An Ankou figure in a church in Ploumilliau, Brittany. He grew up speaking Breton as his mother-tongue, with parents who didn’t speak French and it is said that Le Braz often entertained local peasants at his home, recording their songs and stories for his research. Le Braz was part of a wider trend in the late Victorian period in reviving Celtic folklore. Le Braz made the Ankou famous, in his work La Légende de la mort or “The Legend of the Dead” detailing the traditions and stories of death and the otherworld in Breton folklore. This translation of ‘The Coach of the Dead’, was first recorded by Breton poet and folklorist Anatole Le Braz in 1890*, though of course, the actual legend is much older, but was until this point, handed down the generations through oral tradition. The young man was able to return home safe and sound but, towards morning, he was taken with an unknown fever, and they buried him the next day.” If you hear the sound of a shrieking owl just before spotting him, then definitely get away from there. Might have one or two ghostly mates with him.The coach may be pulled by two horses, one fat and the other emaciated.Might be dragging a wheelbarrow or riding in a horse-drawn cart with squeaking wheels.Has white hair under a wide-brimmed black hat.So if you’re walking around graveyards in Brittany, Cornwall or Wales, it’s probably best to avoid anyone matching this description: ‘No sentiment is so strong with the Breton as their affection and veneration for the dead… With these people the veil which separates the real from the marvellous is very slight.’ from ‘the Spell of Brittany’ – ange m. Depiction of an Ankou hanging out on a church roof in Finistère, Brittany. Doomed to stay another year longer upon this earth as guardian of the graveyard, until another soul takes his place. He is the last soul to die in the village before the stroke of midnight that year. It is said that every graveyard in Brittany has its own Ankou. The Ankou is a defiant remnant of Pagan influence surviving as a stowaway in the stone-work of Christian buildings. Known as the Ankou (Breton), Ankow (Cornish) or Angau (Welsh) this Celtic legend is most prolific in the region of Brittany, where (if you keep your eyes peeled) you can still spot him haunting many of the churches and cathedrals today. Before the Grim Reaper, there was the Ankou…

Year walk church grim folklore