Jakez Kerrien

Jakez Kerrien (father Jean Kerrien) was born in 1900 with the Kerdro locality with Saint-Thégonnec (Finistere North) in a family from peasants. At 11 years, it leaves its family for the seminar in Spain, at the border with France. It continues its studies in theology and philosophy in the Vatican. At this point in time he writes new Ar Roc' H Toull and other poems in his native tongue well, sure. It misses Brittany!!!

During several years higher father of the seminar of Poitiers, it will finish its life in the house of the fathers of Picpus with Sarzeau (Morbihan) in 1992.

Roc' H Toull is announced on certain charts as being a cave: it is located on the territory of Guiclan, in the extreme south of this commune, at the edge of the river Penzé, which is used as limit between Guiclan and Saint-Thégonnec; as the borough of Guimiliau is much less far that of Guiclan, one says sometimes: Roc' H toull of Guimiliau.

Ar Roc' H Toull, it is there also the title of the novel written into Breton by this child of this soil, Jakès Kerrien. This very original writing was published for the first time in 1925. In the favor of the 100e birthday of the birth of Jakès Kerrien, this text is again published, by accompanying it this time by a French translation, with an aim of giving many not-Breton-speaking readers access to an account which is enthralling with many regards: an young man, accompanied by his brother, ventures in the depths of Roc' H Toull. He meets there a team of players of skittles, which are also archeologists in the search… of a treasure perhaps?

The adventures do not miss, these archeologists are definitely very erudite… ; there is also a cow lost in wood, a pig which arrives at point named to improve the ordinary one; in short, Ar Roc' H Toull is a well tied up work, mixing humor, the irony, the fantastic one…

This first attempt of Jakès Kerrien was without any doubt a stroke master, and works it, 75 years after being written, did not take a wrinkle!

Works

Ar Roh Toull (3rd edition). Emgleo Breiz, Brest, 1995. 93 p. ISBN erroneous according to the catalog of BNF.
Ar Roh Toull/La bored Rock (Breton text and French translation in glance, layout of text, notes and translation by Fañch/François Morvannou). Armorica, Brest, 2000. XIV + 119 p. ISBN 2-914398-00-X.
several other known editions, but without bibliographical details.
" Pennad-kaoz glove Jakez Kerrien: Re, Re EM-bije karet rear brezhoneg" (Conversation (into Breton) with Jakez Kerrien: " Too much, I would have liked the language bretonne" too much; , collected by Pascal Rannou, published in " The Breton" People; n° 287,288 and 289 (Dec. 1988 with janv 1989)

Random links: