Christoll Terrien
Christoll (Christopher) Terrien, was born about 1808 in An Oriant (Lorient), Brittany, France. Christoll and his wife Adelaide Marie. He had worked as Censeur des Studes in the Imperial Lycee of Rennes, Rheims and Clermont-Ferrand, University of France. They were Breton French refugees, who came to England in 1844. He was a language teachers, and spoke Breton, French, German and Italian. They lived for many years at Shrewsbury, where they taught French at Shrewsbury School. Christoll also worked as an assistant to Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, who was interested in European languages. In 1862 and 1906 Terrien spoke to the Welsh National Eisteddfod in Breton and French.
Sponsor
Louis-Lucien Bonaparte (1813‑1891), a nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte. Louis Lucien Bonaparte moved to London in the early 1850s setting up home at 6‑8 Norfolk Terrace, Bayswater, London. He was fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, English and Basque and became an active member of the Philological Society. Bonaparte was particularly interested in minority languages. He would pay for the printing of many translations of portions of the Bible that he commissioned, in minority languages of Europe.
Translations
Christoll Terrien translated into his Gwenedeg dialect also called the Vannes or Vanneteuse or Vannetais dialect of Breton (Breton de Vannes), spoken in Morbihan in southern Lower Brittany (Basse Bretagne).
Christoll Terrien translated the Gospel of Matthew; Breton liturgical selections for Liherieu hag Avieleu: or the Catholic Epistles and Gospels for the day up to Ascension; and the Song of Solomon into 2 dialects of Breton for the Celtic Hexapla.
Publication
250 copies of each work was printed by George Barclay of 28 Castle Street, Leicester Square in London. All these were published in 1858.
Digital Edition
This Breton Song of Solomon in Vannes dialect was digitised with the help of MissionAssist in 2025.
