page_title: Montfort-sur-Meu
section_title: Legend
hierarchical_section_title: Montfort-sur-Meu / History and legend / Legend
caption_attribution_description: English: Pond of legends in Montfort-sur-Meu
context_page_description: Montfort-sur-Meu is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany in the northwest of France.
  It is noted as the birthplace of the Roman Catholic Saint Louis de Montfort, who is considered to be the pioneer of the field of Mariology. The saint's birthplace is at 15, Rue de la Saulnerie. It is now jointly owned by the three Montfortian congregations he formed: the Community of the Holy Spirit, the Daughters of Wisdom and the Brothers of Saint Gabriel. It is the site of frequent "Montfortian pilgrimages" to Montfort-sur-Meu.
context_section_description: The legend of the duck is transmitted from one generation to another since the 15th century.
  In the first version, the legend says that a young and beautiful girl, a prisoner of the Lord of Montfort, is moaning. She prays Saint Nicolas to escape from her abductor and to keep her virginity. The daint grants her prayers. She, miraculously transformed into a female duck, flies through the window of her cell and settles on the castle's pond.
  Then, for many centuries, a wild female duck was coming every year in the church, around Saint Nicolas Day and was leaving one of her ducklings as an offering to the miraculous saint.
  In the second version, the story says that around 1386,, during the completion of the town, the lord locked a beautiful girl up in his castle. She understood very fast what was waiting for her and, catching sight of Saint-Nicolas Church, started praying the saint, promising to thank him if she could escape.
  Unfortunately, she felt in the hands of the lord's soldiers, who wanted to do what they thought their master had done. She looked around to find some help but saw only two female ducks on the water of the pond, which has since been dried up. She prayed Saint Nicolas, begging him to allow the animals to be witnesses of her innocence and to make them accomplish every year her wish on her behalf if she had to lose her life. She managed to escape from the soldiers but died, apparently of fear, a bit later. She was buried in the Saint Nicolas churchyard.
  However, the same year, during the Translation (when a saint is transferred from one place to another), while the crowd was flocking to the relics of Saint Nicolas, a female duck came in the church with her ducklings. She fluttered near the picture of the Saint, flew to the altar and saluted the crucifix. Then, she came back near the picture of the Saint and stayed there until the end of the service. At this moment, she flew with all of her ducklings, except one, who stayed in the church.
  The story became so famous that as it is written in many documents dating from the following centuries, Montfort-sur-Meu became Montfort-la-Cane for more than 300 years.
  Every time the female duck came to the church, it had been written on sheets. The last appearance is dated from 8 May 1739. However, as only the archives dating from later than the 15th century have been kept, many stories are missing even though, as an ecclesiastic said, "In the past, these events became so common that we were not taking time to write them anymore".
caption: Pond in which the female duck stayed after escaping from the castle
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