interesting Breton kilts & accessories

[Chas]

Really like the belt buckle in bronze -



Would look great on a brown belt.

Regards

Chas

[BCAC]

Yes, nice buckle that, Chas. I seem to remember that when Hamish got his "Brittany walking" kilt he got a kilt pin in that design also, but they don't seem to offer those any longer.

[OC Richard]

Brittany is one of the four places where Celtic languages are holding on to a somewhat precarious position.

A couple hundred years ago you had this situation:

Goidelic or "Q Celtic" languages: Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx (cf mac "son", ceann "head")
Brythonic or "P Celtic" languages: Welsh, Cornish, Breton (cf map "son", pen "head")

But the last "native speakers" of Cornish died in the 18th century, of Manx in the mid 20th century.

We have to remember that at one time the ancestor language to modern Welsh/Cornish/Breton was spoken over most of Britain, the original British language before the coming of the Romans and Anglo-Saxons; it's possible that pressure from the Anglo-Saxons coming in from the East is what lead to a large number of Britains to cross over to the Continent and found Britanny.

Eventually Welsh and Cornish were cut off from each other and evolved along seperate paths, as did Breton.

Anyhow it's cool how Bretons and Cornish honour many of the same Celtic Saints, and both flags are black and white.

[McClef]

As I understand it after meeting folk from Brittany at a St David's Day parade in Cardiff, the Breton language gets no recognition or official support from the French government whatsoever.

A totally different situation to Welsh and Manx.

[BCAC]

There are lots of language classes available, Trefor, a local tv station and quite a few schools where the only language spoken is breton gaelic. I'm not sure of the government support but there is a language support program within the french government for all their regional languages, the problem being that they have over forty different regional languages.