n a
war-horse, she galloped up and down the streets, encouraging the
inhabitants. She ordered the ladies of her suite and other women of the
place to cut short their "keytels," carry the stones to the ramparts, and
transport pots of quick-lime to throw down upon the enemy. At the head of
300 horsemen, the Countess, who rode better than any squire, sallied out
of the town, attacked and burnt the enemy's camp, retreated to Auray, and,
a few days after, re-entered Hennebont, with banners flying and trumpets
sounding. But the blockade was so close that provisions were wanting, and
the garrison compelled her to agree to a capitulation, unless within three
days assistance arrived from England. The time was on the point of
expiring, and a herald had approached the gate of the city to receive the
keys in the name of Charles of Blois, when the Countess, from her window,
perceived at sunrise the English fleet entering the port in full sail. She
exclaimed, "We are saved!" The siege was raised, and the Countess, says
Froissart, kissed Sir Walter Manny and all his companions, one after the
other, two or three times, like a noble and valiant dame. "Better,"
observed Charles, when he heard the news, "that Jeanne, instead of her
lord, had been shut up in the Louvre." He left the carrying on of the
siege to Lewis of Spain, and proceeded to Vannes and Auray. Some fragments
of walls are all that remain of Jeanne de Montfort's castle, which was
situated on a height on the other side of the river in the "Vieille
ville." The town on the left bank of the Blavet is called the "Ville
neuve" and the "Ville close," being surrounded by walls. Large vessels
ascend the Blavet to Hennebont. It is traversed by a light and elegant
railway viaduct of twelve arches. We saw on the quay a quantity of red
iron-ore from Bilbao.

Hennebont is a very pretty town; the principal building is the church of
Notre Dame-de-Paradis, of the sixteenth century, with a fine square stone
tower, surmounted by a beautiful spire, and a tall porch, forming one side
of the tower. This handsome church has lately been restored. The scenery
about the Blavet is very pretty--the banks wooded, and fertile fields. We
took a boat and rowed up the river, passing the ruined Abbaye de la Joie,
where a hideous chateau has been built. This was a Cistercian convent,
founded in the thirteenth century by Blanche of Navarre, wife of Duke John
I. (_le Roux_). The chapel of Notre Dame-de-Paradis f