De Gaulle in 1961 at the Köln/Bonn airport. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Charles De Gaulle Vive la Quebec Libre
Brittany has known two Charles De Gaulle’s. The famous General De Gaulle, Liberator and the symbolism of France and the French language. Then there’s the lesser known Charles De Gaulle uncle of the famous General De Gaulle born in 1834, and founder of the pan Celtic movement ironically he was known by his Breton name Charlez Vro-C'hall, He was a poet a devout Cathjolic and monarchist. He was a great believer in the Celtic languages as a vehicle of high culture, he learnt Breton, Welsh, and Gaelic. Paradoxically as opposed to his nephew he believed in the restoration of Breton autonomy as opposed to his highly centralizing nephew.
Unfortunately he suffered from a paralysis which meant he never visited those places that were the home of his imagination he composed this piece
E Paris va c'horf zo dalc'het
Med daved hoc'h nij va spered
Vel al labous, aden askel,
Nij de gaout he vreudeur a bell
(In Paris my body is held
But towards you my spirit flies,
Swftly like a bird,
To meet his far away brothers.)
Ironically his nephew General De Gaulle used him to advocate Quebecois independence. And now with the news from Quebec with the victory of the Bloc Quebecois an their leader who was almost shot. Will the next referendum be successful and will the dream of Charles De Gaulle be realized and will it encourage the Scots to vote for independence causing the dream of Charles De Gaulle the elder to be realized?
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