3-034-621 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"Breton Women at a Pardon," by F. J. Skill, 1871. Engraving of a painting. '...the Celtic population of Brittany celebrate their yearly religious festivals...The Pardon of Guingamp takes place on the Saturday before the first Sunday in July. It is attended by so many as 10,000 people of all classes, whole families coming together, men, women, and children, whole villages sending up the congregation of the parish church, with the clergy at their head, bearing crucifixes, caskets of relics, banners, garlands, and wax-candles, the last-mentioned for votive offerings given by the faithful. The picturesque dress both of the men and women has often been remarked by strangers visiting Brittany...The women and girls, in their singularly-shaped white caps, bright-coloured bodices, shawl handkerchiefs, and brocaded silk aprons, look...quaint and old-fashioned, as they stand with their huge candles, or their chaplets of flowers, by the wayside, around the consecrated fountain, or at the doors of the church'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.