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Quimper preserves a male head with horse ears, certainly influenced by the legend of King Marc'h.

It could be a kind of logo, originating in an important memorial date for the Venetians, probably that of an equinox, and linked to the sculptural group of the rider with the anguiped.

[114] André Le Ruyet's Morvarc'h, cheval de mer, published in 1999, recounts the discovery of Celtic legends by Philippe, a Parisian.