{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_53915/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_53915","id":"gutenberg_53915","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53915","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Wales","Wales -- Social life and customs"],"text":"FOLK-LORE\n                                   OF\n                           WEST AND MID-WALES\n\n\n                                   BY\n                        JONATHAN CEREDIG DAVIES\n\n   Member of the Folk-Lore Society, Author of \"Adventures in the Land\n                  of Giants,\" \"Western Australia,\" &c.\n\n                             With a Preface\n\n                                   BY\n                        ALICE, COUNTESS AMHERST.\n\n\n                       \"Cared doeth yr encilion.\"\n\n\n                              ABERYSTWYTH:\n         PRINTED AT THE \"WELSH GAZETTE\" OFFICES, BRIDGE STREET.\n                                 1911.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n           This book is respectfully dedicated by the Author\n\n                                   to\n\n                    COUNTESS OF LISBURNE, CROSSWOOD.\n                        ALICE, COUNTESS AMHERST.\n                           LADY ENID VAUGHAN.\n                  LADY WEBLEY-PARRY-PRYSE, GOGERDDAN.\n                    LADY HILLS-JOHNES OF DOLAUCOTHY.\n                  MRS. HERBERT DAVIES-EVANS, HIGHMEAD.\n                MRS. WILLIAM BEAUCLERK POWELL, NANTEOS.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nBY\n\nALICE, COUNTESS AMHERST.\n\n\nThe writer of this book lived for many years in the Welsh Colony,\nPatagonia, where he was the pioneer of the Anglican Church. He\npublished a book dealing with that part of the world, which also\ncontained a great deal of interesting matter regarding the little known\nPatagonian Indians, Ideas on Religion and Customs, etc. He returned\nto Wales in 1891; and after spending a few years in his native land,\nwent out to a wild part of Western Australia, and was the pioneer\nChristian worker in a district called Colliefields, where he also\nbuilt a church. (No one had ever conducted Divine Service in that\nplace before.)\n\nHere again, he found time to write his experiences, and his book\ncontained a great deal of value to the Folklorist, regarding the\naborigines of that country, quite apart from the ordinary account of\nMissionary enterprise, history and prospects of Western Australia, etc.\n\nIn 1901, Mr. Ceredig Davies came back to live in his native country,\nWales.\n\nIn Cardiganshire, and the centre of Wales, generally, there still\nremains a great mass of unrecorded Celtic Folk Lore, Tradition,\nand Custom.\n\nThus it was suggested that if Mr. Ceredig Davies wished again to\nwrite a book--the material for a valuable one lay at his door if\nhe cared to undertake it. His accurate knowledge of Welsh gave him\ngreat facility for the work. He took up the idea, and this book is\nthe result of his labours.\n\nThe main object has been to collect \"verbatim,\" and render the Welsh\nidiom into English as nearly as possible these old stories still told\nof times gone by.\n\nThe book is in no way written to prove, or disprove, any of the\nnumerous theories and speculations regarding the origin of the Celtic\nRace, its Religion or its Traditions. The fundamental object has been\nto commit to writing what still remains of the unwritten Welsh Folk\nLore, before it is forgotten, and this is rapidly becoming the case.\n\nThe subjects are divided on the same lines as most of the books on\nHighland and Irish Folk Lore, so that the student will find little\ntrouble in tracing the resemblance, or otherwise, of the Folk Lore\nin Wales with that of the two sister countries.\n\n\nALICE AMHERST.\n\nPlas Amherst, Harlech,\nNorth Wales, 1911.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nWelsh folk-lore is almost inexhaustible, and of great importance to\nthe historian and others. Indeed, without a knowledge of the past\ntraditions, customs and superstitions of the people, the history of\na country is not complete.\n\nIn this book I deal chiefly with the three counties of Cardiganshire,\nCarmarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire, technically known in the present\nday as \"West Wales\"; but as I have introduced so many things from the\ncounties bordering on Cardigan and Carmarthen, such as Montgomery,\nRadnor, Brecon, etc., I thought proper that the work should be\nentitled, \"The Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales.\"\n\nAlthough I have been for some years abroad, in Patagonia, and\nAustralia, yet I know almost every county in my native land; and there\nis hardly a spot in the three counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan, and\nPembroke that I have not visited during the last nine years, gathering\nmaterials for this book from old people and others who were interested\nin such subject, spending three or four months in some districts. All\nthis took considerable time and trouble, not to mention of the expenses\nin going about; but I generally walked much, especially in the remote\ncountry districts, but I feel I have rescued from oblivion things\nwhich are dying out, and many things which have died out already. I\nhave written very fully concerning the old Welsh Wedding and Funeral\nCustoms, and obtained most interesting account of them from aged\npersons. The \"Bidder's Song,\" by Daniel Ddu, which first appeared\nin the \"Cambrian Briton\" 1822, is of special interest. Mrs. Loxdale,\nof Castle Hill, showed me a fine silver cup which had been presented\nto this celebrated poet. I have also a chapter on Fairies; but as I\nfound that Fairy Lore has almost died out in those districts which I\nvisited, and the traditions concerning them already recorded, I was\nobliged to extract much of my information on this subject from books,\nthough I found a few new fairy stories in Cardiganshire. But as to\nmy chapters about Witches, Wizards, Death Omens, I am indebted for\nalmost all my information to old men and old women whom I visited in\nremote country districts, and I may emphatically state that I have not\nembellished the stories, or added to anything I have heard; and care\nhas been taken that no statement be made conveying an idea different\nfrom what has been heard. Indeed, I have in nearly all instances given\nthe names, and even the addresses of those from whom I obtained my\ninformation. If there are a few Welsh idioms in the work here and\nthere, the English readers must remember that the information was\ngiven me in the Welsh language by the aged peasants, and that I have\nfaithfully endeavoured to give a literal rendering of the narrative.\n\nAbout 350 ladies and gentlemen have been pleased to give their names\nas subscribers to the book, and I have received kind and encouraging\nletters from distinguished and eminent persons from all parts of the\nkingdom, and I thank them all for their kind support.\n\nI have always taken a keen interest in the History and traditions of\nmy native land, which I love so well; and it is very gratifying that\nHis Royal Highness, the young Prince of Wales, has so graciously\naccepted a genealogical table, in which I traced his descent from\nCadwaladr the Blessed, the last Welsh prince who claimed the title\nof King of Britain.\n\nI undertook to write this book at the suggestion and desire of\nAlice, Countess Amherst, to whom I am related, and who loves all\nCeltic things, especially Welsh traditions and legends; and about\nnine or ten years ago, in order to suggest the \"lines of search,\"\nher Ladyship cleverly put together for me the following interesting\nsketch or headings, which proved a good guide when I was beginning\nto gather Folk-Lore:--\n\n\n    (1) Traditions of Fairies. (2) Tales illustrative of Fairy\n    Lore. (3) Tutelary Beings. (4) Mermaids and Mermen. (5) Traditions\n    of Water Horses out of lakes, if any? (6) Superstitions about\n    animals:--Sea Serpents, Magpie, Fish, Dog, Raven, Cuckoo, Cats,\n    etc. (7) Miscellaneous:--Rising, Clothing, Baking, Hen's first egg;\n    Funerals; Corpse Candles; On first coming to a house on New Year's\n    Day; on going into a new house; Protection against Evil Spirits;\n    ghosts haunting places, houses, hills and roads; Lucky times,\n    unlucky actions. (8) Augury:--Starting on a journey; on seeing the\n    New Moon. (9) Divination; Premonitions; Shoulder Blade Reading;\n    Palmistry; Cup Reading. (10) Dreams and Prophecies; Prophecies of\n    Merlin and local ones. (11) Spells and Black Art:--Spells, Black\n    Art, Wizards, Witches. (12) Traditions of Strata Florida, King\n    Edward burning the Abbey, etc. (13) Marriage Customs.--What the\n    Bride brings to the house; The Bridegroom. (14) Birth Customs. (15)\n    Death Customs. (16) Customs of the Inheritance of farms; and\n    Sheep Shearing Customs.\n\n\nAnother noble lady who was greatly interested in Welsh Antiquities,\nwas the late Dowager Lady Kensington; and her Ladyship, had she lived,\nintended to write down for me a few Pembrokeshire local traditions\nthat she knew in order to record them in this book.\n\nIn an interesting long letter written to me from Bothwell Castle,\nLanarkshire, dated September 9th, 1909, her Ladyship, referring\nto Welsh Traditions and Folk-Lore, says:--\"I always think that\nsuch things should be preserved and collected now, before the next\ngeneration lets them go! ... I am leaving home in October for India,\nfor three months.\" She did leave home for India in October, but sad\nto say, died there in January; but her remains were brought home and\nburied at St. Bride's, Pembrokeshire. On the date of her death I had\na remarkable dream, which I have recorded in this book, see page 277.\n\nI tender my very best thanks to Evelyn, Countess of Lisburne, for so\nmuch kindness and respect, and of whom I think very highly as a noble\nlady who deserves to be specially mentioned; and also the young Earl\nof Lisburne, and Lady Enid Vaughan, who have been friends to me even\nfrom the time when they were children.\n\nI am equally indebted to Colonel Davies-Evans, the esteemed Lord\nLieutenant of Cardiganshire, and Mrs. Davies-Evans, in particular,\nwhose kindness I shall never forget. I have on several occasions had\nthe great pleasure and honour of being their guest at Highmead.\n\nI am also very grateful to my warm friends the Powells of Nanteos,\nand also to Mrs. A. Crawley-Boevey, Birchgrove, Crosswood, sister of\nCountess Lisburne.\n\nOther friends who deserve to be mentioned are, Sir Edward and\nLady Webley-Parry-Pryse, of Gogerddan; Sir John and Lady Williams,\nPlas, Llanstephan (now of Aberystwyth); General Sir James and Lady\nHills-Johnes, and Mrs. Johnes of Dolaucothy (who have been my friends\nfor nearly twenty years); the late Sir Lewis Morris, Penbryn; Lady\nEvans, Lovesgrove; Colonel Lambton, Brownslade, Pem.; Colonel and\nMrs. Gwynne-Hughes, of Glancothy; Mrs. Wilmot Inglis-Jones; Capt. and\nMrs. Bertie Davies-Evans; Mr. and Mrs. Loxdale, Castle Hill, Llanilar;\nMr. and Mrs. Lloyd, Waunifor; Mrs. Webley-Tyler, of Glanhelig;\nArchdeacon Williams, of Aberystwyth; Professor Tyrrell Green,\nLampeter; Dr. Hughes, and Dr. Rees, of Llanilar; Rev. J. F. Lloyd,\nvicar of Llanilar, the energetic secretary of the Cardiganshire\nAntiquarian Society; Rev. Joseph Evans, Rector of Jordanston,\nFishguard; Rev. W. J. Williams, Vicar of Llanafan; Rev. H. M. Williams,\nVicar of Lledrod; Rev. J. N. Evans, Vicar of Llangybi; Rev. T. Davies,\nVicar of Llanddewi Brefi; Rev. Rhys Morgan, C. M. Minister, Llanddewi\nBrefi; Rev. J. Phillips, Vicar of Llancynfelyn; Rev. J. Morris,\nVicar, Llanybyther; Rev. W. M. Morgan-Jones (late of Washington,\nU.S.A.); Rev. G. Eyre Evans, Aberystwyth; Rev. Z. M. Davies, Vicar\nof Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn; Rev. J. Jones, Curate of Nantgaredig;\nRev. Prys Williams (Brythonydd) Baptist Minister in Carmarthenshire;\nRev. D. G. Williams, Congregational Minister, St. Clears (winner\nof the prize at the National Eisteddfod, for the best essay on the\nFolk-Lore of Carmarthen);  Mr. William Davies, Talybont (winner of the\nprize at the National Eisteddfod for the best essay on the Folk-Lore\nof Merioneth); Mr. Roderick Evans, J. P., Lampeter; Rev. G. Davies,\nVicar of Blaenpenal; Mr. Stedman-Thomas (deceased), Carmarthen,\nand others in all parts of the country too numerous to be mentioned\nhere. Many other names appear in the body of my book, more especially\naged persons from whom I obtained information.\n\n\nJONATHAN CEREDIG DAVIES.\n\nLlanilar, Cardiganshire.\nMarch 18th, 1911.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                PAGE.\n\n          Dedication                             III.\n          Preface                                  V.\n          Introduction                           VII.\n    I.    Love Customs, etc.                       1\n    II.   Wedding Customs                         16\n    III.  Funeral Customs                         39\n    IV.   Other Customs                           59\n    V.    Fairies and Mermaids                    88\n    VI.   Ghost Stories                          148\n    VII.  Death Portents                         192\n    VIII. Miscellaneous Beliefs, Birds, etc.     215\n    IX.   Witches and Wizards, etc.              230\n    X.    Folk-Healing                           281\n    XI.   Fountains, Lakes, and Caves ...        298\n    XII.  Local Traditions                       315\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nLOVE CUSTOMS AND OMEN SEEKING.\n\n                           \"Pwy sy'n caru, a phwy sy'n peidio,\n                            A phwy sy'n troi hen gariad heibio.\"\n\n                            Who loves, and who loves not,\n                            And who puts off his old love?\n\n\nUndoubtedly, young men and young women all over the world from the\ntime of Adam to the present day, always had, and still have, their\nmodes or ways of associating or keeping company with one another\nwhilst they are in love, and waiting for, and looking forward to,\nthe bright wedding day. In Wales, different modes of courting prevail;\nbut I am happy to state the old disgraceful custom of bundling, which\nwas once so common in some rural districts, has entirely died out,\nor at least we do not hear anything about it nowadays. I believe\nWirt Sikes is right in his remarks when he says that such a custom\nhas had its origin in primitive times, when, out of the necessities\nof existence, a whole household lay down together for greater warmth,\nwith their usual clothing on.\n\nGiraldus Cambrensis, 700 years ago, writes of this custom in these\nwords:--\n\n\n        \"Propinquo concubantium calore multum adjuti.\"\n\n\nOf course, ministers of religion, both the Clergy of the Church of\nEngland and Nonconformist ministers condemned such practice very\nsternly, but about two generations ago, there were many respectable\nfarmers who more or less defended the custom, and it continued to a\ncertain extent until very recently, even without hardly any immoral\nconsequences, owing to the high moral standard and the religious\ntendencies of the Welsh people.\n\nOne reason for the prevalence of such custom was that in times past\nin Wales, both farm servants and farmers' sons and daughters were\nso busy, from early dawn till a late hour in the evening that they\nhad hardly time or an opportunity to attend to their love affairs,\nexcept in the night time. Within the memory of hundreds who are\nstill alive, it was the common practice of many of the young men in\nCardiganshire and other parts of West Wales, to go on a journey for\nmiles in the depth of night to see the fair maidens, and on their\nway home, perhaps, about 3 o'clock in the morning they would see a\nghost or an apparition! but that did not keep them from going out at\nnight to see the girls they loved, or to try to make love. Sometimes,\nseveral young men would proceed together on a courting expedition,\nas it were, if we may use such a term, and after a good deal of idle\ntalk about the young ladies, some of them would direct their steps\ntowards a certain farmhouse in one direction, and others in another\ndirection in order to see their respective sweethearts, and this late\nat night as I have already mentioned.\n\nIt was very often the case that a farmer's son and the servant\nwould go together to a neighbouring farm house, a few miles off,\nthe farmer's son to see the daughter of the house, and the servant to\nsee the servant maid, and when this happened it was most convenient\nand suited them both. After approaching the house very quietly, they\nwould knock at the window of the young woman's room, very cautiously,\nhowever, so as not to arouse the farmer and his wife.\n\nI heard the following story when a boy:--A young farmer, who lived\nsomewhere between Tregaron and Lampeter, in Cardiganshire, rode one\nnight to a certain farm-house, some miles off, to have a talk with the\nyoung woman of his affection, and after arriving at his destination,\nhe left his horse in a stable and then entered the house to see his\nsweetheart. Meanwhile, a farm servant played him a trick by taking\nthe horse out of the stable, and putting a bull there instead. About\n3 o'clock in the morning the young lover decided to go home, and went\nto the stable for his horse. It was very dark, and as he entered the\nstable he left the door wide open, through which an animal rushed\nwildly out, which he took for his horse. He ran after the animal for\nhours, but at daybreak, to his great disappointment, found that he\nhad been running after a bull!\n\nAnother common practice is to meet at the fairs, or on the way home\nfrom the fairs. In most of the country towns and villages there are\nspecial fairs for farm servants, both male and female, to resort to;\nand many farmers' sons and daughters attend them as well. These fairs\ngive abundant opportunity for association and intimacy between young\nmen and women.\n\nIndeed, it is at these fairs that hundreds of boys and girls meet\nfor the first time. A young man comes in contact with a young girl,\nhe gives her some \"fairings\" or offers her a glass of something to\ndrink, and accompanies her home in the evening. Sometimes when it\nhappens that there should be a prettier and more attractive maiden\nthan the rest present at the fair, occasionally a scuffle or perhaps\na fight takes place, between several young men in trying to secure\nher society, and on such occasions, of course, the best young man in\nher sight is to have the privilege of her company.\n\nAs to whether the Welsh maidens are prettier or not so pretty as\nEnglish girls, I am not able to express an opinion; but that many of\nthem were both handsome and attractive in the old times, at least, is\nan historical fact; for we know that it was a very common thing among\nthe old Norman Nobles, after the Conquest, to marry Welsh ladies,\nwhilst they reduced the Anglo-Saxons almost to slavery. Who has\nnot heard the beautiful old Welsh Air, \"Morwynion Glan Meirionydd\"\n(\"The Pretty Maidens of Merioneth\")?\n\nGood many men tell me that the young women of the County of\nMerioneth are much more handsome than those of Cardiganshire; but\nthat Cardiganshire women make the best wives.\n\nMyddfai Parish in Carmarthenshire was in former times celebrated\nfor its fair maidens, according to an old rhyme which records their\nbeauty thus:--\n\n\n   \"Mae eira gwyn ar ben y bryn,\n    A'r glasgoed yn y Ferdre,\n    Mae bedw m\u00e2n ynghanol Cwm-bran,\n    A merched gl\u00e2n yn Myddfe.\"\n\n\nPrincipal Sir John Rhys translates this as follows:--\n\n\n   \"There is white snow on the mountain's brow,\n    And greenwood at the Verdre,\n    Young birch so good in Cwm-bran wood,\n    And lovely girls in Myddfe.\"\n\n\nIn the time of King Arthur of old, the fairest maiden in Wales was\nthe beautiful Olwen, whom the young Prince Kilhwch married after\nmany adventures. In the Mabinogion we are informed that \"more yellow\nwas her hair than the flowers of the broom, and her skin was whiter\nthan the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and her fingers\nthan the blossoms of the wood-anemone, amidst the spray of the meadow\nfountain. The eye of the trained hawk, the glance of the three-mewed\nfalcon, was not brighter than hers. Her bosom was more snowy than\nthe breast of the white swan; her cheek was redder than the reddest\nroses. Those who beheld her were filled with her love. Four white\ntrefoils sprang up wherever she trod. She was clothed in a robe of\nflame-coloured silk, and about her neck was a collar of ruddy gold,\non which were precious emeralds and rubies.\"\n\nA good deal of courting is done at the present day while going home\nfrom church or chapel as the case may be. The Welsh people are\nvery religious, and almost everybody attends a place of worship,\nand going home from church gives young people of both sexes abundant\nopportunities of becoming intimate with one another. Indeed, it is\nalmost a general custom now for a young man to accompany a young lady\nhome from church.\n\nThe Welsh people are of an affectionate disposition, and thoroughly\nenjoy the pleasures of love, but they keep their love more secret,\nperhaps, than the English; and Welsh bards at all times have been\ncelebrated for singing in praise of female beauty. Davydd Ap Gwilym,\nthe chief poet of Wales, sang at least one hundred love songs to his\nbeloved Morfudd.\n\nThis celebrated bard flourished in the fourteenth century, and he\nbelonged to a good family, for his father, Gwilym Gam, was a direct\ndescendant from Llywarch Ap Bran, chief of one of the fifteen royal\ntribes of North Wales; and his mother was a descendant of the Princes\nof South Wales. According to the traditions of Cardiganshire people,\nDavydd was born at Bro-Gynin, near Gogerddan, in the Parish of\nLlanbadarn-Fawr, and only a few miles from the spot where the town\nof Aberystwyth is situated at present.\n\nAn ancient bard informs us that Taliesin of old had foretold the\nhonour to be conferred on Bro-Gynin, in being the birthplace of a\npoet whose muse should be as the sweetness of wine:--\n\n\n    \"Am Dafydd, gelfydd goelin--praff awdwr,\n        Prophwydodd Taliesin,\n      Y genid ym mro Gynin,\n      Brydydd a'i gywydd fel gwin.\"\n\n\nThe poet, Davydd Ap Gwilym, is represented as a fair young man who\nloved many, or that many were the young maidens who fell in love with\nhim, and there is one most amusing tradition of his love adventures. It\nis said that on one occasion he went to visit about twenty young ladies\nabout the same time, and that he appointed a meeting with each of them\nunder an oak-tree--all of them at the same hour. Meanwhile, the young\nbard had secretly climbed up the tree and concealed himself among the\nbranches, so that he might see the event of this meeting. Every one of\nthe young girls was there punctually at the appointed time, and equally\nastonished to perceive any female there besides herself. They looked\nat one another in surprise, and at last one of them asked another,\n\"What brought you here?\" \"to keep an appointment with Dafydd ap Gwilym\"\nwas the reply. \"That's how I came also\" said the other \"and I\" added\na third girl, and all of them had the same tale. They then discovered\nthe trick which Dafydd had played with them, and all of them agreed\ntogether to punish him, and even to kill him, if they could get hold\nof him. Dafydd, who was peeping from his hiding-place amongst the\nbranches of the tree, replied as follows in rhyme:--\n\n\n    \"Y butein wen fain fwynnf--o honoch\n        I hono maddeuaf,\n      Tan frig pren a heulwen haf,\n      Teg anterth, t'rawed gyntaf!\"\n\n\nThe words have been translated by someone something as follows:--\n\n\n              \"If you can be so cruel,\n    Let the kind wanton jade,\n    Who oftenest met me in this shade,\n    On summer's morn, by love inclined,\n    Let her strike first, and I'm resigned.\"\n\n\nDafydd's words had the desired effect. The young women began to\nquestion each other's purity, which led to a regular quarrel between\nthem, and, during the scuffle, the poet escaped safe and sound.\n\nAfter this the Poet fell in love with the daughter of one Madog Lawgam,\nwhose name was Morfudd, and in her honour he wrote many songs, and\nit seems that he ever remained true to this lady. They were secretly\nmarried in the woodland; but Morfudd's parents disliked the Poet so\nmuch for some reason or other, that the beautiful young lady was taken\naway from him and compelled to marry an old man known as Bwa Bach, or\nLittle Hunchback. Dafydd was tempted to elope with Morfudd, but he was\nfound, fined and put in prison; but through the kindness of the men of\nGlamorgan, who highly esteemed the Poet, he was released. After this,\nit seems that Dafydd was love-sick as long as he lived, and at last\ndied of love, and he left the following directions for his funeral:--\n\n\n   \"My spotless shroud shall be of summer flowers,\n    My coffin from out the woodland bowers:\n    The flowers of wood and wild shall be my pall,\n    My bier, light forest branches green and tall;\n    And thou shalt see the white gulls of the main\n    In thousands gather then to bear my train!\"\n\n\nOne of Dafydd's chief patrons was his kinsman, the famous and noble\nIvor Hael, Lord of Macsaleg, from whose stock the present Viscount\nTredegar is a direct descendant, and, in judging the character of the\nPoet we must take into consideration what was the moral condition of\nthe country in the fourteenth century.\n\nBut to come to more modern times, tradition has it that a young man\nnamed Morgan Jones of Dolau Gwyrddon, in the Vale of Teivi, fell in\nlove with the Squire of Dyffryn Llynod's daughter. The young man and\nthe young woman were passionately in love with each other; but the\nSquire, who was a staunch Royalist, refused to give his consent to his\ndaughter's marriage with Morgan Jones, as the young man's grandfather\nhad fought for Cromwell. The courtship between the lovers was kept on\nfor years in secret, and the Squire banished his daughter to France\nmore than once. At last the young lady fell a victim to the small\npox, and died. Just before her death, her lover came to see her,\nand caught the fever from her, and he also died. His last wish was\nthat he should be buried in the same grave as the one he had loved\nso dearly, but this was denied him.\n\nIn Merionethshire there is a tradition that many generations ago a\nSquire of Gorsygedol, near Harlech, had a beautiful daughter who fell\nin love with a shepherd boy. To prevent her seeing the young man, her\nfather locked his daughter in a garret, but a secret correspondence\nwas carried on between the lovers by means of a dove she had taught\nto carry the letters. The young lady at last died broken-hearted,\nand soon after her burial the dove was found dead upon her grave! And\nthe young man with a sad heart left his native land for ever.\n\nMore happy, though not less romantic, was the lot of a young man who\nwas shipwrecked on the coast of Pembrokeshire, and washed up more dead\nthan alive on the seashore, where he was found by the daughter and\nheiress of Sir John de St. Bride's, who caused him to be carried to\nher father's house where he was hospitably entertained. The young man,\nof course, was soon head and ears in love with his fair deliverer,\nand the lady being in nowise backward in response to his suit, they\nmarried and founded a family of Laugharnes, and their descendants\nfor generations resided at Orlandon, near St. Bride's.\n\nThe Rev. D. G. Williams in his interesting Welsh collection of the\nFolk-lore of Carmarthenshire says that in that part of the county which\nborders on Pembrokeshire, there is a strange custom of presenting a\nrejected lover with a yellow flower, or should it happen at the time\nof year when there are no flowers, to give a yellow ribbon.\n\nThis reminds us of a curious old custom which was formerly very common\neverywhere in Wales; that of presenting a rejected lover, whether\nmale or female, with a stick or sprig of hazel-tree. According to\nthe \"Cambro Briton,\" for November, 1821, this was often done at a\n\"Cyfarfod Cymhorth,\" or a meeting held for the benefit of a poor\nperson, at whose house or at that of a neighbour, a number of young\nwomen, mostly servants, used to meet by permission of their respective\nemployers, in order to give a day's work, either in spinning or\nknitting, according as there was need of their assistance, and,\ntowards the close of the day, when their task was ended, dancing\nand singing were usually introduced, and the evening spent with glee\nand conviviality. At the early part of the day, it was customary for\nthe young women to receive some presents from their several suitors,\nas a token of their truth or inconstancy. On this occasion the lover\ncould not present anything more odious to the fair one than the sprig\nof a \"collen,\" or hazel-tree, which was always a well-known sign of\na change of mind on the part of the young man, and, consequently,\nthat the maiden could no longer expect to be the real object of his\nchoice. The presents, in general, consisted of cakes, silver spoons,\netc., and agreeably to the respectability of the sweetheart, and were\nhighly decorated with all manner of flowers; and if it was the lover's\nintention to break off his engagement with the young lady, he had only\nto add a sprig of hazel. These pledges were handed to the respective\nlasses by the different \"Caisars,\" or Merry Andrews,--persons dressed\nin disguise for the occasion, who, in their turn, used to take each\nhis young woman by the hand to an adjoining room where they would\ndeliver the \"pwysi,\" or nose-gay, as it was called, and afterwards\nimmediately retire upon having mentioned the giver's name.\n\nWhen a young woman also had made up her mind to have nothing further to\ndo with a young man who had been her lover, or proposed to become one,\nshe used to give him a \"ffon wen,\" (white wand) from an hazel tree,\ndecorated with white ribbons. This was a sign to the young man that\nshe did not love him.\n\nThe Welsh name for hazel-tree is \"collen.\" Now the word \"coll\" has a\ndouble meaning; it means to lose anything, as well as a name for the\nhazel, and it is the opinion of some that this double meaning of the\nword gave the origin to the custom of making use of the hazel-tree\nas a sign of the loss of a lover.\n\nIt is also worthy of notice, that, whilst the hazel indicated the\nrejection of a lover, the birch tree, on the other hand, was used as an\nemblem of love, or in other words that a lover was accepted. Among the\nWelsh young persons of both sexes were able to make known their love to\none another without speaking, only by presenting a Birchen-Wreath. This\ncurious old custom of presenting a rejected lover with a white wand\nwas known at Pontrhydfendigaid, in Cardiganshire until only a few\nyears ago. My informant was Dr. Morgan, Pontrhydygroes.  Mrs. Hughes,\nCwrtycadno, Llanilar, also informed me that she had heard something\nabout such custom at Tregaron, when she was young.\n\nIt was also the custom to adorn a mixture of birch and quicken-tree\nwith flowers and a ribbon, and leave it where it was most likely to\nbe found by the person intended on May-morning. Dafydd ap Gwilym, the\npoet, I have just referred to, mentions of this in singing to Morfudd.\n\nYoung people of both sexes, are very anxious to know whether they\nare to marry the lady or the gentleman they now love, or who is to\nbe their future partner in life, or are they to die single. Young\npeople have good many most curious and different ways to decide all\nsuch interesting and important questions, by resorting to uncanny\nand romantic charms and incantations. To seek hidden information by\nincantation was very often resorted to in times past, especially about\na hundred years ago, and even at the present day, but not as much\nas in former times. It was believed, and is perhaps, still believed\nby some, that the spirit of a person could be invoked, and that it\nwould appear, and that young women by performing certain ceremonies\ncould obtain a sight of the young men they were to marry.\n\nSuch charms were performed sometimes on certain Saints' Days, or on\none of the \"Three Spirits' Nights,\" or on a certain day of the moon;\nbut more frequently on \"Nos Calan Gauaf\" or All Hallows Eve--the\n31st. of October. All Hallows was one of the \"Three Spirits' Nights,\"\nand an important night in the calendar of young maidens anxious to\nsee the spirits of their future husbands.\n\nIn Cardiganshire, divination by means of a ball of yarn, known as\n\"coel yr edau Wlan\" is practised, and indeed in many other parts of\nWales. A young unmarried woman in going to her bedroom would take\nwith her a ball of yarn, and double the threads, and then she would\ntie small pieces of wool along these threads, so as to form a small\nthread ladder, and, opening her bedroom window threw this miniature\nladder out to the ground, and then winding back the yarn, and at the\nsame time saying the following words:--\n\n\n    \"Y fi sy'n dirwyn\n        Pwy sy'n dal\"\n\n\nwhich means:\n\n\n    \"I am winding,\n        Who is holding?\"\n\n\nThen the spirit of the future husband of the girl who was performing\nthe ceremony was supposed to mount this little ladder and appear to\nher. But if the spirit did not appear, the charm was repeated over\nagain, and even a third time. If no spirit was to be seen after\nperforming such ceremony three times, the young lady had no hope\nof a husband. In some places, young girls do not take the trouble\nto make this ladder, but, simply throw out through the open window,\na ball of yarn, and saying the words:\n\n\n    \"I am winding, who is holding.\"\n\n\nAnother custom among the young ladies of Cardiganshire in order\nto see their future husbands is to walk nine times round the house\nwith a glove in the hand, saying the while--\"Dyma'r faneg, lle mae'r\nllaw.\"--\"Here's the glove, where is the hand?\" Others again would\nwalk round the dungheap, holding a shoe in the left hand, and saying\n\"Here's the shoe, where is the foot?\" Happy is the young woman who\nsees the young man she loves, for he is to be her future husband.\n\nIn Carmarthenshire young girls desirous of seeing their future\npartners in life, walk round a leek bed, carrying seed in their hand,\nand saying as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Hadau, hadau, hau,\n    Sawl sy'n cam, doed i grynhoi.\"\n\n   \"Seed, seed, sowing.\n    He that loves, let him come to gather.\"\n\n\nIt was also the custom in the same county for young men and young\nwomen to go round a grove and take a handful of moss, in which was\nfound the colour of the future wife or husband's hair.\n\nIn Pembrokeshire, it is the custom for young girls to put under\ntheir pillow at night, a shoulder of mutton, with nine holes bored\nin the blade bone, and at the same time they put their shoes at the\nfoot of the bed in the shape of the letter T, and an incantation is\nsaid over them. By doing this, they are supposed to see their future\nhusbands in their dreams, and that in their everyday clothes. This\ncurious custom of placing shoes at the foot of the bed was very\ncommon till very recently, and, probably, it is still so, not only\nin Pembrokeshire, but with Welsh girls all over South Wales. A woman\nwho is well and alive told me once, that many years ago she had\ntried the experiment herself, and she positively asserted that she\nactually saw the spirit of the man who became her husband, coming\nnear her bed, and that happened when she was only a young girl, and\nsome time before she ever met the man. When she was telling me this,\nshe had been married for many years and had grown-up children, and\nI may add that her husband was a particular friend of mine.\n\nAnother well-known form of divination, often practised by the young\ngirls in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire, is for\na young woman to wash her shirt or whatever article of clothing she\nhappens to wear next to the skin, and having turned it inside out,\nplace it before the fire to dry, and then watch to see who should come\nat midnight to turn it. If the young woman is to marry, the spirit\nof her future husband is supposed to appear and perform the work for\nthe young woman, but if she is to die single, a coffin is seen moving\nalong the room, and many a young girl has been frightened almost to\ndeath in performing these uncanny ceremonies. The Rev. D. G. Williams\nin his excellent Welsh essay on the Folk-lore of Carmarthenshire,\nmentions a farmer's daughter who practised this form of divination\nwhilst she was away from home at school. A young farmer had fallen\nin love with her, but she hated him with all her heart. Whilst she\nwas performing this ceremony at midnight, another girl, from mere\nmischief dressed herself in man's clothing, exactly the same kind\nas the clothes generally worn by the young farmer I have mentioned,\nand, trying to appear as like him as possible, entered the room at\nthe very moment when the charm of invoking the spirit of a future\nhusband was being performed by the farmer's daughter, who went half\nmad when she saw, as she thought, the very one whom she hated so much,\nmaking his appearance.\n\nThe other girls had to arouse their schoolmistress from her bed\nimmediately so that she might try and convince the young girl that\nshe had seen nothing, but another girl in man's clothes. But nothing\navailed. The doctor was sent for, but he also failed to do anything\nto bring her to herself, and very soon the poor young woman died\nthrough fright and disappointment.\n\nAnother common practice in West Wales is for a young woman to peel\nan apple at twelve o'clock, before a looking glass in order to see\nthe spirit of her future husband. This also is done on All Hallow's\nEve. Sowing Hemp Seed is also a well-known ceremony among the young\nladies of Wales, as well as England.\n\n\n\nTHE CANDLE AND PIN DIVINATION.\n\nIt was also the custom, at least many years ago, if not now, for a\nyoung woman, or two of them together to stick pins at midnight in a\ncandle, all in a row, right from its top to the bottom, and then to\nwatch the candle burning and the pins dropping one by one, till the\nlast pin had dropped, and then the future husband of the girl to whom\nthe pin belonged, was supposed to appear; but if she was destined to\ndie single, she would see a coffin.\n\nAnother form of Divination, was to put the plates on the dining-room\ntable upside down, and at midnight the spirit of the future husband\nwas supposed to come and arrange them in their proper order.\n\nAnother custom resorted to in Cardiganshire and other parts in order to\nsee a future husband, or rather to dream of him, was to eat a hen's\nfirst egg; but no one was to know the secret, and absolute silence\nwas to be observed, and the egg was to be eaten in bed.\n\n\n\nGOING ROUND THE CHURCH.\n\nThis kind of divination was perhaps of a more uncanny character\nthan anything I have hitherto mentioned, and a custom which both\nyoung men and young women very commonly practised, even within the\nlast 50 years as I have been told by old people. This weird practice\nwas to go round the parish church seven times, some say nine times,\nwhilst others again say nine times-and-half, and holding a knife in\nthe hand saying the while:--\n\n\n    \"Dyma'r twca, lle mae'r wain?\"\n    \"Here's the knife, where is the sheath?\"\n\n\nIt was also the practice to look in through the key-hole of the church\ndoor each time whilst going round, and many people assert to this very\nday that whoever performed this mode of divination in proper order,\nthat the spirit of his or her future wife or husband would appear\nwith a sheath to fit the knife; but, if the young man or woman was\nto die single, a coffin would meet him or her. Mr. John Jones, of\nPontrhydfendigaid, an intelligent old man of 95, with a wonderful\nmemory, told me that, when a boy, he had heard his mother giving\na most sad account of what happened to a young woman who did this\nat Ystrad Meurig in Cardiganshire about the year 1800. She was the\ndaughter of a public house in the village, and the name of her mother\nwas Catherine Dafydd Evan. Mr. Jones's mother knew the family well;\nsome of them emigrated to America.\n\nThis young woman was in love with one of the students of St. John's\nCollege, in the neighbourhood, and being anxious to know whether he\nwas to be her husband or not, she resorted to this uncanny practice\nof walking nine times round Ystrad Meurig Church. Around and round\nshe went, holding the knife in her hand and repeating the words of\nincantation, \"Here's the knife, where is the sheath?\" And whilst she\nwas performing her weird adventure, to her great alarm, she perceived\na clergyman coming out to meet her through the church door with his\nwhite surplice on, as if coming to meet a funeral procession. The\nfrightened young woman fell down in a swoon, almost half dead, as she\nimagined that the one she met with a surplice on was an apparition\nor the spirit of a clergyman officiating at the phantom funeral of\nherself, which prognosticated that instead of going to be married,\nshe was doomed to die.\n\nIt turned out that the apparition she had seen was only one of the\nstudents, who, in order to frighten her, had secretly entered the\nChurch for the purpose. But the poor girl recovered not, and she died\nvery soon afterwards.\n\nI heard the following story from my mother when I was a boy. A girl\nhad determined to obtain a sight of her future husband by going round\nthe parish church nine times at All Hallows' Eve in the same manner\nas the young woman I mentioned in the above story, but with more\nfortunate results. This also happened somewhere in Cardiganshire or\nCarmarthenshire. Just as the young woman was walking round the ninth\ntime, she saw, to her great surprise, her own master (for she was a\nservant maid) coming to meet her. She immediately ran home and asked\nher mistress why she had sent her master after her to frighten her. But\nthe master had not gone out from the house. On hearing the girl's\naccount, the mistress was greatly alarmed and was taken ill, and she\napprehended that she herself was doomed to die, and that her husband\nwas going to marry this servant girl, ultimately. Then the poor woman\non her death bed begged the young woman to be kind to her children,\n\"For you are to become the mistress here,\" said she, \"when I am gone.\"\n\nIt was also a custom in Wales once for nine young girls to meet\ntogether to make a pancake, with nine different things, and share it\nbetween them, that is, each of the girls taking a piece before going\nto bed in order to dream of their future husbands.\n\nAnother practice among young girls was to sleep on a bit of wedding\ncake.\n\n\n\nWATER IN DISH DIVINATION.\n\nI remember the following test or divination resorted to in\nCardiganshire only about twelve years ago. It was tried by young\nmaidens who wished to know whether their husbands were to be bachelors,\nand by young men who wished to know whether their wives were to be\nspinsters. Those who performed this ceremony were blindfolded. Then\nthree basins or dishes were placed on the table, one filled with\nclean water, the other with dirty water, and the third empty. Then the\nyoung man or young woman as the case might be advanced to the table\nblindfolded and put their hand in the dish; and the one who placed\nhis hands in the clean water was to marry a maiden; if into the foul\nwater, a widow; but if into the empty basin, he was doomed to remain\nsingle all his life. Another way for a young maiden to dream of her\nfuture husband was to put salt in a thimble, and place the same in her\nstockings, laying them under her pillow, and repeat an incantation\nwhen going to bed. Meyrick in his History of Cardiganshire states\nthat \"Ivy leaves are gathered, those pointed are called males, and\nthose rounded are females, and should they jump towards each other,\nthen the parties who had placed them in the fire will be believed by\nand married by their sweethearts; but should they jump away from one\nanother, then, hatred will be the portion of the anxious person.\"\n\nTesting a lover's love by cracking of nuts is also well known in West\nand Mid-Wales.\n\nIt was also a custom in the old times for a young girl on St. John's\nEve to go out at midnight to search for St. John's Wort in the light of\na glow worm which they carried in the palm of their hand. After finding\nsome, a bunch of it was taken home and hung in her bedroom. Next\nmorning, if the leaves still appeared fresh, it was a good omen;\nthe girl was to marry within that same year; but, on the other hand,\nif the leaves were dead, it was a sign that the girl should die,\nor at least she was not to marry that year.\n\n\n\nTHE BIBLE AND KEY DIVINATION.\n\nThe Bible and Key Divination, or how to find out the two first letters\nof a future Wife's or Husband's name is very commonly practised,\neven now, by both young men and young women. A small Bible is taken,\nand having opened it, the key of the front door is placed on the\n16th verse of the 1st Chapter of Ruth:--\"And Ruth said, intreat\nme not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for\nwhither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge;\nthy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.\" Some take Solomon's\nSongs, Chapter viii., verses 6 and 7 instead of the above verse from\nthe Book of Ruth. Then the Bible is closed, and tied round with the\ngarter taken off the left leg of him or her who wishes to know his or\nher future wife or husband's initials. A person cannot perform this\nceremony himself; he must get a friend with him to assist him. The\nyoung man must put the middle finger of his right hand on the key\nunderneath the loop, and take care to keep the Bible steady. Then\nthe man, who does not consult the future, repeats the above verse or\nverses, and when he comes to the appointed letter, that is the first\nletter of the future wife's name, the Bible will turn round under the\nfinger. I was told at Ystrad Meurig, that a few years ago, a young\nwoman, a farmer's daughter, tried this Bible and key divination;\nand whilst the ceremony was going on, and her sister assisting her\nto hold the key under the Bible and repeating the words, instead\nof the book turning round as she expected, she saw a coffin moving\nalong the room, which was a sign that she was doomed to die single;\nand so it came to pass! The farmhouse where this young woman lived is\nsituated in the neighbourhood of Strata Florida, Cardiganshire; but I\ndo not wish to name the house. I have myself once or twice witnessed\nthis divination practised, but I never heard of a coffin appearing,\nexcept in the case of the young woman just mentioned.\n\n\n\nDIVINATION BY THE TEA-CUP.\n\nTea-cup divination is also very much practised by young girls in\nWales in order to find out some future events concerning love affairs,\nfuture husbands, etc. There was a woman, who only died a few years ago,\nin the parish of Llandyssul, near a small village called Pontshan in\nCardiganshire, who was considered an expert in the art of fortune\ntelling by a tea cup, at least young women and young men thought\nso, and many of them resorted to her, especially those who were in\nlove or intending to marry. There was another one near Llandovery\nin Carmarthenshire, and there are a few even at present to whom the\nmaidens go for consultation.\n\nBut Welsh women, who are so fond of tea, can find out many things\nthemselves by means of the tea cup without resorting to those who are\nconsidered experts in the art. When several of them meet together to\ntea they help one another in divining their cups, and tea drinking\nor sipping is the order of the day among the females of Wales. After\nhaving emptied the cup, it is turned round three times in the left\nhand, so that the tea-leaves may cover the surface of the whole\ncup. Then the cup is placed in the saucer, bottom upwards, to drain,\nfor a few minutes before inspection. If the leaves are scattered evenly\nround the sides of the cup, leaving the bottom perfectly clear, it is\nconsidered a very good sign; but on the other hand when the bottom of\nthe cup appears very black with leaves, it is a very bad sign: some\ntrouble or some misfortune is near. When the leaves form a ring on the\nside of the cup, it means that the girl who consults is to marry very\nsoon; but if the ring is at the bottom of the cup, disappointment\nin love awaits her, or she is doomed to die single. When the tea\nleaves form a cross or a coffin, that also is considered a bad sign;\nbut as a rule, a horse, a dog, or a bird portends good. Two leaves\nseen in close proximity on the side of the cup foretell a letter\nbringing good news. When there is a speck floating on the surface\nof a cup of tea before drinking, some people say it means a letter,\na parcel, or a visitor, but a young girl takes it to represent her\nlover, and she proves his faithfulness by placing the speck on the\nback of her left hand, and striking it with the back of her right\nhand. Should the speck or the small tea leaves stick to the back of\nthe left hand and cling or stick fast to the right hand when striking\nit, it means that the young man is faithful; but on the other hand,\nshould it happen that the tea still remain on the left hand where\nit was first placed, especially after striking it three times, the\nyoung man is not to be depended upon. Some women can even tell by\nmeans of the tea-cup what trade their admirer follows, the colour of\ntheir future husband's hair, and many other such things.\n\nA lily is considered a most lucky emblem, if it be at the top, or in\nthe middle of the cup, for this is considered a sign that the young\nman, or the young woman who consults, will have a good and kind wife,\nor husband, who will make him or her happy in the marriage estate,\nbut on the other hand, a lily at the bottom of the cup, portends\ntrouble, especially if clouded, or in the thick.\n\nA heart, especially in the clear, is also a very good sign, for it\nsignifies joy and future happiness. Two hearts seen together in the\ncup, the young man, or the young woman's wedding is about to take\nplace. Tea-cup divination is well-known all over the Kingdom; and in\nthe Colonies, especially Australia, it is by far more popular than\nin England.\n\n\n\nDIVINATION BY CARDS.\n\nDivination by cards is not so much known in Wales as in England,\nand this is more popular in towns than country places.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nWEDDING CUSTOMS.\n\n\nIn times past, Wales had peculiar and most interesting, if not\nexcellent, Wedding Customs, and in no part of the country were these\nold quaint customs more popular, and survived to a more recent date\nthan in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. Therefore this book would\nbe incomplete without giving a full description of them.\n\nWhen a young man and a young woman had agreed together to marry \"for\nbetter for worse,\" they were first of all to inform their parents of\nthe important fact. Then in due time, the young man's father, taking\na friend with him, proceeded to interview the young woman's father,\nso as to have a proper understanding on the subject and to arrange\ndifferent matters, especially concerning dowry, etc. I am writing\nmore especially of a rural wedding among the farmers.\n\nThe young woman's father would agree to give with his daughter, as\nher portion, household goods of so much value, a certain sum of money,\nand so many cows, pigs, etc.; and the young man's father, on his part,\nwould agree to grant his son so much money, horses, sheep, hay, wheat\nand other things, so that the young couple might have a good start\nin the married life, \"i ddechreu eu byd,\"--to begin their world, as\nwe say in Welsh. Sometimes the young man's father on such occasions\nmet with opposition on the part of the young woman's father or mother\nor other relations, at least we read that it happened so in the case\nof the heir of Ffynonbedr, near Lampeter, long ago; for it seems that\nwhen he tried to secure the daughter of Dyffryn Llynod, in the parish\nof Llandyssul, as his bride, the reply was in Welsh rhyme as follow:--\n\n\n   \"Deunaw gwr a deunaw cledde,\n    Deunaw gwas yn gwisgo lifre,\n    Deunaw march o liw'r scythanod,\n    Cyn codi'r ferch o Ddyffryn Llynod.\"\n\n\nAnglicised, this meant that she could not be secured without coming for\nher with eighteen gentlemen bearing eighteen swords; eighteen servants\nwearing livery; and eighteen horses of the colour of the woodpigeon.\n\nBut such opposition was not often to be met with.\n\nAfter the parents had arranged these matters satisfactorily, the\nnext preliminary and important step was to send forth a gwahoddwr,\nor Bidder, from house to house, to bid or invite the guests to the\nBidding and the Wedding.\n\nIn connection with these old interesting customs, there were the\nBidding or invitation to the wedding; the Bidder, whose duty it was\nformally to invite the guests; the Ystafell, or the bride's goods\nand presents; the purse and girdle; the Pwython; and the Neithior.\n\nThe Bidding was a general invitation to all the friends of the bride\nand bridegroom-elect to meet them at the houses of their respective\nparents or any other house appointed for the occasion. All were\nwelcomed to attend, even a stranger who should happen to be staying\nin the neighbourhood at the time, but it was an understood thing that\nevery person who did attend, whether male or female, contributed\nsomething, however small, in order to make a purse for the young\ncouple, who, on the other hand, naturally expected donations from\nthose whose weddings they had attended themselves. So it was to the\nadvantage of the bride and bridegroom-elect to make their wedding\nas public as possible, as the greater the number of guests, the\ngreater the donation, so it was the custom to send the \"Gwahoddwr,\"\nor Bidder all round the surrounding districts to invite the neighbours\nand friends about three weeks, more or less, before the wedding took\nplace. The banns were, of course, published as in England.\n\nThe Gwahoddwr or Bidder's circuit was one of the most pleasant and\nmerry features of the rural weddings in South Wales in times past,\nand he was greeted everywhere, especially when it happened that he was,\nas such often was the case, a merry wag with fluent speech and a poet;\nbut it was necessary that he should be a real friend to the young\ncouple on whose behalf he invited the guests. This important wedding\nofficial as he went from house to house, carried a staff of office in\nhis hand, a long pole, or a white wand, as a rule a willow-wand, from\nwhich the bark had been peeled off. This white stick was decorated\nwith coloured ribbons plying at the end of it; his hat also, and\noften his breast was gaily decorated in a similar manner.\n\nThe Gwahoddwr, thus attired, knocked at the door of each guest and\nentered the house amidst the smiles of the old people and the giggling\nof the young. Then he would take his stand in the centre of the house,\nand strike the floor with his staff to enforce silence, and announce\nthe wedding, and the names of bride and bridegroom-elect, their place\nof abode, and enumerate the great preparations made to entertain the\nguests, etc. As a rule, the Gwahoddwr made this announcement in a\nset speech of prose, and often repeated a rhyme also on the occasion.\n\nThe following was the speech of a Gwahoddwr in Llanbadarn Fawr,\nCardiganshire in 1762, quoted in Meyrick's \"History of Cardiganshire,\"\nfrom the miscellaneous papers of Mr. Lewis Morris:--\n\n\n   \"Speech of the Bidder in Llanbadarn Fawr, 1762.\"\n\n   \"The intention of the bidder is this; with kindness and amity,\n    with decency and liberality for Einion Owain and Llio Ellis,\n    he invites you to come with your good will on the plate; bring\n    current money; a shilling, or two, or three, or four, or five; with\n    cheese and butter. We invite the husband and wife, and children,\n    and man-servants, and maid-servants, from the greatest to the\n    least. Come there early, you shall have victuals freely, and drink\n    cheap, stools to sit on, and fish if we can catch them; but if not,\n    hold us excusable; and they will attend on you when you call upon\n    them in return. They set out from such a place to such a place.\"\n\n\nThe following which appeared in a Welsh Quarterly \"Y Beirniad,\" for\nJuly, 1878, gives a characteristic account of a typical Bidder of a\nmuch later date in Carmarthenshire:--\n\n\n   \"Am Tomos fel gwahoddwr, yr wyf yn ei weled yn awr o flaen llygaid\n    fy meddwl.\n\n   \"Dyn byr, llydan, baglog, yn gwisgo coat o frethyn lliw yr awyr,\n    breeches penglin corduog, gwasgod wlanen fraith, a rhuban glas yn\n    hongian ar ei fynwes, yn dangos natur ei swydd a'i genadwri dros\n    y wlad a dramwyid ganddo; hosanau gwlan du'r ddafad am ei goesau,\n    a dwy esgid o ledr cryf am ei draed; het o frethyn garw am ei ben\n    haner moel; dwy ffrwd felingoch o hylif y dybaco yn ymlithro dros\n    ei en; pastwn cryf a garw yn ei ddeheulaw. Cerddai yn mlaen i'r ty\n    lle y delai heb gyfarch neb, tarawai ei ffon deirgwaith yn erbyn y\n    llawr, tynai ei het a gosodai hi dan y gesail chwith, sych besychai\n    er clirio ei geg, a llefarai yn debyg i hyn:--'At wr a gwraig y\n    ty, y plant a'r gwasanaethyddion, a phawb o honoch sydd yma yn\n    cysgu ac yn codi. 'Rwy'n genad ac yn wahoddwr dros John Jones\n    o'r Bryntirion, a Mary Davies o Bantyblodau; 'rwy'n eich gwahodd\n    yn hen ac yn ifanc i daith a phriodas y par ifanc yna a enwais, y\n    rhai sydd yn priodi dydd Mercher, tair wythnos i'r nesaf, yn Eglwys\n    Llansadwrn. Bydd y gwr ifanc a'i gwmp'ni yn codi ma's y bore hwnw o\n    dy ei dad a'i fam yn Bryntirion, plwyf Llansadwrn; a'r ferch ifanc\n    yn codi ma's y bore hwnw o dy ei thad a'i mam, sef Pantyblodau,\n    yn mhlwyf Llanwrda. Bydd gwyr y \"shigouts\" yn myned y bore hwnw\n    dros y mab ifanc i 'mofyn y ferch ifanc; a bydd y mab ifanc a'i\n    gwmp'ni yn cwrdd a'r ferch ifanc a'i chwmp-ni wrth ben Heolgelli,\n    a byddant yno ar draed ac ar geffylau yn myned gyda'r par ifanc\n    i gael eu priodi yn Eglwys Llansadwrn. Wedi hyny bydd y gwr a'r\n    wraig ifanc, a chwmp'ni y bobol ifanc, yn myned gyda'u gilydd i\n    dy y gwr a'r wraig ifanc, sef Llety'r Gofid, plwyf Talyllechau,\n    lle y bydd y gwr ifanc, tad a mam y gwr ifanc, a Daniel Jones,\n    brawd y gwr ifanc, a Jane Jones, chwaer y gwr ifanc, yn dymuno\n    am i bob rhoddion a phwython dyledus iddynt hwy gael eu talu y\n    prydnawn hwnw i law y gwr ifanc; a bydd y gwr ifanc a'i dad a'i\n    fam, a'i frawd a'i chwaer, Dafydd Shon William Evan, ewyrth y\n    gwr ifanc, yn ddiolchgar am bob rhoddion ychwanegol a welwch yn\n    dda eu rhoddi yn ffafr y gwr ifanc ar y diwrnod hwnw.\n\n  \"'Hefyd, bydd y wraig ifanc, yn nghyd a'i thad a'i mam, Dafydd\n    a Gwenllian Davies, yn nghyd a'i brodyr a'i chwiorydd, y wraig\n    ifanc a Dafydd William Shinkin Dafydd o'r Cwm, tadcu y wraig\n    ifanc, yn galw mewn bob rhoddion a phwython, dyledus iddynt hwy,\n    i gael eu talu y prydnawn hwnw i law y gwr a'r wraig ifanc yn\n    Llety'r Gofid. Y mae'r gwr a'r wraig ifanc a'r hwyaf fo byw, yn\n    addo talu 'nol i chwithau bob rhoddion a weloch yn dda eu rhoddi\n    i'r tylwyth ifanc, pryd bynag y bo galw, tae hyny bore dranoeth,\n    neu ryw amser arall.'\"\n\n\nRendered into English the above reads as follows:--\n\n\n   \"I can see Thomas, in the capacity of a Gwahoddwr,--Bidder,--before\n    me now in my mind's eye. A short man, broad, clumsy, wearing a coat\n    of sky-blue cloth, corduroy breeches to the knee, a motley woollen\n    waistcoat, and a blue ribbon hanging on his breast, indicating\n    the nature of his office and message through the country which\n    he tramped; black-woollen stockings on his legs, and two strong\n    leathern boots on his feet; a hat made of rough cloth on his\n    half-bare head; two yellow-red streams of tobacco moisture running\n    down his chin; a rough, strong staff in his right hand. He walked\n    into the house he came to without saluting any one, and struck\n    the floor three times with his staff, took off his hat, and put\n    it under his left arm, and having coughed in order to clear his\n    throat, he delivered himself somewhat as follows:--\n\n   \"To the husband and wife of the house, the children and the\n    servants, and all of you who are here sleeping and getting up. I\n    am a messenger and a bidder for John Jones of Bryntirion and Mary\n    Davies of Pantyblodau; I beg to invite you, both old and young, to\n    the bidding and wedding of the young couple I have just mentioned,\n    who intend to marry on Wednesday, three weeks to the next, at\n    Llansadwrn Church. The young man and his company on that morning\n    will be leaving his father and mother's house at Bryntirion,\n    in the parish of Llansadwrn; and the young woman will be leaving\n    that same morning from the house of her father and mother, that\n    is Pantyblodau, in the parish of Llanwrda. On that morning the\n    shigouts (seekouts) men will go on behalf of the young man to\n    seek for the young woman; and the young man and his company will\n    meet the young woman and her company at the top of Heolgelli, and\n    there they will be, on foot and on horses, going with the young\n    couple who are to be married at Llansadwrn Church. After that,\n    the young husband and wife, and the young people's company, will\n    be going together to the house of the young husband and wife, to\n    wit, Llety'r Gofid, in the parish of Tally, where the young man,\n    the young man's father and mother, and Daniel Jones, brother of\n    the young man, and Jane Jones, the young man's sister, desire that\n    all donations and pwython due to them be paid that afternoon to the\n    hands of the young man; and the young man, his father and mother,\n    his brother and sister, and Dafydd Shon William Evan, uncle of\n    the young man, will be very thankful for every additional gifts\n    you will be pleased to give in favour of the young man that day.\n\n   \"Also, the young wife, together with her father and mother, Dafydd\n    and Gwenllian Davies, together with her brothers and sisters,\n    the young wife and Dafydd William Shinkin Dafydd of Cwm, the\n    young wife's grandfather, desire that all donations and pwython,\n    due to them, be paid that afternoon to the hand of the young\n    husband and wife at Llety'r Gofid.\n\n   \"The young husband and wife and those who'll live the longest,\n    do promise to repay you every gift you will be pleased to give\n    to the young couple, whenever called upon to do so, should that\n    happen next morning or at any other time?\"\n\n\nThe Bidder then repeated in Welsh a most comic and humorous song for\nthe occasion.\n\nAnother well-known \"Gwahoddwr,\" or Bidder in Cardiganshire was an\nold man named Stephen, who flourished at the end of the eighteenth,\nand the beginning of the nineteenth century.\n\nHe was commonly known as Stephen Wahoddwr, or Stephen the Bidder,\nand concerning whom the celebrated poet \"Daniel Ddu o Geredigion,\"\nwrote to the \"Cambrian Briton,\" in March, 1822, as follows:--\n\n\n   \"There is an old man in this neighbourhood of the name of Stephen,\n    employed in the vocation of 'Gwahoddwr,' who displayed, in my\n    hearing, so much comic talent and humour in the recitation of his\n    Bidding-song (which he complained, was, by repetition, become\n    uninteresting to his auditors) as to induce me to furnish him\n    with some kind of fresh matter. My humble composition, adapted,\n    in language and conceptions, as far as I could make it, to common\n    taste and capacities, this man now delivers in his rounds; and\n    I send it you as a specimen of a Bidder's Song, hoping that your\n    readers will be in some measure amused by its perusal:--\n\n\n       \"Dydd da i chwi, bobl, o'r hynaf i'r baban,\n        Mae Stephan Wahoddwr a chwi am ymddiddan,\n        Gyfeillion da mwynaidd, os felly'ch dymuniad,\n        Cewch genyf fy neges yn gynhes ar gariad.\n\n        Y mae rhyw greadur trwy'r byd yn grwydredig,\n        Nis gwn i yn hollol ai glanwedd ai hyllig,\n        Ag sydd i laweroedd yn gwneuthur doluriad,\n        Ar bawb yn goncwerwr, a'i enw yw Cariad.\n\n        Yr ifanc yn awchus wna daro fynycha',\n        A'i saeth trwy ei asen mewn modd truenusa';\n        Ond weithiau a'i fwa fe ddwg yn o fuan\n        O dan ei lywodraeth y rhai canol oedran.\n\n        Weithiau mae'n taro yn lled annaturiol,\n        Nes byddant yn babwyr yn wir yr hen bobl,\n        Mi glywais am rywun a gas yn aflawen\n        Y bendro'n ei wegil yn ol pedwar ugain.\n\n        A thyma'r creadur trwy'r byd wrth garwyro\n        A d'rawodd y ddeu-ddyn wyf trostynt yn teithio,\n        I hel eich cynorthwy a'ch nodded i'w nerthu,\n        Yn ol a gewch chwithau pan ddel hwn i'ch brathu.\n\n        Ymdrechwch i ddala i fyny yn ddilys,\n        Bawb oll yr hen gystwm, nid yw yn rhy gostus--\n        Sef rhoddi rhyw sylltach, rai 'nol eu cysylltu,\n        Fe fydd y gwyr ifainc yn foddgar o'u meddu.\n\n        Can' brynu rhyw bethau yn nghyd gan obeithio\n        Byw yn o dawel a'u plant yn blodeuo;\n        Dwyn bywyd mor ddewis wrth drin yr hen ddaear,\n        A Brenhin y Saeson, neu gynt yr hen Sesar.\n\n        Can's nid wyf i'n meddwl mae golud a moddion\n        Sy'n gwneuthur dedwyddwch, dyweden hwy wedo'n;\n        Mae gofid i'r dynion, sy'n byw mewn sidanau,\n        Gwir mae'r byd hawsaf yw byw heb ddim eisiau.\n\n        'Roedd Brenhin mawr Lloegr a'i wraig yn alluog,\n        A chig yn eu crochan, ond eto'n byw'n 'ysgrechog;\n        Pe cawsai y dwliaid y gaib yn eu dwylo,\n        Yr wyf yn ystyried y buasai llai stwrio.\n\n        Cynal rhyw gweryl yr aent am y goron,\n        Ac ymladd a'u gilydd a hyny o'r galon;\n        'Rwy'n barod i dyngu er cymaint eu hanghen\n        Nad o'ent hwy mor ddedwydd a Stephen a Madlen.\n\n        Yr wyf yn attolwg i bob un o'r teulu,\n        I gofio fy neges wyf wedi fynegu;\n        Rhag i'r gwr ifanc a'i wraig y pryd hyny,\n        Os na chan' ddim digon ddweyd mai fi fu'n diogi.\n\n        Chwi gewch yno roeso, 'rwy'n gwybod o'r hawsaf,\n        A bara chaws ddigon, onide mi a ddigiaf,\n        Caiff pawb eu hewyllys, dybacco, a phibelli,\n        A diod hoff ryfedd, 'rwyf wedi ei phrofi.\n\n        Gwel'd digrif gwmpeini wy'n garu'n rhagorol,\n        Nid gwiw ini gofio bob amser ei gofol;\n        Mae amser i gwyno mae amser i ganu,\n        Gwir yw mae hen hanes a ddywed in' hyny.\n\n        Cwpanau da fawrion a dynion difyrus,\n        I mi sy'n rhyw olwg o'r hen amser hwylus;\n        Ac nid wyf fi'n digio os gwaeddi wna rhywun,\n        Yn nghornel y 'stafell, \"A yfwch chwi, Styfyn?\"\n\n        Dydd da i chwi weithian, mae'n rhaid i mi deithio\n        Dros fryniau, a broydd, a gwaunydd, dan gwyno;\n        Gan stormydd tra awchus, a chan y glaw uchel,\n        Caf lawer cernod, a chwithau'n y gornel.\"\n\n\nThe above has been translated into English by one Mair Arfon as\nfollows, and appeared in \"Cymru Fu,\" Cardiff, August 9th, 1888:--\n\n\n   \"Here's Stephen the Bidder! Good day to you all,\n    To baby and daddy, old, young, great and small;\n    Good friends if you like, in a warm poet's lay\n    My message to you I'll deliver to-day.\n\n    Some creature there is who roams the world through\n    Working mischief to many and joy to a few,\n    But conquering all, whether hell or above\n    Be his home, I am not certain; his name though is love.\n\n    The young he most frequently marks as his game,\n    Strikes them straight through the heart with an unerring aim;\n    Though the middle age, too, if he gets in his way,\n    With his bow he will cover and bend to his sway.\n\n    And sometimes the rogue with an aim somewhat absurd,\n    Makes fools of old people. Indeed, I have heard\n    Of one hapless wight, who, though over four score,\n    He hit in the head, making one victim more.\n\n    And this is the creature, who, when on his way\n    Through the world, struck the couple in whose cause to-day,\n    I ask for your help and your patronage, too;\n    And they'll give you back when he comes to bite you.\n\n    And now let each one of us struggle to keep\n    The old custom up, so time-honoured and cheap;\n    Of jointly, or singly, some small trifle giving,\n    To start the young pair on their way to a living.\n\n    They'll buy a few things, with a confidence clear,\n    Of living in peace as their children they rear;\n    Stealing and content, out of Mother Earth's hand,\n    Blest as C\u00e6sar of old, or the King of our land.\n\n    I do not consider that riches or gold\n    Ensure contentment; a wise man of old\n    Tells us men in soft raiment of grief have their share,\n    And a life without wants is the lightest to bear.\n\n    Once a great English King [1] and his talented wife,\n    Though they had meat in their pan, led a bickering life;\n    Were the dullards compelled to work, him and her,\n    With a hoe in their hands it would lessen their stir.\n\n    The quarrel arose from some fight for the Crown\n    And at it they went like some cats of renown;\n    And although we are poor, I am ready to swear\n    That Stephen and Madlen are freer from care.\n\n    Now let me impress on this whole family,\n    To think on the message delivered by me;\n    Lest the youth and his wife, through not getting enough,\n    Should say that my idleness caused lack of stuff.\n\n    A welcome you'll get there I guarantee you,\n    With bread and cheese plenty, and prime beer, too;\n    I know, for I have tried it, and everybody there\n    Can have 'bacco and pipes enough and to spare.\n\n    It delights me a jovial assembly to see,\n    For it is wiser sometimes to forget misery;\n    There are times for complaining and song, too we're told,\n    In the proverb of old, which is true as it's old.\n\n    A bumping big cup and a lot of bright men,\n    Bring before me the jolly old times o'er again,\n    And I wouldn't be angry if some one now even\n    Would shout from some corner \"Will you have a glass Stephen?\"\n\n    Good day to you now, for away I must hie,\n    Over mountains and hillocks with often a sigh,\n    Exposed as I am to keen storms, rain, and sleet,\n    While you cosily sit in your warm corner seat.\"\n\n\nAnother well-known Gwahoddwr about 50 years ago was Thomas Parry, who\nlived at the small village of Pontshan in the parish of Llandyssul. A\nshort time ago, when I was staying in that neighbourhood in quest\nfor materials for my present work, I came across a few old people\nwho well-remembered him, especially Mr. Thomas Evans, Gwaralltyryn,\nand the Rev. T. Thomas, J.P., Greenpark, both of whom, as well as\none or two others, told me a good deal about him.\n\nLike a good many of the Gwahoddwyr or Bidders, he seemed to have\nbeen a most eccentric character, of a ready wit and full of humour,\nespecially when more or less under the influence of a glass of\nale. Mr. Rees Jones, Pwllffein, a poet of considerable repute in\nthe Vale of Cletwr, composed for T. Parry, a \"Can y Gwahoddwr,\"\nor the Bidder's Song, which song in a very short time, became most\npopular in that part of Cardiganshire, and the adjoining districts\nof Carmarthenshire. This Parry the Bidder, whenever he was sent by\nthose intending to marry, went from house to house, through the\nsurrounding districts, proclaiming the particulars, and inviting\nall to the Bidding and the Weddings, and he was greeted with smiles\nwherever he went, especially by the young men and young women, who\nalways looked forward to a wedding with great delight, as it was an\noccasion for so much merriment and enjoyment, and where lovers and\nsweethearts met. Food was set before the Gwahoddwr almost in every\nhouse, bread and cheese and beer, so that it is not to be wondered at\nthat he felt a bit merry before night. He tramped through his circuit\nthrough storms and rain, but like most Bidders, he was but poorly paid,\nso he was often engaged as a mole trapper as well.\n\nOn one occasion, he had set down a trap in a neighbouring field in the\nevening expecting to find a mole entrapped in it next morning. Next\nmorning came, and off went the old man to see the trap, but when he\narrived on the spot, to his great surprise, instead of a mole in the\ntrap, there was a fish in it! The famous entrapper of moles could not\nimagine how a fish could get into a trap on dry land, but he found\nout afterwards that some mischievous boys had been there early in the\nmorning before him, who, to have a bit of fun at the expense of the old\nman, had taken out the mole from the trap and put a fish in it instead.\n\nThus we see that the modern Gwahoddwr was generally a poor man; but\nin the old times, on the other hand, he was a person of importance,\nskilled in pedigrees and family traditions, and himself of good family;\nfor, undoubtedly, these old wedding customs which have survived in\nsome localities in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire and other parts\nof Wales even down almost to the present time, are of a very ancient\norigin, coming down even from the time of the Druids, and this proves\nthe wisdom and knowledge of the original legislators of the Celtic\ntribes; for they were instituted in order to encourage wedlock so as\nto increase the population of the country, and to repair the losses\noccasioned by plagues and wars. A chieftain would frequently assume\nthe character of a Bidder on behalf of his vassal, and hostile clans\nrespected his person as he went about from castle to castle, or from\nmansion to mansion.\n\nOld people who well remember the time when the quaint old wedding\ncustoms were very general throughout West Wales, informed me that\nit was in some localities the custom sometimes to have two or more\nGwahoddwyr to invite to the wedding; this was especially the case\nwhen the bride and bridegroom-elect did not reside in the same part\nof the country; for it happened sometimes that the young man engaged\nto be married lived in a certain part of Carmarthenshire, whilst his\nbride perhaps lived some way off in Cardiganshire or Pembrokeshire.\n\nIn such cases it was necessary to appoint two Bidders, one for the\nyoung man, and another for the young woman, to go round the respective\ndistricts in which each of them lived.\n\nAn old man in Carmarthenshire informed me that many years ago a friend\nof his, a farmer in the parish of Llanycrwys married a young lady\nfrom Pencarreg, two Bidders were sent forth to tramp the country;\none going round the parish of Llanycrwys where the bridegroom lived,\nand the other's circuit was the parish of Pencarreg, the native parish\nof the bride.\n\nAnother custom in some places, especially round Llandyssul and\nLlangeler, which took place before appointing the Gwahoddwr, was for\nthe neighbours and friends to come together of an evening to the house\nof the bride or bridegroom's parents, or any other place fixed upon\nfor that purpose. On such occasion a good deal of drinking home-brewed\nbeer was indulged in, \"Er lles y par ifanc,\" that is, for the benefit\nof the young couple. All the profit made out of this beer drinking at\na private house went to the young man and the young woman as a help\nto begin their married life. At such a meeting also very often the\nday of the wedding was fixed, and the Bidder appointed, and should he\nhappen to be an inexperienced one he was urged to repeat his Bidding\nspeech before the company present, in order to test him whether he\nhad enough wit and humour to perform his office satisfactorily in\ngoing round to invite to the wedding.\n\nWhen the young people engaged to be married were sons and daughters of\nwell-to-do farmers, it was the custom to send by this Bidder in his\nrounds, a circular letter, or a written note in English; and this\nnote or circular in course of time became so fashionable that the\noccupation of a Bidder gradually fell to decay; that is, it became a\ncustom to send a circular letter instead of a Bidder. The following\nBidding Letter, which is not a fictitious one, but a real document,\nappeared in an interesting book, entitled \"The Vale of Towy,\" published\nin 1844:--\n\n\n   \"Being betrothed to each other, we design to ratify the plighted\n    vow by entering under the sanction of wedlock; and as a prevalent\n    custom exists from time immemorial amongst \"Plant y Cymry\"\n    of making a bidding on the occurrence of a hymeneal occasion,\n    we have a tendency to the manner of the oulden tyme, and incited\n    by friends as well as relations to do the same, avail ourselves\n    of this suitableness of circumstances of humbly inviting your\n    agreeable and pleasing presence on Thursday, the 29th day of\n    December next, at Mr. Shenkin's, in the parish of Llangathen,\n    and whatever your propensities then feel to grant will meet with\n    an acceptance of the most grateful with an acknowledgement of the\n    most warmly, carefully registered, and retaliated with promptitude\n    and alacrity, whenever an occurrence of a similar nature present\n    itself, by\n\n\n   \"Your most obedient servants,\n    William Howells,\n    Sarah Lewis.\n\n\n   \"The young man, with his father and mother (David and Ann Howells),\n    his brother (John Howells), and his cousin (Edward Howells), desire\n    that all claims of the above nature due to them be returned to\n    the young man on the above day, and will feel grateful for the\n    bestowments of all kindness conferred upon him.\n\n   \"The young woman, with her father and mother (Thomas and Letice\n    Lewis), her sisters (Elizabeth and Margaret Lewis), and her cousins\n    (William and Mary Morgan), desire that all claims of the above\n    nature due to them be returned to the young woman on the above\n    day, and will feel grateful for the bestowments of all kindness\n    conferred upon her.\"\n\n\nThe following Bidding Letter I copied from an old manuscript in\npossession of that eminent Antiquarian, the Rev. D. H. Davies, once\nVicar of Cenarth, but who lives at present at Newcastle Emlyn:--\n\n\n   \"To Mr. Griffith Jenkins.\n\n   \"Sir,--As my daughter's Bidding is fixed to be the Eighth day\n    of February next, I humbly beg the favour of your good company\n    according to custom, on the occasion, which shall be most\n    gratefully acknowledged and retaliated by\n\n\n   \"Yours most obedient and humble Servant,\n    Joshua Jones.\n\n   \"Penrallt,\n    Jan. 23rd, 1770.\"\n\n\nThe following also is another specimen of such circular, a copy of\nwhich came into my possession through the kindness of the esteemed\nlady, Mrs. Webley-Tyler, Glanhelig, near Cardigan:--\n\n\n   \"February 1, 1841.\n\n   \"As we intend to enter the Matrimonial State, on Thursday, the\n    11th day of February instant, we purpose to make a Bidding on the\n    occasion, the same day, at the young woman's Father and Mother's\n    House, called Llechryd Mill; When and where the favour of your good\n    company is most humbly solicited, and whatever donation you will\n    be pleased to confer on us that day, will be thankfully received\n    and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on a similar occasion,\n\n\n   \"By your obedient humble Servants,\n    John Stephens,\n    Ann Davies.\n\n\n   \"The young man's Father and Mother (John and Elizabeth Stephens,\n    Pen'rallt-y-felin), together with his brother (David Stephens),\n    desire that all gifts of the above nature due to them be returned\n    to the Young Man, on the said day, and will be thankful for\n    all favours granted.--Also the Young Woman's Father and Mother\n    (David and Hannah Davies, Llechryd Mill), desire that all gifts\n    of the above nature due to them, be returned to the young woman\n    on the said day, and will be thankful for all favours granted.\"\n\n\nThe day before the Wedding was once allotted to bringing home the\n\"Ystafell,\" or household goods and furniture, of the young couple;\nbut these customs varied considerably in different parts of the\ncountry. The furniture of the bride, as a rule, consisted of a feather\nbed and bed clothes, one or two large oaken chests to keep clothes in,\nand a few other things; and it was customary for the bridegroom to\nfind or provide tables, chairs, bedstead, and a dresser. The dresser\nwas perhaps the most interesting relic of family property, and is\nstill to be seen in Welsh farm-houses, and is greatly valued as a\nthing which has been an heirloom in the family for generations. It\nconsists of two or more stages, and the upper compartments, which\nare open, are always decked with specimens of useful and ornamental\nold Welsh ware, which are getting very rare now, and people offer a\nhigh price for them as curiosities.\n\nIt was also customary on the same day for the young man and the\nyoung woman to receive gifts of various kinds, such as money, flour,\ncheese, butter, bacon, hens, and sometimes even a cow or a pig,\nalso a good many useful things for house-keeping. This was called\n\"Pwrs a Gwregys\"--a purse and a girdle. But these gifts were to be\nre-paid when demanded on similar occasions; and, upon a refusal,\nwere even recoverable by law; and sometimes this was done.\n\nAbout a hundred years ago, and previous to that date, the day before\nthe wedding, as a rule, was allotted to the \"Ystafell,\" or bringing\nhome of the furniture, etc.; but more recently it became the custom\nto appoint a day for that purpose at other times in some districts,\nthat is, it took place whenever the young married couple went to live\nat a house of their own; this would be perhaps three or six months\nafter the wedding. In Wales it is very common to see a young married\ncouple among the farmers remaining with the parents of the young man,\nor with the young wife's parents until it is a convenient time for\nthem to take up a farm of their own.\n\nI have already noticed that these customs varied in different parts\nof the country. In some districts, the day preceding the Wedding\nwas a great time for feasting, whilst in other localities people\ncame together to drink for the benefit of the young couple, and when\ncakes were prepared for the Neithior which was to follow the wedding\non the next day.\n\n\n\nTHE WEDDING DAY.\n\nAt the present time, Welsh people marry on any day of the week, but\nabout fifty years ago Wednesday was a favourite day in some places,\nand Friday in other places. I am writing more especially, of course,\nof West Wales. Indeed, in some parishes old men informed me that when\nthey were young they did not remember any one marrying, except on a\nFriday. This fact, undoubtedly, is likely to surprise many English\nreaders, who regard Friday as an unlucky day for anything.\n\nMeyrick, writing about one hundred years ago in his History of\nCardiganshire, says Saturday was the Wedding Day, and other writers\nmention the same thing, and it is evident that Saturday was the day\non which most people did marry, except in a few districts, about three\ngenerations ago, as well as in older times. Whether this day, that is,\nSaturday, was commonly fixed upon from a belief that it was a lucky day\nfor marriage, or from the convenience of Sunday intervening between it\nand a working day, is rather difficult to know, but it seems that the\nfollowing old English Marrying Rhyme was either unknown to the Welsh,\nor that they did not give heed to it:--\n\n\n              To marry on\n\n   \"Monday wealth, Tuesday for health,\n    Wednesday the best day of all;\n    Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses,\n    Saturday no luck at all!\"\n\n\n\nTHE HORSE WEDDING.\n\nThe rural weddings in South Wales until very recently were Horse\nWeddings; that is, it was the custom of the whole party, both men and\nwomen to ride, and generally at full speed. Poor people generally\nmanaged to obtain the loan of horses for the happy occasion from\ntheir richer neighbours. On the wedding morning the invited guests,\nboth men and women, married and unmarried, came on their horses and\nponies, some of them from a long distance. The men proceeded to the\nbridegroom's house, about a hundred or a hundred and fifty in number\nand honourably paid their pwython; whilst the women at the same time\nwent to the house of the bride, and paid to her their pwython.\n\n\"Pwython\" was the term used in connection with these weddings to denote\nthe gifts presented to the young bride and bridegroom respectively,\nin return for what the invited guests themselves had received on the\noccasion of their own weddings from the young man and the young woman,\nor their relations or friends. Of course, a large number of those who\ngave gifts were young and unmarried, so that they were not all under\nan obligation to give; but still they gave, and they were expected\nto give to help the young couple, and by so giving, they were placing\nthe latter under an obligation to them in the future, that is, in such\ncases, the giver gave under the expectation of receiving back gifts of\nequal value, whenever his or her own, or one of his or her relations'\nwedding took place, even should that happen on the very next day.\n\nAfter depositing their offerings and taking something to eat, it was\nthen the custom for ten, twelve, or sometimes even twenty young men,\nheaded by a bard, a harper, or some fluent speaker, to mount their\nhorses, and drive away full speed in the direction of the bride's\nhouse to demand her in marriage for the bridegroom. But on the\nmorning of the wedding, the young woman, that is, the bride-elect,\nwas not to be got possession of without much trouble and argument,\nand searching. When the bridegroom's procession halted at the house of\nthe bride's parents, the leader of the party, finding the door barred\nagainst their entrance, would formally demand the bride, generally\nin rhyme appropriate to the occasion, delivered something as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Open windows, open doors,\n    And with flowers strew the floors;\n    Heap the hearth with blazing wood,\n    Load the spit with festal food;\n    The \"crochon [2]\" on its hook be placed,\n    And tap a barrel of the best!\n    For this is Catty's wedding day!\n    Now bring the fair one out, I pray.\"\n\n\nThen one of the bride's party from within made a reply as follows,\nwith the door still closed:--\n\n\n   \"Who are ye all? ye noisy train!\n    Be ye thieves or honest men?\n    Tell us now what brings you here,\n    Or this intrusion will cost you dear?\"\n\n\nThen the one from without rejoins:--\n\n\n   \"Honest men are we, who seek\n    A dainty maid both fair and meek,\n    Very good and very pretty,\n    And known to all by name of Catty;\n    We come to claim her for a bride;\n    Come, father, let the fair be tied\n    To him who loves her ever well.\"\n\n\nThe one within again answers:--\n\n\n   \"So ye say, but time will tell;\n    My daughter's very well at home\n    So ye may pack and homeward roam.\"\n\n\nAgain the one without exclaims in resolute tones:--\n\n\n   \"Your home no more she's doomed to share\n    Like every marriageable fair,\n    Her father's roof she quits for one\n    Where she is mistress; wooed and won.\n    It now remains to see her wedded,\n    And homeward brought and safely bedded.\n    Unless you give her up, we swear\n    The roof from off your house to tear,\n    Burst in the doors and batter walls,\n    To rescue her whom wedlock calls.\"\n\n\nAnother of the bridegroom's party then calls aloud, in a voice of\nauthority:--\n\n\n   \"Ho! peace in the King's name, here, peace!\n    Let vaunts and taunting language cease;\n    While we the bridesmen, come to sue\n    The favour to all bridesmen due,\n    The daughter from the father's hand,\n    And entertainment kindly bland.\"\n\n\nThe above rhyme appeared in \"Adventures of Twm Shon Catty.\" There\nare a good many such verses composed for, or at such occasion, still\nextant in the Welsh language.\n\nThe party without and the party within feigned to abuse one another in\nsuch rhymes for an hour, more sometimes, till their wit was exhausted,\nbut the whole performance was nothing but innocent fun, and the doors\nare opened in the end, and the bridegroom's party are admitted into\nthe house; but even then the trouble is not always over, for it was\nthe custom for the bride to hide herself, when search would be made\nfor her everywhere under the tables, beds, behind the doors and every\ncorner in the house, and at last found, perhaps, under the disguise of\na young man smoking his pipe, or of a \"granny\" knitting in the corner.\n\nWhoever discovered the bride received a pint of beer and a cake\nas a prize in some places. All these things were done for fun or\namusement, but I heard of one young woman at least, who was hiding\nin real earnest, and could not be found.\n\nAn old farmer near Carmarthen, Griffiths, of Rhenallt, who is 96 years\nof age, informed me about five years ago, that he once heard his father\nmention of a man called \"Dafydd y Llether,\" a butcher near Alltwalis,\nwho was disappointed in this manner. This happened about 100 years\nago. This butcher was engaged to be married to a farmer's daughter who\nlived in the parish of Llanllwni, about eight miles off, and had made\nall preparations for the wedding. When the wedding morning dawned,\nDafydd and his neighbours and friends, about one hundred in number,\nmounted their horses at Alltwalis, and galloped away full speed to\nLlanllwni, and having arrived at the house of the young bride's\nparents, search was made for her everywhere, but she was nowhere\nto be found. At last the young man and his friends had to return\nhome without finding her in great disappointment! The young woman's\nparents had prevailed upon her not to marry the young man, \"because\"\nadded the old man to me \"he was too much of a jolly boy.\" So they\nhad contrived between them to hide her where she could not be found\non the wedding morning.\n\nBut, to proceed with our account of the old wedding customs, it\nwas the practice after finding the hidden bride, and partaking of a\nlittle refreshments, for the wedding party to mount their horses,\nand they were joined by the bridegroom and his friends, and made\ntheir way towards the church. The young woman was mounted on a fine\nand swift horse; but often she had to be content to be mounted behind\nher father, or a brother or a friend; and when the latter was the case,\nshe had to sit on crupper without any pillion, and holding fast to the\nman. Then the whole cavalcade would gallop off to church. But during\nthe procession the bride was seized suddenly by one of her relatives\nor friends, stolen away and borne off to a distance. However, this\nfeigned attempt to run away with her was done only in sport. Then\na chase ensued, when the bridegroom and his friends drove after her\nlike madmen till they caught her and took her to church. The driving\nwas so furious on such occasions that legs and arms were sometimes\nbroken. Mr. D. Jones in his interesting Welsh book on the History of\nthe Parish of Llangeler, says that in the year 1844, at the wedding\nof Dinah, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Jones, Saron, one James Evans,\nthe groom of the late Colonel Lewes, drove so furiously that his horse\nstruck against a wall with the result that both the animal and its\nrider were killed on the spot, near Llangeler Church! In consequence\nof such a melancholy event the Horse Wedding was discontinued in\nthat part of the country, through the influence of the Vicar, the\nRev. John Griffiths, who preached against the practice from II. Kings,\nchap. IX. verse 20 ... \"And the driving is like the driving of Jehu\nthe son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.\"\n\nThe following account of a Horse Wedding appeared in \"The Folk Lore of\nNorth Wales\" by the late Rev. Elias Owen, F.S.A., whose informant was\nthe Rev. Canon Griffith Jones, who witnessed the wedding, which took\nplace at Tregaron, Cardiganshire. We are told that \"The friends of\nboth the young people were on horseback, and according to custom they\npresented themselves at the house of the young woman, the one to escort\nher to the church, and the other to hinder her from going there. The\nfriends of the young man were called \"Gwyr shegouts.\" When the young\nlady was mounted, she was surrounded by the \"gwyr shegouts,\" and the\ncavalcade started. All went on peaceably until a lane was reached, down\nwhich the lady bolted, and here the struggle commenced, for her friends\ndashed between her and her husband's friends and endeavoured to force\nthem back, and thus assist her to escape. The parties, Mr. Jones said,\nrode furiously and madly, and the struggle presented a cavalry charge,\nand it was not without much apparent danger that the opposition was\novercome, and the lady ultimately forced to proceed to the church,\nwhere her future husband was anxiously awaiting her arrival.\"\n\nThe Lord Bishop of Huron, a native of Cardiganshire, writing to me\nfrom Canada, November 17th., 1909, says:--\"I remember a wedding once\nwhen all the guests were on horse-back and there was a hunt for the\nbride. There could be no wedding till the bride was caught, and,\nOh the wild gallop over hill and dale till she was taken captive\nand led to the altar! The last wedding of that kind to which I refer\ntook place about 45 years ago. The daughter of Mr. Morgan (I think)\nof Maestir, near Lampeter, or his intended wife being the bride. A\nvery severe accident happened to the bride and that ended the custom\nin that neighbourhood.\"\n\nAlthough such things as I have already said were done for sport,\nyet I have heard of a few cases in which the bride was borne away in\nearnest, and disappeared willingly in company of an old lover of hers,\nto the intense astonishment and disappointment of the bridegroom,\nwho happened to be her parents' choice, and not her own. In this case,\nthe custom of a feigned attempt to run away with the bride had in some\nrespects served its original purpose; for, undoubtedly, the origin of\nthe custom of hiding, running away with, and capturing the bride could\nbe traced back to those barbarous times when marriage by capture was a\ncommon practice. Thus in the Mabinogion, we find that when a King named\nKilydd, after being for some time a widower, wanted to marry again,\none of his counsellors said to him, \"I know a wife that will suit thee\nwell, and she is the wife of King Dogel.\" And they resolved to go and\nseek her; and they slew the King and brought away his wife. When his\nson also named Kilhwch wanted a wife, he went to demand her from her\nfather Yspaddaden Pencawr, the Giant, and obtained her at last after\nmany adventures, and the help of Arthur and his men. It is probable\nthat when the Celtic Tribes had settled in Britain that they often\nobtained a wife by capturing her from the Aborigines.\n\nThis calls to mind the strategy of Romulus to secure wives for his\nsoldiers by directing them at a given signal to seize Sabine maidens\nand run off with them whilst the men were busy in looking at the games.\n\nAnother singular instance of wife snatching in ancient times is to be\nfound in the Book of Judges, for when the men of the tribe of Benjamin\nwere in difficulty in obtaining wives for themselves, their elders\ncommanded them to \"go and lie in wait in the vineyards; and see,\nand behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances,\nthen come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife\nof the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin,.... And\nthe children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to\ntheir number, of them that danced, whom they caught.\" Judges XXI.,\nverses 20, 21, and 23.\n\nIt seems that some kind of Horse Weddings is in vogue among the\nCalmucians, even at the present day, the young woman is first\nmounted on her horse and drives off full speed, then the young man,\nwho is her intended, mounts and chases her, and when he catches her\nhe can claim her as his wife on the spot; but should she escape him,\nhe cannot claim her. I well remember when I lived in the Welsh Colony\nof Patagonia, about 20 years ago, that it was a very common custom\nfor a young man and a young woman when in love, to mount their steeds\nand take a long ride of 20 miles or more in each other's company,\nand whilst driving along together in such manner words of love were\noften whispered. Also when a wedding took place, the guests went to\nit on their horses, but the old custom of driving after, and capturing\nthe bride was not observed.\n\nHorse Weddings were very general in West Wales about sixty years ago,\nand even twenty years ago in some districts, but I doubt whether\nthe custom has been continued at the present day in any part of the\ncountry. In the chase after the bride it was supposed that whoever\ncaught her would be married without doubt within a year from that date,\nso it is not to be wondered at that young men drove so furiously on\nsuch occasions.\n\nAs soon as the marriage ceremony was over in church, it was once\nthe custom for a harper in the churchyard to play \"Merch Megan,\"\n\"Mentra Gwen,\" \"Morwynion Glan Meirionydd,\" or some other beautiful\nold Welsh Air appropriate to the occasion.\n\nIt was also customary in some places, especially in the Northern part\nof Cardiganshire, for a certain number of young men to mount their\nsteeds immediately after the ceremony, and drive off full speed,\nfor the first who reached the house of the newly-married couple was\nto receive a quart of beer and a silk pocket handkerchief, especially\nif the young husband and wife were well-to-do.\n\nThe ceremony at the Church being over, all the company joined and\nreturned to the young couple's house, where dinner was provided. On\ntheir return journey again, as in going to Church, they drove\nfast. Indeed, it was often the custom to have a regular horse race\non the way home from Church on the wedding day.\n\nThe Rev. D. G. Williams gives the following amusing story of such a\nrace, in connection with a rural wedding which took place not far\nfrom Newcastle Emlyn. There lived a genial old country gentleman\nin the north-eastern part of Pembrokeshire, known as Mr. Howells,\nGlaspant, who had sent three of his horses to the wedding referred to,\none of them was a pony, considered among the swiftest in the district;\nbut there was one drawback in connection with the animal. He would\ngo whichever way he pleased, especially when he was excited. The\nwedding procession went along from a house called Gilfach Gweision to\nCapel Evan, where the \"knot was tied,\" and as soon as the ceremony\nwas over the homeward race began in real earnest. The Squire felt\nconfident that his \"Comet,\" as the pony was named, would be sure to\nprove victorious in the race, if the animal could be kept to follow\nthe road which led on to Cwm Cuch, instead of turning to another road\nwhich led to Mr. Howells' own house, Glaspant. To make sure of this,\nthe enthusiastic old gentleman in due time, sent all his servants,\nboth men and women, with walking-sticks and brooms in their hands\nto stand where the two roads met, so as to prevent the pony turning\nto the one that led to the house. Onward came the wedding cavalcade\nat last, the pony taking the lead as Mr. Howells expected, and when\n\"Comet\" saw a rowdy crowd shouting with all their might, and with\nbrooms and sticks, the animal was glad to pass forward in the right\ndirection and soon proved himself the hero of the day, and the old\nman felt as proud of his pony as the young husband was of his wife.\n\nAnother common practice in connection with the weddings in Wales, and\nstill prevails in some places, was known as Chaining or Halting the\nWedding. As the young husband and wife were driving home from Church\nat the end of the wedding ceremony they would find the way obstructed\nby ropes stretching the road, covered with flowers, and ribbons, and\nevergreens, or sometimes blocked up entirely by thorns. It is said\nthat this was intended as the first obstacle in married life. Ropes in\nsome cases were made of straw, and the young couple were not allowed\nto pass without paying a footing to the obstructors, and then the\nbarrier was removed amidst a general hurrah. This chaining or halting\nthe wedding was known in many parts of West Wales as \"codi cwinten,\"\nor to set up a quintain.\n\nIn ancient times Guintain seems to have been some kind of a game of\nskill in vogue among several nations; it consisted of an upright post,\non the top of which a cross bar turned on a pivot; \"at one end of the\ncross hung a heavy sand bag, and at the other was placed a broad plank;\nthe accomplished cavalier in his passage couched his lance, and with\nthe point made a thrust at the broad plank, and continued his route\nwith his usual rapidity, and only felt the \"gwyntyn,\" or the \"air\" of\nthe sand bag, fanning his hair as he passed.... The awkward horseman\nin attempting to pass this terrific barrier was either unhorsed by\nthe weight of the sand bag, or by the impulse of the animal against\nthe bar found his steed sprawling under him on the ground.\"\n\nIn some parts of the country, when the bride or the young wife reaches\nhome after the wedding ceremony, she buys some small trifle, a pin\nor anything from her bridesmaid; and by taking the opportunity of\nbuying something before her husband has a chance, she'll be master\nover him for life! Sometimes the young newly-married couple resorted\nto a Wishing Well, and the first to drink the water became the master\nin their wedded life!\n\nIn Wales, it is considered unlucky to marry on a wet day. It was\nconsidered unlucky for the wedding party to go and return from the\nchurch exactly on the same path, so sometimes it was customary to go\nout of the way a bit so as to avoid ill-luck.\n\nIt is still customary to decorate the roads where the wedding party\nis to pass with arches and bannerettes, bearing mottoes appropriate\nto the occasion. This was done in February, 1906, at the wedding\nof Mr. David T. Davies, of Penlan, Llanwrda; and at the marriage of\nMr. D. Barlett of Carmarthen in the same month, Llanboidy Parish Church\nwas tastefully decorated with palms and evergreens, and the village\nwas gay with bunting and festoons. Such decorations are very common,\nespecially in connection with a country gentleman's marriage, when\ntenants adorn their houses with garlands, and children strew flowers\nin the bride's path. It was formerly the custom to pelt the bride and\nbridegroom with flowers, and it is still very general to throw rice\nat them. I remember this rice-throwing three years ago at Llanilar,\nCardiganshire, at the wedding of a sister of Dr. Rees. Sometimes old\nboots were thrown, and I have heard that grains of wheat served the\npurpose once. Such things were done to ensure \"Good Luck.\"\n\nIn former times the bridal flowers were roses, gentle lady, lady's\nfingers, lady-smock, pansy, prickles and furze, and, in order to\nencourage the young wife in industry, red clover bloom was strewn in\nher pathway.\n\n\n\nNEITHIOR.\n\nWhen the ceremony at the church and the horse racing which followed\nwere over, the guests proceeded to the young married couple's house\nto partake of some food, and in the afternoon and the evening\nthey paid their \"pwython\" to the newly married couple, that is\nthose of the guests who had not paid already. Others again gave\nfresh presents. There was much consumption of beer and cakes on such\noccasions always, and the sale of which was a further source of income\nto the young couple, so that between everything they were provided\nwith the means for a good start in their married life. Very often\nsuch a large crowd attended the Neithior, that the house was often\ntoo small to accommodate them all; so a party of the men resorted to\nthe barn or any other convenient place to drink beer.\n\nIt was also customary for the young men to treat the young maidens\nwith cakes; so there was a good deal of love-making, and often of\nrivalry, especially should there be a very pretty girl among the merry\ncompany. Those young maids who were fortunate enough as to be in favour\nwith the young men had their aprons full of cakes and biscuits, etc.,\nto take home with them in the evening. Such festivities as a rule were\nvery merry and kept up till a late hour, and there was a good deal of\nsinging, harp-playing and dancing, for the Welsh were expert dancers\nin former times; but at the present day dancing is almost unknown,\nat least in country places.\n\nOn such occasions, it was customary, as a rule, to secure the presence\nof a harper, for the harp was from time immemorial a favourite musical\ninstrument among the Welsh people; for Giraldus Cambrensis writing\n700 years ago, says:--\"Those who arrive in the morning are entertained\ntill evening with the conversation of young women and the music of the\nharp; for each house has its young women and harps allotted to this\npurpose ... and in each family the art of playing on the harp is held\npreferable to any other learning.\" During the last three generations,\nhowever, the dear old instrument with its sweet and melodious sounds\ngradually declined in popular favour in Wales, and at the present,\nthere are but very few who can play on the harp at all, indeed,\nin many districts the instrument has entirely disappeared, giving\nplace to the modern piano. This is to be greatly regretted, and every\npatriotic Welshman should do his best to encourage playing on the harp.\n\nIt happened once that a \"Neithior\" or wedding festivities took place,\nstrange to say, without a wedding! This was about two generations ago\nin the Parish of Llandyssul. A man of the name of B. T. Rees, in that\npart of the country was engaged to be married to a young woman who was\nknown as Sally. Two Bidders had been sent round the country to invite\npeople to the wedding, and all other preparations had been made ready\nfor the joyful occasion, and everything appeared most promising. But\nwhen B. T. Rees, a few days before the appointed time for the wedding\nceremony, went to visit his bride-elect, she would neither receive\nhim nor speak to him, but ordered him to depart immediately from\nher presence, to the great astonishment and disappointment of Rees,\nthe bridegroom, and his friends. He endeavoured to reason with her,\nbut to no purpose. Afterwards some of his friends were sent to speak\nto her, but nothing availed; it seemed as if she had suddenly made\nup her mind to banish him entirely from her heart.\n\nThe wedding was to take place at Henllan on a certain morning, and the\n\"Neithior\" in the afternoon at Llandyssul. When that morning arrived,\nthe bridegroom and his friends, decided to seek the bride once more,\nbut she had hidden herself and could not be found anywhere. Rees and\nhis party were in a strange predicament, and did not know what to do;\nbut they returned to Llandyssul, and in the afternoon the wedding\nfestivities were kept up just as if the wedding had actually taken\nplace; and when night came, Rees had come into possession of large\nsums of money from the sale of beer, and donations, or wedding gifts\nand the sincere sympathy of the guests, but he had failed to secure\na wife after all! Rees and Sally were married ultimately, however.\n\nIn the last century, the Neithior took place on the wedding day; in\nformer times, however, the festivities were continued on the Sunday,\nwhich followed. Sir S. R. Meyrick, writing about one hundred years ago\nsays:--\"Sunday being come, the bride and bridegroom's business is to\nstay at home all day and receive good-will and pwython. This is called\n\"Neithior.\" They receive more money this day than Saturday, and all\nare written down as before, whether fresh presents, or those repaid.\"\n\nIt seems from what I have been informed by old persons, that such\ndoings on Sundays had almost disappeared, if not completely so, in\nMeyrick's time, at least in most places, but it is evident that Sunday\nobservances of the kind were common about the middle of the eighteenth\ncentury; and in the old Church Register of the parish of Llanfihangel\nGeneu'r Glyn, in Cardiganshire, the following record is found:--\n\n\"11 June, 1745. Whereas the parish has been notorious hitherto\nin upholding and continuing a wicked custom of keeping Biddings or\nmeetings upon the Sabbath day to the dishonour of God, and contempt of\nreligion, to prevent such irregularities for the future, it is this\nday ordered by the consent of a vestry legally called and kept that\nthe said custom shall stop and be discontinued entirely hereafter,\nand whosoever within our said parish encourages or practices and\nobstinately refuses to obey this our order, we do unanimously consent\nand join to punish him to the utmost rigour of the law.--W. Williams,\nClerk, etc.\"\n\nSuch Sunday customs were by degrees discontinued entirely in every\npart of Wales, and the Welsh have been for some generations now, and\nto their credit still are, the most strict Sabbatarians in the world\nwith the exception perhaps of the Scotch. The Methodists Revivalists in\nthe eighteenth century, who greatly inveighed against Sabbath breaking,\ncontributed towards bringing about this satisfactory state of things.\n\nThe curious old Welsh Weddings, which I have endeavoured to describe\nin this book do not prevail now; the only surviving feature of them is\nperhaps what is known in some parts as \"Ystafell,\" and in other parts\nas \"Cwyro Ty.\" \"Ystafell\" is rather popular now in some districts,\nespecially between Tregaron and Lampeter, but instead of a Gwahoddwr\nor Bidder an aunt or some other near relative of the bride goes round\nthe houses inviting the neighbours to bring wedding gifts so as to\ngive the young couple a good start in life.\n\nI have been informed that similar old wedding customs to those\nof the Welsh were once in vogue in Cumberland, a county where the\nCeltic element is very strong, and also in Brittany, another Celtic\nprovince, and the present custom of wedding gifts which is so common\nin connection with fashionable weddings at the present day, is only\na survival of the old Welsh customs.\n\nIt seems that in China also it is customary for the friends\nand relations of the bride and bridegroom to present them with\nwedding gifts, and in Ancient Peru a dwelling was got ready for the\nnewly-married pair at the charge of the district, and the prescribed\nportion of land assigned for their maintenance, and the ceremony of\nmarriage was followed by general festivities among the friends of\nthe parties, which lasted several days.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFUNERAL CUSTOMS.\n\n\nAs the Wedding Customs differed, the Funeral Customs also differed,\nand still differ in many respects in Wales from those of England. In\nWales funerals are public, and the day and the hour on which they are\nto take place are always announced both in church and chapel, and in\nsome places the day was made known by sending a man or a woman round\nthe houses. One or two from almost every house in the neighbourhood\nin which the deceased lived attend his funeral, so that funeral\nprocessions are very large, even in districts where the population\nis small and scattered. Both men and women come, many of them from a\nlong distance, the majority of them on foot, others in their traps,\nand some on horses, and even wet and stormy weather does not prevent\nthem, for they have a profound reverence for the dead and death from\ntime immemorial; and the night before the funeral a prayer meeting\nis held in the room where the corpse is lying, and pious appeals to\nHeaven are made in which strong emotions are expressed, the deceased\nis referred to in stirring sentences, and his death made a theme for\nwarning on the brevity of earthly life, and the importance of the\nfuture life of the soul.\n\nThis prayer meeting is called Gwylnos (wake-night), and it is the only\nsurviving feature of the various customs which were once in vogue in\nconnection with watching the corpse in the house, or keeping vigil\nover the dead.\n\nIn Wales in former times when any one died, candles were always\nlighted every night in the room where the corpse was, and it was\ncustomary for friends or relatives to sit up all night to watch it,\nand even at the present day the custom is observed by some. Some are\nof the opinion that this custom had its origin in pre-reformation\ntimes. But it seems more probable to have been a Pagan custom, and\nmuch older than Christianity.\n\nThe original design of the lighted candles, undoubtedly, was to give\nlight to the spirit of the dead on its way to the other world. This\nis done for that purpose at the present day in China.\n\nIt was once the custom in some parts to open the windows when a person\nwas dying. Principal Sir John Rhys, Oxford, says that he well remembers\nthis done in the neighbourhood of Ponterwyd, in North Cardiganshire,\nand that a farmer near Ystrad Meurig, in the same county, informed\nhim that when his mother (the farmer's) was dying, a neighbour's wife\nwho had been acting as nurse tried to open the window of the room,\nand as it would not open, she deliberately smashed a pane of it;\nand the learned Professor remarks that \"this was doubtless originally\nmeant to facilitate the escape of the soul.\"--Celtic Folk-Lore.\n\nIt was once customary in the neighbourhood of Llangennech,\nCarmarthenshire, to cover with muslin the looking glass in the room\nin which the corpse lay. But to return to the Wake Night, or keeping\nvigil over the dead, I have already mentioned that the only feature\nof the old customs in connection with it still observed is the Prayer\nMeeting on the night before the funeral, and even this has been almost\ndiscontinued in Pembrokeshire, though still popular in Cardiganshire\nand parts of Carmarthenshire, but the custom is very injurious to the\nhealth of those who attend these meetings, as people crowd together\nin large numbers into the room--often a small one--where the coffin\nis. It was once the custom for every person on entering the house to\nfall devoutly on his knees before the corpse, and repeat the Lord's\nPrayer, or some other prayer, and then a pipe and tobacco were offered\nto him, but is not done now; but it was done in former times in many\ndistricts before the commencement of the prayer meeting.\n\nThe manner of conducting this prayer meeting also differs at the\npresent day to what it used to be once. In former times, before the\nNonconformists became strong in Wales, it was the custom for the\nclergyman to read the common service appointed for the burial of the\ndead, and at the conclusion of which Psalms were sung; but at the\npresent day the custom is, as a rule, for three or four persons to\noffer extemporary prayers, and an address delivered on the melancholy\nsubject by the Clergyman of the Church of England or a Nonconformist\nminister, and hymns are sung. And afterwards the crowd depart for\ntheir homes.\n\nFormerly when it was customary to keep vigil over the dead, young men\nand women were glad to volunteer their services to watch the corpse\nduring the night in order to enjoy the society of each other, and on\nsome occasions, it seems, from what I have been told by old persons,\nsome of the young men were rather merry before morning, and often\nwent as far as to drink beer, and in order to pass the time good many\nstories were related about Corpse Candles, phantom funerals, etc.,\nbut the old Welsh Wake nights were never so rowdy as the Irish ones.\n\nIn Pembrokeshire, about hundred and fifty years ago there was a most\ncurious, strange, and mysterious custom performed during the Wake\nNight, known as \"Hir-wen-gwd\" (long white bag, or shroud). The corpse\nwas drawn up through the chimney, and the process was as follows:--A\ncertain number of young men took out the corpse from the coffin and\nmoved it, clad in a long white shroud, to a convenient place near\nthe fire. Then a rope was tied round to the upper part of the body,\nand when this was done securely, the other end of the rope was\npassed up the chimney by means of a long stick for that purpose;\nand the next step was for a party of the men to go up to the top\nof the chimney from the outside of the house by means of a ladder,\nand take hold of the rope which had been sent up inside, and when\nthey were ready for the ceremony, they gave a sign to those who were\ninside the house with the corpse, by crying in Welsh, \"Hirwen-gwd,\"\nand those who were inside the house would answer by saying, \"Chware'n\nbarod,\" or we are ready. Then the party who were on top of the house\npulled up the corpse slowly through the chimney by means of the rope,\nand brought it to the very top and lowered it again, and eventually\nre-placed it in the coffin. An aged person, named Mrs. Mary Thomas,\nBengal, near Fishguard, told me that she had heard a good deal from\nher mother about this strange old custom, \"Hirwen-gwd,\" and that the\nlast of such ceremonies took place at a house called Pantycnwch, in\nthe parish of Bridell, about a hundred and forty years ago. According\nto Mrs. Thomas, it was customary to put a living man in the coffin\nwhilst the ceremony of drawing up the corpse through the chimney\nwas going on, and this was done in the case referred to at Bridell;\nbut when the party at the end of the game approached the coffin in\norder to take out the living man so as to replace the corpse in it,\nthey found him dead. This sad incident caused people after this to put\nan end of the old custom. When in Pembrokeshire, I enquired everywhere\nfrom very old persons as to the origin and object of such strange and\nmysterious ceremony, and in reply some of them informed me that it was\nonly a game indulged in by those who were keeping vigil over the dead,\nto pass the time, whilst others said that there was once a superstition\nthat another death would soon follow the funeral in the family or\nin the district unless the ceremony was duly performed. Hirwen-gwd,\nwhatever might have been the origin of it, seems to have been confined\nto Pembrokeshire, at least I have not found any tradition of the\ncustom among the old people of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire,\nexcept in one district in the latter county, situated on the very\nborder of Pembrokeshire.\n\nIt is, however, possible that such custom was once known in other\nparts of South Wales, but discontinued at an earlier date.\n\nIn a series of spurious letters, known as \"Llythyrau Anna Beynon,\"\nbearing the date 1720, and pretending to give an account of the old\nrural customs of two hundred years ago in the Parish of Llandyssul\nand the surrounding districts, I found the following strange story\nin connection with \"Hirwen-gwd,\" but I cannot vouch for the truth\nof the account, as it is evident that the \"letters\" referred to are\nnot authentic:--\n\n\n   \"GWYLNOS.\n\n   \"Fe fu farw Shann, Ty Clai yn ddiweddar, yn 90 oed. Nid oedd\n    ganddi yr un plentyn yn y byd i alaru ar ei hol, ond yr oedd Abel\n    ei hwyr, bachgen 18 oed, yn llefain yn dost ar ol yr unig ffrynd\n    oedd ganddo yn y byd. Fe fu yno ryw wylnos ryfedd ar ei hol. Cafwyd\n    cwrw yno o dafarn Nani Dan-yr-Allt, a buwyd yn adrodd hanes Twm\n    Shon Cati, ac yn yfed hyd haner nos. Yna gollyngodd rhyw rai raff\n    yn ddistaw i lawr trwy y simnau, tra yr oedd eu cyfeillion tu mewn\n    yn canu can 'Ysgyfarnog pen Crug y Balog.' Yr oedd Abel druan,\n    yn eistedd yn bendrwm yng nghornel yr aelwyd, a'i law dan ei\n    ben, ac yn llefain wrtho ei hunan, ac Evan Blaen Cwm ar ei bwys,\n    ac yn ei gysuro, a'i law dros ei gefn, gan dd'weyd, 'Paid llefan\n    Abel bach; yf lymaid eto; rhaid i ti ymroi i fod yn dawel, a ni a\n    wnawn ninau ein goreu drosof ti. Gwnawn nas cyffrwy i, Abel!' Ar\n    yr un pryd yr oedd yr hen andras yn cylymu y rhaff am ganol yr\n    hogyn tlawd. Yn y man dyna y cymdeithion o'r tu maes yn gwaeddi,\n    'Hirwen gwd,' ac Evan o'r tu mewn yn gwaeddi, 'chwareu yn barod.'\n\n   \"Gyda hyny, dyna Abel yn araf esgyn i fyny i'r simnai, ac Evan yn\n    gofyn, 'Pa le yr wyt ti yn myned, Abel bach?' ac yntau yn ateb,\n    'Wn i ddim b'le mae'r d----l yn myned a fi.' Tyn-wyd ef i maes\n    trwy y simnai. Hen lwfer gul ydoedd, yn llawn o huddugl, ac yr\n    oedd golwg ofnadwy arno wedyn....\n\n   \"Mae nhad a'r dynion goreu yn teimlo i'r byw fod y fath beth\n    wedi cymeryd lle yn yr ardal, ac na fu y fath beth o'r blaen er\n    ys pymtheg mlynedd.\"\n\n\nTranslated into English the above reads as follows:--\n\n\n   \"WAKE-NIGHT.\n\n   \"Shann, Ty Clai died lately, at the age of 90 without leaving\n    a child to bewail her loss, except Abel, her grandson, a lad\n    of 18 years of age, who was crying sorrowfully after the only\n    friend he had in the whole world. There was there a very strange\n    Wake-night kept at the house. They got some beer there from\n    Nanny Dan-yr-Allt's Inn, and the time was spent until midnight\n    in telling stories about Twm Shon Catty, and in drinking. Then a\n    rope was let down secretly through the chimney by some fellows,\n    while their companions inside were singing 'Ysgyfarnog pen Crug\n    y Balog.' Poor Abel was sitting in the corner of the hearth in\n    sorrow, with his hand under his head, and crying by himself,\n    and Evan, Blaen Cwm, close by him comforting him and saying,\n    'Don't cry, dear Abel; drink a drop more; you must try and be calm,\n    and we will do our best for thee. Yes, by jove, we shall!' At the\n    same time the old rascal was tying a rope around the poor lad's\n    waist. Then, suddenly, the party outside cried 'Hirwen-gwd,'\n    and Evan from within, cried, 'Chwareu yn barod.'\n\n   \"Almost instantly, Abel found himself being dragged up the chimney,\n    whereupon Evan asked 'Where are you going, dear Abel?' The latter\n    answered, 'I don't know where the d----l takes me to.' He was\n    pulled out through the chimney--a narrow old luffer as it was,\n    full of soot, and there was an awful sight on him afterwards....\n\n   \"My father and the best men feel to the very life that such a\n    thing has taken place in the district, and they say that no such\n    thing has taken place before for 15 years.\"\n\n\nIt seems that many strange and mysterious events took place sometimes\nat the Wake-nights in Pembrokeshire, if all the stories we hear are\ntrue. Miss Martha Davies, Fishguard, informed me that her late uncle,\nMr. Howells, Cilgwyn, vouched for the truth of the following account\nof an event which happened about a hundred years ago or more. Saith\nshe:--An old gentleman farmer, who was a notorious ungodly man, lived\nat a farmhouse called Dolgaranog, in North Pembrokeshire. He at last\ndied, and was placed in his coffin, and the candles were lighted, and\npeople came together to the house and the 'gwylnos,' or wake-night went\non in the usual manner, according to the customs of those days. Some\nof the young men and young maidens were talking together, whispering\nwords of love to each other, and were rather merry, it seems. As these\nthings went on, they were suddenly surprised by hearing the sound of\nhorses' feet, as if a large concourse of people were approaching the\nhouse on horses and driving full speed. The next moment the sound of\nmen's footsteps was heard entering in through the door and into the\nvery room where the wakenight went on; but nothing could be seen.\n\nThe invisible intruders, as they passed into the room where the dead\nman lay, put out all the candles. At last the same sound of footsteps\ncould be heard departing from the house, and as this mysterious sound\npassed out through the room, people heard the bustle, and even felt the\ncrush, and on leaving, the strange visitors re-lighted the candles,\nbut nothing was to be seen, but the sound of horses' feet was heard\nas if a large concourse of cavaliers were driving away from the house,\nin the same manner as they had approached it, and gradually the sound\ndied away. Then the relatives and friends and others who were present\nat the 'gwylnos,' keeping vigil over the dead, were anxious to know\nwhat this sound of invisible footsteps meant, and what had happened,\nso they entered the room where the coffin was, and when they opened\nit, to their great alarm, they found that nothing but an empty coffin,\nfor the corpse was gone, and was never found again. The people of the\nneighbourhood really believed that the body was taken by the Devil,\nor evil spirits, as the man had lived such a bad life. The coffin\nwas afterwards filled with stones and buried.\n\nAnother strange old death custom, if it ever existed, was the\n\"Sin Eater.\"\n\nIt seems that the first to refer to the subject was Mr. John\nAubrey, in 1686, who asserted that there was such a custom in\nHerefordshire and also in North Wales, and at the annual meeting of\nthe Cambrian Arch\u00e6ological Association, which was held at Ludlow in\nAugust, 1852, Mr. Matthew Moggridge, of Swansea, made the following\nobservation:--\"When a person died, his friends sent for the Sin-eater\nof the district, who, on his arrival, placed a plate of salt on the\nbreast of the defunct, and upon the salt a piece of bread. He then\nmuttered an incantation over the bread, which he finally ate, thereby\neating up all the sins of the deceased. This done, he received his\nfee of 2s. 6d. and vanished as quickly as possible from the general\ngaze; for, as it was believed that he really appropriated to his own\nuse and behoof the sins of all those over whom he performed the above\nceremony. He was utterly detested in the neighbourhood--regarded as a\nmere Pariah--as one irredeemably lost.\" The speaker then mentioned the\nParish of Llandebie, in Carmarthenshire, where the above practice was\nsaid to have prevailed to a recent period. Mr. Allen, of Pembrokeshire,\nsaid that the plate and salt were known in that county, where also\na lighted candle was stuck in the salt, and that the popular notion\nwas that it kept away the evil spirit.\n\nA few years ago, one Rhys read at Tregaron an interesting paper\non that town and district, and after referring to the custom of\nkeeping vigil over the dead, he makes the following statement: \"There\nwas also an old custom in the town (Tregaron) connected with the\n'Sin-eater.' Where there was a corpse in the house the 'Sin-eater'\nwas invited. The relatives of the dead prepared him a meal on the\ncoffin, he was supposed to eat the sins of the dead man so as to make\nthe deceased's journey upward lighter.\"\n\nThe late Chancellor D. Silvan Evans, and other well-informed Welshmen,\nhave denied that any such custom as that of the Sin-eater ever existed\nin Wales, and Wirt Sikes, after diligent searching, failed to find any\ndirect corroboration of it, and I may add that, though I venture no\nopinion of my own upon the subject, I have never come across in any\npart of Wales any old persons, either men or women, who had heard any\ntradition about it. On the other hand, the celebrated Welsh Novelist,\nAllen Raine, informed me a short time ago, that she knew a man at\nCarmarthen who had seen a \"Sin-eater\"; and the Rev. G. Eyre Evans\nshowed me a portrait of a man that had seen one long ago in the Parish\nof Llanwenog.\n\nPerhaps the following, which appeared in Volume 15 of \"Folk Lore,\"\nmay prove of interest in connection with the subject. The writer,\nMr. Rendel Harries, who had visited Archag, an Armenian village, where\nhe attended service, says as follows in his \"Notes from Armenia:--\"At\nthe evening service, to my great surprise, I found that when the\ncongregation dispersed, a corpse laid out for burial was lying in\nthe midst of the building. It had, in fact, been brought in before\nwe came, and was to lie in the Church in preparation for burial\nnext day. I noticed that two large flat loaves of bread had been\nplaced upon the body. Inquiry as to the meaning of this elicited no\nother explanation than that the bread was for the Church mice and to\nkeep them from eating the corpse. I did not feel satisfied with the\nexplanation. Some months later, on mentioning the incident to some\nintelligent Armenians in Constantinople, they frankly admitted that in\nformer days the custom was to eat the bread, dividing it up amongst\nthe friends of the deceased. Whether this is a case of Sin-eating,\nI leave Mr. Frazer and Mr. Hartland to decide.\"\n\nThe question of the alleged Sin-eater in Wales and the Borders has\nseveral times been discussed in \"Bye-Gones,\" Oswestry, and whether\nthere was at any time such strange custom in vogue in the country,\nthere are at least ample proofs that it was customary in Pembrokeshire,\nif not in other parts of the country, to place a plate of salt on the\nbreast of the corpse, and it was believed by some that this kept the\nbody from swelling, and by others that it kept away the evil spirits.\n\nPennant, a very keen observer, noticed a similar custom in the\nHighlands of Scotland 140 years ago, where \"the friends lay on the\nbreast of the deceased a wooden platter containing a small quantity\nof salt and earth separately and unmixed; the earth an emblem of the\ncorruptible body; the salt an emblem of the immortal spirit.\"\n\nThere are several superstitions in West Wales concerning salt, but\nshall refer to the subject in another chapter.\n\nIt was once the custom in Wales to make the sign of the cross on the\ndead body or a cross was placed at or near his head; and though the\nceremony was discontinued long ago, we even now occasionally hear\nthe old saying, \"Mae e dan ei grwys\" (he is under his cross), when\na dead body is in the house.\n\nAs a rule in West Wales, coffins are made of oak, but poor people\nare satisfied with elm, and the corpse is placed in it, covered in a\nwhite shroud, but good many are buried in their best clothes, both at\npresent and in the past, and a writer in \"Bye-Gones,\" 1888, says that\nin an old book in Tregaron Vestry, dated 1636, he found that it was\nthe rule of the Parish at that time to bury paupers without a coffin,\nand they were to wear their best apparel, and best hat; the charge for\nburial was two-pence; if any were buried in a coffin they also were\nto don their Sunday best, and the charge for their burial was 2s. 6d.\n\nTo bury the dead in their best clothes instead of a shroud is a custom\nthat has been continued in Wales till the present day by some, but\nnot without a coffin; but it seems to have been a common practice\nto bury paupers, and those who were in very poor circumstances,\nwithout a coffin till about 200 years ago and even at a later date,\nas the registers of some of the old Parish Churches prove. It was also\ncustomary in former times to \"bury in woollen\"--that is, in a shroud\nmade of woollen material, and the eminent Antiquarian, Mr. John Davies,\nof the National Library, has found out \"that this was the practice\nin the Parish of Llandyssul in the year 1722. Undoubtedly, burying\nin woollen was in vogue for some generations and a statute of the\ntime of Queen Elizabeth provided that it should be done in order to\nencourage the flannel industry; and an Act of Parliament was passed\nin the reign of Charles the Second to promote the sale and use of\nEnglish wool, and there was once a penalty of \u00a35 for burying in a\nshroud not made of wool.\n\nOn the appointed day for the funeral, a large concourse of friends\nand neighbours come together at the house of the deceased, and all\nare welcomed to partake of food, as the Welsh people have always\nbeen remarkable for their hospitality on melancholy as well as joyful\noccasions.\n\nIn former times great preparations were made, for the day of\nthe funeral was in reality a regular feasting day for those who\nattended. Meyrick, in his \"History of Cardiganshire,\" writing about a\nhundred years ago, observes:--\"A profuse dinner, consisting principally\nof cold meat, fowls, tongues, etc., is spread on several tables,\nand a carver placed at the head of each, whose sole business is to\ncarve for different parties as they alternately sit down. As the\ncompany are too numerous to be all accommodated within, the poorer\npeople are seated on stools round the outside of the house, and are\npresented with cakes and warmed ale, with spice and sugar in it.\"\n\nIt was once customary to prepare a special kind of drink known as a\n\"diod ebilon,\" which contained the juice of elder tree and Rosemary,\nin addition to the ordinary substances of ale. The custom of giving\nbeer and cake at funerals continued in some districts till very\nrecently, and the Rev. D. G. Williams, St. Clear's, says that this\nwas done at the funeral of an old gentleman farmer in the Parish of\nTrelech, in Carmarthenshire, about 30 years ago. Though it is not\ncustomary to give beer at the present day, but food, especially in\na way of tea and cake, is given to everybody in rural districts,\nnot only to those who have come from a distance, but even to near\nneighbours. The nearest relations make it a point of sitting in the\ndeath chamber, and before the coffin is nailed up, almost everybody\npresent in the house enters the room to see the body and look on it\nwith a sigh. Then Divine Service is conducted, at the close of which,\nthe body is borne out of the house, by the nearest male relatives of\nthe deceased, a custom introduced, undoubtedly, into Wales by the\n\"Romans during their residence in this country, for the coffins of\nRoman citizens held in high esteem were borne by senators, but those\nof enemies were borne on the other hand by slaves.\"\n\nAccording to Pennant's Tours in North Wales, there was formerly an old\ncustom to distribute bread and cheese over the coffin to poor people\nwho had been gathering flowers to decorate it. Sometimes a loaf of\nbread was given or a cheese with a piece of money placed inside it,\nand a cup of drink also was presented. Cakes were given in South\nCardiganshire to those who attended the funerals of the wealthy.\n\nI found that in Pembrokeshire in the present day, it is customary to\nplace the coffin on chairs before the door outside before placing it\non a bier. In most districts of West Wales, hearses have been until\na few years ago, almost unknown, and such is the case even at the\npresent day with few exceptions, except in those places adjoining the\ntowns, but no doubt they are continually becoming more general every\nday. It is still the custom, especially in out of the way places where\nthe funeral procession wends its way graveward on foot, to bear the\ncorpse alternately, four men at the time, and sometimes even women\ncarry as well as men.\n\nIn the old times when the roads were bad, especially in the mountainous\nparts of the country, it was customary to make use of a what was known\nas \"elorfarch\" (horse-bier). The elorfarch was carried by horses,\nand it consisted of two long arms or shafts into which the horses\nwere placed, with transverse pieces of wood in the centre, on which\nthe coffin was placed.\n\nBefore the funeral procession leaves the house, a hymn is sung, and\nin former times it was customary to sing on the way, especially when\npassing a house, and sometimes the singing continued all the way from\nthe house to the churchyard without ceasing; and this singing along\nthe lanes was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful of all the old\nWelsh funeral customs, and it is a pity that it has been discontinued.\n\nDuring my recent visit to St. David's, an old gentleman named Evans\ninformed me that he well remembered the funeral processions singing on\nthe way to the churchyard of St. David's Cathedral; and that it was\nalso the custom to march round the old stone cross, which I noticed\nin the centre of the town, before entering the churchyard.\n\nWhen a funeral takes place at Aberystwyth, in Cardiganshire, it is\ncustomary for the Town Crier to go through the streets tolling a\nsmall hand-bell, a short time before the funeral procession. This\nis a survival of a very ancient custom which was once very general\nthroughout Wales, and in pre-Reformation times this corpse-bell which\nwas known as \"bangu,\" was kept in all the Welsh Churches, and when\na funeral was to take place, the bellman took it to the house of the\ndeceased. When the procession began, a psalm was sung, and then the\nsexton sounded his bell in a solemn manner for some time, and again\nat intervals, till the funeral arrived at the Church.\n\nGiraldus Cambrensis, writing 700 years ago, mentions of such bell at\n\"Elevein, in the Church of Glascwm, in Radnorshire; a portable bell\nendowed with great virtue, called Bangu, and said to have belonged\nto St. David. A certain woman secretly conveyed this bell to her\nhusband who was confined in his Castle of Raidergwy (Rhaiadyrgwy)\nnear Warthreinion (which Rhys, son of Gruffyth, had lately built),\nfor the purpose of his deliverance.\n\n\"The keepers of the Castle not only refused to liberate him for this\nconsideration, but seized and detained the bell; and in the same\nnight, by divine vengeance, the whole town, except the wall on which\nthe bell hung, was consumed by fire.\"\n\nFormerly, in all parts of Wales, the Passing Bell was tolled for the\ndying, just as the spirit left the body. In ancient times there was a\nsuperstition among the Welsh people that the evil spirits were hovering\nabout the sick man's chamber, waiting to pounce upon the soul as it\nleft the body, but that the sound of a bell frightened away the fiends.\n\nAccording to \"Cymru Fu,\" an interesting Welsh book published by\nHughes and Son, Wrexham, another old custom in connection with Welsh\nfunerals in former times, was to set down the bier and kneel and\nrepeat the Lord's Prayer, whenever the procession came to a cross\nroad. The origin of this custom, as given by the Welsh, is to be\nfound in the former practice of burying criminals at cross-roads. It\nwas believed that the spirits of these criminals did not go far away\nfrom the place where their bodies lay, and in repeating the Lord's\nPrayer was supposed to destroy and do away with any evil influence\nthese spirits might have on the soul of the dear departed.\n\nThe Venerable Archdeacon Williams, Aberystwyth, informed me that he\nwas told by the late Principal Edwards, University College of Wales,\nthat there was once an old custom in the Parish of Llanddewi Brefi for\nfuneral processions to pass through a bog instead of proceeding along\nthe road which went round it. Those who bore the bier through the bog,\nproceeded with much difficulty and often sank in the mud. The ceremony\nof taking the corpse through the bog was, at least, in Pre-Reformation\ntimes, supposed to have the effect of lessening the time or suffering\nof the deceased's soul in Purgatory, but the custom was continued in\nthe said Parish for many generations after the Reformation, if not\nuntil recent times.\n\nIt was once customary at Rhayader, in Radnorshire, for funeral\nprocessions to carry small stones which were thrown to a large heap\nat a particular spot before arriving at the church.\n\nWhen the funeral procession was nearing the churchyard a hymn was\nagain sung. The custom was, and still is, for the clergyman, arrayed\nin his surplice, to meet the corpse at the entrance of the churchyard,\nas directed in the Prayer Book, and placing himself at the head of\nthe procession, they proceed into the body of the church, and the\nbier is placed before the Altar. It was once customary for all the\nrelations of the deceased to kneel around it until taken from the\nchurch to the place of interment. After the body has been lowered into\nthe grave, and at the close of the funeral service one or more hymns\nare sung, generally those that were favourites of the deceased. When\nthe deceased who is buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church,\nhappened to have been a Nonconformist, it is sometimes customary\nto have services both in chapel and in church; in the former first,\nand in the latter before the interment. This was done in connection\nwith the funeral of the late Mr. John Evans, Pontfaen, Lampeter,\na few years ago, when I was present myself.\n\nIt was once customary to give the shoes of the dead man to the\ngrave-digger, a vestry at Tregaron in Cardiganshire, about 200 years\nago passed that this should be done in that place. There is no such\npractice at present in any part of Wales. There was once a curious\nold custom known as \"Arian y Rhaw\" (spade money) which survived\nin some districts of West Wales until a comparatively recent date,\nespecially in the Northern parts of Cardiganshire, and that part of\nCarmarthenshire which borders Breconshire.\n\nMr. John Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid, an old man of 95, informed me that\nthe custom was observed at Lledrod, a parish situated about nine\nmiles from Aberystwyth, about eighty years ago. It was something\nas follows:--At the grave, the grave-digger extended his spade for\ndonations, and received a piece of silver from each one of the people\nin turn.\n\nThe following account of the custom by an eye-witness appeared in the\nFolk-Lore Column of the \"Carmarthen Journal,\" July 7th, 1905:--\"It\nwas in the summer of 1887, if I remember well, that I had occasion to\nattend the funeral of a young child at Llangurig Church, situated on\nthe main road leading from Aberystwyth to Llanidloes, and about five\nmiles from the latter. After the service at the graveyard, the sexton\nheld up an ordinary shovel into which all present cast something. The\ncortege was not large, as the child buried was only eight months\nold. When all had contributed their mites, and the sum had been\ncounted, the sexton in an audible voice, declared the amount received,\nsaying twenty-eight shillings and sixpence, many thanks to you all.\"\n\nAnother curious old custom at Welsh funerals was the \"Offrwm,\" or\nParson's Penny, which was as follows: After having read the burial\nservice in the Church, the Clergyman stood near the Altar until the\nnearest relation went up first to him and deposited an offertory\non the table, then the other mourners, one and all followed, and\npresented a piece of money, and the money received by the Parson in\nthis manner amounted sometimes to a very large sum, especially when\nthe mourners were wealthy.\n\nThe Author of Cradock's account of the most romantic parts of\nNorth Wales, published in 1773, makes the following observation\nconcerning the custom: \"Many popish customs are still retained in\nWales; particularly offering made to the dead. These offerings must,\nof course, vary according to the rank of the persons deceased, as well\nas the affection that is borne to their memories. I was at a pauper's\nfuneral when the donations amounted to half-a-crown, and I met with a\nClergyman afterwards who had once received 90 guineas.\" This has not\nbeen practised in Cardigan and Carmarthenshire within the memory of\nthe oldest inhabitant, but the custom was observed in former times,\nwe have not the least doubt, and it has survived even until the\npresent day in some form or other, in some parts of the Principality,\nespecially in parts of North Wales, as the following correspondence\nwhich appeared in the \"Oswestry Advertiser\" in July, 1906, proves:\n\n\n   \"OFFERTORIES AT FUNERALS IN WALES.\"\n\n   \"Sir,--A correspondent in your columns, about a fortnight ago,\n    called attention to this subject, and expressed disapproval of\n    the manner in which the offertories are taken in some Churches\n    at funeral services--by laying the plate on the bier near the\n    pulpit, and the congregation in a disorderly manner laying their\n    offertory on the plate. I regret to observe that this practice\n    is still pursued in two parishes in this neighbourhood, and I\n    should like to call the attention of the proper authorities to\n    the desirableness of changing the custom, and adopting the system\n    suggested by your correspondent, that the offertory should be taken\n    at the gate, or that two or more plates should be taken around\n    the congregation. The parish clerk, too, might be instructed not\n    to announce the amount of the offertory.\"\n\n\nUndoubtedly, this custom has survived from Pre-Reformation times,\nand was originally intended to compensate the Priest for praying for\nthe Soul of the departed in Purgatory, but at present it only means\na token of esteem towards the officiating Clergyman, or perhaps a\ntribute of respect to the departed. It was formerly customary in\nWales to throw a sprig of rosemary into the grave on the coffin. The\ncustom has been discontinued now, but it was done in the Vale of Towy,\nin Carmarthenshire as late as sixty years ago.\n\nAn excellent old Welsh Magazine, the \"Gwyliedydd\" for May, 1830,\nmakes the following observation concerning the custom: \"In ancient\ntimes, it was customary for all who attended a funeral to carry each\na sprig of rosemary in his hand, and throw it into the grave as the\nminister was reading the last words of the funeral service\"; and a\nwriter in the Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, in the following year adds\nthat a custom analogous to this prevailed amongst the ancient heathens;\nwho used to throw cypress wood into the grave in the same manner. The\nreason why they made choice of the cypress was, because its branches\ndo not bud when thrown into the earth, but perish altogether; it was\nthus an expressive symbol of their opinion, that the bodies of the\ndead would never rise again. On the other hand, the Christians threw\nthe rosemary into the graves of their brethren to express that hope\nof a joyful resurrection with which their faith had inspired them.\n\nIt was once customary to read the will of deceased over the grave. Sir\nS. R. Meyrick mentions this in his History of Cardiganshire, a hundred\nyears ago, and the custom has been continued to a more recent date. The\nRev. T. D. Thomas, Vicar of Llangorwen, near Aberystwyth, informed me\nthat this was done by him at Llangadock, Carmarthenshire, about the\nyear 1897, when officiating in the absence of the Vicar of that Parish.\n\nThere was also an old custom of burying one who had been murdered,\nin a coffin covered with red cloth. The Rev. D. G. Williams, in his\ncollection of Carmarthenshire Folk-Lore, says that one William Powell,\nof Glan Areth, Vale of Towy, was so buried in the year 1770.\n\nIn Wales in pre-Reformation times, it was sometimes the practice to\nbury a rich man in the garments of a monk, as a protection against\nevil spirits; but this could not be done without paying large sums\nof money to the priests.\n\nThe custom of covering the coffin with wreaths is very generally\nobserved at the present day throughout West and Mid-Wales. The\ncoffin of the late Sir Pryse Pryse, Bart., Gogerddan, who was buried\nat Penrhyncoch, Cardiganshire, April 23rd, 1906, was covered with\nwreaths of most beautiful flowers, sent by Dowager Lady Pryse, Sir\nEdward and Lady Webley-Parry-Pryse, Countess Lisburne, Viscountess\nParker, Lady Evans, Lovesgrove; Mr. and Mrs. Loxdale, and many other\nrelations and friends, as well as the tenants and servants.\n\nIn times past the Welsh always carried the association of graves\nand flowers to the most lavish extreme, and Shakespeare, alluding to\nthis in \"Cymbeline,\" the scene of which tragedy is more especially\nin Pembrokeshire, says:\n\n\n            \"Arv. With fairest flowers,\n    Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,\n    I'll sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack\n    The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; or\n    The azur'd harebell, like thy veins; no, nor\n    The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,\n    Outsweeten'd not thy breath.\"\n\n\nIt is more generally the case at the present day to cover the coffin\nwith wreaths than with loose flowers, and occasionally the graves are\nlined with moss and flowers. To decorate the graves of the departed\nwith flowers is a very old custom amongst the Welsh, especially on\nPalm Sunday, which is known in Wales as \"Sul y Blodau\"--Flowering\nSunday. The custom is very generally observed even at the present\nday in Glamorganshire, where the churchyards and other burial places\npresent a very beautiful appearance; but it is to be regretted that\nin West Wales, during the last sixty years, the practice to a very\ngreat extent has been discontinued, at least in rural districts. But\nit is reviving at the present day, and likely to grow as years go\non. A correspondent from Aberaeron, in one of the papers noticed that\non Palm Sunday, of the year 1906, many of the graves of Henfynyw, in\nthat district had been cleaned and flowers placed upon them, whilst on\nothers flowers grew. Whilst staying for a short time in the Parish of\nCilcennin, about five years ago, I took particular notice, that the\nplanting of flowers and plants on the graves is renewed every year\nabout Easter or Spring time, and that they are kept blooming through\nthe loving care of the descendants of the departed. An old man named\nJenkin Williams, a native of Llangwyryfon, a parish in the same County,\nwho is 89 years of age, informed me that he well remembered the custom\nobserved in his native parish, about seven miles from Aberystwyth,\nmany years ago; but it is rarely observed at the present day. There\nare many parts of the country nowadays, where the practice is unknown,\nbut there are evident signs that the beautiful old custom is reviving\nin parts of Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, and Pembrokeshire. In\nGlamorganshire, as I have already observed, the custom is very general.\n\nThe custom of placing tombstones on the graves is very generally\nobserved, but very few of the stones are in the form of a\ncross. Indeed, crosses are remarkable for their absence in Welsh\nChurchyards. The Welsh people in rejecting what they consider as a too\nPopish a practice, have gone into the opposite extremes of adopting\nas monuments for their dear departed, the polytheistic obelisk of the\nancient Egyptians; the Greek and Roman urns, and the chest-stone of the\nDruids. It has been the custom in some places to whitewash the small\ninscribed stones at the head and feet of poor people's graves. Several\nEnglish authors who have written about Wales remark that in nearly\nevery churchyard in the country, the mountain ash is to be seen. It\nseems to me that this is a mistake; for, as far as my experience is\nconcerned, it is rarely seen in Welsh churchyards, at least in the\npresent day, and I have seen a good many of the churchyards; but it\nmust be admitted that the Welsh have regarded the tree as sacred,\nand there are a good many superstitions in connection with it, so\nthat it is possible that the custom of growing it in churchyards was\nmore common in former times.\n\nThe most common tree in the churchyards of Wales is the Yew, and\nthe Welsh people from time immemorial, have always regarded the tree\nwith solemn veneration, probably owing to its association with the\ndead. The Yew is famed in Welsh song, for the poets of Cambria in their\nelegies for their dead friends, often mention \"Ywen Werdd y Llan\"\n(the Green Yew of the Churchyard), and the poet Ioan Emlyn in his\n\"Bedd y Dyn Tlawd\"--\"The Pauper's Grave\" says:\n\n\n   \"Is yr Ywen ddu gangenog,\n    Twmpath gwyrddlas gwyd ei ben.\"\n\n\nIn former times the yew was consecrated and held sacred, and in funeral\nprocessions its branches were carried over the dead by mourners,\nand thrown under the coffin in the grave. With rosemary, ivy, bay,\netc., branches of the trees were also used for church decorations. The\nfollowing extract from the Laws of Howel Dda, King of Wales in the\ntenth century, shows that the yew tree was the most valuable of all\ntrees, and also how the consecrated yew of the priests had risen in\nvalue over the reputed sacred mistletoe of the Druids:--\n\n\n   \"A consecrated yew, its value is a pound.\n    A mistletoe branch, three score pence.\n    An oak, six score pence.\n    Principal branch of an oak, thirty pence.\n    A yew-tree (not consecrated), fifteen pence.\n    A sweet apple, three score pence.\n    A sour apple, thirty pence.\n    A thorn-tree, sevenpence half-penny.\n    Every tree after that, four pence.\"\n\n\nThe planting of yew trees in Churchyards in Wales is as old as\nthe Churchyards themselves; and it is probable that they were\noriginally intended to act as a screen to the Churches by their thick\nfoliage, from the violence of the winds, as well as a shelter to the\ncongregation assembling before the church door was opened. The first\nChurches in Wales were only wooden structures, and needed such screens\nmuch more than the comfortable stone Churches of the present day.\n\nAnother important object in planting the yew was to furnish materials\nfor bows, as these were the national weapons of defence. The\nChurchyards were the places where they were most likely to be\npreserved, and some authorities derive the English word \"yeoman\"\nfrom yewmen, that is, the men who used the yew bow. The yew bow was\nvery common throughout Wales in the old times, and skill in archery\nwas universal in the country; and as late as Tudor times, the Welsh\npoet, Tudur Aled, asks, in lamenting the death of a squire:--\n\n\n   \"Who can repeat his exploits to-day?\n    Who knows so well the strength of yew.\"\n\n\nIn the memorable Battle of Cressy, three thousand five hundred Welsh\narchers followed the Black Prince in the attack on France in the year\n1346, and as many more came from the Welsh lordships, and bore such\ndistinguished parts, for the success of this war was due to the skill\nof the Welsh Archers, and at the end of the battle the Prince adopted\nthe motto, \"Ich Dien,\" which has been the motto of the Princes of\nWales ever since.\n\nEvelyn's opinion is \"that we find it (the yew) so numerously planted\nin Churchyards from its being thought a symbol of immortality, the tree\nbeing so lasting and always green.\" There are at the present day in the\nChurchyards of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, some fine specimens\nof the yew tree, and some of them hundreds of years, if not nearly\na thousand years old. In former times when Churchyards were resorted\nto for recreation, seats were fixed round the trunk of the tree.\n\nMany of the Churchyards in Wales in ancient times, before the\nintroduction of Christianity, had been Druidical circles. This is\nevident from the oval form of the ground of many of them, which often\nresemble small embankments, or mounds. Such is the case as regards\nTregaron Church, in Cardiganshire, Llanddewi Brefi also is on elevated\nground, as well as several other Churchyards.\n\nHow early the practice of enclosures near the Churches or Monasteries\nfor burial of the dead began in Wales is quite uncertain. It seems that\nthe practice was introduced into England by Archbishop Cuthbert about\n750; but the origin of Churchyards in Wales was of a much earlier date,\nin all probability about two or three hundred years earlier than in\nEngland. Some of the best authorities assert that a few (but few only)\nof the Welsh Parish Churches and consecrated Churchyards can be traced\nto the days of St. Garmon, or Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who paid\ntwo visits to this country about A.D. 429, and 447 respectively. It is\npossible that there were few Christians in Britain even in the first\ncentury; but Parochial Churches did not belong to the earlier ages of\nChristianity, and the clergy lived in towns, and undertook missionary\njourneys about the country, under the direction of their bishops.\n\nPrior to the introduction of enclosures round Churches for the purpose\nof burial, it was customary (as it is in China to-day), to bury on high\nplaces, such as hills and mountains. Cremation had also been practised\nas it is evident from the urns for the preservation of the ashes of\nthe dead, which are being discovered in various parts of Wales, from\ntime to time. Perhaps the most recent and interesting discoveries\nof such urns were those found near Capel Cynon, in Cardiganshire,\ncontaining ashes and portions of small calcined bones. A labourer\nnamed John Davies, came across them accidentally in an old mound on\na hill, whilst working for Evan Thomas, a contractor under the County\nCouncil of Cardiganshire, in digging out stones for road-mending. (See\nArch\u00e6ologia Cambrensis for January, 1905.)\n\nThe introduction of Christianity put an end to the practice of\ncremation.\n\nCarneddau, or cairns, and tumuli, or mounds of earth, have been\npreserved till the present day in different parts of Wales, but\nit is to be regretted that many of these interesting monuments of\nantiquity, which the Welsh in ancient times erected in honour of\ntheir great men have been destroyed. That Wales has been celebrated\nfor its Carneddau, is evident from the words of Taliesin, the chief\npoet of King Arthur's time, who calls the country \"Cymru Garneddog\"\n(Cairn Wales), and one the most interesting \"Carnedd\" is what is\nknown as \"bedd Taliesin\"--Taliesin's grave, about eight miles north\nof Aberystwyth, where, according to tradition, Taliesin himself\nwas buried.\n\nSuch monumental heaps over the mortal remains of the dead were of two\nkinds, according to the nature of the country. In stony districts,\na cairn of stones was heaped, but where stones were scarce, a mound\nof turf of a circular construction, called tomen (tumulus), was\ndeemed sufficient.\n\nIn ancient times this mode of burial was considered a most honourable\none, and in passing the tomb of a warrior or some great man, it was\ncustomary for every passer by to throw a stone to the cairn, out of\nreverence to his memory. There was a similar custom among the Indians\nof Patagonia, which was still observed a few years ago. A Patagonian\nChief in passing the grave of an eminent chief or a great warrior,\nwould dismount from his horse, and search for a stone to throw on\nthe cairn.\n\nMonumental Cairns were also common in Scotland, for in Ossian's Poems,\nShibric, in Carricthura says: \"If fall I must in the field, raise\nhigh my grave, Vinvela. Grey stones, and heaped earth, shall mark me\nto future times.\" To erect mounds seems to have been a very ancient\ncustom, for Herodotus, in giving a full and most interesting account\nof the strange practices of the Ancient Scythians, in connection with\nthe burial of their Kings, observes amongst other things, \"Having\ndone this, they all heap up a large mound, striving and vieing with\neach other to make it as large as possible.\"\n\nWhen the custom of burying in churchyards became general in Wales,\nin course of time, to bury in cairns and mounds, which formerly had\nbeen an honourable practice, was discontinued, and even condemned,\nas fit only for the great criminals; and, as Dr. Owen Pugh, observes:\n\"when this heap became to be disgraced, by being the mark where the\nguilty was laid, the custom for every one that passed, to fling his\nstone, still continued, but now as a token of detestation\"; hence\noriginated the old Welsh sayings \"Carn lleidr (a thief's Cairn),\n\"Carn ar dy wyneb.\" (Cairn on thy face). Even at the present day\nthroughout Wales, when any one is guilty of robbery or swindle, it is\ncustomary to call such a man a \"Carn leidr\" (A cairn thief). In the\nparish of Llanwenog, six miles from Lampeter, there is a spot called\n\"Carn Philip Wyddyl.\" an old farmer, named \"Tomos, Ty-cam,\" informed\nme that according to the traditions of the district, this Philip was\na \"Carn leidr,\" or the ringleader of a gang of thieves, who, in an\nattempt to escape, jumped down from Llanwenog Steeple, and broke his\nleg. His pursuers stoned him to death, and buried him beneath a carn.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nVARIOUS OTHER CUSTOMS.\n\n\nCHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S DAY CUSTOMS.\n\nChristmas at the present day in Wales is not so important as it used\nto be in former times, though it is still the beginning of a holiday\nseason, and also a regular feasting-day. Morning service is conducted\nin the Parish Church, but is not so well-attended as in former\ntimes. It is often the custom to have an Eisteddfod or a concert in\nthe evening in Nonconformist Chapels. In towns, the children hang up\ntheir stockings the night before Christmas, expecting to find some\ngifts in them next morning. Christmas is also an important day for\nthe young maidens to kiss and be kissed. A girl places a mistletoe to\nhang over the chair in which a young man, whom she wishes to catch,\nis likely to sit. Then when he comes under the mistletoe, she kisses\nhim suddenly, and whenever she succeeds in doing so, she claims from\nhim a new pair of gloves.\n\nThe favourite observance for a young man to kiss a girl under\nthe branches is also well known, and it was once supposed that the\nmaiden who missed being kissed under the mistletoe on Christmas would\nforfeit her chance of matrimony, at least during the ensuing twelve\nmonths. These superstitions and favourite observances have come down\nfrom the time of the Druids.\n\nThe most interesting feature of Christmas in Wales in times gone by was\nundoubtedly the \"Plygain\" which means morning twilight. The \"Plygain\"\nwas a religious service held in the Parish Church, at three o'clock\non Christmas morning to watch the dawn commemorative of the coming of\nChrist, and the daybreak of Christianity. The service consisted of\nsong, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, and there was at that early\nhour a large congregation even in remote districts, as many came\nfrom long distances, often three or four miles on a frosty night,\nor through snow. It was customary for each family to take their own\ncandles with them to this early service. These candles were of various\ncolours, and should any remain after the service was over, they became\nthe property of the clerk. Carols were sung, and it was customary for\nanyone who claimed to be a bard to compose a carol; indeed, a poet was\nnot considered a poet unless he could sing a carol. Some old people\ninformed me that in connection with these early services there was\na great deal of disorder on account of men under the influence of\ndrink attending the Church after a night of revelry, and that this\nput an end to the \"Plygain\" in some places. In course of time the\nhour was changed from three to four or five, and such service is\nstill continued in Llanddewi Brefi and other places in Cardiganshire.\n\nAfter beginning Christmas morning so devoutly with Divine Service\nat early dawn, it was the custom in old times to spend most of the\nday in enjoyment, especially hunting the hare, the woodcock, but the\nchief sport was in connection with the squirrel.\n\nThere was a custom once at Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, for the young\nmen of the town to escort the Rector, with lighted torches from his\nresidence to the Church to the early service on Christmas morning. They\nextinguished their torches as soon as they reached the porch, and\nwent in to the early service in the Church, and at the conclusion\nof it, the torches were re-lighted, and the procession returned to\nthe Rectory, the chimes ringing till the time of the usual morning\nservice. Lighted torches were also carried through the streets by a\nprocession on Christmas Eve, and cow-horns were blown, and windows\nof houses were decorated by evergreens.\n\nIn North Pembrokeshire the holidays commenced, especially amongst\nthe farmers, on Christmas Day, and were continued for three weeks,\nviz., till Epiphany Sunday. The Rev. O. Jenkin Evans, writing in\n\"Pembrokeshire Antiquities,\" page 47, says:--\"On the 25th day of\nDecember, the farmers with their servants and labourers suspended\nall farming operations, and in every farm the plough was at once\ncarried into the private house, and deposited under the table in the\n'Room Vord' (i.e., the room in which they took their meals), where\nit remained until the expiration of \"Gwyliau Calan.\" During these\nthree weeks, parties of men went about from house to house, and were\ninvited into the \"Room Vord,\" where they sat around the table, regaling\nthemselves with beer, which was always kept warm in small neat brass\npans in every farm-house ready for callers. But the peculiar custom\nwhich existed amongst these holiday-makers was that they always wetted\nthe plough which lay dormant under the table with their beer before\npartaking of it themselves, thus indicating that though they had\ndispensed with its service for the time, they had not forgotten it,\nand it would again, in due course, be brought out on the green sward\nand turn it topsy-turvy. These bands of men would sometimes carry\nwith them the \"Wren,\" singing simple popular ditties. On Christmas\nDay, a sumptuous dinner was prepared at the principal farms in every\nneighbourhood to which all the others, including the cottagers,\nwere invited. The repast consisted of geese, beef, pudding, etc.\"\n\nOne of the most curious customs which was once in vogue about Christmas\ntime was the procession known as \"Mari Lwyd Lawen\" (\"the Merry Grey\nMary\"), which was a man wearing the skeleton of a horse's head decked\nwith ribbons and rosettes.\n\nThe man was enveloped in a large white sheet, and proceeded round\nthe houses, followed by a merry procession, singing songs and playing\nmerry pranks, collecting Christmas boxes:\n\n\n   \"Mari Lwyd lawen,\n    Sy'n dod o Bendarren,\" etc.\n\n    (Merry grey Mary,\n    Who comes from Pendarren.)\n\n\nWhen a real skeleton could not be got, it was customary to make one\nof straw and rags. It seems that \"Mari Lwyd\" belonged more especially\nto Glamorganshire, yet it was well-known in Carmarthenshire also, not\nonly in those places bordering on Glamorgan, but also in the Vales of\nTowy and Cothy. Mr. T. Davies (Eryr Glyn Cothi), and others, informed\nme that the \"Mari\" procession visited Llanegwad, and other places\nbetween Llandilo and Carmarthen only a few years ago. The curious\ncustom was not known in Pembrokeshire, nor indeed in Cardiganshire,\nthough I was informed that \"Mari Lwyd\" on one occasion at least did\nvisit the latter county from Glamorganshire, and tramped across from\nLlandyssul, in the Vale of Teify, to New Quay, on the sea coast,\ncalling at Lampeter and other places on the way.\n\nAccording to the excellent Magazine, named \"The Cambrian Journal\"\npublished 50 years ago, there was an old custom once at Tenby in\nPembrokeshire, sometimes before, and sometimes after Christmas Day,\nfor the fishermen to dress up one of their number, whom they called\nthe \"Lord Mayor of Penniless Cove,\" with a covering of evergreens,\nand a mask over his face; they would then carry him about, seated on\na chair, with flags flying, and a couple of violins playing before him.\n\nBefore every house, the \"Lord Mayor\" would address the occupants,\nwishing them \"a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.\" If his good\nwishes were responded to with money, his followers gave three cheers,\nthe masquer would himself return thanks, and the crowd again give\n\"three times three,\" hip, hip, hurrah!\n\nThere was also in vogue once the barbarous practice of \"holly\nbeating.\" This was on the day after Christmas, St. Stephen's Day,\nwhich consisted in a furious onslaught being made by men and boys,\narmed with large bushes of the prickly holly, on the naked and\nunprotected arms of female domestics, and others of a like class.\n\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S DAY.\n\nIn Pembrokeshire, to rise early on New Year's morning will, it is\nconsidered, bring good luck. On that morning also it is deemed wise to\nbring a fresh loaf into the house as it is considered the succeeding\nloaves throughout the year will be influenced by that performance.\n\nIn most places throughout West Wales, even at the present day, people\nare very particular as to whether they see a man or a woman the first\nthing on New Year's morning. Mr. Williams in his \"Llen-gwerin Sir\nGaerfyrddin,\" says that in parts of Carmarthenshire in order to secure\nfuture luck or success during the coming year, a man must see a woman,\nand a woman a man. And the Rev. N. Thomas, Vicar of Llanbadarn Fawr,\ninformed me that he has met people in his Parish who consider it lucky\nto see a woman first. As a rule, however, the majority of people both\nmen and women deem it lucky to see a man, but unlucky to see a woman.\n\nEven now in various parts of the country, good many object to the\nentrance of a woman before the in-coming of one of the other sex,\nthis is particularly the case in the central parts of Cardiganshire,\nespecially in the Parish of Llanddewi Brefi and surrounding districts\nbetween Lampeter and Tregaron. This is also true of some parts of\nPembrokeshire.\n\nAccording to the late Rector of Newport, Pembrokeshire, the man\nmust needs bear one of the four lucky names--Dafydd, Ifan, Sion and\nSiencyn. \"Supposing the man was not called by one of these names, the\nperson first seen might as well be a woman, if she only bore one of\nthe lucky names--Sian a Sioned, Mair a Marged. Then all would go well\nfor that year at least. A hare or a magpie must not cross one before\ntwelve, and the cock must not crow before supper on New Year's Day,\nor some dire calamity might befall one after all.\"\n\nThere was everywhere a general desire to see \"the Old Year out and\nthe New Year in.\" In South Pembrokeshire some danced the old year out;\nsome drank it out, and many walked it out. I was informed at Talybont,\nthat once those who desired to see \"the New Year in \"crowded to each\nother's houses in North Cardiganshire to pass the time in story-telling\nand feasting. The children especially, looked forward to New Year's\nmorning, with the greatest interest, as it was, and still is in some\nplaces, customary for them to go about from house to house, asking for\n\"calenig,\" or New Year's gift. The children on such occasions often\nrepeated something as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Rhowch galenig yn galonog,\n    I ddyn gwan sydd heb un geiniog,\n    Gymaint roddwch, rhowch yn ddiddig,\n    Peidiwch grwgnach am ryw ychydig.\n\n   \"Mi godais heddyw maes o'm ty,\n    A'm cwd a'm pastwn gyda mi,\n    A dyma'm neges ar eich traws,\n    Set llanw'm cwd a bara a chaws.\n\n   \"Calenig i fi, calenig i'r ffon,\n    Calenig i fytta'r noson hon;\n    Calenig i mam am gwyro sane,\n    Calenig i nhad am dapo sgidie.\n\n   \"Chwi sy'n meddi aur ac arian,\n    Dedwydd ydych ar Ddydd Calan,\n    Braint y rhai sy'n perchen moddion,\n    Yw cyfranu i'r tylodion,\n    'Rhwn sy a chyfoeth ac ai ceidw,\n    Nid oes llwyddiant i'r dyn hwnw.\"\n\n   \"Os gwelwch yn dda ga'i g'lenig?--\n    Shar i 'nhad a shar i mam,\n    A shar i'r gwr bonheddig.\"\n\n\nThe following is from an old song for New Year's Day, heard at Tregaron\nin Cardiganshire:--\n\n\n   \"Rhowch i mi docyn diogel,\n    Fel gallo mam ei arddel,\n      Neu chwech gael cwart,\n      'Dwy'n hidio fawr,\n    Waeth fi yw gwas mawr Trecefel.\"\n\n\nIn the English districts of West Wales, such as South Pembrokeshire,\nsuch verses as the following were repeated:--\n\n\n    Get up on New Year's morning,\n    The cocks are all a-crowing;\n    And if you think you're awake too soon,\n    Why get up and look at the stars and moon.\n\n   \"The roads are very dirty,\n    My shoes are very thin,\n    I wish you a happy New Year,\n    And please to let me in.\"\n\n\nThe following is another specimen from North Cardigan:--\n\n\n   \"Mae rhew a'r eira yn bur oeredd,\n    Awel fain yn dod o'r gogledd,\n    Ambell gybydd oddi cartre,\n    Yn lle rhanu rhai ceinioge,\n    A rhai eraill yn eu caban,\n    Yn gwneyd eu cilwg ar Ddydd Calan.\"\n\n\nWhen boys and girls knocked at the doors of misers who refused to\ngive anything, they went away disappointed, repeating\n\n\n   \"Blwyddyn newydd ddrwg,\n    A llond y ty o fwg.\"\n\n   \"A bad New Year to you,\n    And a house full of smoke.\"\n\n\nBut as a rule the farmers were very kind to all comers, both in\nCardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire, unless they had\nbeen disappointed by seeing a girl first that morning, which was,\nas I have already observed, considered an unlucky omen. Even at the\npresent day this superstition is very strong in Llanddewi Brefi,\nCardiganshire, and, indeed, many other parts of Wales, for I have\ntaken particular notice that the first boy who comes to the door on\nNew Year's morning, if he happens to come before a girl is seen,\nhe is warmly welcomed into the house and even taken upstairs and\ninto the bedrooms so that those who are in their beds might have\nthe satisfaction of seeing a male the first thing on New Year's Day,\nto secure good-luck. Before the boy departs some money is given him,\nabout sixpence as a rule at the present day, but in former times he\ngot a loaf of bread instead. At the present day boys and girls, and\noccasionally a few poor old women continue to go round from house\nto house from early dawn till mid-day collecting alms, when each\nof the children receive a copper, in former times, however, it was\nmore customary to give them some bread and cheese, which they took\nhome to their parents in a bag which they carried on their backs,\nor a basket under their arms.\n\nWhen the children had more than they could carry, they would leave\nsome of it at a certain house and return for it the following day. In\nsome places it was customary to keep on to collect alms in this manner\nfor two days, but only those who were in very poor circumstances were\nallowed to go about on the second day.\n\nIt was once customary to carry an orange, with oats stuck in it,\nplaced on a stick, round the houses. The visitors sang at the door\nand expected something to eat and drink.\n\nAnother interesting custom observed, especially in Pembrokeshire,\non New Year's Day was for children to visit the houses in the morning\nabout 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning with a vessel filled with spring\nwater, fresh from the well and with the aid of a sprig of evergreen,\nsprinkled the faces of those they met, and at the same time singing\nas follows:--\n\n\n   \"Here we bring new water from the well so clear,\n    For to worship God with, this Happy New Year;\n    Sing levy dew, sing levy dew, the water and the wine,\n    With seven bright gold wires, and bugles that do shine;\n    Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her toe,\n    Open you the west door and turn the old year go;\n    Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her chin,\n    Open you the east door and let the New Year in.\"\n\n\nWhen the children entered into a house, it was customary for them to\nsprinkle every one of the family even in their beds with this fresh\nspring water, and they received a small fee for the performance.\n\nThere was a ceremony among the Druids and others in ancient times,\nof throwing spring water over the shoulder in order to command the\nattention of elemental spirits.\n\nIt is customary in some places, especially in parts of Carmarthenshire,\nfor young men to sprinkle the young girls with water in their beds,\nand the young maidens in their turn sprinkle the young men, and this is\nsometimes done when the one upon whom water is thrown is fast asleep.\n\nIt is still customary for young men with musical instruments to visit\nthe palaces of the gentry at early dawn, and play some of the beautiful\nold Welsh Airs, when they receive warm welcome and generous gifts.\n\nAmong Twelfth Night Custom, none was more celebrated in Pembrokeshire\nin the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth than\nthe \"cutty wren,\" though there are hardly any traces of the custom in\nCardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. The custom was something as follows:\n\nHaving procured a wren, the bird was placed in a little house of\npaper with glass windows, sometimes a cage or a lantern, or a box was\nused for that purpose, and often decorated with coloured ribbons, and\n\"every young lady, and even old ladies, used to compete in presenting\nthe grandest ribbon to the \"wren.\"\n\nThe cage or the lantern thus decorated with the little bird in it,\nwas hoisted on four poles, one at each corner, and four men carried\nit about for the purpose of levying contributions, singing a long\nballad or ditty such as follows on the following tune:--\n\n\n   \"Where are you going? says Milder to Melder,\n    O where are you going? says the younger to the elder;\n    O I cannot tell says Festel to Fose;\n    We're going to the woods said John the Red Nose.\n    We're going to the woods said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O what will you do there? says Milder to Melder,\n    O what will you do there? says the younger to the elder;\n    O I do not know, says Festel to Fose;\n    To shoot the cutty wren, said John the Red Nose,\n    To shoot the cutty wren, said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O what will you shoot her with? says Milder to Melder,\n    O what will you shoot her with? says the younger to the elder\n    O I cannot tell, says Festel to Fose;\n    With bows and arrows, said John the Red Nose,\n    With bows and arrows, said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O that will not do! says Milder to Melder,\n    O that will not do says the younger to the elder;\n    O what will you do then? says Festel to Fose;\n    With great guns and cannons says John the Red Nose,\n    With great guns and cannons says John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O what will you bring her home in? says Milder to Melder,\n    O what will you bring her home in? says the younger to elder;\n    O I cannot tell, says Festel to Fose;\n    On four strong men's shoulders, said John the Red Nose.\n    On four strong men's shoulders, said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O that will not do, says Milder to Melder,\n    O that will not do, says the younger to the elder;\n    O what will you do then? says Fester to Fose;\n    On big carts and waggons, said John the Red Nose,\n    On big carts and waggons, said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"What will you cut her up with? says Milder to Melder,\n    What will you cut her up with? says the younger to the elder;\n    O I do not know, saith Festel to Fose;\n    With knives and with forks, said John the Red Nose,\n    With knives and with forks, said John the Red Nose.\n\n   \"O that will not do, says Melder to Milder,\n    O that will not do, says the younger to the elder;\n    O what will do then? says Festel to Fose;\n    With hatchets and cleavers, said John the Red Nose,\n    With hatchets and cleavers, said John the Red Nose,\n\n   \"What will you boil her in? says Milder to Melder,\n    What will you boil her in? says the younger to the elder;\n    O I cannot tell thee, says Festel to Fose;\n    In pots and in kettles, said John the Red Nose,\n    In pots and in kettles, said John the Red Nose.\"\n\n\nFor more on this interesting subject see \"Manners and Customs of the\nPeople of Tenby\" in \"The Cambrian Journal,\" Vol. IV., page 177.\n\nI may add that I heard the above ditty sung in Welsh in several parts\nof South Wales, especially when I was a boy.\n\nAnother such custom was called \"tooling,\" and its purpose was beer. It\nconsisted in calling at the farm-houses and pretending to look for\none's tools behind the beer cask. \"I've left my saw behind your beer\ncask,\" a carpenter would say; \"my whip,\" a carter; and received the\ntool by proxy, in the shape of a cup of ale. It was also customary\nfor the women to practice what was called sowling, viz., asking for\n\"sowl,\" that is cheese, fish or meat.\n\nIt was also customary in parts of the counties of Pembroke and\nCarmarthen for poor people to proceed round the neighbourhood from\nhouse to house with their \"Wassail bowls,\" and singing outside each\ndoor something as follows--\n\n\n   \"Taste our jolly wassail bowl,\n    Made of cake, apple, ale, and spice;\n    Good master give command,\n    You shall taste once or twice\n    Of our jolly wassail bowl.\"\n\n\nPeople who partook of the contents of the bowl were of course expected\nto pay, so that the invitation to \"taste our jolly wassail bowl,\"\nwas not always accepted. In such cases the bearer of the bowl sung\nthe following rhyme in disappointment:--\n\n\n   \"Are there any maidens here,\n    As I suppose there's none\n    Or they wouldn't leave us here,\n    With our jolly wassail bowl.\"\n\n\n\"The huge bowl was on the table, brimful of ale. William held a\nsaucepan, into which Pally and Rachel poured the ale, and which he\nsubsequently placed upon the fire. Leaving it to boil, the party seated\nround the fire began to roast some of the apples that Pally had just\nput upon the table. This they effected by tying long pieces of twine\nto their stems, and suspending them from the different \"pot-hooks and\nhangers\" with which the chimney corner abounded, twisting the cord\nfrom time to time to prevent their burning.... By the time they had\nall completed their trials the ale was boiling and the apples were\nroasted. The tempting beverage went smoking hot into the bowl, and was\njoined by the contents of a small, suspicious-looking, tightly-corked\nbottle, which I strongly suspect, contained what the French call the\n\"water of life,\" and a very strong water it undoubtedly is. Next\nthere was a hissing and splutting greeting between the ale and the\nroasted apples, which was succeeded by the introduction of some of the\n\"nices,\" with which Pally's table was covered. Different masculines of\nthe party added to the treat by producing packets of buns, raisins,\nor biscuits, which they dropped singly into the bowl until it was\nfull to overflowing. With a sufficient proportion of spices and sugar,\nthe wassail bowl was finally prepared, and, as if by instinct, just as\nit was completed, in popped three or four of Pally's ancient cronies,\nall dying to partake of it. The cups and glasses were speedily filled,\nwhen William proposed Pally's health, which was cordially drunk by\nthe whole party.\" (The Vale of Towey, pages 83-87).\n\nIt was customary also, especially in parts of Carmarthenshire, on\n\"Calan Hen\" (Old New Year's Day) to make a feast for those who had\nhelped them with the harvest.\n\nIt was also once customary on Epiphany Night in West Wales to\nvisit the houses of those who had been married since the Epiphany\nbefore. Those who went round the houses in this manner requested\nadmittance in rhyme and expected food and beer to be given to them by\nthe inmates. Epiphany, known in Wales as \"Gwyl Ystwyll,\" was formerly\nclosely associated with Christmas.\n\nMany of the old customs and festivities in connection with the New\nYear are of great antiquity; it was then that the Druids went to seek\nthe mistletoe on the oak. To the Druids the oak and the mistletoe\nwere objects of veneration; and one of the most imposing ceremonies\nwas the cutting of the latter, some days before the New Year, with a\nGolden Knife, in a forest dedicated to the gods; and the distributing\nits branches with much ceremony as New Year's Gifts among the people.\n\nOn the day for cutting the mistletoe, a procession of Bards, Druids,\nand Druidesses was formed to the forest, and singing all the while. The\nArch-Druid climbed the tree and cut down the mistletoe, the other\nDruids spreading a sheet to receive it.\n\nThis scene was enacted with great success at the Builth Wells Pageant,\nAugust, 1909--(see illustration)--which I witnessed myself with\ninterest.\n\nThe Romans had also their festival in honour of Janus and Strenia\nabout the same time of the year. It is interesting to add that in\nEngland in the days of King Alfred a law respecting Feast Days was\npassed, in which the twelve days after the birth of Christ were made\na season of holidays.\n\n\n\nST. VALENTINE'S DAY.\n\nThe custom of sending a pretty Valentine, or an ugly one, of love,\nor from mere mischief, as the case might be, was very common once\nin Wales. We do not hear much of Valentines at the present, however,\nsince the Picture Post Cards have become so common.\n\n\n\nST. DAVID'S DAY.\n\nSt. David is the Patron Saint of Wales, and strange to say the only\nWelsh Saint in the Calendar of the Western Church (Canonized by\nCalixtus II.) more than five hundred years after his death.\n\nHis day is celebrated on the 1st of March throughout the world where\nWelshmen are. In Wales there are in some places grand dinners, and\nspeeches are made and songs sung, and at present it is customary\nto conduct Divine Service on the day even in St. Paul's Cathedral,\nLondon. But perhaps the most characteristic feature of the day is\nthe wearing of the Leek, though it must be admitted that wearing\nthe Leek on St. David's Day is not very general in the country\ndistricts of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire at the present day,\nbut the interesting old custom is reviving, especially in the towns,\nand every true-born Welshman ought to wear on the 1st of March the\nWelsh National Emblem which is dedicated to St. David.\n\nThe origin of the custom is not known, there are many who positively\nassert that it originated in the days of St. David himself; that is,\naccording to some traditions, during a memorable battle against the\nSaxons the Welsh obtained a complete victory over their enemies. During\nthe engagement the Welsh had leeks in their hats on the occasion for\ntheir military colour and distinction of themselves, by persuasion\nof the said prelate St. David.\n\nAccording to other traditions, the battle of Poictiers has been named;\nalso that of Cressy, when the Welsh archers did good service with the\nEnglish against the French, under Edward the Black Prince of Wales,\nand Shakespeare alludes to this in Henry V.:--\n\nFluellen says to Henry: \"If your Majesty is remembered of it,\nthe Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow,\nwearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which your Majesty knows, to\nthis hour is an honourable badge of the service; and, I do believe,\nyour Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek on St. Tavy's Day.\"\n\nKing Henry: \"I wear it for a memorable honour; for I am Welsh, you\nknow, good countryman.\"\n\nIt seems that there was a custom in London 250 years ago of hanging\neffigies of Welshmen on St. David's Day; for Pepys says:--\n\n(March 1, 1667). In Mark Lane I do observe (it being St. David's Day),\nthe picture of a man dressed like a Welshman, hanging by the neck upon\none of the poles that stand out at the top of one of the merchants'\nhouses, in full proportion and very handsomely done, which is one of\nthe oddest sights I have seen a good while.\n\n\n\nSHROVE TUESDAY.\n\nShrove Tuesday, which is called in Welsh Dydd Mawrth Ynyd, was formerly\nkept as a holiday; but not much notice is taken of the day now, except\nthat the old custom of pancakes eating still survives in most places.\n\n\n   \"Deuwch heno, fy nghyfeillion,\n    Merched glan a'r bechgyn mwynion,\n    A chydunwn heb un gofyd,\n    Wneyd Crammwythau ar Nos Ynyd.\"\n\n    Come to-night my friends,\n    Fair young maidens and gentle young men;\n    And let us join without sorrow\n    To make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.\n\n\nThe day was once also noted for foot-ball kicking in some districts,\nand also for throwing at cocks, that is hens which had laid no eggs\nbefore that day were threshed with a flail as being good for nothing.\n\nMr. Williams in his excellent Welsh essay on the Folk Lore of\nCarmarthenshire, says that he had been informed by a middle aged\nperson of a curious old custom of playing with eggs. Mr. Williams's\ninformant when a child and other children with him, had been taught\nby an old woman how to play some peculiar game with eggs on this day,\nwhich was something as follows:--Eggs were boiled for two or three\nhours till they were as hard as stones. The children used to colour\ntheir eggs for the prettiest by boiling them in coffee with certain\nherbs, etc., then for half of the day, they kept throwing the eggs at\neach other. This curious kind of play reminds me of a similar practice\nwhich I noticed in South America many years ago, more especially in\nthe Argentine Republic, where it was customary for the first half of\nthe day for people to throw eggs, water, etc., at each other, and this\nwas done even in the sheets of Buenos Ayres. The custom was known as\n\"El Carnival,\" that is giving way to the flesh before the beginning\nof Lent or Fasting Time.\n\nIn the North of England boys play with eggs on Easter Eve, and\ncenturies ago eggs were blest by the Priest and preserved as Amulates.\n\nIt was once customary for the tenants of Nanteos, in North\nCardiganshire, to give to their landlord Shrove Hens and Eggs (ieir\nac wyau Ynyd). This was undoubtedly a survival of the old custom of\npaying rent, or a portion of it, \"in kind.\"\n\nTo render in kind ducks and geese, loads of coal, etc., was continued\nyearly, both in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire within living memory.\n\n\n\nLENT.\n\nThere was an old custom once in Wales of taking an egg-shell, filled\nwith water, little meat, flour, etc., to a house of a neighbour,\nand leave it on the outside of the window while all the family were\nhaving their supper, and then run away, for if they were caught in\ndoing it, they were obliged to clean old shoes as a punishment. The\negg-shell used on the occasion was called \"Crochan Grawys\" (Lent\nCauldron). Some old people remember this in Carmarthenshire.\n\n\n\nPALM SUNDAY.\n\nI have already, in my Chapter on Funeral Customs, referred to the\nbeautiful old Welsh Custom of decorating the graves on Palm Sunday.\n\n\n\nGOOD FRIDAY.\n\nGood Friday in Welsh is called \"Dydd Gwener Groglith (The Lesson of\nthe Cross Friday).\n\nNot much notice is taken at present day of the day, and the services\nconducted in the Parish Churches in country places are as a rule\npoorly attended. In former times there were many interesting customs\nand strange superstitions in connection with the day, especially in\nthe South of Pembrokeshire, where there was once a custom called\n\"Making Christ's Bed,\" which was done by gathering a quantity of\nlong reeds from the river and woven into the shape of a man. Then\nthis was stretched on a wooden cross, and laid in a field.\n\nIt is said that it was customary in that particular part of West\nWales, especially at Tenby, to walk barefooted to Church, and that\nsuch Pre-Reformation custom continued till the close of the eighteenth\ncentury, which was done so as not to disturb the earth! In returning\nfrom Church the people regaled themselves with hot cross buns, and\nafter reaching the house they were eaten. But a certain number of them\nwere tied up in a bag, and hung in the kitchen, where they remained\ntill the next Good Friday, for medical purposes, for it was believed\nthat the eating of one of them cured diseases. They were also used\nas a panacea for the diseases of animals, as well as serviceable to\nfrighten away evil spirits and goblins. These hot cross buns which\nfigured in such a peculiar manner in South Pembrokeshire, nothing is\nknown of them in the adjoining counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan,\namong the country people; it is possible, however, that they were\nknown there prior to the Reformation or even after. But perhaps the bun\ncustom was unknown in those two counties, and it had been introduced\ninto South Pembrokeshire (where the people are not of Welsh origin),\nfrom England or some other country. Some writers trace the origin\nof hot cross buns to the cakes which the pagan Saxons used to eat\nin honour of their goddess Eostre, and that the custom dates back to\npre-historic times, and that their connection with the Cross of our\nSaviour is only by adoption. How far this is true it is impossible\nto know with certainty; but it is evident that the early Christians\nadopted many pagan rites and customs. According to Hone's Year Book,\nthe hot cross buns are the ecclesiastic Eulogiae or Consecrated Loaves\nbestowed in the Church as alms, and to those who could not receive the\nHost. It was once the custom in Wales to express abhorrence of Judas\nIscariot, and the curious custom of flogging him is still in vogue\nin South America. In former times Good Friday was the day on which\nrings were blessed by Kings and given away as remedies for the cramp.\n\n\n\nEASTER.\n\nIt is deemed essential by many people to wear some new article of\ndress, if only a pair of gloves or a new ribbon; for not to do so\nis considered unlucky, and the birds will be angry with you. It is\nprobable that the origin of this custom is associated with Easter\nbaptism, when a new life was assumed by the baptised, clothed in\nrighteousness as a garment. In former times people had such respect\nfor this day that many kept their children unbaptised till Easter\nSunday, and many old men and old women went to Church to receive the\nCommunion who were hardly to be seen in the Lord's House on any other\nSunday during the year.\n\nThere was once an old fancy in Wales that the sun used to dance for\njoy when it rose on Easter morning, and great care was taken in some\nplaces to get up the children and young people to see such sight of the\nsun dancing in honour of the rising of our Lord. The sun was sometimes\naided in this performance by a bowl of clear water, into which the\nyouth must look and see the orb dance, as it would be dangerous to\nlook directly on the sun while thus engaged. The religious dance of\nthe ancient Druids is believed to exist in modern times in a round\ndance wherein the figures imitate the motions of the sun and moon. See\n\"British Goblins,\" by Sykes, page 274.\n\n\n\nFIRST DAY OF APRIL.\n\nApril fool, known in Wales as \"Ffwl Ebrill,\" was observed as in\nEngland, and still observed to a certain extent.\n\n\n\nMAY.\n\nThe old customs and superstitions in connection with May Day are\nunknown in Wales in the present day, once, however, May-day dances\nand revelling were most popular, especially in Pembrokeshire, as\nthe following interesting account which appeared in the \"Cambrian\nJournal\" proves:--\n\n\"On May-eve, the inhabitants would turn out in troops, bearing in their\nhands boughs of thorn in full blossom, which were bedecked with other\nflowers, and then stuck outside the windows of the houses. Maypoles\nwere reared up in different parts of the town (of Tenby), decorated\nwith flowers, coloured papers, and bunches of variegated ribbon. On\nMay-day the young men and maidens would, joining hand in hand, dance\nround the May-poles, and \"thread the needle,\" as it was termed. A group\nof fifty to a hundred persons would wend their ways from one pole to\nanother, till they had thus traversed the town. Meeting on their way\nother groups, who were coming from an opposite direction, both parties\nwould form a \"lady's chain,\" and to pass on their respective ways.\"\n\nThe May-pole was once most popular in Wales, but the old custom has\nentirely died out, though we still hear occasionally of a May Queen\nbeing selected in some places.\n\n\n\nA PRESENT-DAY WELSH QUEEN OF MAY.\n\nThe May-pole in Wales was called Bedwen, because it was always made\nof birch which is called in Welsh Bedwen, a tree associated with the\ngentler emotions; and as I have already observed in another chapter,\nto give a lover a birchen branch, is for a maiden to accept his\naddresses. Games of various sorts were played around the bedwen. The\nfame of a village depended on its not being stolen away, and parties\nwere constantly on the alert to steal the bedwen, a feat which, when\naccomplished, was celebrated with peculiar festivities. This rivalry\nfor the possession of the May-pole was probably typical of the ancient\nidea that the first of May was the boundary day dividing the confines\nof winter and summer, when a fight took place between the powers of\nthe air, on the one hand striving to continue the reign of winter on\nthe other to establish that of summer.\n\nHere may be cited the Mabinogi of Kilhwch and Olwen, where it speaks\nof the daughter of Lludd Llaw Eraint. She was the most splendid maiden\nin the three Islands of the mighty, and in three islands adjacent,\nand for her does Gwyn Ap Nudd, the fairy King, fight every first of\nMay till the day of doom.\n\nShe was to have been the bride of Gwythyr, the son of Greidawl,\nwhen Gwyn Ap Nudd carried her off by force. The bereaved bridegroom\nfollowed, and there was a bloody struggle, in which Gwyn was\nvictorious, and he acted most cruelly, for he slew an old warrior,\ntook out his heart from his breast, and constrained the warrior's\nson to eat the heart of his father.\n\nWhen Arthur heard of this he summoned Gwyn Ap Nudd before him,\nand deprived him of the fruits of his victory. But he condemned the\ntwo combatants to fight for the maiden Olwen henceforth for ever on\nevery first of May till doomsday; the victor on that day to possess\nthe maiden.\n\nIn former times a fire of logs was kindled on the first day of May,\naround which it was customary for men and women, youths and maidens,\nto dance hand in hand, singing to the harp, and some of the men would\nleap over the fire, even at the peril of being burnt. The origin of\nsuch strange custom is undoubtedly to be traced to the \"belltaine\"\nfires of the Druids.\n\nIt seems these bon-fires were lighted in some parts of Wales on\nMidsummer Eve, and the \"Glain Nadrodd\" (snake-stones) were also,\naccording to Welsh traditions, associated with the same time of\nthe year.\n\nIt is called Glain Nadrodd from the old Welsh tradition that it is\nmade by snakes at some special gathering among them, when one of\ntheir number is made a kind of sacrifice out of the body of which\nthey manufacture the stone. It is of a greenish colour and of the\nsize of an ordinary marble. To find a \"Glain Nadrodd\" is considered\na very lucky omen and they were anciently used as charms. It was\nalso believed in former times that the bon-fires lighted in May or\nMidsummer protected the lands from sorcery, so that good crops would\nfollow. The ashes were also considered valuable as charms.\n\n\n\nALLHALLOW'S EVE (NOS CALAN GAEA.)\n\nThe Eve of All Saints is known in Wales as \"Nos Calan Gaeaf,\" and\nin former times there were many old customs in connection with it,\nmost of which have now disappeared. I have already given an account\nof the Love Charms and spells which were performed on this eve, and\namongst other strange doings, the uncanny custom of going round the\nChurch in order to see the spirit of a future husband or wife. But\nthere was in some places another weird ceremony of going round the\nchurch at midnight, and look in through the keyhole in order to see\nthe spectral forms, or to hear a spirit calling the names of all those\nwho were to die in the neighbourhood during the year; that is during\nthe coming twelve months from that date, which seems to suggest that\nthe new year began at this time once in old times. Many were afraid,\nespecially children, of going out on Allhallow's Eve as the night\namong the Welsh was one of the \"tair nos ysprydion\" (three spirits'\nnights) as it was supposed that the spirits were free to roam about,\nand a demon at large in the form of a \"Hwch ddu gwta\" (black sow\nwithout a tail)\n\n\n   \"Nos Calan Gaea',\n    Bwbach ar bob camfa.\"\n\n    (On Allhallow's Eve,\n    A bogie on every stile.)\n\n\nOn this eve it was formerly the custom to kindle a bonfire, a practice\nwhich continued to a more recent date in the Northern part of the\nPrincipality than in the South.\n\nBesides fuel, each person present used to throw into the fire a small\nstone, with a mark whereby he should know it again. If he succeeded\nin finding the stone on the morrow, the year would be a lucky one\nfor him, but the contrary if he failed to recover it.\n\nThose who assisted at the making of the bonfire watched until the\nflames were out, and then somebody would raise the usual cry, when each\nran away for his life, lest he should be found last, and be overtaken\nby the 'bogie.'--(See \"Celtic Folk-Lore,\" by Sir J. Rhys, page 225.)\n\nWhen a boy, I well remember young men and boys who were full of\nmischief, making a hollow inside a turnip, and having put a candle\nin it, carried it about as a bogie to frighten timid people.\n\nAllhallow's Eve is known in many parts of West Wales as \"Nos twco\nfale,\" (apple snatching night), and the game of snatching apples, has\nbeen continued in some districts until only a few years ago. Apples\nand candles, fastened to strings, were suspended from the ceiling\nand the merry-makers in trying to catch the apple frequently got\nthe candle instead, to the great amusement of those present. Another\namusing custom was to try to bring up an apple with the teeth from\na tub of water.\n\nIn some parts of the country, especially Carmarthenshire, it was\ncustomary to peel the apple carefully, and throw it, that is the peel,\nback over the head. Then when this peel had fallen on the floor behind\none's back, particular notice was taken in what form it appeared, and\nwhenever it resembled a letter of the Alphabet, the same was supposed\nto be the first letter of the Christian name of the thrower's future\nwife or husband.\n\n\n\nHARVEST CUSTOMS, Etc.\n\n\"Y Gaseg Fedi, or Harvest Mare.\"\n\nIn West and Mid-Wales there have been various harvest customs, the\nmost interesting of which was probably the Harvest Mare, known in\nCardiganshire and Carmarthenshire as \"Y Gaseg Fedi, or Gaseg Ben-Fedi,\"\nbut in Pembrokeshire it was called \"Y Wrach.\" This took place at the\nend of the harvest.\n\nThere was a large crowd of both men and women reaping on the last\nday; and by working at the harvest in this manner small cottagers\nand other poor people paid the farmer for the privilege of planting\na few rows of potatoes in the land, and for the loan of a horse and\ncart, or for carting home coal, etc.. By working at the harvest poor\npeople paid their debt to the farmer, and still do so to a certain\nextent. To each of the women who worked at the harvest was given a\ncandle to take home with her every evening, and to the men a little\ntobacco was given to those who indulged in the bad habit of smoking.\n\nAn old woman 98 years of age, who lived near Crosswood, Cardiganshire,\ninformed me about three years ago that she well recollected when a\nchild that a farmer who lived at Penllwyn, in the Vale of Rheidol,\nused to give to each of the men and women a sheaf to take home with\nthem in the evening, and that this farmer was the only one in the\ncountry who did this within her memory, and that he did it as he had\nseen his father doing so. The old lady also added that the custom\nhad been general once.\n\nIt was the custom once to \"dwrn fedi\" (fist reaping) a very laborious\nwork, for our forefathers had no scythes nor machines in former times,\nso that the sickle was everything. It was customary once for a number\nof farmers in the same district to arrange together not to cut their\nfields on the same day so that they might be able to assist each\nother. A few men would come together on an appointed day from each\nfarm in the district that they might be able to cut and bind all the\ncorn of one farm in a single day; and it is still the custom in many\nplaces to do this in connection with hay as well as shearing sheep\non the mountains.\n\nThe Gaseg Fedi (harvest mare) at the end of the harvest was a small\nquantity of the last corn which was left standing in the field, and\ntied up carefully; and great excitement existed, and much amusement\nwas created when the last standing was reached. There was a good\ndeal of fun in connection with cutting the mare. Each reaper in his\nturn was allowed to throw his sickle at the corn until it was cut,\nfrom a distance of about 15 or 20 yards. The most unskilful were\nallowed to try first, at last some one would succeed in cutting it\ndown amidst cheers. After cutting it down, it was customary in some\nplaces, especially in the North of Cardiganshire for one of the men\nto take the mare to a neighbouring farm, where the harvest had not\nbeen completed, and where the reapers would be still busy at work. The\nman who took the mare in this manner was very careful to go, or crept\nwithout being observed, and stealthily stationed himself over against\nthe foreman of his neighbour's reapers, he watched an opportunity,\nwhen within easy distance of throwing it suddenly over the hedge into\nhis neighbour's field, and if possible upon the foreman's sickle and\nat the same time repeating some insulting words and took to his heels\nwith all speed to escape the flying sickle of the reapers whom he had\ninsulted which were hurled after him, and sometimes he was in peril\nof his life. In some districts in Carmarthenshire, it was sometimes\nthe practice to be as bold as to take the Gaseg even to the very house\nof the neighbour, but this was considered more insulting if anything\nthan throwing it into his field.\n\nAccording to old people who remembered the custom in their younger\ndays, they informed me that it was not considered right to throw\nthe mare into the field of a farmer who lived in another parish,\nor over a river or even a brook. I was also informed by some that it\nwas not allowable to bear it up hill to a field which stood on a more\nelevated ground. It was often the custom especially in Carmarthenshire\nand Pembrokeshire, instead of throwing it into a neighbour's field, to\nconvey it home to the house, that is to the house of the farmer himself\nwho had finished his harvest that day. The honour of bearing it home\nin this manner belonged to the one who had succeeded in cutting it,\nbut the difficult part of it was how to take it into the house dry,\nfor it was absolutely necessary that it should be taken into the\nhouse without being wetted. And this was not always an easy task as\nthe servant maids at the house carefully stored water in buckets and\npans ready to throw over the man and his Caseg Fedi at his entrance;\nand sometimes he would have a pretty rough time of it. In order to\nprevent this the man tried to appear as indifferent as possible so as\nnot to be suspected by the girls. Consequently, he carefully hid the\nmare under his clothes, but in spite of everything he was sometimes\nstripped of some part of his garment or deluged with water. But when he\ncould succeed in bringing it into the house dry and hung it up without\nbeing observed, the master had to pay the bearer a shilling or two,\nor to give him plenty of beer. But the master was spared to pay the\nshilling if the girls could succeed in wetting the mare. These curious\nold customs have been discontinued, but it is still the practice\nwith some to bring a handful of corn into the house tied up under\nthe name of the mare. At supper that evening there was a good deal\nof fun. John Wright, Bailiff of Stackpole in Pembrokeshire, refers to\nthe custom as follows when writing to his master, Mr. Pryce Campbell,\nAugust, 1736:--\"Whilst I was abroad (he had been in Cardiganshire)\nthe harvest people cut the neck, and, notwithstanding all the\nstones about the court (this house was being rebuilt), would have\na dance. The dance was the Three Shopkins. There was a noble feast,\nthe bill of fare was as follows:--Four quarters of mutton, a side of\nbacon, a piece of beef weighing half a hundred-weight, twelve gallons\nof Buding besides, cabotch and other greens. They seemed very well\npleased with their entertainment.\" It was customary in some places\nto have a harvest queen attired in white gown decorated with ears\nof wheat and roses. In other places a sheaf of wheat was decorated\nwith ribbons and taken home to the farm on the top of the last load,\nwhen the horses were also very gaily decked.\n\nAt the close of the harvest it was an universal custom to have a\nharvest supper, and after the feast there was a merry time. The\nRev. D. G. Williams mentions \"Chware Dai Shon Goch\" and \"Rhibo\"\nas favourite games on such occasions.\n\n\"Chware Dai Shon Goch\" was something as follows:--\n\nTwo young men, or two young women would put on some old ragged clothes\nkept at the farm for that purpose, and thus attired would proceed\nto the barn where a walking-stick was given to each of the two. Then\nfollowed a most curious dance to the great amusement of the company\nof beholders. At present, however, the Welshpeople in country places\nknow nothing of dancing; but it is evident that they were much given\nto dancing in former times as well as singing to the harp. Owen Tudor,\nthe Welsh gentleman who became the grandfather of Henry VII., King\nof England, was invited to dance some of the dances of Wales before\nKatherine, the beautiful widow of Henry V. While the handsome young\nWelshman was dancing one of his wild reels, it chanced that he fell\nagainst the Queen, and the latter with a bewitching smile, said,\n\"that so far from offending her, it would only increase the pleasure\nof herself and company, if he would repeat the same false step or\nmistake!\" Later on, Katherine and Owen Tudor were married.\n\nAnother game on such occasions was \"Rhibo\" which was something as\nfollows:--\n\nSix young men were selected for the performance, three standing face\nto face to the other three, and each one taking hold of the hands of\nthe one who faced him. Then upon the arms of these six young men,\na young man and a young woman were placed in a leaning posture who\nwere thrown up and allowed to fall again into the arms of the young\nmen, and this ceremony continued for some time, and which appeared\nto be rather a rough game, but it is not practised at the present day.\n\nIn former times it was customary at some farms to blow the horn\nat harvest time to call the reapers both to their work and their\nmeals. Such horn was made use of for that purpose until very recently\nat a farm called Eurglodd, eight miles north of Aberystwyth in\nCardiganshire.\n\n\n\nCYNNOS.\n\n\"Cynnos\" was a practice among the farmers of West Wales, and\nparticularly Cardiganshire, of taking the corn to the kiln to be dried\non the night before the grinding; it was customary to sit watching it\nall night and carefully attend to the drying operations, that is the\nturning of the corn on the kiln, and the sweeping of it off, when\nit had been sufficiently dried. The meaning of the word \"Cynnos\"\nis unknown, according to some writers it is a form of \"cynwys\"\n(contents)--that is the contents of a stack of corn; but according\nto others it meant \"cyn-nos\" (the night before) that is the night\nbefore the grinding.\n\nIt is true that the farmers sent small quantities of corn to the mill\nat any time of the year; but the big annual \"cynnos\" was prepared,\nas a rule, about January or February. This \"Cynnos\" was a night of\ngreat fun, especially for young people, as many of the friends and\nneighbours of those who were engaged in drying the corn came together\nin the evening. An old gentleman named Thomas Evans, Gwarallyryn in\nthe parish of Llandyssul, Cardiganshire, who well remembered the\nold custom, gave me an interesting account of it. This meeting of\nyoung men and young women and others at the kiln during the Cynnos to\nenjoy themselves with games and story telling was known, said he, as\n\"Shimli,\" which often continued all night. Sometimes beer known as\n\"Fetchin,\" was sent for, and drank around the kiln fire. When the\nflour was taken home, it was put in chests. Previous to the beginning\nof the 19th century before kilns attached to the mills became general,\nmany of the farm houses had a kiln for drying the corn at home, but\nof a very primitive sort. Mr. Price in his interesting little book on\nLlansawel, in Carmarthenshire, says that the last kiln of the sort for\ndrying the corn at home in that parish was in use at a farm called\nCilwenau isaf, worked as late as 1845. He also adds that the shape\nand the build of this primitive contrivance was something as follows:--\n\nOn a gentle-sloping ground a hollow, three yards long, two yards wide,\nand two deep, was cut, and two planks placed at right angles to each\nother, their ends resting on the surface outside the hollow. These\nserved to support the sticks which were placed regularly over the kiln\nuntil covered. Over the whole clean straw was laid, upon which the\ncorn was placed to be dried. Underneath all this and at the lower\nend of the kiln, the fire was placed, so that the heat and smoke\nwent under the straw contrivance above. About the month of May,\nit was once customary in Pembrokeshire for farmers to bring their\n\"Benwent,\" that is, two or three loads of grain to the mill to be\nground and milled, and young men and young women came together on\nsuch occasions, and indulged in a sport known as \"Byng,\" or dressing\nup a horse's head and carrying it about, not unlike \"Mari Lwyd.\" The\nRev. Jenkin Evans, Pontfaen, in the \"Pembrokeshire Antiquities,\"\nalso adds that it was customary on May Day for women and children to\ngo round the farmhouses with their basins to receive butter, which\nenabled poor people to enjoy butter on their bread for some weeks.\n\n\n\nGLEANING.\n\nWithin living memory, farmers in Cardiganshire allowed poor people\nto glean in the fields at the seasons of harvest and ingathering,\nand indeed this seems to have been a general custom once in all parts\nof the Kingdom, and directed by the law of Moses.\n\n\n\nCWRW BACH.\n\nThere was once an old custom in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, of\nmaking what was known as \"Cwrw Bach\"; that is, people met at a house\non a certain evening to drink home-brewed beer, and indulge in games,\nin order to give the profits from the sale of it to assist helpless\nold people and others who were in real poverty. This is not done now,\nbut we still hear of some farmers in Pembrokeshire, making their own\nbeer for those who work at the harvest.\n\n\n\nPERAMBULATION.\n\nBeating the Bounds of a Parish was a very old custom in Wales; and\naccording to the Rev. George Eyre Evans, this was done at Bettws Ivan,\nSouth Cardiganshire, as late as May 22nd, 1819, when Banners were\ncarried round the Parish on the Boundaries.\n\n\n\nSHEEP SHEARING CUSTOMS.\n\nThe following extract which I translate from an introduction to a\nvolume of Welsh Poems known as \"Cerddi Cerngoch,\" gives an interesting\naccount of Sheep Shearing customs in West Wales fifty years ago:--\n\n\"A great day at Blaenplwyf was the sheep shearing day, The sheep\nwere kept for the summer at Bronbyrfe, Llanddewi Brefi, with John\nJenkins. During Ffair Beder (Peter's Fair) July 10th every year there\nwas a \"cnaif\" (shearing). Good many were anxious to get the \"fei.\" The\nservice of about half-a-dozen neighbours was secured to look after\nthe shearing. David Davies, Rhiwonen; John Davies, Pantfedwen; Thomas\nDavies, Pencoed; Daniel Davies, Gelligwenin, had been doing it; and\nmy father, and my uncles of Trecefel, Pant, Penbryn and Clwtpatrwn,\nwere faithful year after year. To swell the company, others from time\nto time took a day's holiday and enjoyment, and amongst many others,\nMr. J. E. Rogers, Abermeurig; Rev. Evan Evans, Hafod; Rev. John Davies,\nLlandeloy; Thos. Thomas (Norton Brewery), Carmarthen; Ben. Jenkins,\nsolicitor; Aeronian, etc.\n\nLlwyd, Llundain, told me: \"When my father failed going to the shearing,\nmy brother Shanco, or myself, was allowed to go, and we longed to go,\nfor it was the very thing for us. Little work and plenty of enjoyment,\nand you know that not one of Shencyn Grufydd's family had any objection\nto a thing of that kind. A start was made from Blaenplwyf at five\no'clock in the morning. At first it was customary to proceed on horses\nthrough Llanfair and over the bog and meadow to Bronbyrfe. One or\ntwo young women went to look after the wool. It was brought home on\nhorses. After that 'gist cart' and the 'long body' came in use, and\nlastly the 'gambo.' When going over the mountain one time (1855), and\n'Cerngoch,' to be sure, among the foremost of the mounted band, Shencyn\ngave out the order to form into a rank as soldiers, and after getting\nthings into order, he said:--\"Here we are now like cavalry attacking\nthe Russians.\" \"Not quite so,\" said Cerngoch, \"if we were in the\nCrimea, you my little brother, would not be so far in advance of us.\"\n\nTimothy and Benjamin were in School of Parkyvelvet, under the\ncelebrated old tutor, Rev. Titus Evans, in 1855, and both of them\nand their second cousin, Mr. Thomas, Myrtle Villa, Wellfield Road,\nCarmarthen (now) had come on their holidays, and forming a part of\nthe company. As Mr. Thomas was a townsman, he was not acquainted with\nthe horse and the land, so the horse went out of the path, and into\nthe bog, and Cerngoch sang at once:--\n\n\n  \"'Roedd mab o dre Caerfyrddin,\n    Yn steilus iawn a'i ferlin;\n    Wrth dd'od ar 'mynydd yn y mawn,\n    Bu'n isel iawn ei asyn.\"\n\n\n.... After reaching Bronbyrfe, those who were responsible went in for\nthe shearing; but the others scattered along the small brooks which\nwere close by in order to fish; each one with his favourite tackle,\nhands, fly, hook and bait, etc. Hywel was by far the master. When\nall the others had failed with the fly and bait, Hywel would have\na basketful. He was so clever with the fly--the bait according\nto the colour of the water.... After eating the black nourishing\nfish, and ending the shearing, it was customary to go home through\nLlanddewi. The young men of Llanddewi knew when the Blaenplwyf shearing\ntook place, and were watching them on their homeward journey with great\nexcitement. Then (at Llanddewi) a game of ball was played on the corner\nof the old chapel, near the Foelallt Arms since then. Not an air ball\nas at present, but a ball of yarn carefully wound up, and covered with\nleather as tight as possible. Four were the required number intended\nto take part in the game, two on each side. \"After drinking the health\nof those who won, off goes the party, each one for the first making for\nBettws, about five miles nearer home. Then a game of quoits took place\non the commons, as the horses were having their breath, a good excuse\nfor the men to get a drop of \"home-brewed\" at the Derry Arms. Two miles\nmore, and they reach home at Blaenplwyf at 9 p.m., after a busy and\nenjoyable day. A feast waited them, my grandmother having been busy\nall day preparing--cawl--new potatoes--white cabbages--and gooseberry\ntart. She could make delicious food and taught her daughters also to\ndo so.\"\n\n\n\nTAI UNNOS (ONE NIGHT HOUSES).\n\nIn former times in Wales when the population was small, much of the\nland in mountainous regions was a common, and the farmers and others\nwere at liberty to send their cattle and sheep there to graze, and\npeople obtained peat from such places to burn on the fire. But if a\npoor family could succeed to erect a small rude house, or hut in one\nnight on the outskirts of a common, or a desolate spot on the mountain\nside, or a dreary dingle, they claimed from ancient usage their right\nto the spot. Such a house was called \"Ty Unnos\" (one night house). If\na man building a Ty Unnos of such kind was discovered in building it\nduring the night by one of his neighbours, people would come and throw\nit down and scatter everything, to prevent him taking possession of a\nplace which they regarded as belonging to all. So that any one building\na Ty Unnos had to do it in one single night, and that secretly,\nwithout being detected. I recollect such a house being built on the\nmountain of Llanddewi Brefi many years ago when I was a boy. After\nsecuring a house in this manner the next step was to add land to it,\ntaken and enclosed patch by patch from the surrounding common, so\nthat quite a farm of freehold property was created in course of time,\nif the intrusion remained unnoticed. But it was necessary for a man\nto show a great deal of shrewdness to secure a farm in this manner.\n\nIn the parish of Llanarth, Cardiganshire, there is a spot known as\n\"Mynydd Shion Cwilt.\" According to tradition this Shion Cwilt was\na shrewd and eccentric character who built a Ty-Unnos, and secured\nmuch land from Common.\n\n\n\nTHE CEFFYL PREN.\n\nIn former times, public sarcasm and derision did much to dispel vice\nand reform offenders.\n\nIn West Wales \"Ceffyl Pren\" was resorted to when a man was supposed\nto have been unfaithful to his wife whom he had promised to cherish,\nor a woman who had broken her marriage covenant.\n\nIt was customary to make a straw man riding a straw horse, as an\neffigy to represent the guilty. Such effigies were carried round the\nmost public places in order to make those who were guilty of breaking\nthe Seventh Commandment ashamed of themselves. The procession was a\nvery noisy one, and accompanied by men with horns and brass, etc.,\nand sometimes a song was composed for the occasion.\n\nSuch procession went round the neighbourhood for about three weeks,\nand sometimes a gun was carried to shoot the straw rider.\n\nAt last the effigies were burnt before the house or houses of the\nguilty, and then the crowd dispersed.\n\nIt is supposed that such custom has come down from the time of the\nDruids when it was customary to burn evil-doers in effigies of straw\nas sacrifices to the gods.\n\nIn some cases people were not satisfied in carrying an effigy, but\nseized the guilty man and woman, and carried them publicly on a ladder\nfor miles round the country.\n\n\n\nTHE EMPLOYMENT OF DOGS TO TURN ROASTING-SPITS.\n\nIt was customary in former times to place a dog inside a wheel which\nhe turned with his fore-feet, the wheel being connected by a chain\nwith the wheel end of the spit.\n\nThere was a dog employed in turning the roasting-spit in this manner\nat Newcastle Emlyn about one hundred years ago.\n\n\n\nKNAPPAN.\n\nThis ancient game takes its name from the ball used, which was some\nhard wood, and well greased for each occasion and just small enough\nto be grasped in one hand. Running with the ball was the chief method,\nand the distance between the goals was several miles.\n\nGeorge Owen, of Henllys, in Pembrokeshire, gives a full account of\nKnappan, and how it was played in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and\nit seems that the ancient game survived the longest in the northern\npart of that county, and the South of Cardiganshire, and on Corpus\nChristi Day there was a regular contest between the two districts,\nwhen 2,000 came together, and some horsemen as well. The game was\nregarded as the best training for war.\n\nIt is thought that the great football contests between Llandyssul and\nLlanwenog which were popular on Good Fridays about seventy years ago,\nwere the outcome of the ancient game of Knappan.\n\n\n\nTHROWING THE BAR.\n\n\"Cryfder dan bwysau,\" or displaying strength in hurling a stone,\nor throwing a bar, which was one of the ancient Welsh games.\n\nMeyrick, in his \"History of Cardiganshire,\" writing one hundred years\nago, says that casting of the bar was still continued in his time,\nparticularly in Cardiganshire, \"where the people have a meeting\nonce a year at certain Chapels, Yspytty Ystwith, Yspytty Cenvyn,\netc., for this purpose. They remain in the Chapel all night to try\ntheir activity in wrestling, all the benches being removed, and the\nspectators, different from ancient regulations, are generally young\nwomen, and old champions, who are to see fair play.\"\n\n\n\nSCHOOL CUSTOMS.\n\nIn South Wales, especially Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, about\nseventy or eighty years ago, most curious customs were in vogue,\nwhich were intended to assist the Welsh children to learn English.\n\nIn many Schools in those days, English was taught in rhymes, such\nas follows:--\n\n\n   \"Hearth is aelwyd, fire is t\u00e2n,\n    Cloth is brethyn, wool is gwlan,\n    Ash is onen, oak is derwen,\n    Holly tree is pren cerdynen,\n    House is ty, and mill is melin,\n    Fiddle is crwyth, and harp is telyn,\n    River is afon, brook is nant,\n    Twenty is ugnin, hundred is cant.\"\n\n\n\nTHE WELSH \"NOTE,\" OR \"NOT\".\n\nIn order to enforce the use of the English language in Schools the\nSchoolmasters of those days made use of what was called the Welsh\n\"Note,\" which was a piece of stick about three or four inches long,\nwith the letters \"W.N.\" marked on it, and in some places it had the\nfollowing words in full: \"Welsh Note, a slap for every time you speak\nWelsh.\" This \"Welsh Note\" was in reality nothing but a devise to find\nout the children who spoke Welsh, as it was then thought that unless\nthe mother tongue was banished from Schools, monoglot Welsh children\ncould not learn English.\n\nDuring the night-time, of course, the \"Welsh Note\" was in possession\nof the Schoolmaster, who, when School began in the morning, gave\nit secretly to one of the boys with directions to keep it until\nhe caught some one speaking Welsh, to whom he was to hand it over,\nand this boy in his turn was to hand it over to another delinquent,\nand so forth. The \"Welsh Note\" might during the day perhaps pass\nthrough about twenty different hands; and at the close of the School\nin the evening the Schoolmaster would call for it and the boy in whose\npossession it was found got the first taste of the cane on his naked\nhand; then he returned it to the boy from whom he got it, and he in\nlike manner was caned in his turn, and so on over the twenty, more or\nless, each in his turn getting a taste of the cane, until the first\nboy is reached, whose name is on the register. Then the \"Welsh Note\"\nreturns to the Schoolmaster, ready for use for the next occasion.\n\nThere is no \"Welsh Note\" at the present day, and the Welsh language\nis taught in many if not in most of the Schools.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE FAIRIES (TYLWYTH TEG).\n\n\n                       \"In olde dayes of King Artour,\n                        Of which the Bretons speken gret honour,\n                        All was this lond fulfilled of Faerie;\n                        The elf-quene with hire joly compagnie\n                        Danced ful oft in many a grene mede.\n                        This was the old opinion as I rede,\n                        I speke of many hundred yeres ago;\n                        But now can no man see non elves mo.\"\n\n                                                              --Chaucer.\n\n\nA book dealing with Superstitions and popular beliefs would be\nincomplete without assigning a prominent place to the Fairies, or\n\"Tylwyth Teg,\" as they are called in Welsh. It is true that in Wales,\nas in other places, the Fairies have become things of the past;\nbut even in the present day many old people, and perhaps others,\nstill believe that such beings did once exist, and that the reason\nwhy they are not now to be seen is that they have been exorcised.\n\nMany of the Welsh Fairy Tales date from remote antiquity and are, in\ncommon with like legends of other countries, relics of the ancient\nmythology, in which the natural and the supernatural are blended\ntogether.\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF FAIRIES.\n\nConcerning the imaginary origin of the Fairies, it was once a belief\nin Wales that they were the souls of the virtuous Druids, who not\nhaving been Christians, could not enter into heaven, but were too\ngood to be cast into hell!\n\nAnother curious belief was that in our Saviour's time there lived\na woman whose fortune it was to be possessed of near a score of\nchildren, and as she saw our Blessed Lord approach her dwelling, being\nashamed of being so prolific, and that He might not see them all,\nshe concealed about half of them closely, and, after His departure,\nwhen she went in search of them, to her surprise she found they were\ngone. They never afterwards could be discovered, for it was supposed\nthat as a punishment from heaven, for hiding what God had given her,\nshe was deprived of them; and, it is said, these, her offspring,\nhave generated the race of beings called the Fairies.\n\nAs to the realistic origin of the Fairies, according to the theories\nof the learned, they were either the ancient Aborigines, living\nin seclusion so as to hide themselves from their more powerful\nconquerors, or the persecuted Druids living in subterraneous places,\nventuring forth only at night. Whether ancient Aborigines hiding from\ntheir conquerors or the Druids who were persecuted by both Romans\nand Christians the Rev. P. Roberts, author of \"Collectana Cambrica,\"\nobserves that they used these means to preserve themselves and their\nfamilies, and whilst the country was thinly peopled, and thickly\nwooded did so successfully, and perhaps to a much later period than\nis imagined.\n\nThere are dwelling at the present day on the river-banks of the\nCongo, in Africa, tribes of dwarfs, whose existence, until Sir Harry\nJohnston's recent discovery had been regarded as a myth; though they\nmust have lived there from time immemorial.\n\nThey exist in caves, and in their ways recall the\nfairies. \"Undoubtedly,\" says Sir Harry, \"to my thinking, most fairy\nmyths arose from the contemplation of the mysterious habits of dwarf\ntroglodite races lingering on still in the crannies, caverns, forests\nand mountains of Europe, after the invasion of neolithic man.\"\n\n\n\nFAIRY NAMES.\n\nThe Fairies are spoken of as people, or folk, not as myths or goblins,\nand yet as spirits they are immortal, and able to make themselves\ninvisible.\n\nThe most general name given them in Wales is \"Y Tylwyth Teg,\" (the\nFair Family, or Folk); but they are known sometimes as \"Bendith\ny Mamau\" (the Mothers' Blessing); and the term \"gwragedd Annwn,\"\n(dames of the lower regions), is often applied to the Fairy Ladies\nwho dwelt in lakes or under lakes. Sometimes such terms as \"Plant\nAnnwn,\" (children of the lower regions); Ellyll an elf; Bwbach etc.,\nwere applied to them, but such appellations have never been in common\nuse. They were also known as \"Plant Rhys Ddwfn\" in some parts of the\nVale of Teivy, more especially in the neighbourhood of Cardigan. But\nthe general term Tylwyth Teg, is known everywhere.\n\n\n\nFAIRY DRESS, DWELLING, ETC.\n\nThe Fairies were small handsome creatures in human form; very kind\nto, and often showered benefits on those who treated them kindly, but\nmost revengeful towards those who dared to treat them badly. They were\ndressed in green, and very often in white, and some of their maidens\nwere so beautiful, that young men sometimes would fall over head and\nears in love with them, especially whilst watching them dancing on\na moonlight night; for the old belief was concerning the Fairies,\nthat on moonlight nights they were wont to join hands, and form into\ncircles, and dance and sing with might and main until the cock crew,\nthen they would vanish.\n\nThe circles in the grass of green fields are still called \"Cylchau\ny Tylwyth Teg\" (Fairy Rings). These circles were numerous in Wales\nwhen I was a boy; and it was believed by many about forty years ago,\nif not later that some misfortune would befall any person entering\nthese circles, for I well remember being warned to keep away from\nthem. At the present time, however, I do not know of any person who is\nafraid of entering them; so it seems that the superstition respecting\nthe Fairy Rings has entirely died out during the last generation.\n\nAs to their dwellings, the Fairies were \"things under the earth,\" for\nthey were generally supposed to dwell in the lower regions, especially\nbeneath lakes, where their country towns and castles were situated;\nand the people on the coasts of Pembrokeshire  imagined that they\ninhabited certain enchanted green isles of the sea.\n\nThe green meadows of the sea, called in the old Welsh Triads Gwerddonau\nLlion, are the:\n\n\n   \"Green fairy islands, reposing,\n    In sunlight and beauty on ocean's calm breast.\"\n\n\nA British King in ancient times, whose name was Garvan is said to have\nsailed away in search of these islands, and never returned. Garvan's\nvoyage is commemorated in the Triads as one of the \"Three Losses by\nDisappearance.\" Southey after citing Dr. W. O. Pughe's article in the\n\"Cambrian Biography,\" goes on as follows:--\n\n\"Of these Islands, or Green Spots of the Floods, there are some\nsingular superstitions. They are the abode of the Tylwyth Teg, or the\nfair family, the souls of the virtuous Druids, who not having been\nChristians, cannot enter the Christian Heaven, but enjoy this heaven\nof their own. They, however, discover a love of mischief, neither\nbecoming happy spirits, nor consistent with their original character;\nfor they love to visit the earth, and seizing a man, inquire whether\nhe will travel above wind, mid-wind, or below wind; above wind is\na giddy and terrible passage, below wind is through bush and brake,\nthe middle is a safe course. But the spell of security is, to catch\nhold of the grass. In their better moods they come over and carry\nthe Welsh in their boats. He who visits these islands imagines on\nhis return that he has been absent only a few hours, when, in truth,\nwhole centuries have past away. If you take a turf from St. David's\nChurchyard, and stand upon it on the sea shore, you behold these\nIslands. A man once who thus obtained sight of them, immediately put\nto sea to find them; but his search was in vain. He returned, looked\nat them again from the enchanted turf, again set sail, and failed\nagain. The third time he took the turf into his vessel, and stood upon\nit till he reached them.\" Wirt Sikes, in his \"British Goblins,\" page 8,\nsays that there are sailors on the romantic coasts of Pembrokeshire,\nand southern Carmarthenshire who still talk of the green meadows of\nenchantment, which are visible sometimes to the eyes of mortals, but\nonly for a brief space, and they suddenly vanish. He also adds that\nthere are traditions of sailors who, in the early part of the 19th\ncentury, actually went ashore on the fairy islands--not knowing that\nthey were such, until they returned to their boats, when they were\nfilled with awe at seeing the islands disappear from their sight,\nneither sinking in the sea, nor floating away upon the waters, but\nsimply vanishing suddenly. In the account I have just given, a turf\nfrom St. David's Churchyard to stand upon enabled one to behold the\nenchanted lands of the Fairies; but according to traditions in other\nparts of the country, it seems that a certain spot in Cemmes was the\nrequisite platform, to see these mythical beings who were known in\nsome parts as Plant Rhys Ddwfn (Children of Rhys the Deep).\n\nIn the Brython, Vol. I., page 130, Gwynionydd says as follows:--\n\n\"There is a tale current in Dyfed, that there is, or rather that\nthere has been a country between Cemmes, the Northern Hundred of\nPembrokeshire, and Aberdaron in Lleyn. The chief patriarch of the\ninhabitants was Rhys Ddwfn, and his descendants used to be called\nafter him the Children of Rhys Ddwfn.\n\n\"They were, it is said, a handsome race enough, but remarkably small\nin size. It is stated that certain herbs of a strange nature grew in\ntheir land, so that they were able to keep their country from being\nseen by even the most sharp-sighted invaders.\n\n\"There is no account that these remarkable herbs grew in any other\npart of the world, excepting on a small spot, a square yard in area\nin a certain part of Cemmes. If it chanced that a man stood alone\non it, he beheld the whole of the territory of Plant Rhys Ddwfn;\nbut the moment he moved he would lose sight of it altogether, and it\nwould have been nearly vain to look for his footprints.\"\n\n\n\nFAIRIES MARRYING MORTALS.\n\nIn some of the stories about Fairies, we find Fairy Ladies marrying\nmortals, but always conditionally, and in the end the husband does\nsome prohibited thing which breaks the marriage contract, and his\nFairy wife vanishes away. The most beautiful Fairy Legend of this\nkind is undoubtedly the\n\n\n\nLADY OF LLYN Y VAN VACH IN CARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nSeveral versions have appeared from time to time of this story,\nbut the most complete one is the one which appeared in Mr. Rees, of\nTonn, in his interesting introduction to \"The Physicians of Myddvai,\"\npublished by the Welsh Manuscript Society, at Llandovery, in 1861;\nand this is also the version which was reproduced by Principal Sir\nJ. Rhys, of Oxford, in his great work on Celtic Folk-lore.\n\nAbout five years ago, I came across several old persons in the parish\nof Myddvai, who could repeat portions of the story, but nothing new,\nso I give the version of Mr. Rees of Tonn, which is as follows:--\n\n\"When the eventful struggle made by the Princes of South Wales to\npreserve the independency of their country was drawing to its close\nin the twelfth century, there lived at Blaensawdde, near Llandeusant,\nCarmarthenshire, a widowed woman, the relict of a farmer who had fallen\nin those disastrous troubles. The widow had an only son to bring up,\nbut Providence smiled upon her, and despite her forlorn condition,\nher live stock had so increased in course of time, that she could\nnot well depasture them upon her farm, so she sent a portion of her\ncattle to graze on the adjoining Black Mountain, and their most\nfavourite place was near the small lake called Llyn y Fan Fach,\non the north-western side of the Carmarthenshire Fans.\n\nThe son grew up to manhood, and was generally sent by his mother to\nlook after the cattle on the mountain. One day, in his peregrinations\nalong the margin of the lake, to his great astonishment, he beheld\nsitting on the unruffled surface of the water, a lady, one of the most\nbeautiful creatures that mortal eyes ever beheld, her hair flowed\ngracefully in ringlets over her shoulders, the tresses of which\nshe arranged with a comb, whilst the glassy surface of her watery\ncouch served for the purpose of a mirror, reflecting back her own\nimage. Suddenly she beheld the young man standing on the brink of\nthe lake, with his eyes riveted on her, and unconsciously offering\nto herself the provision of barley bread and cheese with which he\nhad been provided when he left his home.\n\n\"Bewildered by a feeling of love and admiration for the object\nbefore him, he continued to hold out his hand towards the lady, who\nimperceptibly glided near to him, but gently refused the offer of\nhis provisions. He attempted to touch her, but she eluded his grasp,\nsaying:--\n\n\n   \"Cras dy fara;\n    Nid hawdd fy nala.\n\n    Hard baked is thy bread!\n    'Tis not easy to catch me.\"\n\n\nand immediately dived under the water and disappeared, leaving the\nlove-stricken youth to return home, a prey to disappointment and\nregret that he had been unable to make further acquaintance with one,\nin comparison with whom the whole of the fair maidens of Llanddeusant\nand Myddfai whom he had ever seen were as nothing.\n\n\"On his return home, the young man communicated to his mother the\nextraordinary vision he had beheld. She advised him to take some\nunbaked dough or \"toes\" the next time in his pocket, as there must\nhave been some spell connected with the hard-baked bread, or \"Bara\ncras,\" which prevented his catching the lady.\n\n\"Next morning, before the sun had gilded with its rays the peaks of\nthe Fans, the young man was at the lake, not for the purpose of looking\nafter his mother's cattle, but seeking for the same enchanting vision\nhe had witnessed the day before; but all in vain did he anxiously\nstrain his eyeballs and glance over the surface of the lake, as only\nthe ripples occasioned by a stiff breeze met his view, and a cloud\nhung heavily on the summits of the Fan, which imparted an additional\ngloom to his already distracted mind.\n\nHours passed on, the wind was hushed, and the clouds which had\nenveloped the mountain had vanished into thin air before the powerful\nbeams of the sun, when the youth was startled by seeing some of his\nmother's cattle on the precipitous side of the acclivity, nearly on the\nopposite side of the lake. His duty impelled him to attempt to rescue\nthem from their perilous position, for which purpose he was hastening\naway, when to his inexpressible delight, the object of his search again\nappeared to him as before, and seemed much more beautiful than when he\nfirst beheld her. His hand was again held out to her, full of unbaked\nbread, which he offered with an urgent proffer of his heart also, and\nvows of eternal attachment. All of which were refused by her saying:--\n\n\n   \"Llaith dy fara,\n    Ti ni fynna'.\"\n\n    (Unbaked is thy bread!\n    I will not have thee.)\n\n\nBut the smiles that played upon her features as the lady vanished\nbeneath the waters raised within the young man a hope that forbade\nhim to despair by her refusal of him, and the recollection of which\ncheered him on his way home. His aged parent was made acquainted\nwith his ill-success, and she suggested that his bread should next\ntime be but slightly baked, as most likely to please the mysterious\nbeing of whom he had become enamoured.\n\n\"Impelled by an irresistible feeling, the youth left his mother's\nhouse early next morning, and with rapid steps he passed over the\nmountain. He was soon near the margin of the lake, and with all the\nimpatience of an ardent lover did he wait with a feverish anxiety\nfor the reappearance of the mysterious lady.\n\n\"The sheep and goats browsed on the precipitous sides of the Fan;\nthe cattle strayed amongst the rocks and large stones, some of which\nwere occasionally loosened from their beds and suddenly rolled down\ninto the lake; rain and sunshine alike came and passed away; but all\nwere unheeded by the youth, so wrapped up was he in looking for the\nappearance of the lady.\n\n\"The freshness of the early morning had disappeared before the sultry\nrays of the noon-day sun, which in its turn was fast verging towards\nthe west as the evening was dying away and making room for the shades\nof night, and hope had well nigh abated of beholding once more the\nLady of the Lake. The young man cast a sad and last farewell look\nover the water, and to his astonishment, beheld several cows walking\nalong its surface. The sight of these animals caused hope to revive\nthat they would be followed by another object far more pleasing; nor\nwas he disappointed, for the maiden reappeared, and to his enraptured\nsight, even lovelier than ever. She approached the land, and he rushed\nto meet her in the water. A smile encouraged him to seize her hand;\nneither did she refuse the moderately baked bread he offered her; and\nafter some persuasion she consented to become his bride, on condition\nthat they should only live together until she received from him three\nblows without a cause,\n\n\n    \"Tri ergyd diachos.\"\n    (Three causeless blows.)\n\n\nand if he ever should happen to strike her three such blows she would\nleave him for ever. To such conditions he readily consented and would\nhave consented to any other stipulation, had it been proposed, as he\nwas only intent on then securing such a lovely creature for his wife.\n\n\"Thus the Lady of the Lake engaged to become the young man's wife,\nand having loosened her hand for a moment she darted away and dived\ninto the lake. His chagrin and grief were such that he determined\nto cast himself headlong into the deepest water, so as to end his\nlife in the element that had contained in its unfathomed depths the\nonly one for whom he cared to live on earth. As he was on the point\nof committing this rash act, there emerged out of the lake two most\nbeautiful ladies, accompanied by a hoary-headed man of noble mien\nand extraordinary stature, but having otherwise all the force and\nstrength of youth. This man addressed the almost bewildered youth in\naccents calculated to soothe his troubled mind, saying that as he\nproposed to marry one of his daughters, he consented to the union,\nprovided the young man could distinguish which of the two ladies\nbefore him was the object of his affections. This was no easy task,\nas the maidens were such perfect counterparts of each other that it\nseemed quite impossible for him to choose his bride, and if perchance\nhe fixed upon the wrong one all would be for ever lost.\n\n\"Whilst the young man narrowly scanned the two ladies, he could not\nperceive the least difference betwixt the two, and was almost giving\nup the task in despair, when one of them thrust her foot a slight\ndegree forward. The motion, simple as it was, did not escape the\nobservation of the youth, and he discovered a trifling variation in\nthe mode with which their sandals were tied. This at once put an end\nto the dilemma, for he, who had on previous occasions been so taken\nup with the general appearance of the Lady of the Lake, had also\nnoticed the beauty of her feet and ankles, and on now recognising\nthe peculiarity of her shoe-tie he boldly took hold of her hand.\n\n\"'Thou hast chosen rightly,' said her father, 'be to her a kind and\nfaithful husband, and I will give her, as a dowry, as many sheep,\ncattle, goats, and horses as she can count of each without heaving or\ndrawing in her breath. But remember, that if you prove unkind to her\nat any time, and strike her three times without a cause, she shall\nreturn to me, and shall bring all her stock back with her.'\"\n\nSuch was the verbal marriage settlement, to which the young man gladly\nassented, and his bride was desired to count the number of sheep she\nwas to have.\n\nShe immediately adopted the mode of counting by fives, thus:--one,\ntwo, three, four, five--one, two, three, four, five; and as many times\nas possible in rapid succession, till her breath was exhausted. The\nsame procession of reckoning had to determine the number of goat,\ncattle, and horses respectively; and in an instant the full number\nof each came out of the lake when called upon by the father.\n\n\"The young couple were then married, by what ceremony was not stated,\nand afterwards went to reside at a farm called Esgair Llaethy,\nsomewhat more than a mile from the Village of Myddfai, where they\nlived in prosperity and happiness for several years, and became the\nparents of three sons, who were beautiful children.\n\n\"Once upon a time there was a christening to take place in the\nneighbourhood, to which the parents were specially invited. When the\nday arrived the wife appeared very reluctant to attend the christening,\nalleging that the distance was too great for her to walk. Her husband\ntold her to fetch one of the horses which were grazing in an adjoining\nfield. 'I will,' said she, 'if you will bring me my gloves which\nI left in our house.' He went to the house and returned with the\ngloves, and finding that she had not gone for the horse jocularly\nslapped her shoulder with one of them, saying, 'go! go!' (dos, dos),\nwhen she reminded him of the understanding upon which she consented\nto marry him:--That he was not to strike her without a cause; and\nwarned him to be more cautious for the future.\n\n\"On another occasion, when they were together at a wedding in the midst\nof the mirth and hilarity of the assembled guests, who had gathered\ntogether from all the surrounding country, she burst into tears and\nsobbed most piteously. Her husband touched her on her shoulder and\ninquired the cause of her weeping: she said, 'Now people are entering\ninto trouble, and your troubles are likely to commence, as you have\nthe second time stricken me without a cause.'\n\n\"Years passed on, and their children had grown up, and were\nparticularly clever young men. In the midst of so many worldly\nblessings at home, the husband almost forgot that there remained\nonly one causeless blow to be given to destroy the whole of his\nprosperity. Still he was watchful lest any trivial occurrence should\ntake place which his wife must regard as a breach of their marriage\ncontract. She told him, as her affection for him was unabated, to be\ncareful that he would not, through some inadvertence, give the last\nand only blow, which, by an unalterable destiny over which she had\nno control, would separate them for ever.\n\n\"It, however, so happened that one day they were together at a funeral,\nwhere, in the midst of the mourning and grief at the house of the\ndeceased, she appeared in the highest and gayest spirits, and indulged\nin immoderate fits of laughter, which so shocked her husband that\nhe touched her, saying: 'Hush! hush! don't laugh.' She said that she\nlaughed 'because people when they die go out of trouble,' and rising\nup she went out of the house, saying, 'The last blow has been struck,\nour marriage contract is broken, and at an end! Farewell!' Then she\nstarted off towards Esgair Llaethdy, where she called her cattle and\nother stock together, each by name. The cattle she called thus:--\n\n\n    Mu wlfrech,\n    Mu olfrech, gwynfrech,\n    Pedair cae tonn-frech,\n    Yr hen wynebwen.\n    A'r las Geigen,\n    Gyda'r Tarw gwyn\n    O lys y Brenin;\n    A'r llo du bach,\n    Sydd ar y bach,\n    Dere dithe, yn iach adre!\n\n    Brindled cow, white speckled,\n    Spotted cow, bold freckled,\n    The four field sward mottled,\n    The old white-faced,\n    And the grey Geigen,\n    With the white Bull,\n    From the court of the King;\n    And the little black calf\n    Tho' suspended on the hook,\n    Come thou also, quite well home.\"\n\n\nThey all immediately obeyed the summons of their mistress. The\n'little black calf,' although it had been slaughtered, became alive\nagain, and walked off with the rest of the stock at the command of\nthe lady. This happened in the spring of the year, and there were\nfrom four oxen ploughing in one of the fields; to these she cried:--\n\n\n      \"Pedwar eidion glas sydd ar y maes,\n    Deuwch chwithau yn iach adre!\n\n    The four grey oxen, that are on the field,\n      Come you also quite well home!\"\n\n\nAway the whole of the live stock went with the Lady across Myddfai\nMountain, towards the lake from whence they came, a distance of above\nsix miles, where they disappeared beneath its waters, leaving no trace\nbehind except a well-marked furrow, which was made by the plough the\noxen drew after them into the lake, and which remains to this day as\na testimony to the truth of this story.\n\n\"What became of the affrighted ploughman--whether he was left on the\nfield when the oxen set off, or whether he followed them to the lake,\nhas not been handed down to tradition; neither has the fate of the\ndisconsolate and half-ruined husband been kept in remembrance. But of\nthe sons it is stated that they often wandered about the lake and its\nvicinity, hoping that their mother might be permitted to visit the face\nof the earth once more, as they had been apprised of her mysterious\norigin, her first appearance to their father, and the untoward\ncircumstances which so unhappily deprived them of her maternal care.\n\n\"In one of their rambles, at a place near Dol Howel, at the Mountain\nGate, still called 'Llidiad y Meddygon,' (The Physician's Gate), the\nmother appeared suddenly, and accosted her eldest son, whose name\nwas Rhiwallon, and told him that his mission on earth was to be a\nbenefactor to mankind by relieving them from pain and misery, through\nhealing all manner of their diseases; for which purpose she furnished\nhim with a bag full of medical prescriptions and instructions for the\npreservation of health. That by strict attention thereto he and his\nfamily would become for many generations the most skilful physicians\nin the country. Then, promising to meet him when her counsel was most\nneeded, she vanished. But on several occasions she met her sons near\nthe banks of the lake, and once she even accompanied them on their\nreturn home as far as a place still called 'Pant-y-Meddygon,' (The\ndingle of the Physicians) where she pointed out to them the various\nplants and herbs which grew in the dingle, and revealed to them\ntheir medicinal qualities or virtues; and the knowledge she imparted\nto them, together with their unrivalled skill, soon caused them to\nattain such celebrity that none ever possessed before them. And in\norder that their knowledge should not be lost, they wisely committed\nthe same to writing for the benefit of mankind throughout all ages.\n\nAnd so ends the story of the Physicians of Myddfai, which had been\nhanded down from one generation to another, thus:--\n\n\n   \"Yr hen wr llwyd o'r cornel,\n    Gan ei dad a glywodd chwedel,\n    A chan ei dad fy glywodd yntau,\n    Ac ar ei ol mi gofiais innau.\"\n\n   \"The grey old man in the corner\n    Of his father heard a story,\n    Which from his father he had heard,\n    And after them I have remembered.\"\n\n\nThe Physicians of Myddfai were Rhiwallon and his sons, Cadwgan,\nGruffydd and Einion, who became Physicians to Rhys Gryg, Lord of\nLlandovery and Dynefor Castles, who lived in the early part of the\nthirteenth century. Rhys \"gave them rank, lands, and privileges at\nMyddfai for their maintenance in the practice of their art and science,\nand the healing and benefit of those who should seek their help.\"\n\nThe fame of the celebrated Physicians was soon established over the\nwhole country, and continued for centuries among their descendants;\nand the celebrated Welsh Poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, who flourished in\nthe fourteenth century, says in one of his poems when alluding to\nthese physicians:--\n\n\n   \"Meddyg, nis gwnai modd y gwnaeth\n    Myddfai, o chai ddyn meddfaeth.\"\n\n    (A Physician he would not make\n    As Myddfai made, if he had a mead fostered man.)\n\n\nMr. Rees says that \"of the above lands bestowed upon the Meddygon,\nthere are two farms in the Myddfai parish still called \"Llwyn Ifan\nFeddyg,\" the Grove of Evan, the Physician, and \"Llwyn Meredydd Feddyg\"\n(the Grove of Meredydd the Physician). Esgair Llaethdy, mentioned\nin the foregoing legend, was formerly in the possession of the\nabove descendants, and so was Ty-newydd, near Myddfai, which was\npurchased by Mr. Holford, of Cilgwyn, from the Rev. Charles Lloyd,\nvicar of Llandefalle, Breconshire, who married a daughter of one of\nthe Meddygon, and had the living of Llandefalle from a Mr. Vaughan,\nwho presented him to the same out of gratitude, because Mr. Lloyd,\nwife's father had cured him of a disease in the eye. As Mr. Lloyd\nsucceeded to the above living in 1748, and died in 1800, it is\nprobable that that skilful oculist was John Jones, who is mentioned\nin the following inscription on a tombstone at present fixed against\nthe west end of Myddfai\n\n\n                                  HERE\n        Lieth the body of Mr. David Jones, of Mothvey, Surgeon,\n             who was an honest, charitable and skilful man,\n            He died September 14th, Anno Dom. 1719, aged 61.\n\n                          JOHN JONES, SURGEON,\n\n       Eldest son of the said David Jones, departed this life the\n          25th of November, 1739, in the 4th year of his Age,\n                   and also lyes interred hereunder.\n\n\nThese appear to have been the last of the Physicians who practised at\nMyddfai. The above John Jones resided for some time at Llandovery,\nand was a very eminent surgeon. One of his descendants, named John\nLewis, lived at Cwmbran, Myddfai, at which place his great-grandson,\nMr. John Jones, now resides.\n\n\"Dr. Morgan Owen, Bishop of Llandaff, who died at Glasallt, parish of\nMyddfai, in 1645, was a descendant of the Meddygon, and an inheritor\nof much of their landed property in that parish, the bulk of which\nhe bequeathed to his nephew, Morgan Owen, who died in 1667, and was\nsucceeded by his son Henry Owen; and at the decease of the last\nof whose descendants, Roberts Lewis, Esqr., the estates became,\nthrough the will of one of the family, the property of the late\nD. A. S. Davies, Esqr., M.P., for Carmarthenshire.\n\n\"Bishop Owen bequeathed to another nephew, Morgan ap Rees, son of\nRees ap John, a descendant of the Meddygon, the farm of Rhyblid,\nand some other property.\n\n\"Amongst other families who claim descent from the Physicians were\nthe Bowens of Cwmydw, Myddfai, and Jones of Dollgarreg and Penrhock,\nin the same parish; the latter of whom are represented by Charles\nBishop, of Dollgarreg, Esqr., Clerk of the Peace for Carmarthenshire,\nand Thomas Bishop, of Brecon, Esqr.\n\n\"Rees Williams, of Myddfai, is recorded as one of the Meddygon. His\ngreat grandson was the late Rice Williams, M.D., of Aberystwyth,\nwho died May l6th, 1842, aged 85, and appears to have been the last,\nalthough not the least eminent of the Physicians descended from the\nmysterious Lady of Llyn y Fan.\"\n\nSir John Rhys mentions of another Dr. Williams also a descendant of\nthe Lady of Llyn y Fan, who was living at Aberystwyth in 1881.\n\nIt seems that there are several families in different parts of\nWales who are said to have fairy blood coursing through their veins;\nand the noble Lady Bulkeley, who lived in North Wales, three or four\ngenerations was supposed to be descended from a Fairy lady who married\na mortal.\n\nThere is also a tradition that after the disappearance of the lady\nthe disconsolate husband and his friends set to work to drain the\nlake in order to get at her, if possible; but as they were making\na cutting into the bank a huge monster emerged from the water and\nthreatened to drown the town of Brecon for disturbing him, saying:--\n\n\n   \"Os na cha'i lonydd yn fy lle\n    Mi fodda, dre Byrhonddu!\"\n\n    (If I get no quiet in my place\n    I shall drown the town of Brecon).\n\n\nso they had to give up draining the lake.\n\nThere are extant several versions of the Myddfai Legend. In the\n\"Cambro Briton\" Vol. II., pages 313-315, we have a version in which\nit is stated that the farmer used to go near the lake and see some\nlambs he had bought at a fair, and that wherever he so went three\nmost beautiful maidens appeared to him from the lake. But whenever\nhe tried to catch them they ran away into the lake, saying:--\n\n\n   \"Cras dy fara,\n    Anhawdd ein dala.\"\n\n    (For thee who eatest baked bread\n    It is difficult to catch us.)\n\n\nBut one day a piece of moist bread came floating ashore, which\nhe ate, and the next day he had a chat with the maidens. After a\nlittle conversation he proposed marriage to one of them, to which\nshe consented, provided he could distinguish her from her sisters\nthe day after. Then the story goes on very similar to Mr. Rees'\nversion which I have already given in full.\n\nIn another beautiful version of the story which is given by Sikes in\nhis \"British Goblins,\" it is said that an enamoured farmer had heard\nof the lake maiden, who rowed up and down the lake in a golden boat,\nwith a golden oar. Her hair was long and yellow, and her face was\npale and melancholy. In his desire to see this wondrous beauty, the\nfarmer went on New Year's Eve to the edge of the lake and in silence,\nawaited the coming of the first hour of the new year. It came, and\nthere in truth was the maiden in her golden boat, rowing softly to and\nfro. Fascinated, he stood for hours beholding her, until the stars\nfaded out of the sky, the moon sank behind the rocks, and the cold\ngray dawn drew nigh; and then the maiden began to vanish from his\nsight. Wild with passion, he cried aloud to the retreating vision,\n\"Stay! Stay! Be my wife.\" But the maiden only uttered a faint cry,\nand was gone. Night after night the young farmer haunted the shores\nof the lake, but the maiden returned no more. He became negligent\nof his person; his once robust form grew thin and wan; his face\nwas a map of melancholy and despair. He went one day to consult\na soothsayer who dwelt on the mountain, and this grave personage\nadvised him to besiege the damsel's heart with gifts of bread and\ncheese. This counsel commending itself strongly to his Welsh way of\nthinking, the former set out upon an assiduous course of casting his\nbread upon the waters--accompanied by cheese. He began on Mid-summer\nEve by going to the lake and dropping therein a large cheese and a\nloaf of bread. Night after night he continued to throw in loaves and\ncheeses, but nothing appeared in answer to his sacrifices. His hopes\nwere set, however, on the approaching New Year's Eve. The momentous\nnight arrived at last. Clad in his best array, and armed with seven\nwhite loaves and his biggest and handsomest cheese, he set out once\nmore for the lake. Then he waited till mid-night, and then slowly\nand solemnly dropped the seven loaves into the water, and with a\nsigh sent the cheese to keep them company. His persistence was at\nlength rewarded. The Lake Lady came in her skiff to where he was,\nand gracefully stepped ashore. The story then proceeds as in the\nother versions.\n\nIt was once a custom for people to go up to the lake on the first\nSunday in August, when its water was supposed to be boiling; and\nBishop Edwards, of St. Asaph, informed Professor Sir J. Rhys, that\n\"an old woman from Myddfai, who is now, that is to say in January,\n1881, about eighty years of age, tells me that she remembers thousands\nand thousands of people visiting the Lake of Little Fan on the first\nSunday or Monday in August, and when she was young she often heard\nold men declare that at that time a commotion took place in the lake,\nand that its waters boiled, which was taken to herald the approach\nof the Lake Lady and her oxen.\"--Celtic Folk Lore--page 15.\n\n\n\nA STUDENT WHO HAD FAILED TO PASS HIS EXAMINATIONS TAUGHT BY THE\nFAIRIES.\n\nMr. John Jones, of Pontrhydfendigaid, an old man of over 95 years of\nage, related to me the following story about seven years ago:--\n\nIn the 18th century there was a certain clergyman in North\nCardiganshire, who was supposed to have been educated by the Fairies.\n\nWhen he was a boy, his parents were very ambitious to see their son a\nclergyman, but, unfortunately, the lad either neglected his studies,\nor was a regular \"blockhead,\" and always failed to pass his college\nexaminations, to the great regret and disappointment of his father\nand mother. One day, however, when the boy was roaming about the\ncountry (near the banks of the river Rheidol, as far as Mr. Jones\ncould remember the story), he suddenly met three boys, or rather\nthree little men who were not bigger than boys, who took him into\nsome cave and led him along a subterranean passage into the land\nof the Fairies. The Fairies proved very kind to him, and when they\nheard his story, they undertook to help him to learn his lessons,\nso that in course of time he acquired a considerable knowledge of\nthe classics. After spending a certain number of years very happily\nin Fairy Land, the young man returned to the world of mortals, and\nto the great joy of his parents passed his examinations now without\nthe least difficulty, and in due time was ordained by the bishop, and\nbecame a vicar of a parish north of Aberystwyth, either Llanfihangel,\nLlancynfelin, or Eglwysfach.\n\nThis tale seems to be a version of the Story of Elidorus, which\nGiraldus Cambrensis heard in the neighbourhood of Swansea during his\n\"Itinerary through Wales,\" with Archbishop Baldwin in the year 1188,\nwhich is as follows:--\n\n\"A short time before our days, a circumstance worthy of note occurred\nin these parts, which Elidorus, a priest, most strenuously affirmed\nhad befallen himself. When a youth of twelve years, and learning his\nletters, since, as Solomon says, \"The root of learning is bitter,\nalthough the fruit is sweet,\" in order to avoid the discipline and\nfrequent stripes inflicted on him by his perceptor, he ran away, and\nconcealed himself under the hollow bank of a river. After fasting\nin that situation for two days, two little men of pigmy stature\nappeared to him, saying, 'If you come with us, we will lead you into\na country full of delights and sports.' \"Assenting, and rising up, he\nfollowed his guides through a path, at first subterraneous and dark,\ninto a most beautiful country, adorned with rivers and meadows, woods\nand plains, but obscure, and not illuminated with the full light of\nthe sun.\" All the days were cloudy, and the nights extremely dark,\non account of the absence of the moon and stars. The boy was brought\nbefore the King, and introduced to him in the presence of the court;\nwho, having examined him for a long time, delivered him to his\nson, who was then a, boy. \"These men were of the smallest stature,\nbut very well proportioned in their make; they were all of a fair\ncomplexion, with luxuriant hair falling over their shoulders like that\nof women. \"They had horses and greyhounds adapted to their size. \"They\nneither ate flesh nor fish, but lived on milk diet, made up into messes\nwith saffron. \"They never took an oath, for they detested nothing so\nmuch as lies. \"As often as they returned from our upper hemisphere,\nthey reprobated our ambition, infidelities, and inconstances; they\nhad no form of public worship, being strict lovers and reverers, as\nit seemed, of truth. \"The boy frequently returned to our hemisphere,\nsometimes by the way he had first gone, sometimes by another; at first\nin company with other persons, and afterwards alone, and made himself\nknown only to his mother, declaring to her the manners, nature and\nstate of that people. \"Being desired by her to bring a present of\ngold, with which that region abounded, he stole, while at play with\nthe King's son, the golden ball with which he used to divert himself,\nand brought it to his mother in great haste; and when he reached the\ndoor of his father's house, but not unpursued, and was entering it in\na great hurry, his foot stumbled on the threshold, and falling down\ninto the room where his mother was sitting, the two pigmies seized\nthe ball which had dropped from his hand, and departed, showing the\nboy every mark of contempt and derision. \"On recovering from his fall,\nconfounded with shame, and execrating the evil counsel of his mother,\nhe returned by the usual track to the subterraneous road, but found no\nappearance of any passage, though he searched for it on the banks of\nthe river for nearly the space of a year. \"But since those calamities\nare often alleviated by time, which reason cannot mitigate, and length\nof time alone blunts the edge of our afflictions, and puts an end\nto many evils, the youth having been brought back by his friends and\nmother, and restored to his right way of thinking, and to his learning,\nin process of time attained the rank of priesthood. \"Whenever David\nII., bishop of St. David's, talked to him in his advanced state of\nlife concerning this event, he could never relate the particulars\nwithout shedding tears. \"He had made himself acquainted with the\nlanguage of that nation, the words of which, in his younger days he\nused to recite, which, as the bishop often had informed me, were very\nconformable to the Greek idiom. \"When they asked for water, they said\n'ydor ydorum,' which meant bring water, for 'ydor' in their language,\nas well as in Greek, signifies water, from whence vessels for water\nare caller 'udriai'; and 'Dur' (dwr) also, in the British language\n(Welsh) signifies water.\n\n\"When they wanted salt they said, 'Halgein ydorum,' bring salt: salt\nis called 'al' in Greek, and 'halen' in British, for that language,\nfrom the length of time which the Britons (then called Trojans, and\nafterwards Britons, from Brito, their leader), remained in Greece\nafter the destruction of Troy, became in many instances, similar\nto the Greek.... \"If a scrupulous inquirer asks my opinion of the\nrelation here inserted, I answer with Augustine, 'that the Divine\nmiracles are to be admired, not discussed.' \"Nor do I, by denial,\nplace bounds to the Divine Power, nor, by assent, insolently extend\nwhat cannot be extended. \"But I always call to mind the saying\nof St. Jerome: 'You will find,' says he, 'Many things incredible\nand improbable, which nevertheless are true; for nature cannot in\nany respect prevail against the Lord of nature.' \"These things,\ntherefore, and similar contingencies, I should place, according to\nthe opinion of Augustine, among those particulars which are neither\nto be affirmed, nor too positively denied.\" The above account is of\nthe greatest interest, as it was written 700 years ago, and it also\ngives the opinion of one who lived in those days, of \"these things,\nand similar contingencies.\" It is possible that many of the Fairy\nTales throughout the Kingdom, if not throughout the whole of Europe,\nhave been founded on the story of Elidorus, the priest.\n\n\n\nTHE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE FAIRIES OF FRENIFAWR.\n\nThe following story appeared in the \"Cambrian Superstitions,\" by\nW. Howells, a little book published at Tipton in 1831:--\n\nA stripling, of twelve or more years of age, was tending his father's\nsheep on a small mountain called Frenifach, it was a fine morning\nin June, and he had just driven the sheep to their pasture for the\nday, when he looked at the top of Frenifawr to observe which way the\nmorning fog declined, that he might judge the weather.\n\nIf the fog on Frenifawr (a high mountain in Pembrokeshire, 10 miles\nfrom Cardigan) declines to the Pembrokeshire side, the peasants\nprognosticated fair, if on the Cardiganshire side foul weather.\n\nTo his surprise the boy saw what seemed a party of soldiers sedulously\nengaged in some urgent affair; knowing there could not possibly be\nsoldiers there so early, he with some alarm, looked more minutely,\nand perceived they were too diminutive for men; yet, thinking his\neyesight had deceived him, he went to a more elevated situation, and\ndiscovered that they were the \"Tylwyth Teg\" (Fairies) dancing. He had\noften heard of them and had seen their rings in the neighbourhood,\nbut not till then had the pleasure of seeing them; he once thought of\nrunning home to acquaint his parents, but judging they would be gone\nbefore he returned, and he be charged with a falsehood, he resolved\nto go up to them, for he had been informed that the fairies were\nvery harmless, and would only injure those who attempted to discover\ntheir habitation, so by degrees he arrived within a short distance of\nthe ring, where he remained some time observing their motions. They\nwere of both sexes, and he described them as being the most handsome\npeople he had ever seen, they also appeared enchantingly cheerful,\nas if inviting him to enter and join the dance.\n\nThey did not all dance, but those who did, never deviated from the\ncircle; some ran after one another with surprising swiftness, and\nothers (females), rode on small white horses of the most beautiful\nform. Their dresses, although indescribably elegant, and surpassing\nthe sun in radiance, varied in colour, some being white, others\nscarlet, and the males wore a red triplet cap, but the females some\nlight head-dress, which waved fantastically with the slightest\nbreeze. He had not remained long ere they made signs for him to\nenter, and he gradually drew nearer till at length he ventured to\nplace one foot in the circle, which he had no sooner done than his\nears were charmed with the most melodious music, which moved him in\nthe transport of the moment, to enter altogether; he was no sooner\nin than he found himself in a most elegant palace, glittering with\ngold and pearls; here he enjoyed every variety of pleasure, and\nhad the liberty to range whatever he pleased, accompanied by kind\nattendants beautiful as the howries; and instead of \"Tatws a llaeth,\"\nbuttermilk, or fresh boiled flummery, here were the choicest viands\nand the purest wine in abundance, brought in golden goblets inlaid\nwith gems, sometimes by invisible agency, and at other times by the\nmost beautiful virgins. He had only one restriction, and that was\nnot to drink, upon any consideration (or it was told him it would\nbe fatal to his happiness), from a certain well in the middle of\nthe garden, which contained golden fishes and others of various\ncolours. New objects daily attracts his attention, and new faces\npresented themselves to his view, surpassing, if possible those he\nhad seen before; new pastimes were continually invented to charm him,\nbut one day his hopes were blasted, and all his happiness fled in an\ninstant. Possessing that innate curiosity nearly common to all, he,\nlike our first parents transgressed, and plunged his hand into the\nwell, when the fishes instantly disappeared, and, putting the water to\nhis mouth, he heard a confused shriek run through the garden: in an\ninstant after, the palace and all vanished away, and to his horror,\nhe found himself in the very place where he first entered the ring,\nand the scenes around, with the same sheep grazing, were just as he\nhad left them. He could scarcely believe himself, and hoped again,\nthat he was in the magnificent fairy castle; he looked around, but the\nscene was too well known; his senses soon returned to their proper\naction, and his memory proved that, although he thought he had been\nabsent so many years, he had been so only so many minutes.\n\nThis tale bears a strange contrast as regards the time the boy thought\nhe was away, to most of our fairy tales which represent those who\nhad the pleasure of being with fairies as imagining they had been\ndancing only a few minutes, when they had been away for years.\n\n\n\nFAIRY MUSIC AND DANCING.\n\nThe Rev. Z. M. Davies, Vicar of Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, told me that\nhe once heard an old man in the Vale of Aeron saying that when he was\nout late one night, he heard the Fairies singing, and that their music\nwas so delightful that he listened to them for hours; and we find from\nmany of the Fairy Tales that one of their chief occupation in their\nnightly revels was singing and dancing, and that they often succeeded\nin inducing men through the allurements of music to join their ranks.\n\nThe beautiful old Welsh Air, \"Toriad y Dydd\" (Dawn of Day) is supposed\nto have been composed by the Fairies, and which they chanted just as\nthe pale light in the east announced the approach of returning day.\n\nThe following \"Can y Tylwyth Teg,\" or the Fairies' song, was well-known\nonce in Wales, and these mythical beings were believed to chant it\nwhilst dancing merrily on summer nights.\n\n\n    \"O'r glaswellt glan a'r rhedyn m\u00e2n,\n      Gyfeillion dyddan, dewch.\n    'E ddarfu'r nawn--mae'r lloer yn llawn,\n      Y nos yn gyflawn gewch;\n    O'r chwarau sydd ar dwyn y dydd,\n      I'r Dolydd awn ar daith,\n    Nyni sydd lon, ni chaiff gerbron,\n      Farwolion ran o'n gwaith.\n\n    \"Canu, canu, drwy y nos,\n      Dawnsio, dawnsio, ar waen y rhos,\n    Yn ngoleuni'r lleuad dlos:\n          Hapus ydym ni!\n    Pawb o honom sydd yn llon,\n       Heb un gofid dan ei fron:\n    Canu, dawnsio, ar y ton--\n            Dedwydd ydym ni!\"\n\n    \"From grasses bright, and bracken light,\n      Come, sweet companions, come,\n    The full moon shines, the sun declines.\n      We'll spend the night in fun;\n    With playful mirth, we'll trip the earth,\n      To meadows green let's go\n    We're full of joy, without alloy,\n      Which mortals may not know.\n\n    \"Singing, singing, through the night,\n    Dancing, dancing, with our might,\n    Where the moon the moor doth light;\n          Happy ever we!\n    One and all of merry mein,\n    Without sorrow are we seen,\n    Singing, dancing, on the green:\n          Gladsome ever we!\"\n\n\n\nMR. EDWARD JONES, PENCWM, LLANRHYSTID, AND THE FAIRIES.\n\nMr. Edward Jones, Pencwm, who only died about 8 years ago, was coming\nhome from Lampeter one moonlight night, and when he came to the top\nof Trichrug hill, he saw the Fairies dancing in a field close to\nthe road. When he was within a certain distance of them he felt as\nif his feet were almost lifted up from the ground, and his body so\nlight that he could almost stand in the air.\n\nMy informant, Mr. D. Morgan, Carpenter, Llanrhystid, added that\nMr. Jones was an intelligent and educated man, who had travelled,\nand was far from being superstitious.\n\n\n\nA FARM SERVANT NEAR TREGARON, WHO SPENT A YEAR AND A DAY WITH THE\nFAIRIES.\n\nThe following story appeared in \"Cymru\" for May, 1893, a Welsh\nMagazine, edited by Owen M. Edwards, M.A. It was written in Welsh by\nthe late eminent Folk-Lorist, Mr. D. Lledrod Davies, and I translate\nit:--\n\nThe farm-house called \"Allt Ddu,\" is situated about half-way between\nPont Rhyd Fendigaid and Tregaron.\n\nIt is said that two servant men went out of the house one evening in\nsearch for the cattle, which had gone astray. One of the men proceeded\nin one direction and the other in another way, so as to be more sure\nof finding the animals.\n\nBut after wandering about for hours, one of the two servants came home,\nbut whether he found the cattle or not it is not stated. However,\nhe reached home safely; but the other man, his fellow-servant, came\nnot, and after anxiously expecting him till a late hour of night, he\nbegan to feel very uneasy concerning his safety, fearing that the lad\nhad accidentally fallen into some of the pits of the Gors Goch. Next\nmorning came, but the servant came not home; and in vain did they long\nto hear the sound of his footsteps approaching the house as before.\n\nThen inquiries were made about him, and people went to try and find\nhim, but all in vain. Days past and even weeks without hearing anything\nabout him, till at last his relations began to suspect that his fellow\nservant had murdered him during the night they were out looking for\nthe cattle. So the servant was summoned before a Court of Justice,\nand accused of having murdered his fellow-servant on a certain night;\nbut the young man, pleaded not guilty in a most decided manner, and\nas no witness could be found against him, the case was dismissed;\nbut many people were still very suspicious of him, and the loss of his\nfellow servant continued to be a black spot on his character. However,\nit was decided at last to go to the \"dyn hysbys,\" (a wise man, or a\nconjurer)--a man of great repute in former days,--to consult with him,\nand to set the case before him exactly as it had happened. After going\nand explaining everything to the conjurer concerning the lost servant,\nhe informed them that the young man was still alive.\n\nHe then told them to go to a certain place at the same time of night,\none year and a day from the time the man was lost, and that they\nshould then and there see him. One year and a day at last passed away,\nand at that hour the family, and especially the servant, traced their\nsteps to the particular spot pointed out by the conjuror, and there,\nto their great surprise, whom should they see within the Fairy Circle,\ndancing as merrily as any, but the lost servant. And now, according to\nthe directions which had been given by the conjurer, the other servant\ntook hold of the collar of the coat of the one who was dancing, and\ndragged him out of the circle, saying to him--\"Where hast thou been\nlad?\" But the lad's first words were, \"Did you find the cattle?\" for\nhe thought that he had been with the Fairies only for a few minutes.\n\nThen he explained how he entered the Fairy Circle, and how he was\nseized by them, but found their company so delightful that he thought\nhe had been with them only for a few minutes.\n\n\n\nTHE SERVANT GIRL WHO WAS LOST IN THE FAIRY CIRCLE.\n\nThe following is another of the tales recorded in \"Ystraeon y Gwyll,\"\nby the late D. Lledrod Davies:--\n\n\"There lived in an old farm house on the banks of the Teivy, a\nrespectable family, and in order to carry on the work of the farm\nsuccessfully, they kept men servants and maid servants.\n\nOne afternoon, a servant-man and a servant girl went out to look\nfor the cows, but as they were both crossing a marshy flat, the man\nsuddenly missed the girl, and after much shouting and searching,\nno sound of her voice could be heard replying. He then took home\nthe cows, and informed the family of the mysterious disappearance of\nthe servant maid which took place so suddenly. As the Fairies were\nsuspected, it was resolved to go to the dyn hysbys (wise man).\n\nTo him they went, and he informed them that the girl was with the\nFairies, and that they could get her back from them, by being careful\nto go to a certain spot at the proper time at the end of a year\nand a day. They did as they were directed by the \"wise man,\" and to\ntheir great surprise, found the maid among the fairies dancing and\nsinging with them, and seemed as happy as a fish in the water. Then\nthey successfully drew her out of the ring, and they took her home\nsafely. The master had been told by the \"Wise Man\" that the girl\nwas not to be touched by iron, or she would disappear at once after\ngetting her out of the ring.\n\nOne day, however, when her master was about to start from home,\nand whilst he was getting the horse and cart ready, he asked the\ngirl to assist him, which she did willingly; but as he was bridling\nthe horse, the bit touched the girl and she disappeared instantly,\nand was never seen from that day forth.\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE SERVANT BOY AND THE BARM.\n\nThe following story was related to me by Mrs. Davies, Bryneithyn,\nin the neighbourhood of Ystrad Meurig, where the tale is well-known:--\n\nAn old woman known as Nancy of Pen Gwndwn, kept a little boy servant,\nwhom she sent one evening to the neighbouring village with a bottle to\nget some barm for her, and as he had to pass through a field which was\nfrequented by the Fairies, he was told by the old woman to keep away\nfrom their circles or rings. The boy reached the village, got the barm,\nand in due time proceeded on his homeward journey, but did not reach\nhome. Search was made for him in all directions, and people were able\nto trace his steps as far as the Fairies' field, but no further, so\nit was evident that the Fairies had seized him. At the end of a year\nand a day, however, to the great surprise of everybody, the boy came\nhome, entered the house, with the bottle of barm in hand, and handed\nit to the old woman as if nothing unusual had happened. The boy was\ngreatly surprised when he was told that he had been away for twelve\nmonths and a day. Then he related how he fell in with the Fairies,\nwhom he found such nice little men, and whose society was so agreeable\nthat he lingered among them, as he thought, for a few minutes.\n\n\n\nA CARMARTHENSHIRE MAIDEN WHO GOT INTO A FAIRY RING.\n\nIn the parish of Cynwil Elvet, there is a farmhouse called Fos Anna,\na place which was known to the writer of this book once when a boy:--\n\nA servant girl at this farm once went rather late in the evening\nto look for the cows, and, unfortunately, got into the Fairy ring,\nand although she had been a long period without food she did not\nfeel hungry.\n\n\n\nIAGO AP DEWI AMONG THE FAIRIES SEVEN YEARS.\n\nA Carmarthenshire tradition names among those who lived for a period\namong the Fairies no less a person than the translator into Welsh of\nBunyan's \"Pilgrim's Progress.\"\n\n\"He was called Iago ap Dewi, and lived in the parish of Llanllawddog,\nin a cottage situated in the wood of Llangwyly. He was absent from\nthe neighbourhood for a long period, and the universal belief among\nthe peasantry was that Iago got out of bed one night to gaze on the\nstarry sky, as he was accustomed (astrology being one of his favourite\nstudies), and whilst thus occupied the Fairies, passing by, carried\nhim away, and he dwelt with them seven years. Upon his return, he\nwas questioned by many as to where he had been, but always avoiding\ngiving them a reply.\"\n\nA district famous for Fairies long ago was the parish of Llanedi\nin Carmarthenshire, and Mr. Williams, says in his \"Llen Gwerin Sir\nGaerfyrddin,\" that an intelligent old man in that parish, named John\nRees, gave him the following story of\n\n\n\nA MAN WHO WAS FOUND AMONG THE FAIRIES AT CAE CEFN PANTYDWR.\n\nThis story which is similar to some of the tales I have already given\nas located in other parts is as follows:--\n\nA certain man of Llanedi, on one occasion long ago, went away to\nanother neighbourhood, leading by the \"penwast\" (collar) a very\nwild and unmanageable horse; and in order to be sure not to lose\nhis hold of the animal, the man tied the end of the collar round\nthe middle. So both man and horse went together and got lost. After\nmuch searching the horse was found without the collar, but nothing\nwas heard of the man. After giving up searching for him as hopeless,\nthey at last consulted a \"Dyn Hysbys,\" (a conjuror or a wise man). The\nwise man directed them to go on a certain night into a field known\nas Cae Cefn Pantydwr, about forty yards from the road where the\nFairies could be seen dancing, and the lost man among them, with the\n\"penwast\" still around his waist, which would enable them to know him;\nand the way to get him out of the Fairy Ring was to watch him coming\nround in the dance, and take hold of the collar when an opportunity\noffered itself, and drag the man out boldly. They did so, and the\nman was rescued. Ever since then people dreaded going to that field\nafter dark, especially children.\n\nIn some parts of Carmarthenshire, Fairy Rings are known as \"Rings\ny Gwr Drwg\" (the rings of the Old Gentleman), suggesting that the\nFairies had some connection with the evil one.\n\n\n\nSON OF LLECH Y DERWYDD AND THE FAIRIES.\n\nThe writer of the following tale was the late Rev. Benjamin Williams\n(Gwynionydd), an eminent antiquarian, Folk-Lorist, and a bard, and\nit is to be found in Welsh in Y Brython, vol. III., page 460. It is\nevident that the scene of the story was West or Mid-Wales. Mr. Williams\nheard the tale from old people who believed in the truth of it:--\n\n\"Yr oedd mab Llech y Derwydd yn unig blentyn ei rieni, ac hefyd yn\netifedd y tyddyn. Yr oedd felly yn anwyl, ie, yn ddau lygad ei dad\na'i fam.\n\n\"Yr oedd y pen gwas a mab y ty yn gyfeillion mynwesol iawn, fel dau\nfrawd, ie, fel gyfeilliaid. Gan fod y mab a'r gwas y fath gyfeillion,\nbyddai gwraig y ty bob amser yn darpar dillad i'r gwas yr un peth yn\nhollol ag i'r mab. Cwympodd y ddau gyfaill mewn serch a dwy ddynes\nieuainc, brydferth, ac uchel eu parch yn yr ardal, a mawr oedd y\nboddineb yn Llech y Derwydd; ac yn fuan ymunodd y ddau bar mewn\nglan briodas, a mawr fu y rhialtwch ar yr amser. Cafodd y gwas le\ncyfleus i fyw ar dir Llech y Derwydd. Yn mhen tua haner blwyddyn ar\nol priodi o'r mab, aeth ei gyfaill ac yntau allan i hela; enciliodd\ny deiliad i ryw gilfach lawn o anialwch, i edrych am helwriaeth; a\ndychwelodd yn y man at ei gyfaill, ond erbyn dyfod yno, nid oedd modd\ngweled y mab yn un man. Parhaodd i edrych o gwmpas am dro gan waeddi\na chwibanu, ond dim un arwydd am ei gyfaill. Yn mhen tro aeth adref\ni Llech y Derwydd, gan ddysgwyl ei weled yno; ond ni wyddai neb ddim\nam dano. Mawr oedd y gofid yn y teulu drwy y nos; ac erbyn dranoeth\nyr oedd eu pryder yn llawer mwy. Aethpwyd i weled y fan lle y gwelodd\nei gyfaill ef olaf. Wylai ei fam a'i wraig am y gwaethaf. Yr oedd y\ntad dipyn yn well na'i wraig a'i fam, ond edrychai yntau fel yn haner\ngwallgof. Edrychwyd ar y fan olaf y gwelodd y deiliad ef, ac er eu\nmawr syndod a'u gofid, canfyddasent gylch y Tylwyth Teg gerllaw y fan,\na chofiodd y deiliad yn y man iddo glywed swn peroriaeth hudoliaethus\niawn rywle ar y pryd. Penderfynwyd ar unwaith iddo fod mor anffodus\na myned i gylch y Tylwyth, a chael ei gludo ymaith na wyddid i ba le.\n\n\"Aeth wythnosau a misoedd gofidus heibio, a ganwyd mab i fab Llech\ny Derwydd; ond nid oedd y tad ieuanc yno i gael gweled ei blentyn,\nac yr oedd hyny yn ofidus iawn gan yr hen bobl. Beth bynag, daeth y\ndyn bach i fyny yr un ddelw a'i dad, fel pe buasai wedi ei arlunio; a\nmawr ydoedd yng ngolwg ei daid a'i nain. Efe oedd pobpeth yno. Tyfodd\ni oedran gwr, a phriododd a merch landeg yn y gymydogaeth; ond nid\noedd gair da i'r tylwyth eu bod yn bobl hawddgar.\n\n\"Bu farw yr hen bobl, a bu farw y ferch-yng-nghyfraith hefyd. Ar\nryw brydnawn gwyntog, ym mis Hydref, gwelai teulu Llech y Derwydd\nhenafgwr tal, teneu, a'i farf a'i wallt fel yr eira, yr hwn a dybient\nydoedd Iddew, yn dynesu yn araf araf at y ty. Hylldremiai y morwynion\ndrwy y ffenestr, a chwarddai y feistress am ben yr 'hen Iddew,' gan\ngodi y plant un ar ol y llall i'w weled yn dyfod. Daeth at y drws,\na daeth i mewn hefyd yn lled eofn, gan ofyn am ei rieni. Atebai\ny wraig ef yn daeog, a choeglyd anghyffredin, gan ddywedyd, 'Beth\noedd yr hen Iddew meddw yn dyfod yno,' oblegid tybient ei fod wedi\nyfed, onid e ni fuasai yn siarad felly. Edrychai yr hen wr yn syn a\nphryderus iawn ar bob peth yn y ty, gan synu llawer; ond ar y plant\nbychain ar hyd y llawr y sylwai fwyaf. Edrychai yn llawn siomedigaeth\na gofid. Dywedodd yr hanes i gyd, iddo fod allan yn hela ddoe, a'i fod\nyn awr yn dychwelyd. Dywedodd y wraig iddi glywed chwedl am dad ei gwr\nflynyddau cyn ei geni, ei fod wedi myned ar goll wrth hela; ond fod\nei thad yn dywedyd wrthi nad gwir hyny, mai ei ladd a gafodd. Aeth y\nwraig yn anystywallt, ac yn llwyr o'i chof eisiau fod yr hen 'Iddew' yn\nmyned allan. Cyffrodd yr hen wr, a dywedai mai efe ydoedd perchen y ty,\nac y byddai raid iddo gael ei hawl. Aeth allan i weled ei feddianau,\nac yn fuan i dy y deiliad. Er ei syndod, yr oedd pethau wedi newid\nyn fawr yno. Ar ol ymddiddan am dro a hen wr oedranus wrth y tan,\nedrychai y naill fwy fwy ar y llall. Dywedai yr hen wr beth fu tynged\nei ben gyfaill, mab Llech y Derwydd. Siaradent yn bwyllog am bethau\nmebyd, ond yr oedd y cyfan fel breuddwyd. Beth bynag, penderfynodd\nyr hen wr yn y cornel mai ei hen gyfaill, mab Llech y Derwydd,\noedd yr ymwelydd, wedi dychwelyd o wlad y Tylwyth Teg, ar ol bod\nyno haner can' mlynedd. Credodd yr hen wr a'r farf wen ei dynged,\na mawr y siarad a'r holi fu gan y naill y llall am oriau lawer.\n\n\"Dywedai fod gwr Llech y Derwydd y diwrnod hwnw oddi cartref. Cafwyd\ngan yr hen ymwelydd fwyta bwyd; ond er mawr fraw, syrthiodd y bwytawr\nyn farw yn y fan. Nid oes hanes fod trengholiad wedi bod ar y corff;\nond dywedai y chwedl mae yr achos oedd, iddo fwyta bwyd ar ol bod yn\nmyd y Tylwyth Teg cyhyd. Mynodd ei hen gyfaill weled ei gladdu yn ochr\nei deidiau. Bu melldith fyth, hyd y silcyn ach, yn Llech y Derwydd,\no blegid sarugrwydd y wraig i'w thad-yng-nghyfraith, nes gwerthu y\nlle naw gwaith.\"\n\n\nThe above tale translated into English reads as follows:--\n\n\"The son of Llech y Derwydd was the only child of his parents, and\nalso the heir to the farm. He was, therefore, very dear to his father\nand mother, yea, he was as the very light of their eyes. The son and\nthe head servant man were more than bosom friends, they were like two\nbrothers, or rather twins. As the son and the servant were such close\nfriends, the farmer's wife was in the habit of clothing them exactly\nalike. The two friends fell in love with two young handsome women who\nwere highly respected in the neighbourhood. This event gave the old\npeople great satisfaction, and ere long the two couples were joined\nin holy wedlock, and great was the merry-making on the occasion. The\nservant man obtained a convenient place to live in on the grounds of\nLlech y Derwydd.\n\n\"About six months after the marriage of the son, he and the servant\nman went out to hunt. The servant penetrated to a ravine filled with\nbrushwood to look for game, and presently returned to his friend, but\nby the time he came back the son was nowhere to be seen. He continued\nawhile looking about for his absent friend, shouting and whistling\nto attract his attention, but there was no answer to his calls. By\nand by he went home to Llech y Derwydd, expecting to find him there,\nbut no one knew anything about him. Great was the grief of the family\nthroughout the night, but it was even greater next day. They went to\ninspect the place where the son had last been seen. His mother and his\nwife wept bitterly, but the father had greater control over himself,\nstill he appeared as half mad. They inspected the place where the\nservant man had last seen his friend, and, to their great surprise\nand sorrow, observed a Fairy ring close by the spot, and the servant\nrecollected that he had heard seductive music somewhere about the\ntime that he parted with his friend.\n\n\"They came to the conclusion at once that the man had been so\nunfortunate as to enter the Fairy ring, and they conjectured that he\nhad been transported no one knew where. Weary weeks and months passed\naway, and a son was born to the absent man.\n\n\"The little one grew up the very image of his father, and very\nprecious was he to his grandfather and grandmother. In fact, he was\neverything to them. He grew up to man's estate and married a pretty\ngirl in the neighbourhood, but her people had not the reputation of\nbeing kind-hearted. The old folks died, and also their daughter-in-law.\n\n\"One windy afternoon in the month of October, the family of Llech y\nDerwydd saw a tall thin old man with beard and hair as white as snow,\nwho they thought was a Jew approaching slowly, very slowly, towards\nthe house. The servant girls stared mockingly through the window\nat him, and their mistress laughed unfeelingly at the 'old Jew,'\nand lifted the children up, one after the other, to get a sight of\nhim as he neared the house.\n\n\"He came to the door, and entered the house boldly enough, and\ninquired after his parents. The mistress answered him in a surly and\nunusually contemptuous manner and wished to know 'What the drunken\nold Jew wanted there,' for they thought he must have been drinking\nor he would never have spoken in the way he did. The old man looked\nat everything in the house with surprise and bewilderment, but the\nlittle children about the floor took his attention more than anything\nelse. His looks betrayed sorrow and deep disappointment. He related\nhis whole history, that yesterday he had gone out to hunt, and that\nnow he had returned. The mistress told him that she had heard a story\nabout her husband's father, which occurred before she was born, that\nhe had been lost whilst hunting, but that her father had told her that\nthe story was not true, but that he had been killed. The woman became\nuneasy and angry that the old 'Jew' did not depart. The old man was\nroused, and said that the house was his, and that he would have his\nrights. He went to inspect his possessions, and shortly afterwards\ndirected his steps to the servant's house. To his surprise he saw that\nthings were greatly changed. After conversing awhile with an aged man\nwho sat by the fire, they carefully looked each other in the face,\nand the old man by the fire related the sad history of his lost friend,\nthe son of Llech y Derwydd.\n\n\"They conversed together deliberately on the events of their youth,\nbut all seemed like a dream. However, the old man in the corner came to\nthe conclusion that his visitor was his old friend, the son of Llech y\nDerwydd, returned from the land of the Fairies, after spending there\nfifty years.\n\n\"The old man with the white beard believed the story related by his\nfriend, and long was the talk and many were the questions which the one\ngave to the other. The visitor was informed that the master of Llech y\nDerwydd was from home that day, and he was persuaded to eat some food;\nbut to the horror of all, when he had done so, he instantly fell down\ndead. We are not informed that an inquest was held over the body; but\nthe tale relates that the cause of the man's sudden death was that he\nate food after having been so long in the land of the Fairies. His old\nfriend insisted on the dead man being buried with his ancestors. The\nrudeness of the mistress of Llech y Derwydd to her father-in-law\nbrought a curse upon the place and family, 'hyd y silcyn ach,' and\nher offence was not expiated until the farm had been sold nine times.\"\n\n\n\nTAFFY AP SION OF PENCADER AMONG THE FAIRIES.\n\nThe following Fairy Legend appeared in \"British Goblins,\" page 75:--\n\nTaffy ap Sion, the shoemaker's son, living near Pencader,\nCarmarthenshire, was a lad who many years ago entered the Fairy circle\non the mountain hard by there, and having danced a few minutes as\nhe supposed, chanced to step out. He was then astonished to find\nthat the scene which had been so familiar was now quite strange to\nhim. Here were roads and houses he had never seen, and in place of his\nfather's humble cottage there now stood a fine stone farmhouse. About\nhim were lovely cultivated fields instead of the barren mountain he\nwas accustomed to.\n\n'Ah,' thought he, 'this is some Fairy trick to deceive my eyes. It\nis not ten minutes since I stepped into that circle, and now when\nI step out they have built my father a new house! Well, I only hope\nit is real; anyhow, I'll go and see.' So he started off by a path he\nknew instinctively, and suddenly struck against a very solid hedge. He\nrubbed his eyes, felt the hedge with his fingers, scratched his head,\nfelt the hedge again, ran a thorn into his fingers and cried out,\n'Wbwb' this is no Fairy hedge anyhow, nor, from the age of the thorns,\nwas it grown in a few minutes' time! So he climbed over it and walked\non. 'Here was I born,' said he, as he entered the farmyard, staring\nwildly about him, 'and not a thing here do I know!' His mystification\nwas complete, when there came bounding towards him a huge dog, barking\nfuriously. 'What dog is this? Get out you ugly brute! Don't you\nknow I'm master here?--at least, when mother's from home, for father\ndon't count.' But the dog only barked the harder. 'Surely,' muttered\nTaffy to himself, 'I have lost my road and am wandering through some\nunknown neighbourhood; but no, yonder is the Careg Hir!' and he stood\nstaring at the well-known erect stone thus called, which still stands\non the mountain south of Pencader, and is supposed to have been placed\nthere in ancient times to commemorate a victory. As Taffy stood thus,\nlooking at the long stone, he heard footsteps behind him, and turning,\nbeheld the occupant of the farmhouse, who had come out to see why\nhis dog was barking.\n\nPoor Taffy was so ragged and wan that the farmer's Welsh heart was at\nonce stirred to sympathy. 'Who are you, poor man?' he asked, to which\nTaffy answered, 'I know who I was, but I do not know who I am now. I\nwas the son of a shoemaker who lived in this place, this morning;\nfor that rock, though it is changed a little, I know too well.' 'Poor\nfellow,' said the farmer, 'You have lost your senses. This house was\nbuilt by my great-grandfather, repaired by my grandfather; and that\npart there, which seems newly built, was done about three years ago\nat my expense. You must be deranged, or you have missed the road; but\ncome in and refresh yourself with some victuals, and rest.' Taffy was\nhalf persuaded that he had overslept himself and lost his road, but\nlooking back he saw the rock before mentioned, and exclaimed, 'It is\nbut an hour since I was on yonder rock robbing a hawk's nest.' 'Where\nhave you been since?' Taffy related his adventure. 'Ah,' quoth the\nfarmer, 'I see how it is--you have been with the Fairies. Pray who\nwas your father?' 'Sion Evan y Crydd o Glanrhyd,' was the answer. 'I\nnever heard of such a man,' said the farmer, shaking his head, 'nor\nof such a place as Glanrhyd, either; but no matter, after you have\ntaken a little food we will step down to Catti Shon, at Pencader,\nwho will probably be able to tell something.' With this he beckoned\nTaffy to follow him, and walked on; but hearing behind him the sound\nof footsteps growing weaker and weaker, he turned round, when to his\nhorror he beheld the poor fellow crumble in an instant to about a\nthimbleful of black ashes. The farmer, though much terrified at this\nsight, preserved his calmness sufficiently to go at once and see old\nCatti, the aged crone he had referred to, who lived at Pencader,\nnear by. He found her crouching over a fire of faggots, trying to\nwarm her old bones. 'And how do you do the day, Catti Shon?' asked\nthe farmer. 'Ah,' said old Catti, 'I'm wonderful well, farmer,\nconsidering how old I am.' 'Yes, yes, you are very old. Now, since\nyou are so old, let me ask you--do you remember anything about Sion\ny Crydd o Glanrhyd? Was there ever such a man, do you know?' 'Sion\nGlanrhyd? O! I have a faint recollection of hearing my grandfather,\nold Evan Shenkin, Penferdir, relate that Sion's son was lost one\nmorning, and they never heard of him afterwards, so that it was said\nhe was taken by the Fairies. His father's cottage stood somewhere near\nyour house.' 'Were there many Fairies about at that time?' asked the\nfarmer. 'O, yes; they were often seen on yonder hill, and I was told\nthey were lately seen in Pant Shon Shenkin, eating flummery out of\negg-shells, which they had stolen from a farm hard by.' 'Dir anwyl\nfi!' cried the farmer; 'dear me! I recollect now--I saw them myself.'\n\n\n\nSHON AP SHENKIN SEDUCED BY FAIRY MUSIC.\n\nAnother story very similar to the one I have just given is the legend\nof Shon ap Shenkin, which was related to Mr. Sikes by a farmer's wife\nnear the reputed scene of the tale, that is the locality of Pant Shon\nShenkin, the famous centre of Carmarthenshire Fairies:--\n\n\"Shon ap Shenkin was a young man who lived hard by Pant Shon\nShenkin. As he was going afield early one fine summer's morning he\nheard a little bird singing, in a most enchanting strain, on a tree\nclose by his path. Allured by the melody, he sat down under the tree\nuntil the music ceased, when he arose and looked about him. What was\nhis surprise at observing that the tree, which was green and full of\nlife when he sat down, was now withered and barkless! Filled with\nastonishment he returned to the farmhouse which he had left, as he\nsupposed, a few minutes before; but it also was changed, grown older,\nand covered with ivy. In the doorway stood an old man whom he had never\nbefore seen; he at once asked the old man what he wanted there. 'What\ndo I want here?' ejaculated the old man, reddening angrily; 'that's\na pretty question! Who are you that dare to insult me in my own\nhouse?' 'In your own house? How is this? where's my father and mother,\nwhom I left here a few minutes since, whilst I have been listening to\nthe charming music under yon tree, which, when I rose, was withered\nand leafless' 'Under the tree!--music!' 'What's your name?' 'Shon\nap Shenkin.' 'Alas, poor Shon, and this is indeed you!' cried the\nold man. 'I often heard my grandfather, your father, speak of you,\nand long did he bewail your absence. Fruitless inquiries were made\nfor you; but old Catti Maddock of Brechfa said you were under the\npower of the Fairies, and would not be released until the last sap\nof that sycamore tree would be dried. Embrace me, my dear uncle,\nfor you are my uncle ... embrace your nephew.' With this the old man\nextended his arms, but before the two men could embrace, poor Shon\nap Shenkin crumbled into dust on the door-step.\"\n\nIt is very interesting to compare this story of Shon ap Shenkin, under\nthe power of the Fairies, listening to the birds of enchantment,\nwith the warriors at Harlech listening to the Birds of Rhiannon,\nin the Mabinogi of Branwen, daughter of Llyr.\n\nBran Fendigaid, a Welsh King in ancient times, had a palace at Harlech,\nand had a sister named Bronwen, or White Breast, whom Matholwch the\nKing of Ireland married on account of her wonderful beauty. After\na while, however, the foster brothers of Matholwch began to treat\nBronwen very cruelly till at last she found means to send a message to\nher brother Bran, in Wales; and this she did by writing a letter of\nher woes, which she bound to a bird's wing which she had reared. The\nbird reached Bronwen's brother, Bran, who, when he read the letter\nsailed for Ireland immediately, and during a fearful warfare in that\ncountry he was poisoned with a dart in his foot. His men had been\nbidden by their dying chief to cut off his head and bear it to London\nand bury it with the face towards France. They did as they were bidden\nby Bran previous to his death, and various were the adventures they\nencountered while obeying this injunction. At Harlech they stopped\nto rest, and sat down to eat and drink.\n\nWhile there, they heard three birds singing a sweet song, \"at a great\ndistance over the sea,\" though it seemed to them as though they were\nquite near. These were the birds of Rhiannon. Their notes were so\nsweet that warriors were known to have remained spell-bound for 80\nyears listening to them. The birds sang so sweetly that the men rested\nfor seven years, which appeared but a day. Then they pursued their way\nto Gwales in Pembrokeshire, and there remained for four score years,\nduring which the head of Bran was uncorrupted. At last they went to\nLondon and buried it there.\n\nThe old Welsh poets often allude to the birds of Rhiannon, and they are\nalso mentioned in the Triads; and the same enchanting fancy reappears\nin the local story of Shon ap Shenkin, which I just gave.\n\nMr. Ernest Rhys in the present day sings:--\n\n\n   \"O, the birds of Rhiannon they sing time away,--\n    Seven years in their singing are gone like a day.\"\n\n\nIn the region of myth and romance Rhiannon, the songs of whose birds\nwere so enchanting, was the daughter of Heveydd Hen, who by her\nmagic arts foiled her powerful suitor, Gwawl ap Clud, and secured as\nher consort the man of her choice, Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed. In Welsh\nMythology several members of the kingly families are represented as\nplaying the role of magicians.\n\nIt may be added that it is interesting to compare both the story of\nShion ap Shenkin, and that of the birds of Rhiannon, with Longfellow's\n\"Golden Legend,\" originally written in the thirteenth century by\nJacobus de Voragine, in which Monk Felix is represented as listening\nto the singing of a snow-white bird for a hundred years, which period\npassed as a single hour.\n\n\n   \"One morning all alone,\n    Out of his covenant of gray stone,\n    Into the forest older, darker, grayer\n    His lips moving as if in prayer,\n    His head sunken upon his breast\n    As in a dream of rest,\n    Walked the Monk Felix. All about\n    The broad, sweet sunshine lay without,\n    Filling the summer air;\n    And within the woodlands as he trod,\n    The twilight was like the Truce of God\n    With worldly woe and care.\n    Under him lay the golden moss;\n    And above him the boughs of hemlock-trees\n    Waved, and made the sign of the cross,\n    And whispered their benedicites,\n    And from the ground\n    Rose an odour sweet and fragrant\n    Of the wild-flowers and the vagrant\n    Vines that wandered,\n    Seeking the sunshine, round and round.\n\n   \"Those he heeded not, but pondered\n    On the volume in his hand,\n    A volume of Saint Augustine,\n    Wherein he read of the unseen\n    Splendours of God's great town\n    In the unknown land,\n    And, with his eyes cast down\n    In humility he said:\n    'I believe, O God,\n    What herein I have read,\n    But alas! I do not understand'?\n\n   \"And lo! he heard\n    The sudden singing of a bird,\n    A snow-white bird, that from a cloud\n    Dropped down,\n    And among the branches brown\n    Sat singing\n    So sweet, and clear, and loud,\n    It seemed a thousand harp-strings ringing;\n    And the Monk Felix closed his book,\n    And long, long,\n    With rapturous look,\n    He listened to the song.\n    And hardly breathed or stirred,\n    Until he saw, as in a vision,\n    The land Elysian,\n    And in the heavenly city heard\n    Angelic feet\n    Fall on the golden flagging of the street,\n    And he would fain\n    Have caught the wondrous bird,\n    But strove in vain;\n    For it flew away, away,\n    Far over hill and dell,\n    And instead of its sweet singing,\n    He heard the convent bell\n    Suddenly in the silence ringing,\n    For the service of noonday.\n    And he retraced\n    His pathway homeward sadly and in haste.\n\n   \"In the convent there was a change!\n    He looked for each well-known face,\n    But the faces were new and strange;\n    New figures sat in the oaken stalls.\n    New voices chanted in the choir;\n    Yet the place was the same place,\n    The same dusky walls\n    Of cold, gray stone,\n    The same cloisters and belfry and spire.\n\n   \"A stranger and alone\n    Among that brotherhood\n    The monk Felix stood.\n    'Forty years,' said a Friar,\n    'Have I been Prior\n    Of this convent in the wood,\n    But for that space\n    Never have I beheld thy face!'\n    The heart of Monk Felix fell:\n    And he answered with submissive tone,\n    'This morning, after the horn of Prime,\n    I left my cell\n    And wandered forth alone.\n    Listening all the time\n    To the melodious singing\n    Of a beautiful white bird,\n    Until I heard\n    The bells of the convent ring\n    Noon from their noisy towers.\n    It was as if I dreamed;\n    For what to me had seemed\n    Moments only, had been hours!'\n\n  \"'Years!' said a voice close by,\n    It was an aged monk who spoke,\n    From a bench of oak\n    Fastened against the wall;--\n    He was the oldest monk of all.\n    For a whole century\n    He had been there,\n    Serving God in prayer,\n    The meekest and humblest of his creatures,\n    He remembered well the features\n    Of Felix, and he said,\n    'One hundred years ago,\n    When I was a novice in this place\n    There was here a monk, full of God's grace,\n    Who bore the name\n    Of Felix, and this man must be the same.'\n\n   \"And straightway\n    They brought forth to the light of day\n      A volume old and brown,\n    A huge tome bound\n    In brass and wild-boar's hide.\n    Wherein were written down\n    The names of all who had died\n    In the convent, since it was edified.\n    And there they found,\n    Just as the old Monk said,\n    That on a certain day and date,\n    One hundred years before,\n    Had gone forth from the convent gate\n    The monk Felix, and never more\n    Had he entered that sacred door\n    He had been counted among the dead!\n    And they knew, at last,\n    That such had been the power\n    Of that celestial and immortal song,\n    A hundred years had passed,\n    And had not seemed so long\n    As a single hour!\"\n\n\nIn the stories I have already given those who fell into the hands\nof the Fairies were rescued or returned from them after a certain\nperiod of time; but I have heard some stories in which the victim\nnever returned. A woman at Pontshan, Llandyssul, in Cardiganshire,\nrelated to me a story of a servant girl in that neighbourhood who was\ncaptured by the Fairies and never returned home again. A few months\nago another tale of this kind was related to me at Llanrhystyd:\n\n\n\nA LLANRHYSTYD MAID LOST AMONG THE FAIRIES.\n\nMr David Morgan, Carpenter, Llanrhystyd, informed me that some years\nago the maid servant of Pencareg Farm in the neighbourhood, went out\none evening to bring home the cattle which were grazing some distance\naway from the house. A boy employed to look after the cattle in the\nday-time known as \"bugail bach,\" saw the Fairies dragging the maid into\ntheir circle or ring, where she joined them in their dances. Search\nwas made for her everywhere, but she was never seen again.\n\n\n\nSHUI RHYS AND THE FAIRIES.\n\n\"Shui was a beautiful girl of seventeen, tall and fair, with a skin\nlike ivory, hair black and curling, and eyes of dark velvet. She was\nbut a poor farmer's daughter, notwithstanding her beauty, and among\nher duties was that of driving up the cows for the milking. Over this\nwork she used to loiter sadly, to pick flowers by the way, or chase\nthe butterflies, or amuse herself in any agreeable manner that fortune\noffered. For her loitering she was often chided, indeed, people said\nShui's mother was far too sharp with the girl, and that it was for no\ngood the mother had so bitter a tongue. After all the girl meant no\nharm, they said. But when one night Shui never came home till bed-time,\nleaving the cows to care for themselves, dame Rhys took the girl to\ntask as she never had done before. 'Ysgwaetheroedd, Mami,' said Shui,\n'I could not help it; it was the Tylwyth Teg,' (the Fairies). The\ndame was aghast at this, but she could not answer it--for well she\nknew the Tylwyth Teg were often seen in the woods of Cardigan. Shui\nwas at first shy about talking of the Fairies, but finally confessed\nthey were little men in green coats, who danced around her and made\nmusic on their little harps; and they talked to her in language too\nbeautiful to be repeated; indeed she couldn't understand the words,\nthough she knew well enough what the Fairies meant. Many a time after\nthat Shui was late; but now nobody chided her, for fear of offending\nthe Fairies. At last one night Shui did not come home at all. In\nalarm the woods were searched; there was no sign of her; and never was\nshe seen in Cardigan again. Her mother watched in the fields on the\nTair-nos ysprydion or three nights of the year when goblins are sure\nto be abroad; but Shui never returned. Once indeed there came to the\nneighbourhood a wild rumour that Shui Rhys had been seen in a great\ncity in a foreign land--Paris, perhaps, or London, who knows? but\nthis tale was in no way injurious to the sad belief that the Fairies\nhad carried her off; they might take her to those well-known centres\nof idle and sinful pleasure, as well as to any other place.\" [3]\n\n\n\nFAIRIES COMING INTO THE BEDROOM OF A HOUSE NEAR ABERYSTWYTH.\n\nOne Robert Burton, in his \"History of the Principality of Wales,\"\npublished 215 years ago, says:--\"John Lewes, Esq., a Justice of\nPeace at Glankerrig, near Aberystwyth, in this county, in the year\n1656, by several letters to Mr. B. A., late worthy divine deceased,\ngives an account of several strange apparitions in Carmarthenshire,\nPembrokeshire, and this county (Cardiganshire), about that time,\nconfirmed by divers persons of good quality and reputation the\nsubstance of whereof are as followeth. A man and his family being all\nin bed, he being awake about midnight, perceived by a light entering\nthe little room where he lay, and about a dozen in the shapes of men,\nand two or three women with small children in their arms following,\nthey seemed to dance, and the chamber appeared much wider and lighter\nthan formerly. They seemed to eat bread and cheese all about a kind\nof a tick upon the ground, they offered him some, and would smile\nupon him, he heard no voice, but calling once upon God to bless him,\nhe heard a whispering voice in Welsh bidding him hold his peace. They\ncontinued there about four hours, all which time he endeavoured to\nwake his wife but could not. Afterwards they went into another room,\nand having danced awhile departed. He then arose, and though the room\nwas very small, yet he could neither find the door, nor the way to\nbed again until crying out his wife and family awoke.\n\n\"He living within two miles of Justice Lewes, he sent for him, being\na poor honest husbandman and of good report, and made him believe he\nwould put him to his oath about the truth of this Relation, who was\nvery ready to take it.\"\n\n\n\nA SERVANT OF PERTHRHYS, LLANDDEINIOL, AND THE WHITE FAIRIES.\n\nA very old man named John Jones, who lives at Llanddeiniol, about six\nmiles from Aberystwyth, informed me that many years ago, when he was a\nyoung man, or a lad of 18, he was engaged as a servant at a farm called\nPerthrhys, in that neighbourhood. One evening after supper he went to\nthe tailor who was making him a suit of clothes; but as the clothes\nwere not quite ready he had to wait till a late hour before returning\nhome, but it was a delightful moonlight night. As he proceeded along\na lonely path across a certain moor known as Rhosrhydd, and happened\nto look back he was suddenly surprised by seeing two young men or\nboys as he thought, coming after him. At first he thought they were\nsome boys trying to frighten him; but after they had followed him\nfor a short distance till they came within about 30 or 40 yards of\nhim, they turned out from the path, and began to jump and to dance,\ngoing round and round as if they followed a ring or a circle just as\nwe hear of the fairies. They were perfectly white, and very nimble,\nand the old man informed me that there was something supernatural both\nin their appearance and movements; and that he is convinced to this\nday that they could not have been human beings. When he arrived home\nat the farm, and related his adventure, every one in the house was\nof the opinion that the strange beings he had seen were the Fairies.\n\n\n\nNANCY TYNLLAIN AND HER SON SEEING FAIRIES ON HORSES.\n\nA man named Timothy in the parish of Llanarth, Cardiganshire, told\nme that an old woman known as Nancy Tynllain and her son, Shenkin\nPhillips, had seen the Tylwyth Teg (fairies) on one occasion. Nancy\ndied over sixty years ago. She and her son one day left home rather\nearly in the morning, as they were going to Cynon's Fair, and had some\ndistance to go. As they proceeded on their horses in the direction\nof Wilgarn, they saw the Fairies, mounted on small horses, galloping\nround and round as in a circle round about a certain hillock, and\nNancy took particular notice that one of the Fairy women had a red\ncloak on. As the old woman and her son were looking on, watching\nthe movements of the Fairies, Nancy remarked, \"That Fairy woman over\nthere rides very much like myself.\" This was at early dawn.\n\n\n\nELIAS, FORCH Y CWM AND THE FAIRIES.\n\nElias, Forch y Cwm, who was a servant man in the same neighbourhood,\nwas one day ploughing on the field, but when he happened to look about\nhe perceived the Fairies on Bank-Cwmpridd, and coming towards him. The\nman ran home in terror from the field, and this was in broad daylight.\n\nThe late Mr. T. Compton Davies, Aberayron, an eminent Folk-Lorist,\nrelated to me the following two stories, and informed me that he\nhad already written them in Welsh for \"Cymru,\" in which excellent\nperiodical they appeared, September, 1892, page 117.\n\n\n\nTHE CARDIGANSHIRE PAINTER AND MUSICIAN, WHO PLAYED HIS FLUTE TO THE\nFAIRY LADIES AND NEARLY SECURED ONE OF THEM AS A WIFE.\n\nAbout the year 1860, a builder from Aberayron, in Cardiganshire, was\nerecting a Vicarage at Nantcwnlle, about nine miles from Aberayron,\nnot far from Llangeitho. There was a certain man there employed as\na painter, whose name was John Davies, a harmless and superstitious\ncharacter, who once had been an exciseman, afterwards a carpenter, and\nat last became a painter, though he did not shine in either of the two\ntrades. He was however, a brilliant musician, and belonged to a musical\nfamily. He was acquainted with the works of Handel, Mozart, Haydn, and\nBeethoven, whilst one of his favourites was the song of the Witches\nin \"Macbeth,\" He also always carried his flute in his pocket. Whilst\nthis Nantcwnlle Vicarage was in course of construction, John was\nsent one day on a message to Aberayron. He went there in due time,\nand in the afternoon left the town and started on his return journey,\nhaving the choice of two roads--either returning through the Vale of\nAeron, or across the hill--country of Cilcennin, The latter was a very\nlonely route, but he chose it as it was about two miles shorter. So\nJohn hurried on his journey so as to reach his destination before\nnight. When he came to the little village of Cilcennin, he had a good\nmind to enter the public house known as the \"Commercial,\" to see his\nold friend Llywelyn, when he remembered that it was getting late and\nthat he had to pass by the ghosts of the moors and the Fairy circles\non the top of the mountain. After walking on again about a mile, he\narrived at another public house, known as \"Rhiwlas Arms.\" He was now\nwithin three miles to the end of his journey, and it occurred to him\nthat it would be a splendid thing to have one pint of beer to give\nhim strength and courage to meet the ghosts. So in he went into the\nPublic House, where he met with many old friends, and drank more than\none pint. After taking out his flute from his pocket, John obliged\nthe merry company with many of the old Welsh airs, such as \"Ar Hyd y\nNos,\" \"Glan Meddwdod Mwyn,\" \"Llwyn on,\" etc. It was 8 o'clock p.m.,\nand in the middle of October. John started from the house, boasting\nto those who were present that he was not afraid, but poor fellow, as\nsoon as he went out into the darkness and the stillness of the night,\nhis heart began to beat very fast. Nevertheless, he walked forward\nfrom the cross-road towards Hendraws, and turned to a road which led\ndirect to Nantcwnlle. For a considerable distance, there was no hedge\nexcept on one side of the road, and nothing but a vast open moor on\nthe other side. John knew that he was to pass a small cottage called\nTy-clottas, and expected every moment to see the light of the old woman\nwho lived there, who was known as Peggi Ty-clottas. Unfortunately,\nJohn had somehow or other wandered away from the road into the bog;\nbut seeing light before him, he went on confidently. He followed the\nlight for some distance, but did not come to any house, and he noticed\nthat the light was travelling and giving a little jump now and again.\n\n\n\nAt the early dawn next morning, old Peggi Ty-clottas, when she was half\nawake, heard some strange music, more strange than she had ever heard\nbefore. At first she thought it was the \"toili\" (phantom funeral),\nwhich had come to warn her of her approaching death; for to believe\nin the \"toili\" was part of Peggi's confession of faith. But when she\nlistened attentively, Peggi found out that the music was not a dead\nmarch, but rather something light and merry. So it could not have\nbeen the \"toili.\" Afterwards she thought it was the warbling of some\nbird. Peggi had heard the lark many a time at the break of day singing\nsongs of praises to the Creator. She had also heard the lapwing and\nother birds, breaking on the loneliness of her solitary home; but\nnever had she heard a bird like this one singing, singing continually\nwithout a pause. At last she got up from her bed and went out into\nthe moor in order to see what was there. To her great surprise, she\nsaw a man sitting on a heap, and blowing into some instrument, who\ntook no notice of Peggi. Peggi went quite close to the man and asked\nhim in a loud voice, \"What do you want here?\" Then the man stirred up\nand ceased to blow, and with an angry look, said,--\"Ah you,--you have\nspoiled everything; it nearly came to a bargain.\" It proved that the\nman whom Peggi came upon was John Davies, the painter, who had been\nplaying his flute to the Fairies, and had almost made a bargain with\nthem to marry a Fairy lady, when old Peggi came to spoil everything.\n\n\n\nWhen Mr. T. Compton Davies, heard about John among the Fairies he\nwent to him and begged him to tell him all about it; and he did\nso. According to John's own account of his night adventure it was\nsomething as follows:--When he got lost in the bog, he followed the\nlight, till presently, he came to a Fairy ring, where a large number\nof little Fairy ladies danced in it, and to his great surprise, one\nof them took his arm, so that John also began to dance. And after a\nwhile, the Queen of the Fairies herself came on to him, and asked him,\n\"Where do you come from?\" John replied, \"From the world of mortals,\"\nand added that he was a painter. Then she said to him, that they had\nno need of a painter in the world of Fairies, as there was nothing\ngetting old there. John found the Fairies all ladies, or at least\nhe did not mention any men. They were very beautiful, but small,\nand wearing short white dresses coming down to the knees only. When\nhe took out from his pocket his flute and entertained them by playing\nsome Irish, Scotch, and English airs, the Queen informed him that they\n(the Fairies) were of Welsh descent. Then John played some Welsh airs\nfrom Owen Alaw to the great delight of the Fairy ladies, and they had\na merry time of it. John soon became a great favourite, and asked for\nsomething to drink, but found they were \"teetotals.\" Then he fell\nin love with one of the Fairy ladies, and asked the Queen for the\nhand of the maiden, and informed her that he had a horse named Bob,\nas well as a cart of his own making. The Queen in reply said that they\nwere not accustomed to mix with mortals, but as he had proved himself\nsuch a musician, she gave her consent under the conditions that he\nand the little lady should come once a month on the full moon night\nto the top of Mount Trichrug to visit the Fairies. Then the Queen took\nhold of a pot full of gold which she intended giving John as a dowry,\nbut, unfortunately, at the very last moment, when he was just going\nto take hold of it, old Peggi TyClottas came to shout and to spoil\nthe whole thing; for as soon as the Fairy ladies saw old Peggi,\nthey all vanished through some steps into the underground regions\nand John never saw them again. But he continued to believe as long\nas he lived that he had been with the Fairies.\n\n\n\nTWO MEN WHO SAW THE FAIRIES IN CARMARTHENSHIRE DANCING IN BROAD\nDAYLIGHT.\n\nMr. Compton Davies, also informed me that there were two men in his\nneighbourhood who had seen the Fairies about 45 years ago, and he\ndirected me to go and see them so as to hear everything from their\nown lips. One of them, David Evans, Red Lion, lives at Aberayron,\nand the other Evan Lewis is a farmer near Mydroilyn, in the parish of\nLlanarth. I went to see both of them, and they gave me a full account\nof what they had seen which was something as follows:--\n\nIn August, 1862, David Evans and Evan Lewis, went from the Coast\nof Cardiganshire with their waggons all the way to Brecon for some\ntimber for ship-building, which was going on at New Quay. On their\nreturn journey, through Carmarthenshire, they stopped for a short\ntime at a place called Cwmdwr on the road leading from Llanwrda to\nLampeter. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and the two men\nand their horses and waggons were standing opposite a farm known as\nMaestwynog, where the reapers were busy at work in a wheat-field close\nby. As they were looking in the direction of a hillside not far off,\nDavid Evans saw about fifty small wheat stacks (sopynau bychain), as\nhe at first thought. On second sight, however, he noticed that they\nwere moving about, he took them for reapers. They were all dressed\nexactly alike, and walked fast one after another up the hillside\nfootpath. David Evans now called the attention of his companion Evan\nLewis, whom he asked who the men could have been; but before he had\ntime to make any further remarks, the first of those who were climbing\nup along the winding footpath had reached a small level spot on the top\nof the hill. The others quickly followed him, and each one in coming\nto the top, gave a jump to dance, and they formed a circle. After\ndancing for a short time, one of the dancers turned in into the middle\nof the circle, followed by the others, one by one till they appeared\nlike a gimblet screw. Then they disappeared into the ground. After\nawhile one of them reappeared again, and looked about him in every\ndirection as a rat, and the others followed him one by one and did\nthe same. Then they danced for some time as before, and vanished into\nthe ground as they had done the first time. The two men, David Evans\nand Evan Lewis were watching them from a distance of about 400 yards\nand were more than astonished to see men, as they thought, acting in\nsuch a strange and curious manner on the hill. They continued looking\nfor some time but the dancers did not appear again. At last the two\nmen proceeded on their journey till they came to an old man working\non the road whom they asked whether he knew anything about the men\nthey had seen dancing in a circle on the hill behind Maestwynog. The\nold man replied that he had not the least idea, but had heard his\ngrandfather say that the Tylwyth Teg (Fairies) used to dance in his\ntime, at which explanation our two friends smiled.\n\nIn the above account we see that the hill near Maestwynog was a special\nhaunt of the Fairies, even in modern days. There are certain spots\nhere and there all over Wales, pointed out by old people to this day,\nas having been frequented in former times by the Fairies to dance\nand to sing. An old man named James Jones, Golden Lion, Llanarth,\ninformed me that when a boy he heard from the lips of old men, many a\ntale of Fairies seen on Bank-rhydeiniol; and that they were mounted\non horses, riding and playing; and the late Rev. J. Davies, Moria,\nmentions that there were traditions of them appearing on Bannau Duon\nin the same parish. In the northern part of Cardiganshire, the people\nof Talybont showed me a spot a few miles to the east of that village,\nwhere these supernatural beings appeared long ago, more especially to\ndance. The neighbourhood of Aberporth, in the southern part of the\nsame county, was also a favourite spot according to an old woman in\nthe village. Pant Shon Shenkin in the neighbourhood of Pencader was\na famous place for Carmarthenshire Fairies, of which district we have\nalready given the reader more than one story.\n\nGwynionydd in the Brython for 1860, remarks that in former times the\nFairies were fond of the mountains of Dyfed, and that travellers in\nCardiganshire, between Lampeter and the town of Cardigan often saw\nthem on Llanwenog hill; but after arriving on that spot they would\nbe seen far away on the mountains of Llandyssul, and expecting to\nfind them there, they would be seen somewhere else, both deluding\nand eluding the traveller.\n\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES OF CWM MABWS, SEEN DRIVING IN THEIR CARRIAGES.\n\nIn the interesting small valley of Cwm Mabws, near Llanrhystyd,\nnine miles from Aberystwyth, there is a rocky spot known as Craig\nRhydderch. Even within the memory of some who are still alive, the\ncaves of Craig Rhydderch were the favourite haunts of the Fairies,\nwhere these mysterious beings were thought to dwell, or at least pass\nthrough to the underground regions. The Fairies of this part were,\nit was supposed, some kind of spirits or supernatural beings, and\nwere often seen in the Valley of Mabws going about in their phantom\ncarriages and horses. About fifty years ago when Fairies were still to\nbe seen in this neighbourhood, the eldest son of Penlan farm, and some\nof the men servants one evening just before dark, took their horses\ndown to the little river which runs through the bottom of the valley\nin order to give the animals water, as there was no water near the\nfarm-house which stood on high ground. As they were on their way to\nthe river they heard some noise on the road quite near them, and the\nfarmer's son said to the servants, \"It is the noise of the Fairies\non their journey, and they are coming from the direction of Craig\nRhydderch; let us stand one side of the road to make room for them to\npass.\" And sure enough, just as he spoke, a number of Fairies appeared\non the scene and passed by as if they were on a journey. They were\nlittle men with little horses and carriages, but my informant could\nnot tell me the colour of their dresses nor the colour of their horses\n\nAfter taking their horses to the water and turning them into a field,\nthe men went home to Penlan; and as soon as they entered the house and\nrelated what they had seen, another son of the farm had just arrived\nhome from Aberystwyth with a horse and cart, and he also had seen\nthe Fairies, just as he was turning to the road which led up the hill.\n\nThe above story was related to me by Mr. David Morgan, Carpenter,\nLlanrhystyd, who vouches for the truth of the account as he was well\nacquainted with the persons who saw the Fairies, and one of them was\na friend of his.\n\n\n\nFAIRIES AND FOOTBALLERS.\n\nThere is a curious tradition that early one Easter Monday, when the\nparishioners of Pencarreg and Caio were met to play at football, they\nsaw a numerous company of Fairies dancing. Being so many in number,\nthe young men were not intimidated at all, but proceeded in a body\ntowards the puny tribe, who perceiving them, removed to another\nplace. The young men followed, whereupon the little folk suddenly\ndisappeared dancing at the first place. Seeing this, the men divided\nand surrounded them, when they immediately became invisible, and were\nnever more seen there. This was in Carmarthenshire.\n\nOther places frequented by Fairies were Moyddin, between Lampeter\nand Llanarth, in Troed yr Aur, in Cardiganshire.\n\n\n\nFAIRIES MARKETING.\n\nIt was formerly believed in some parts of West Wales, especially\nby the people dwelling near the sea coast, that the Fairies visited\nmarkets and fairs, and that their presence made business very brisk. I\nhave already referred to the \"Gwerddonau Llion,\" or the enchanted\n\"Isles of the Sea,\" inhabited by Fairy Tribes. These Fairies, it was\nbelieved, went to and fro between the islands and shore, through\na subterranean gallery under the bottom of the sea, and regularly\nattended the markets at Milford Haven, in Pembrokeshire and Laugharne\nin Carmarthenshire. (\"British Goblins,\" page 10.) They made their\npurchases without speaking, laid down their money and departed, always\nleaving the exact sum required, which they seemed to know, without\nasking the price of anything. Sometimes they were invisible, but they\nwere often seen by sharp-eyed persons. There was one special butcher\nat Milford Haven upon whom the Fairies bestowed their patronage,\ninstead of distributing their favours indiscriminately.\n\nAccording to Gwynionydd in the \"Brython,\" for 1858, page 110, these\nFairies also came to market to Cardigan, and it was thought they raised\nthe prices of things terribly whenever they came there. In that part\nof the country they were known as \"Plant Rhys Ddwfn.\" No one saw them\ncoming there or going away, only seen there in the market. When prices\nin the market happened to be high, and the corn all sold, however,\nmuch there might have been there in the morning, the poor used to say\nto one another on the way home, \"Oh! They were there to-day,\" meaning\n\"Plant Rhys Ddwfn,\" or the Fairies. These Fairies were liked by the\nfarmers who had corn to sell, but disliked by the poor labourers who\nhad to buy corn and give higher price for it. Gwynionydd also says\nthat: \"A certain Gruffydd Ap Einon was wont to sell them more corn\nthan anybody else, and that he was a great friend of theirs. He was\nhonoured by them beyond all his contemporaries by being led on a visit\nto their home. As they were great traders, like the Phoenicians of old,\nthey had treasures from all countries under the sun. Gruffydd, after\nfeasting his eyes to satiety on their wonders was led back by them\nloaded with presents. But before taking leave of them, he asked them\nhow they succeeded in keeping themselves safe from invaders, as one of\ntheir number might become unfaithful, and go beyond the virtue of the\nherbs that formed their safety. \"Oh!\" replied the little old man of\nshrewd looks, \"Just as Ireland has been blessed with a soil on which\nvenomous reptiles cannot live, so with our land; no traitor can live\nhere. Look at the sand on the seashore; perfect unity prevails there,\nand so among us.\" Rhys, the father of our race, bade us even to the\nmost distant descendant to honour our parents and ancestors; love our\nown wives without looking at those of our neighbours, and do our best\nfor our children and grandchildren. And he said that if we did so,\nno one of us would prove unfaithful to another, or become what you\ncall a traitor. The latter is a wholly imaginary character among us;\nstrange pictures are drawn of him with his feet like those of an ass,\nwith a nest of snakes in his bosom, with a head like the Devil's, with\nhands somewhat like a man's while one of them holds a large knife and\nthe family dead around him Good-bye!\" When Gruffydd looked about him\nhe lost sight of the country of Plant Rhys, and found himself near\nhis home. He became very wealthy after this, and continued to be a\ngreat friend of Plant Rhys as long as he lived. After Gruffydd's death\nthey came to the market again, but such was the greed of the farmers,\nlike Gruffydd before them, for riches, and so unreasonable were the\nprices they asked for their corn, that the Rhysians took offence and\ncame no more to Cardigan to market. The old people used to think that\nthey now went to Fishguard market, as very strange people were wont\nto be seen there.\"\n\n\n\nFAIRY CHANGELINGS.\n\nMr. B. Davies in the II. Vol. of the \"Brython,\" page 182, gives the\nfollowing tale of a Fairy Changeling in the neighbourhood of Newcastle\nEmlyn, in the Vale of Teifi, and on the borders of Carmarthenshire\nand Cardiganshire:--\n\n\"One calm hot day, when the sun of heaven was brilliantly shining,\nand the hay in the dales was being busily made by lads and lasses,\nand by grown-up people of both sexes, a woman in the neighbourhood\nof Emlyn placed her one-year-old infant in the \"gader\" or chair, as\nthe cradle is called in these parts, and out she went to the field\nfor a while, intending to return when her neighbour, an old woman\novertaken by the decrepitude of eighty summers, should call to her\nthat her Darling was crying. It was not long before she heard the old\nwoman calling to her; she ran hurriedly, and as soon as she set foot\non the kitchen floor, she took her little one in her arms as usual,\nsaying to him, \"O my little one! thy mother's delight art thou! I\nwould not take the world for thee, etc.\" But to her surprise, he had\na very old look about him, and the more the tender-hearted mother\ngazed at his face, the stranger it seemed to her, so that at last\nshe placed him in the cradle and told her sorrow to her relatives and\nacquaintances. And after this one and the other had given his opinion,\nit was agreed at last that it was one of Rhys Ddwfn's children that\nwas in the cradle, and not her dearly loved baby. In this distress\nthere was nothing to do but to fetch a wizard, or wise man, as fast\nas the fastest horse could gallop. He said, when he saw the child\nthat he had seen his like before, and that it would be a hard job\nto get rid of him, though not such a very hard job this time. The\nshovel was made red hot in the fire by one of the Cefnarth (Cenarth)\nboys, and held before the child's face; and in an instant the short\nlittle old man took to his heels, and neither he nor his like was\nseen afterwards from Abercuch to Aberbargod at any rate. The mother\nfound her darling unscathed the next moment. I remember also hearing\nthat the strange child was as old as the grandfather of the one that\nhad been lost.\"--\"Celtic Folk-Lore\" by Sir J. Rhys.\n\nThere are many such stories in different parts of Wales and Scotland,\nand in both countries Fairies were believed to have a fatal admiration\nfor lovely children, and credited with stealing them, especially\nunbaptized infants.\n\nA Welsh poet thus sings:--\n\n\n   \"Llawer plentyn teg aeth ganddynt,\n    Pan y cym'rynt helynt hir;\n    Oddiar anwyl dda rieni,\n    I drigfanau difri dir.\n\n\nThe Rev. Elias Owen's translation of the above is as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Many a lovely child they've taken,\n    When long and bitter was the pain;\n    From their parents, loving, dear,\n    To the Fairies' dread domain.\"\n\n\nAnother popular mode of treatment resorted to in order to reclaim\nchildren from the Fairies, and to get rid of ugly changelings was as\nfollows:--The mother was to carry the changeling to a river, and when\nat the brink, the wizard who accompanied her was to cry out:--\n\n\n    \"Crap ar y wrach\"--\n    (A grip on the hag.)\n\n\nand the mother was to respond:--\n\n\n    \"Rhy hwyr gyfraglach\"--\n    (Too late decrepit one);\n\n\nThen the mother was to throw the changeling into the river, and then\nreturning home, where she would find her own child safe and sound.\n\nIt was believed that the Fairies were particularly busy in exchanging\nchildren on St. John's Eve.\n\n\n\nHOW TO DETECT CHANGELINGS.\n\nOne way of finding out whether children were Changelings or not was\nto listen to them speaking. If suspected children were heard speaking\nthings above the understanding of children, it was considered a proof\nthat they were changelings. This was a wide-spread belief in Wales.\n\nFairies did not always come to steal children, however, for they\nwere believed in some places to enter the houses at night to dance\nand sing until the morning, and leave on the hearth-stone a piece\nof money as a reward behind them, should they find the house clean;\nbut should it be dirty, they came to punish the servant girl. The\ngood Fairies known as \"Bendith y Mamau,\" were supposed to rock the\ninfant's cradle and sweep and clean the house whilst the tired mother\nslept. And one way of securing their good luck was to leave a little\nmilk for them upon the kitchen table at night.\n\n\n\nFAIRY MONEY.\n\nAn old man named Evan Morris, Goginan, informed me that a farmer\nin the Vale of Rheidol one day found a sixpence on the top of a\ngate-post. On the next day he found a shilling there, and on the day\nafter two shillings, the sum was doubled every day till the man was\nbeginning to get rich. At last, however, the farmer told his family or\nhis friends about his good luck, and after this he got no more money,\nas the Fairies were offended that he did not keep the thing secret.\n\n\n\nFAIRY MOTHERS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES.\n\nThe following story is to be found in Welsh in an interesting\nlittle book entitled \"Ystraeon y Gwyll,\" by the late Mr. D. Lledrod\nDavies; and in English by Sir John Rhys in his great work \"Celtic\nFolk-Lore\":--The locality of the tale is Swyddffynon, near Ystrad\nMeurig, in Cardiganshire.\n\n\"It used to be related by an old woman who died some thirty years\nago at the advanced age of about 100. She was Pali, mother of old\nRachel Evans, who died seven or eight years ago, when she was about\neighty. The latter was a curious character, who sometimes sang\n\"Maswedd,\" or rhymes of doubtful propriety, and used to take the\nchildren of the village to see fairy rings. She also used to see the\n\"Tylwyth\" (Fairies), and had many tales to tell of them. But her\nmother, Pali, had actually been called to attend at the confinement\nof one of them. The beginning of the tale is not very explicit; but,\nanyhow, Pali one evening found herself face to face with the Fairy\nlady she was to attend upon. She appeared to be the wife of one of\nthe princes of the country. She was held in great esteem, and lived\nin a very grand palace. Everything there had been arranged in the\nmost beautiful and charming fashion. The wife was in her bed with\nnothing about her but white, and she fared sumptuously. In due time,\nwhen the baby had been born, the midwife had all the care connected\nwith dressing it and serving its mother. Pali could see or hear nobody\nin the whole place, but the mother and the baby. She had no idea who\nattended on them, or who prepared all the things they required, for\nit was all done noiselessly and secretly. The mother was a charming\nperson, of an excellent temper and easy to manage. Morning and evening,\nas she finished washing the baby, Pali had a certain ointment given\nher to rub the baby with. She was charged not to touch it, but with\nher hand, and especially not to put any near her eyes. This was\ncarried out for some time, but one day, as she was dressing the baby,\nher eyes happened to itch, and she rubbed them with her hand. Then\nat once she saw a great many wonders she had not before perceived;\nand the whole place assumed a new aspect to her. She said nothing,\nand in the course of the day she saw a great deal more. Among other\nthings, she observed small men and small women going in and out\nfollowing a variety of occupations. But their movements were as light\nas the morning breezes. To move about was no trouble to them, and they\nbrought things into the room with the greatest quickness. They prepared\ndainty food for the confined lady with the utmost order and skill,\nand the air of kindness and affection with which they served her\nwas truly remarkable. In the evening, as she was dressing the baby,\nthe midwife said to the lady, \"You have had a great many visitors\nto-day.\" To this she replied, \"How do you know that? Have you been\nputting this ointment to your eyes?\" Thereupon she jumped out of bed,\nand blew into her eyes, saying, \"Now you will see no more.\" She\nnever afterwards could see the fairies, however much she tried,\nnor was the ointment entrusted to her after that day.\"\n\nThere is a version of this story located in the neighbourhood of\nLlanuwchllyn, Merionethshire, and indeed in several other parts\nof Wales.\n\n\n\nFAIRIES PLAYING TRICKS WITH THE OVEN.\n\nMiss Evelyn Lewes, Tyglyn Aeron, in the \"Carmarthenshire Antiquities\"\nsays, \"Should the dough not rise properly, but present a stringy\nappearance, the Cardiganshire housewife announces that \"Mae bara\nyn robin,\" and forthwith orders the sacrifice of an old slipper,\npresumably to propitiate the fairy folk who are inclined to play\ntricks with the oven.... A native of Montgomeryshire tells me that\nin her youth no loaf at her home was ever placed in the oven unless\na cross had been previously signed upon it.\"\n\n\n\nFAIRY GLOVES.\n\nMrs. A. Crawley-Boevey, of Birchgrove, Crosswood, a lady who is\ngreatly interested in Folk-Lore, informed me that it is believed in\nGloucestershire that the Fairies live in Fox Gloves. I have not so\nfar discovered this belief in Wales, but Fox Glove is called in some\npart of the Principality Menyg y Tylwyth Teg (Fairy Gloves). Also\nMenyg Ellyllon (Elves Gloves).\n\n\n\nFAIRY KNOCKERS.\n\nKnockers were supposed to be a species of Fairies which haunted the\nmines, and underground regions, and whose province it was to indicate\nby knocks and other sounds, the presence of rich veins of ore. That\nminers in former times did really believe in the existence of such\nbeings is quite evident from the following two letters written by Lewis\nMorris (great grandfather of Sir Lewis Morris the poet) in October\n14th, 1754, and December 4th, 1754. They appeared in Bingley's North\nWales, Vol. II., pages 269-272:\n\n\"People who know very little of arts or sciences, or the powers of\nnature (which, in other words are the powers of the author of nature),\nwill laugh at us Cardiganshire miners, who maintain the existence of\n\"Knockers\" in mines, a kind of good-natured impalpable people not to\nbe seen, but heard, and who seem to us to work in the mines; that\nis to say, they are the types or forerunners of working in mines,\nas dreams are of some accidents, which happen to us. The barometer\nfalls before rain, or storms. If we do not know the construction of\nit, we should call it a kind of dream that foretells rain; but we\nknow it is natural, and produced by natural means, comprehended by\nus. Now, how are we sure, or anybody sure, but that our dreams are\nproduced by the same natural means? There is some faint resemblance\nof this in the sense of hearing; the bird is killed before we hear\nthe report of the gun. However, this is, I must speak well of the\n\"Knockers,\" for they have actually stood my good-friends, whether\nthey are aerial beings called spirits, or whether they are a people\nmade of matter, not to be felt by our gross bodies, as air and fire\nand the like. \"Before the discovery of the \"Esgair y Mwyn\" mine,\nthese little people, as we call them here, worked hard there day and\nnight; and there are honest, sober people, who have heard them, and\nsome persons who have no notion of them or of mines either; but after\nthe discovery of the great ore they were heard no more. When I began\nto work at Llwyn Llwyd, they worked so fresh there for a considerable\ntime that they frightened some young workmen out of the work. This was\nwhen we were driving levels, and before we had got any ore; but when\nwe came to the ore, they then gave over, and I heard no more talk of\nthem. Our old miners are no more concerned at hearing them \"blasting,\"\nboring holes, landing \"deads,\" etc., than if they were some of their\nown people; and a single miner will stay in the work, in the dead of\nnight, without any man near him, and never think of any fear of any\nharm they will do him. The miners have a notion that the \"knockers\"\nare of their own tribe and profession, and are a harmless people who\nmean well. Three or four miners together shall hear them sometimes,\nbut if the miners stop to take notice of them, the \"knockers\" will\nalso stop; but, let the miners go on at their work, suppose it is\n\"boring,\" the \"knockers\" will at the same time go on as brisk as can\nbe in landing, \"blasting.\" or beating down the \"loose,\" and they are\nalways heard a little distance from them before they come to the ore.\n\n\"These are odd assertions, but they are certainly facts, though we\ncannot, and do not pretend to account for them. We have now very\ngood ore at \"Llwyn Llwyd,\" where the \"knockers\" were heard to work,\nbut we have now yielded the place, and are no more heard. Let who\nwill laugh, we have the greatest reason to rejoice, and thank the\n\"knockers,\" or rather God, who sends us these notices.\"\n\nThe second letter is as follows:--\n\n\"I have no time to answer your objection against 'knockers'; I have\na large treatise collected on that head, and what Mr. Derham says is\nnothing to the purpose. If sounds of voices, whispers, blasts, working,\nor pumping, can be carried on a mile underground, they should always\nbe heard in the same place, and under the same advantages, and not\nonce in a month, a year, or two years. Just before the discovery of\nore last week, three men together in our work at \"Llwyn Llwyd\" were\near-witnesses of \"knockers,\" pumping, driving a wheelbarrow, etc.;\nbut there is no pump in the work, nor any mine within less than a\nmile of it, in which there are pumps constantly going. If they were\nthese pumps that they heard, why were they never heard but that once\nin the space of a year? And why are they not now heard? But the pumps\nmake so little noise that they cannot be heard in the other end of\n\"Esgair y Mwyn\" mine when they are at work. We have a dumb and deaf\ntailor in the neighbourhood who has a particular language of his\nown by signs, and by practice I can understand him and make him\nunderstand me pretty well, and I am sure I could make him learn to\nwrite, and be understood by letters very soon, for he can distinguish\nmen already by the letters of their names. Now letters are marks to\nconvey ideas, just after the same manner as the motion of fingers,\nhands, eyes, etc. If this man had really seen ore in the bottom of\na sink of water in a mine and wanted to tell me how to come at it,\nhe would take two sticks like a pump, and would make the motions of a\npumper at the very sink where he knew the ore was, and would make the\nmotions of driving a wheelbarrow. And what I should infer from thence\nwould be that I ought to take out the water and sink or drive in the\nplace, and wheel the stuff out. By parity of reasoning, the language\nof \"knockers,\" by imitating the sound of pumping, wheeling, etc.,\nsignifies that we should take out the water and drive there. This is\nthe opinion of all old miners, who pretend to understand the language\nof the \"knockers.\" Our agent and manager, upon the strength of this\nnotice, goes on and expect great things. You, and everybody that is\nnot convinced of the being of \"knockers,\" will laugh at these things,\nfor they sound like dreams; so does every dark science. Can you make\nany illiterate man believe that it is possible to know the distance\nof two places by looking at them? Human knowledge is but of small\nextent, its bounds are within our view, we see nothing beyond these;\nthe great universal creation contains powers, etc., that we cannot\nso much as guess at. May there not exist beings, and vast powers\ninfinitely smaller than the particles of air, to whom air is as hard\na body as the diamond is to us? Why not? There is neither great nor\nsmall, but by comparison. Our \"knockers\" are some of these powers,\nthe guardians of mines.\n\n\"You remember the story in Selden's Table-Talk of Sir Robert Cotton and\nothers disputing about Moses's shoe. Lady Cotton came in and asked,\n'Gentlemen, are you sure it is a shoe?' So the first thing is to\nconvince mankind that there is a set of creatures, a degree or so\nfiner than we are, to whom we have given the name of \"knockers\" from\nthe sounds we hear in our mines. This is to be done by a collection\nof their actions well attested, and that is what I have begun to do,\nand then let everyone judge for himself.\"\n\nWe do not hear of \"Knockers\" in Cardiganshire now; in Cornwall,\nhowever, it is said that they still haunt the mines, and sometimes,\nwith a sound of knocking and singing, they guide a lucky miner to\nfind good ore. The \"Knockers\" were, it was once thought, \"the Souls\nof the Jews who crucified our Saviour.\" At least it seems that that\nwas the belief in Cornwall. Perhaps it would be of interest to add\nthat there were Cornishmen among the miners of Cardiganshire when\nMr. Lewis Morris wrote the two letters I have just given.\n\n\n\nA STORY OF PONT EINION (EINION BRIDGE) TREGARON.\n\nMr. John Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid, who is now about 95 years of age,\nrelated to me the following tale seven years ago:--\n\nLong ago, when much of the land where now stand the farms of\nYstrad-Caron, Penylan, and Penybont, was a Common, a gentleman named\nEinion, and his wife, came from Abergwaun (Fishguard) and settled in\nthe neighbourhood of Tregaron. Einion inclosed much of the land on\nthe banks of the river Teivy in that part, and built a fine mansion\nwhich he called Ystrad-Caron, and soon became a most influential\nman in the neighbourhood, especially as he was well-to-do, and had\ngenerously constructed at his own expense, a bridge over the river\nfor the convenience of the poor people of Tregaron and the surrounding\ndistricts. He also loved above everything his wife, and his harp, and\nwas considered one of the best players on that instrument in Wales;\nbut, unfortunately, as time went on, he failed to derive any pleasure\nfrom his surroundings and soon became subject to \"melancholia,\"\nimagining that the place was haunted by some evil genius.\n\nAt last, he was persuaded by his medical adviser to seek a change\nof scenery by going to stay for a while in Pembrokeshire, his native\nplace. Soon after his arrival at Fishguard, he took a short sea voyage\nfrom that port, but after some adventures, he and others of his fellow\npassengers were taken prisoners by a French Man of War.\n\nAfter spending many years of his lifetime inside the strong walls of\na French prison, he at last succeeded to escape, and soon found his\nway once more to the neighbourhood of Tregaron in Cardiganshire; but\nto his great astonishment, as he neared his own house, Ystrad-Caron,\nafter so many years' absence, he heard some music and dancing.\n\nClothed in rags he knocked at the back door, and pretended to be\na tramp. One of the maid servants took compassion on the \"poor\nold tramp,\" and allowed him to come in and warm himself near the\nkitchen fire.\n\n\"We are very busy here to-day,\" said she to him, \"our mistress who\nhas been a widow for many years is about to get married again, and\nthe bride and bridegroom and a party of invited guests are now in the\nparlour, but, unfortunately, not one of those present is able to tune\nthe harp, a fine old instrument which belonged to the lady's first\nhusband who went away from home and got drowned at sea many years\nago.\" \"Please ask them to allow me to tune the harp,\" said Einion to\nthe maid. The girl then went to inform her mistress that there was\nan old man in the kitchen who could tune the harp for them.\n\nEinion now entered the parlour, and to the astonishment of the bride\nand bridegroom and the guests, soon tuned the harp; and as soon as\nhe began to play an old favourite tune of his:\n\n\n    \"Myfi bia'm ty, a'm telyn, a'm t\u00e2n,\"\n    (My house, and my harp, and my fire are mine).\n\n\nThe lady of the house recognised him at once as her husband.\n\nThen turning to the young bridegroom to whom she was engaged to be\nmarried, addressed him thus:--\"You may go now, as my husband has come\nhome to me once more.\"\n\nA short time after my visit to Mr. J. Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid, I\nwent to Tregaron, where I found out from Mr. Jenkin Lloyd (formerly\nof Pant), and others, that the story of Pont Einion (Einion Bridge)\nwas well-known in the neighbourhood, but that Einion during the many\nyears he was away from home, was not in prison but among the Fairies.\n\nIt seems probable that the above story is a modern local version\nof a tale which is to be found in the Iolo MSS. entitled:--\"Einion\nAp Gwalchmai and the Lady of the Greenwood,\" which I introduce here\nfor comparison:--\n\nEinion, the son of Gwalchmai, the son of Meilir, of Treveilir in\nAnglesey, married Angharad, the daughter of Ednyved Vychan.\n\nAs he was one fine summer morning walking in the woods of Treveilir,\nhe beheld a graceful slender lady of elegant growth, and delicate\nfeatures; and her complexion surpassing every white and red in the\nmorning dawn, and the mountain snow, and every beautiful colour in the\nblossoms of wood, field and hill. He felt in his heart an inconceivable\ncommotion of affection, and he approached her in a courteous manner,\nand she also approached him in the same manner; and he saluted her,\nand she returned his salutation; and by these mutual salutations\nhe perceived that his society was not disagreeable to her. He then\nchanced to cast his eye upon her foot, and he saw that she had hoofs\ninstead of feet, and he became exceedingly dissatisfied. But she told\nhim that his dissatisfaction was all in vain. \"Thou must\" said she,\n\"follow me wheresoever I go, as long as I continue in my beauty,\nfor this is the consequence of our mutual affection.\"\n\nThen he requested of her permission to go to his house to take leave\nof, and to say farewell to his wife, Angharad, and his son Einion. \"I\"\nsaid she, \"shall be with thee, invisible to all but to thyself;\ngo visit thy wife and thy son.\"\n\nSo he went, and the Goblin; and when he saw Angharad his wife, he saw\nher a hag-like one grown old, but he retained the recollection of days\npast, and still felt extreme affection for her, but he was not able to\nloose himself from the bond in which he was. \"It is necessary for me\"\nsaid he, \"to part for a time, I know not how long from thee Angharad,\nand from thee my son Einion,\" and they wept together, and broke a\ngold ring between them; he kept one half, and Angharad the other;\nand they took their leave of each other, and he went with the Lady of\nthe Wood, and he knew not where; for a powerful illusion was upon him,\nand saw not any place, a person, or object under its true and proper\nappearance, excepting the half of the ring alone. And after being a\nlong time, he knew not how long, with the Goblin, the Lady of the Wood,\nhe looked one morning as the sun was rising upon the half of the ring,\nand he bethought him to place it in the most precious place he could\nand resolved to put it under his eyelid; and as he was endeavouring to\ndo so, he could see a man in white apparel, and mounted on a snow-white\nhorse, coming towards him, and that person asked him what he did there;\nand he told him that he was cherishing an afflicting remembrance\nof his wife Angharad. \"Dos't thou desire to see her,\" said the man\nin white, \"get up on this horse behind me\"; and that Einion did,\nand looking around he could not see any appearance of the Lady of\nthe Wood, the Goblin; excepting the track of hoofs of marvellous and\nmonstrous size, as if journeying towards the north. \"What delusion\nart thou under?\" said the man in white. Then Einion answered him and\ntold everything, how it occurred betwixt him and the Goblin. \"Take\nthis white staff in thy hand,\" said the man in white; and Einion took\nit. And the man in white told him to desire whatever he wished for. The\nfirst thing he desired was to see the Lady of the Wood, for he was not\nyet completely delivered from the illusion. And she appeared to him in\nsize a hideous and monstrous witch, a thousand times more repulsive\nof aspect than the most frightful things seen upon earth. And Einion\nuttered a cry from terror; and the man in white cast his cloak over\nEinion, and in less than a twinkling Einion alighted as he wished on\nthe hill of Treveilir, by his own house, where he knew scarcely anyone,\nnor did anyone know him. After the Goblin had left Einion, the son\nof Gwalchmai, she went to Treveilir in the form of an honourable and\npowerful nobleman elegantly and sumptuously appareled, and possessed\nof an incalculable amount of gold and silver, and also in the prime\nof life, that is thirty years of age. And he placed a letter in\nAngharad's hand in which it was stated that Einion had died in Norway\nmore than nine years before, and he then exhibited his gold and wealth\nto Angharad; and she, having in the course of time lost much of her\nregret, listened to his affectionate address. And the illusion fell\nupon her, and seeing that she should become a noble lady higher than\nany in Wales, she named a day for her marriage with him. And there was\na great preparation of every elegant and sumptuous kind of apparel,\nand of meats and drinks, and of every honourable guest, and every\nexcellence of song and string, and every preparation of banquet and\nfestive entertainment. And when the honourable saw a particularly\nbeautiful harp in Angharad's room, he wished to have it played on;\nand the harpers present, the best in Wales, tried to put it in tune,\nbut were not able. And when everything was made ready for to proceed\nto Church to be married, Einion came into the house and Angharad saw\nhim as an old decrepit, withered, gray-haired man, stooping with\nage, and dressed in rags, and she asked him if he would turn the\nspit whilst the meat was roasting. \"I will,\" said he and went about\nthe work with the white staff in his hand after the manner of a man\ncarrying a pilgrim's staff. And after dinner had been prepared, all\nthe minstrels failing to put the harp in tune for Angharad, Einion\ngot up and took it in his hand, and tuned it, and played on it the\nair which Angharad loved. And she marvelled exceedingly, and asked\nhim who he was. And he answered in song and stanza thus:\n\n\n   \"Einion the golden-hearted, am I called by all around;\n    The son of Gwalchmai, Ap Meilir\n    My fond illusion continued long,\n    Evil thought of for my lengthened stay.\"\n\n   \"Where has thou been?\"\n\n   \"In Kent, in Gwent, in the wood in Monmouth, in Maelor Gorwenydd;\n    And in the Valley of Gwyn, the son of Nudd,\n    See the bright gold is the token.\"\n\n\nAnd he gave her the ring.\n\n\n   \"Look not on the whitened hue of the hair.\n    Where once my aspect was spirited and bold;\n    Now gray, without disguise, where once it was yellow;\n    The blossoms of the grave--the end of all men.\n    The fate that so long affected me, it was time that should\n    alter me;\n    Never was Angharad out of my remembrance,\n    Einion was by thee forgotten.\"\n\n\nAnd she could not bring him to her recollection.\n\nThen said he to the guests:--\n\n\n   \"If I have lost her whom I loved, the fair one of the polished\n    mind,\n        The daughter of Ednyved Vychan;\n    I have not lost (so get you out)--\n    Either my bed, or my house, or my fire.\"\n\n\nAnd upon that he placed the white staff in Angharad's hand, and\ninstantly the Goblin which she had hitherto seen as a handsome and\nhonourable nobleman, appeared to her as a monster, inconceivably\nhideous; and fainted from fear, and Einion supported her until she\nrevived. And when she opened her eyes, she saw there neither the\nGoblin, nor any of the guests, or of the minstrels, nor anything\nwhatever except Einion, and her son and the harp, and the house in its\ndomestic arrangement, and the dinner on the table, casting its savoury\nodour around. And they sat down to eat; Einion and Angharad and Einion\ntheir son; and exceeding great was the enjoyment. And they saw the\nillusion which the demoniacal Goblin had cast over them. And by this\nperchance may be seen that love of female beauty and gentleness is the\ngreatest fascination of man; the love of honours with their vanities\nand riches, is the greatest fascination of woman. No man will forget\nhis wife, unless he sets his heart on the beauty of another; nor woman\nher husband, unless she sets her heart on the riches and honour of\nlordly vaingloriousness and the pomp of pride. And thus it ends.\"\n\nEdnyved Vychan, whose name is mentioned in the beginning of the\nabove story as Einion's father-in-law, was Lord of Brynffenigl in\nDenbighshire, and flourished seven hundred years ago. He was a most\npowerful chieftain, and from him descended in the male line Henry\nVII. King of England, an ancestor to nearly all if not all the present\nmonarchs of Europe.\n\n\n\nMERMAIDS.\n\nIt seems probable that the tradition of Mermaids is of the same origin\nas that of fairies.\n\nIn Campbell's Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands, it is stated\nthat a man in North Harris, caught a mermaid on a rock, and to\nprocure her release, she granted him his three wishes. He became\na skilful herb-doctor, who could cure the King's evil and other\ndiseases ordinarily incurable. This reminds us of the Fairy Lady of\nLlyn y Fanfach in Carmarthenshire, revealing to her sons the medical\nqualities of certain herbs and plants, thus enabling them to become\neminent doctors.\n\nIn the Welsh tales the mermaid is described as half woman and half\nfish: above the waist a lovely woman, but below the waist like a\nfish. There are several mermaid stories on the west coast of Wales,\nor perhaps, different versions of the same tale.\n\nIt was believed that vengeance overtook those who showed cruelty to\nthese beings, and there is a tradition still extant in Carmarthenshire,\nthat a man who killed one of them in the neighbourhood of Pembrey, or\nKidwelly, brought a curse upon himself, his family and his descendants\nuntil the ninth generation.\n\nIn times gone by, it seems that Cardiganshire with a sea-coast of about\nfifty miles, was noted for its mermaids; and according to Dryton,\nat the Battle of Agincourt, the county had \"a mermaid sitting on a\nrock,\" as armorial bearings.\n\n\n\nTHE MERMAID AND THE FISHERMEN.\n\nMr. Lewis, Henbant, an old man who lives in the neighbourhood of\nLlanarth, Cardiganshire, told me the following tale five years ago,\nthough I am indebted for some particulars to the Rev. D. Lewis, Vicar\nof Llansantffread:--In times gone by a mermaid was often seen on a\nrock known as Careg Ina, near New Quay. One day this sea creature\nbecame entangled in the nets of some fishermen who were out fishing\nsome considerable distance from the land. She entreated the men to\ndisentangle her, and allow her to return to the water. Her request was\ngranted, and in gratitude the mermaid warned them of a coming storm,\nand advised them to make for the shore without delay. This they did\nhurriedly, and as they were nearing the land a terrific storm came\non suddenly, and it was with difficulty that they managed to land\nsafely. Other fishermen in another boat on the very same day, not\nhaving the advantage of being warned by the mermaid, were caught by\nthe storm and met with a watery grave.\n\nI have also discovered a version of this story at Aberporth, a seaside\nvillage some distance to the South of New Quay.\n\nIt was formerly believed that there were mermen as well as mermaids,\nthough I have no Welsh tale of a merman.\n\n\n\nTHE FISHERMEN OF LLANDUDOCH AND THE MERMAID.\n\nThe following tale appeared in Welsh fifty years ago in \"Y Brython,\"\nVol. I. page 73; and the writer was the late eminent Welshman\nGwynionydd, father of the present Vicar of Lledrod:--\n\n\"On a fine afternoon in September in the beginning of the last\ncentury, a fisherman named Pergrin proceeded to a recess in the\nrock near Pen Cemmes, (Pembrokeshire), and found there a mermaid\ndoing her hair, and he took the water lady prisoner to his boat. We\ncannot imagine why the lady had not been more on her guard to avoid\nsuch a calamity; but if sea maidens are anything like land maidens,\nthey often forget their duties when engaged in dealing with the oil\nof Maccassar, and making themselves ready to meet the young men. We\nknow not what language is used by sea maidens ... but this one this\ntime at any rate, talked, it is said, very good Welsh; for when she\nwas in despair in Pergrin's custody weeping copiously, and with her\ntresses all dishevelled, she called out \"Pergrin, if thou wilt let me\ngo, I will give three shouts in the time of thy greatest need.\" So,\nin wonder and fear he let her go to walk the streets of the deep and\nvisit her sweethearts there. Days and weeks passed without Pergrin\nseeing her after this; but one hot afternoon, when the sea was pretty\ncalm, and the fishermen had no thought of danger, behold his old\nacquaintance showing her head and locks, and shouting out in a loud\nvoice: \"Pergrin! Pergrin! Pergrin! take up thy nets! take up thy\nnets! take up thy nets!\" Pergrin and his companion instantly obeyed\nthe message, and drew their nets in with great haste. In they went,\npassed the bar, and by the time they had reached the Pwll Cam, the\nmost terrible storm had overspread the sea, while he and his companion\nwere safe on land. Twice nine others had gone out with them, but they\nwere all drowned, without having the chance of obeying the warning\nof the water lady.\n\nA version of the above story is to be found also in Carnarvonshire,\nNorth Wales.\n\n\n\nA MERMAID SEEN NEAR ABERYSTWYTH.\n\nThe following tale appeared in the interesting Welsh Magazine \"Seren\nGomer,\" for June, 1823:--\n\n\"Yn mis Gorphenaf, 1826, ffarmwr o blwyf Llanuwchaiarn, yn nghylch\ntair milltir o Aberystwyth, ty anedd yr hwn sydd o fewn i 300 llath o\nlan y mor, a aeth i wared i'r creigiau, pan yr oedd yr haul yn cyfodi\nac yn pelydru yn hyfryd ar y mor, a gwelai fenyw (fel y tybiai)\nyn ymolchi yn y mor, o fewn i dafliad carreg ato; ar y cyntaf efe\no wylder a aeth yn ei ol, ond ar adfyfyriad meddyliodd na fuasai\nun fenyw yn myned allan mor bell i'r mor, gan ei fod yr amser hwnw\nyn llifo; ac hefyd yr oedd yn sicr fod y dwfr yn chwe' troedfedd o\nddyfnder yn y fan y gwelodd hi yn sefyll. Wedi meddwl felly, efe a\nsyrthiodd ar ei wyneb, ac a ymlusgodd yn mlaen i fin y dibyn o ba le\ny cafodd olwg gyflawn arni dros fwy na haner awr. Wedi edrych digon\narni ei hun, efe a ymlusgodd yn ei ol, ac a redodd i alw ei deulu i\nweled yr olygfa ryfeddol hon; wedi dywedid wrthynt yr hyn a welsai,\nefe a'u cyfarwyddodd o'r drws pa fan i fyned, ac ymlusgo i ymyl y\ngraig fel y gwnaethai efe. Aeth rhai o honynt heb ond haner gwisgo,\ncanys yr oedd yn foreu, a hwythau ond newydd gyfodi; ac wedi dyfod i'r\nfan, gwelsant hi dros o gylch deng mynyd, tra bu y ffarmwr yn galw ei\nwraig a'i blentyn ieuangaf. Pan ddaeth y wraig yn mlaen, ni syrthiodd\nhi i lawr, fel y gwnaethau y rhai eraill, ond cerddodd yn mlaen yn\nngolwg y creadur; eithr cyn gynted ag y gwelodd y For-Forwyn hi,\nsoddodd i'r dwfr, a nofiodd ymaith, nes oedd o gylch yr un pollder\noddiwrth y tir ag y gwelsid hi ar y cyntaf; a'r holl deulu, y gwr,\ny wraig, a'r plant, y gweision, a'r morwynion, y rhai oeddynt oll yn\nddeuddeg o rifedi, a redasant ar hyd y lan dros fwy na haner milltir,\nac yn agos yr holl amser hwnw gwelent hi yn y mor, a rhai gweithiau yr\noedd ei phen a'i hysgwyddau oll y tu uchaf i'r dwfr. Yr oedd carreg\nfawr, dros lathen o uchder yn y mor, ar ba un y safai pan welwyd hi\ngyntaf. Yr oedd yn sefyll allan o'r dwfr o'i chanol i fynu, a'r holl\ndeulu a dystient ei bod yn gymwys yr un fath o ran dull a maintioli\na dynes ieuanc o gylch deunaw oed. Yr oedd ei gwallt yn o fyr, ac\no liw tywyll; ei gwyneb yn dra thlws; ci gwddf a'i breichiau fel\narferol; ei bronau yn rhesymol, a'i chroen yn wynach nag eiddo un\nperson a welsant erioed o'r blaen. Plygai yn fynych, fel pe buasai\nyn cymeryd dwfr i fynu ac yna yn dala ei llaw o flaen ei hwyneb dros\noddeutu haner mynyd. Pan blygai ei hun felly, gwelid rhyw beth du,\nfel pe buasai cynffon fer, yn troi i fyny y tu ol iddi. Gwnaethai ryw\nswn yn fynych tebyg i disian, yr hwn a barai i'r graig i adseinio. Y\nffarmwr, yr hwn a gafodd gyfleusdra i edrych arni dros gymaint o amser,\na ddywedai na welodd ef ond ychydig iawn o wragedd mor hardd-deg yr\nolwg a'r For-Forwyn hon. Y mae yr holl deulu, yr ieuengaf o ba rai sydd\nyn un ar ddeg oed, yn awr yn fyw, a chawsom yr hanes hwn, air yn ngair,\nfel ei rhoddir yma, oddiwrthynt hwy eu hunain o fewn y mis diweddaf.\"\n\nI have translated the above tale as literally as possible, almost\nword for word, and in English it reads as follows:--\n\nIn the month of July, 1826, a farmer from the parish of Llanuwchaiarn,\nabout three miles from Aberystwyth, whose house is within 300 feet of\nthe seashore, descended the rock, when the sun was shining beautifully\nupon the sea, and he saw a woman (as he thought) washing herself in\nthe sea within a stone's throw of him. At first, he modestly turned\nback; but after a moment's reflection thought that a woman would not\ngo so far out into the sea, as it was flooded at the time, and he was\ncertain that the water was six feet deep in the spot where he saw her\nstanding. After considering the matter, he threw himself down on his\nface and crept on to the edge of the precipice from which place he\nhad a good view of her for more than half-an-hour. After scrutinizing\nher himself, he crept back to call his family to see this wonderful\nsight. After telling them what he had seen, he directed them from the\ndoor where to go and to creep near the rock as he had done. Some of\nthem went when they were only half dressed, for it was early in the\nmorning, and they had only just got up from bed. Arriving at the spot,\nthey looked at her for about ten minutes, as the farmer was calling\nhis wife and the younger child. When the wife came on, she did not\nthrow herself down as the others had done, but walked on within sight\nof the creature; but as soon as the mermaid saw her, she dived into\nthe water, and swam away till she was about the same distance from\nthem as she was when she was first seen. The whole family, husband,\nwife, children, menservants and maid-servants, altogether twelve in\nnumber, ran along the shore for more than half-a-mile, and during\nmost of that time, they saw her in the sea, and sometimes her head\nand shoulders were upwards out of the water. There was a large stone,\nmore than a yard in height, in the sea, on which she stood when she\nwas first seen. She was standing out of the water from her waist up,\nand the whole family declared that she was exactly the same as a\nyoung woman of about 18 years of age, both in shape and stature. Her\nhair was short, and of a dark colour; her face rather handsome,\nher neck and arms were like those of any ordinary woman, her breast\nblameless and her skin whiter than that of any person they had ever\nseen before. Her face was towards the shore. She bent herself down\nfrequently, as if taking up water, and then holding her hand before\nher face for about half-a-minute. When she was thus bending herself,\nthere was to be seen some black thing as if there was a tail turning\nup behind her. She often made some noise like sneezing, which caused\nthe rock to echo. The farmer who had first seen her, and had had the\nopportunity of looking at her for some time, said that he had never\nseen but very few women so handsome in appearance as this mermaid.\n\nAll the family, the youngest of whom is now eleven years old, are now\nalive, and we obtained this account, word for word, as it is given\nhere, from them themselves within the last month.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nGHOST STORIES.\n\n\nThe belief in the existence of Fairies in Wales has almost died out,\nbut we still find many people who are more or less superstitious\nwith regard to ghosts, spirits, etc., and the belief in death omens\nis rather popular, even among educated people.\n\nThe majority of the Welsh ghosts were supposed to be the spirits or\nshades of departed mortals, re-appearing on account of some neglected\nduty, and in many cases to point out some hidden treasure; for it\nwas thought that if a person dies, while his money (or any metal)\nis still hidden secretly, the spirit of that person cannot rest until\nit is revealed. It was also supposed that the spirits of the murdered\nhaunted the place where their unburied bodies lay, or until vengeance\novertook the murderer, \"and the wicked were doomed to walk the earth\nuntil they were laid in lake or river, or in the Red Sea.\" It was\nalso thought in former days, if not at present, that the evil one\nhimself appears sometimes in some form or other; but good spirits\nare seen as well as bad ones. I have heard it said by some that\nonly those who have been born in the night time have the power to\nsee spirits; others say that spirits take more fancy to some persons\nthan others. It was also thought that if two persons were together,\none only could see the spirit, to the other he was invisible, and to\none person only would the Spirit speak, and this he would do when\naddressed; for according to the laws of the Spirit world, a Spirit\nor a ghost has no power of speech until first spoken to.\n\n\"Its persistency in haunting is due to its eager desire to speak, and\ntell its urgent errand, but the person haunted must take his courage\nin both hands and put the question to the issue. Having done so, he\nis booked for the end of the business, be it what it may. The mode\nof speech adopted must not vary, in addressing a Spirit; in the name\nof the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it must be addressed, and not\notherwise. Its business must be demanded; three times the question\nmust be repeated, unless the ghost answer earlier. When it answers,\nit speaks in a low hollow voice, stating its desire; and it must not\nbe interrupted while speaking for to interrupt it is dangerous in the\nextreme. At the close of its remarks, questions are in order. They\nmust be promptly delivered, however, or the ghost will vanish. They\nmust bear on the business in hand; it is offended if asked as to its\nstate, or other idle questions born of curiosity. Neglect to obey the\nghost's injunctions will lead to much annoyance, and eventually to dire\nresults. At first the Spirit will appear with a discontented visage,\nnext with an angry one, and finally with a countenance distorted with\nthe most ferocious rage.\" \"British Goblins,\" page 148.\n\nMen sometimes were transported by the spirits through the air, and\nthe Fairies did this also as well as ghosts. About two years ago, an\nold man at Llansadwrn, Carmarthenshire, gave me a remarkable account\nof the transportation of a well-known character who lived in that\nparish some years ago known as \"Evan y Gweydd\" (Evan the Weaver). A\nversion of the story had appeared in Welsh twenty-five years ago,\nin an interesting little book entitled \"Lloffion Adgof,\" by T. Edwards.\n\n\n\nTHE WEAVER OF LLANSADWRN TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE AIR BY A SPIRIT.\n\nOne night Evan y Gweydd found himself speaking with a Spirit who\nappeared to him in the form of a gentleman outside the house. The\ngentleman asked him whether he would do one thing at his request. \"Yes,\nif I can,\" said Evan, in reply. \"That is a promise which must be\nkept,\" said the spirit, \"and thou shalt have no peace until thou\nhast performed it; name the time and sooner the better.\" Evan said,\n\"three weeks to to-night.\" \"Very well,\" said the Spirit, and off it\nwent. Poor Evan by this began to feel very sorry for making such\na promise, and when the time came round when he was to fulfil his\npromise, he barred the door of the house and went to bed; but he\nwas not there long before he was thrown down on the floor, and found\nhimself pushed out through the wide open door, unceremoniously, hardly\nhaving time to put on his clothes. After going out he saw the same\ngentleman as before, or rather the spirit which assumed the form of\na gentleman who ordered Evan to follow him without delay to a place\ncalled Glan-ty-Bedw, where there was a very large stone, with an iron\nchest concealed beneath it. Then the spirit ordered him to take hold\nof the box and carry it and throw it into the Fanfach Lake many miles\naway. On Sunday morning as they passed through the village of Myddfe\non their way to this lake, Evan noticed the people going to Church,\nsome of whom he knew, but it seems that they did not see him, and\nhis companion, or at least they did not seem to notice them. After\nreaching the lake and throwing in the chest, there came thunder and\nlightning, and Evan was carried through the air in a kind of half\ntrance. When he came to himself he found himself on the banks of\nthe river Towy, between that river and Llansadwrn, and not far from\nhis home. When he reached the house he went to bed, and was very ill\nfor some time. According to some versions of the story, the spirit\ncompelled him to throw an iron into the Cothy river near Edwinsford,\nas well as a chest into the Fan Lake.\n\nIn aerial journey of this kind, the spirit generally gives the mortal\nthe choice of being transported \"above wind, amid wind, or below\nwind.\" The man who chooses to go above wind is borne to an altitude\nsomewhat equal to that of a balloon, so high that he is in danger of\nbeing frightened to death. But choosing the below wind is quite as bad\nand even worse, for the hapless mortal is then dragged through bush\nand briar. The safest way is always to remember to select the middle\ncourse (amid wind), for this ensures a pleasant transportation at a\nmoderate elevation equally removed from the branches and the clouds.\n\nThere was a certain man in the neighbourhood of Pontyberem, in\nCarmarthenshire, to whom a spirit appeared almost every night, and\noffered him an aerial journey of this description, giving him the\nchoice of above wind, amid wind, or below wind, and on one occasion\nhe was dragged by the ghost through bush and briar that his clothes\nwere all in rags.\n\n\n\nSPIRITS THROWING STONES.\n\nAn old man named John Jones, who lives at Pontrhydfendigaid, informed\nme that a ghost which haunted a farm between Pontrhydfendigaid and\nTregaron, was engaged in the dangerous game of stone-throwing to the\ngreat discomfort of the family. There are several such stories in\ndifferent parts of the country.\n\nI found the following strange tale in an old Welsh book entitled,\n\"Golwg ar y Byd,\" written by the Rev. D. Lewis, Vicar of Llangattwg,\nGlamorganshire, and printed at Carmarthen in 1725:\n\n\n\nCHWEDL AM YSPRYD.\n\n\"Yn mhlwyf Llangeler, yn Sir Gaerfyrddin, Mai 21ain, 1719, y dechreuodd\nyspryd yr hwn a barhaodd dros hir amser, i daflu ceryg at rhai oedd\nyn y maes yno. Dydd Iau y Sulgwyn y dechreuwyd dyrnu, oddeutu wyth y\nboreu, ac y dechreuodd yntau daflu ceryg. Un o'r dyrnwyr yn gyntaf a\nwelodd y gareg yn disgyn ar y llawr dyrnu. Yr ail gareg a ddisgynodd ar\nglin morwyn y ty, nes ydoedd clais arni; ac yn mhen ychydig llanwasant\ny llawr dyrnu a'r twyn oddiamgylch, yr hyn a wnaethant wedi hyny. Y\ndyrnwyr a roisant heibio eu gwaith, ac a aethant i edrych pwy oedd\nyn eu taflu hwynt, ond ni allasent weled neb.\n\n\"Dydd Gwener,--Y forwyn, pan yn yr ardd, a darawyd dair gwaith. Tarawyd\namryw o'r plant, nes iddynt fyned allan o'r ty. Daeth llawer yn nghyd\ni weled y rhyfeddodau hyn, ac yr oedd pawb ag oedd yn dyfod yn cael\ngweled y ceryg yn disgyn.\n\n\"Dydd Sadwrn,--Tarawyd y forwyn ac un o'r dyrnwyr. Yr oedd rhai ceryg\nyn chwyrnu, ac megys cleisiau ar amryw o honynt. Y ceryg ni welid\nnes byddent yn disgyn, a phan godid hwynt byddai eu hol ar y llawr,\nmegys pe byddent yno flwyddyn o'r blaen. Daeth pawl mawr yn groes i'r\nffenestr, heb neb gweledig yn dyfod ag ef. Rhai ni chredent nes danfon\ncenadon i weled, ac i gyrchu rhai ceryg adref i'w tai. Cyfodwyd cyff\nmawr o bren o'r croch i ben y ty, ac a ddisgynodd mewn man arall.\n\n\"Dydd Sul,--Daeth llawer iawn yn nghyd i weled, ac amryw o\nhonynt yn tyngu ac yn rhegu, ac yn siarad yn gableddus ac yn\nysgafn. Disgynodd ceryg mawrion ar y lloft yn y ty, ond ni welwyd hwynt\nnes disgynent. Tarawyd bar haiarn allan o'r ffenestr, a phlygwyd un\narall fel bach ysdarn; a'r ffenestr a dorwyd yn friwion man. Wedi'r nos\ndaeth ceryg i'r gwelyau, a chloriau'r ffenestri a aethant i'r llofft;\na gorfu ar dylwyth y ty gyfodi o'u gwelyau a myned i dy cymydog. Nid\noedd ond y ceryg yn llawn yn y ty ac oddiamgylch iddo.\n\n\"Nos Fercher,--Llosgwyd yr ysgubor a'r llafur, a llawer o bethau\neraill; yr oedd ef bob dydd yn taflu ceryg, ond nid bob awr. Yr oedd\nweithiau yn taflu mor gynted ag y gellid eu rhifo, a'r rhan fwyaf\no honynt yn geryg afon, a rhai o honynt yn chwech pwys neu ragor\no bwysau.\n\n\"Daeth cymydogion yn nghyd un noswaith i weddio ar Dduw yn y ty,\nac ni fu yno fawr o stwr y noson hono. Llawer o bethau yn rhagor a\nwnaeth efe, ond o'r diwedd efe a ddarfu ac a beidiodd.\"\n\nFor the benefit of those who are unable to read Welsh, I give the\nfollowing translation of the above account:--\n\n\n\nA STORY OF A GHOST THROWING STONES AT LLANGELER.\n\nIn the parish of Llangeler, Carmarthenshire, May 21st., 1719,\na spirit, which continued for some time, began to throw stones at\nthose who were in the field. On Thursday in Whitsun week, at eight in\nthe morning, the thrashing began (at a farm) and at the same time he\n(the spirit) began to throw stones. At first it was one of the men\nwho were thrashing that noticed a stone descending on the thrashing\nfloor. The second stone fell on the leg of the housemaid, wounding\nher; and after this, very shortly, they filled the thrashing floor\nand the place around. The men who were thrashing gave up their work,\nand went to see who were throwing them, but could see no one.\n\nFriday.--The servant maid in the garden was struck three times. Several\nof the children were struck till they went out of the house. A large\nnumber of people came together to see these wonders, and all who came\nwere allowed to see the stones descending.\n\nSaturday.--The servant maid and one of the thrashers were struck. Some\nof the stones were rattling, and something like marks on several of\nthem. The stones were not seen till they fell, and when they were\ntaken up marks of them were on the floor as if they had been there\nfrom the year before. A large pole came right across the window\nwithout any one visibly bringing it. Some people believed not, till\nthey sent messengers to see, and to bring home some of the stones\nto their houses. A big stump of wood was taken up from the boiler to\nthe house top, and fell in another place.\n\nSunday.--A large number of people came together to see, and several of\nthem cursing and swearing, and speaking lightly and blasphemously. Big\nstones fell on the loft of the house, but were not seen till they\nhad descended. An iron bar was struck out of the window, and another\none bent as a packsaddle's hook; and the window was broken all to\npieces. After dark the stones came into the beds, and window frames\nwent to the loft, so that the family of the house were obliged to get\nup from their beds and go to a neighbour's house. Nothing but stones\ncould be seen filling the house and surrounding it.\n\nWednesday Night.--The barn and the corn as well as many other things\nwere burnt; he (the spirit) was throwing stones every day, though\nnot every hour. Sometimes the stones were thrown as fast as one could\nreckon them, most of which were river stones, and some of them weighing\nabout seven pounds or more. Neighbours came together to pray to God in\nthe house, and there was not much noise in the house that night. Many\nother things were done by the spirit, but he at last ceased.\n\nThere was a troublesome ghost of this kind now recently in the Vale\nof Towy, Carmarthenshire.\n\n\n\nSPIRITS AND HIDDEN TREASURE.\n\nIn some of the places supposed to be haunted there are often traditions\nof buried treasures in connection with such spots. In some of the\nstories the ghost haunts some particular person only, and never gives\nhim rest till its purpose is accomplished.\n\nMr. Hall, in his most valuable and interesting \"Book of South Wales\"\ngives a tale of:\n\n\n\nA CARPENTER WHO WAS HAUNTED BY A \"WHITE LADY.\"\n\nThis man had no peace night or day, for the \"White Lady\" appeared\nto him with an agonizing expression of countenance, at unexpected\ntimes, and unexpected places. Once in a field to which there were\nseveral entrances, she appeared and opposed his exit. Trembling,\nhe sought another, but there, too, was she. He fainted, and did not\nleave the field, till he was found there by persons who happened to\npass. At last some considerable amount of jewels and other valuables\nwere found by the man, in the secret drawer of an old escritoir,\nwhich he was repairing for a family that resided near. The valuables\nwere immediately handed over to the owner of the escritoir and the\n\"White Lady\" did not appear afterwards.\n\nAnother remarkable story of this class is told in the northern part\nof Cardiganshire; and I found the following version of it in a \"Scrap\nBook\" of Mr. William Davies, Talybont, an eminent Folk-Lorist:--\n\n\n\nTHE \"WHITE LADY\" OF BROGININ, OR A GHOST REVEALING HIDDEN MONEY TO\nA YOUNG LOVER.\n\nBroginin is a farm house where the famous Welsh Bard, Dafydd\nAp Gwilym was born, and situated six miles from Aberystwyth in\nCardiganshire. Some years ago the respectable and industrious family\nwho lived there at the time, were often disturbed by some unearthly\nbeing who generally made his appearance in the depth of night,\nas it is the case with spirits. This unwelcome visitor aroused the\nwhole family by walking up and down the stairs, or from one room into\nanother. Sometimes he closed the doors behind him, making such noise\nas to strike terror to the hearts of all in the house. At times,\nhe lighted up the whole house at once with gleaming light, and the\nnext moment vanished as suddenly as he came, leaving behind him\nutter darkness. Occasionally, the same ghost was seen by some of the\nservantmen, who had been out courting, walking across the farmyard in\nthe form of a \"white lady,\" appearing as a tall handsome lady attired\nin lustring white dress, and her face covered by silken veil. This\n\"White Lady\" walked towards the young men, and suddenly disappeared\nin a tremendous ball of fire. People were so terrified by such sights,\nthat several families, one after another moved away from the house. One\nSunday evening, however, about the beginning of winter, when all\nthe family as usual had gone to chapel, except the servant maid,\nwho did not feel well, her lover came to keep her company. Naturally,\nthe young man and the young woman began to talk about the ghost, and\nEvan (for that was the young man's name) laughed, and boasted what\nhe was going to do should the disturber appear. But the next moment,\nwithout the least notice, a lady in her white dress stood right in the\nmiddle of the room, with her face uncovered, and her brown curly hair\ndown over her shoulders. She held in one hand a comb and in the other\na roll of paper, but she did not whisper a word. The servant maid,\nand her young man who had just been boasting shuddered in terror, and\ndared not move or utter a word. The \"lady\" walked round the apartment\nseveral times; then suddenly stood; and having opened the door through\nwhich she had entered without opening, beckoned the young man to follow\nher. As he dared not disobey, he followed her up stairs, into a dark\nback room, but which was now lighted up in some mysterious way. With\nher finger she pointed out a particular corner under the low roof,\nat which place the young man with his trembling hand found some hard\nparcel carefully tied in an old woollen stocking. When he opened it\nhe found it full of money, and at the same moment the \"White Lady\"\nvanished and never disturbed the house again.\n\n\n\nA GHOST REVEALING HIDDEN TREASURE TO A FARMER IN THE PARISH OF\nLLANAFAN.\n\nCrosswood Park, the fine residence of my esteemed young friend the\nEarl of Lisburne, is situated about nine miles from Aberystwyth. About\ntwo miles from the Park is a bridge over the river Ystwyth, known as\nPont Llanafan (Llanafan Bridge).\n\nThis bridge is supposed to be haunted, and I have been told that\na ghost has been seen there lately by a gentleman who lives in the\ndistrict.\n\nMr. John Jones, an old man of 95, who lives at Pontrhydfendigaid,\ninformed me that the origin of this ghost is to be traced to some\nformer days when retired pirates lived in a house near the Bridge, and\nwho were supposed to have hidden some treasure in the spot. Mr. Jones\nalso gave me the following story of a farmer named Edwards, who\nlived in a small farm house near the bridge two or three generations\nago:--The poor farmer worked very hard, but for some time he was\ncontinually molested by a mischievous ghost day and night. In the\nevening when Edwards sat down in the corner eating his supper, which\nconsisted of bread and milk, stones came down through the chimney, or\nashes were thrown into his milk by some invisible hand. At another time\nthe ghost was heard thrashing in the barn, or meddling with something\ncontinually. One day when the man was engaged in making a new fence\nround his field, the troublesome visitor from the other world kept\nwith him all day, and threw down both the fence and the gate. Edwards\nat last decided to address the spirit in these word:--\"Yn enw Duw,\npaham yr wyt yn fy aflonyddi o hyd?\" which means in English, \"In the\nname of God, why doest thou trouble me continually?\" We are not told\nwhat was the reply of the spirit, but it was generally believed by\nthe neighbours that he revealed to the farmer some hidden treasure\nin an old wall not far from the house. Edwards took down this wall\nand built a new house with the stones and greatly prospered. It was\nalso said that he had been comparatively poor once, but ever since\nhis conversation with the spirit, his cattle and his horses soon\nincreased and fortune and good luck smiled on him all round. About two\nyears ago when I related this story to a friend of mine who lives at\nPontrhydfendigaid, to my great surprise, his wife informed me that\nthe account is quite true. \"Yes,\" said she, \"and I got \u00a3500 of the\nGhost's money.\" The lady, strange to say, happened to be a descendant,\nor at least a near relation of the Llanafan farmer to whom the ghost\nrevealed the hidden treasure.\n\nNot far from the same Llanafan bridge there is a rock known as\n\"Craig yr Ogof\" (Rock of the Cave). Countess Amherst, (now Dowager)\ninformed me that there is a tradition in the neighbourhood that the\nRomans buried treasures there.\n\n\n\nTHE GLANFREAD FAWR GHOST REVEALING HIDDEN MONEY TO THE HOUSEMAID.\n\nGlanfread is a respectable farm house, but in former days it was a\nmansion of some note, situated in the North of Cardiganshire. In\nconnection with Glanfread there is a ghost tale, and I found the\nbest version of it in a Welsh manuscript kindly lent me by Dr. James,\nLodge Park, Talybont:--\n\nOnce upon a time there lived at this house an old gentleman whose two\nnieces on one occasion came to spend with him their Christmas holidays\nat Glanfread. One evening, the two young ladies, who were sisters,\nand the housemaid sat down late playing cards. As they kept on playing\ntill a very late hour, the fire was going out, and they began to feel\ncold; so the maiden went out of the house for some firewood in order\nto warm themselves before retiring to bed. For some reason or other,\nhowever, she was very long in returning with the wood to put on the\nfire, and when she did return, she fell on the floor in a swoon,\nthat they were obliged to carry her to bed. Next morning when they\nasked what had caused her to faint, she declined giving any reply;\nand even when her master, gun in hand, threatened to take her life\nunless she confessed what had happened, she still persisted in keeping\nall the mystery to herself. The fact of it was, the girl kept company\nto one of the farm servants, if not engaged, and very soon they were\nmarried, and took a very large farm--a farm which is well-known\nin North Cardiganshire. All their acquaintances were very greatly\nsurprised how could a poor servant man and servant woman afford to\nbegin farming on such a large scale, when it was known that they\nhad but very little money to start on such an undertaking. And the\ngeneral opinion was that a spirit had revealed to the servant woman\nsome hidden treasure on the night she fainted.\n\n\n\nA GHOST APPEARING TO POINT OUT HIDDEN TREASURE IN RADNORSHIRE.\n\nThere is a story in Radnorshire, that a palace not far from the\nneighbourhood of Abbey Cwm Hir, was once haunted by a Spirit, which\nappeared in various forms and made such terrible noise that no one\ncared to live in the house for a long time. At last, however, a young\ngentleman who had newly married had the courage to face the ghost,\nand discovered most valuable treasures which had been hidden in the\nground near the house. The spot where the gold had been buried was\npointed out to the young man by the Spirit, and the house was never\nhaunted after this.\n\nIt is a well-known fact that a Spirit revealed hidden treasure to a\nBaptist Minister, who lived in a respectable old mansion somewhere\nnot far from Nevern in Pembrokeshire. I met with several persons at\nEglwyswrw and other places, who vouched for the truth of the fact. The\ntreasure had been hidden, so it is said, in the time of Cromwell.\n\nSome of the ghosts who reveal hidden money are not always\ngenerous. According to the Rev. Edmund Jones, the ghost of one Anne\nDewy, a woman who had hanged herself, compelled a young man in the\nVale of Towy, Carmarthenshire, to cast into the river a bag of money\nwhich had been hid in the wall of a house. Instead of keeping the money\nhimself, the young man obeyed the ghost against his better judgment,\nand the sum concerned was \"\u00a3200 or more.\"\n\n\n\nTHE POWIS CASTLE GHOST STORY.\n\nThe following ghost story is recorded in the autobiography of the\ngrandfather of the late Mr. Thomas Wright, the eminent Shropshire\nantiquary:--\n\nIt had been for some time reported in the neighbourhood that a\npoor unmarried woman, who was a member of the Methodist Society,\nand had become serious under their ministry, had seen and conversed\nwith the apparition of a gentleman, who had made a strange discovery\nto her. Mr. Hampson (a preacher among the Methodists about the end\nof the 18th century) being desirous to ascertain if there was any\ntruth in the story, sent for the woman, and desired her to give him\nan exact relation of the whole affair from her own mouth, and as near\nthe truth as she possibly could. She said she was a poor woman, who\ngot her living by spinning hemp or line; that it was customary for the\nfarmers and gentlemen of that neighbourhood to grow a little hemp or\nline in a corner of their fields for their own consumption, and as\nshe was a good hand at spinning the materials, she used to go from\nhouse to house to inquire for work; that her method was, where they\nemployed her, during her stay, to have meat, and drink, and lodging\n(if she had occasion to sleep with them), for her work, and what they\npleased to give her besides. That, among other places, she happened\nto call one day at the Welsh Earl of Powis's country seat, called\nRedcastle, to inquire for work, as she usually had done before. The\nquality were at this time in London, and had left the steward and his\nwife, with other servants, as usual, to take care of their country\nresidence in their absence. The steward's wife set her to work, and\nin the evening told her that she must stay all night with them, as\nthey had more work for her to do next day. When bedtime arrived, two\nor three servants in company, with each a lighted candle in her hand,\nconducted her to her lodging. They led her to a ground room, with a\nboarded floor, and two sash windows. The room was grandly furnished,\nand had a genteel bed in one corner of it. They had made her a good\nfire, and had placed her a chair and a table before it, and a large\nlighted candle upon the table. They told her that was her bedroom,\nand that she might go to sleep when she pleased. They then wished her\na good night and withdrew altogether, pulling the door quickly after\nthem, so as to hasp the spring-snech in the brass lock that was upon\nit. When they were gone, she gazed awhile at the fine furniture, under\nno small astonishment that they should put such a poor person as her\nin so grand a room, and bed, with all the apparatus of fire, chair,\ntable, and a candle. She was also surprised at the circumstance of the\nservants coming so many together, with each of them a candle. However,\nafter gazing about her some little time, she sat down and took a\nsmall Welsh Bible out of her pocket, which she always carried about\nwith her, and in which she usually read a chapter--chiefly in the\nNew Testament--before she said her prayers and went to bed. While\nshe was reading she heard the door open, and turning her head, saw a\ngentleman enter in a gold-laced hat and waistcoat, and the rest of\nhis dress corresponding therewith. I think she was very particular\nin describing the rest of his dress to Mr. Hampson, and he to me at\nthe time, but I have now forgot the other particulars. He walked down\nby the sash-window to the corner of the room and then returned. When\nhe came to the first window in his return (the bottom of which was\nnearly breast high), he rested his elbow on the bottom of the window,\nand the side of his face upon the palm of the hand, and stood in that\nleaning posture for some time, with his side partly towards her. She\nlooked at him earnestly to see if she knew him, but, though from her\nfrequent intercourse with them, she had a personal knowledge of all the\npresent family, he appeared a stranger to her. She supposed afterwards\nthat he stood in this manner to encourage her to speak; but as she did\nnot, after some little time he walked off, pulling the door after him\nas the servants had done before. She began now to be much alarmed,\nconcluding it to be an apparition, and that they had put her there\non purpose. This was really the case. The room, it seems, had been\ndisturbed for a long time, so that nobody could sleep peaceably in it,\nand as she passed for a very serious woman, the servants took it into\ntheir heads to put the Methodist and Spirit together, to see what\nthey would make of it. Startled at this thought, she rose from her\nchair, and knelt down by the bedside to say her prayers. While she was\npraying he came in again, walked round the room, and came close behind\nher. She had it on her mind to speak, but when she attempted it she was\nso very much agitated that she could not utter a word. He walked out\nof the room again, pulling the door after him as before. She begged\nthat God would strengthen her and not suffer her to be tried beyond\nwhat she could bear. She recovered her spirits, and thought she felt\nmore confidence and resolution, and determined if he came in again\nshe would speak to him. He presently came in again, walked round and\ncame behind her as before; she turned her head and said, \"Pray, sir,\nwho are you, and what do you want?\" He put up his finger, and said,\n\"Take up the candle and follow me, and I will tell you.\" She got up,\ntook up the candle, and followed him out of the room. He led her\nthrough a long boarded passage till they came to the door of another\nroom, which he opened and went in. It was a small room, or what might\nbe called a large closet. \"As the room was small, and I believed\nhim to be a Spirit,\" she said, \"I stopped at the door; he turned\nand said, 'Walk in, I will not hurt you.' So I walked in. He said,\n'Observe what I do.' I said, 'I will.' He stooped, and tore up one\nof the boards of the floor, and there appeared under it a box with an\niron handle in the lid. He said, 'Do you see that box?' I said, 'Yes,\nI do.' He then stepped to one side of the room, and showed me a crevice\nin the wall, where he said a key was hid that would open it. He said\n'This box and key must be taken out, and sent to the Earl in London'\n(naming the Earl, and his place of residence in the city). He said,\n'Will you see it done?' I said, 'I will do my best to get it done.' He\nsaid, 'Do, and I will trouble the house no more.' He then walked out\nof the room and left me. (He seems to have been a very civil Spirit,\nand to have been very careful to affright her as little as possible). I\nstepped to the room door and set up a shout. The steward and his wife,\nand the other servants came to me immediately, all clung together, with\na number of lights in their hands. It seems they all had been waiting\nto see the issue of the interview betwixt me and the apparition. They\nasked me what was the matter? I told them the foregoing circumstances,\nand showed them the box. The steward durst not meddle with it, but\nhis wife had more courage, and with the help of the other servants,\nlugged it out, and found the key.\" She said by their lifting it\nappeared to be pretty heavy, but that she did not see it opened, and,\ntherefore, did not know what it contained; perhaps money, or writings\nof consequence to the family, or both. They took it away with them,\nand she then went to bed and slept peaceably till the morning. It\nappeared afterwards that they sent the box to the Earl in London,\nwith an account of the manner of its discovery and by whom; and the\nEarl sent down orders immediately to his steward to inform the poor\nwoman who had been the occasion of this discovery, that if she would\ncome and reside in his family, she should be comfortably provided for,\nfor the remainder of her days; or, if she did not choose to reside\nconstantly with them, if she would let them know when she wanted\nassistance, she should be liberally supplied, at his Lordship's\nexpense as long as he lived. And Mr. Hampson said it was a known\nfact in the neighbourhood that she had been so supplied from his\nLordship's family from the time the affair was said to have happened,\nand continued to be so at the time she gave Mr. Hampson this account.\n\nTo touch or dig for buried treasures guarded by a ghost without\nthe ghost's consent always brings thunder and lightning. Such is the\ntradition in connection with \"Carreg y Bwci\" on the top of Craig Twrch,\non the borders of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire.\n\nMany of the tales displaying the motive, on the ghost's part of a duty\nto perform--sometimes clearly defining, sometimes vaguely suggesting\nit, as in the story of Noe.\n\nThe evening was far gone when a traveller of the name of Noe arrived at\nan Inn in Pembrokeshire, and called for refreshments. After remaining\nsometime he remarked that he must proceed on his journey. 'Surely,'\nsaid the astonished landlord, 'You will not travel at night for it is\nsaid that a ghost haunts that road,' crying out, 'The days are long\nand the nights are cold to wait for Noe. O, I am the man sought for,'\nsaid he, and immediately departed; but, strange to say, neither Noe\nnor the ghost was ever heard of afterwards.\n\nAn old woman in Pembrokeshire informed me that the scene of the above\ntale was a house in the neighbourhood of Letterston.\n\nAnother story of this class appeared in an interesting little Welsh\nbook entitled \"Ysten Sioned,\" published by Hughes and Son, Wrexham.\n\nThere was a farmhouse in a certain part of West Wales, in which a\nlarge and respectable family lived. But there was one room in the\nhouse haunted by a troublesome spirit which often cried out in a\nmournful voice, \"Hir yw'r dydd, a hir yw'r nos, a hir yw aros Arawn\"\n(long is the day, and long is the night, and long is waiting for\nArawn). Things went on in this manner for a long time, and not one\nhardly ventured to open the door of that room. But one cold winter\nevening when every member of the family sat around the fire, before\nsupper, somebody called at the door of the house, and a stranger was\nwelcomed in to warm himself by the fire. The stranger asked for some\nfood and a bed for the night. He was told he was welcomed of food, but\nthat they were sorry they could not offer him a bed, as all the beds\nwere hardly enough for themselves, and that the only spare bed-room\nin the house was haunted. Then the stranger begged to be allowed to\nsleep in that room, as he felt sure that there was nothing to do him\nharm there. The man appeared very tired, and spoke but little except\nin reply to questions, and when it was found out that his name was\n\"Arawn,\" all the family looked into each's face in great surprise. The\nstranger presently went to bed in the haunted room, and strange to\nsay everything was quiet in that room that night, that is, no spirit\nwas heard as usual crying and moving things about. When the family\ngot up next morning, the first thing was to find out what kind of\nnight the stranger passed in the haunted room, but to the surprise\nof all the man was gone, and the ghost was also gone, for the room\nwas never haunted afterwards.\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF A LIVING MAN.\n\nGood many people in Wales who laugh at the idea of a ghost, readily\nadmit the possibility of the appearance of a living man's spirit\n(Yspryd Dyn Byw).\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF A LIVING MAN APPEARING TO A LITTLE GIRL AT PONTSHAN.\n\nAn old lady named Miss Pergrin, who lives at Pontshan, Llandyssul,\ninformed me about five years ago, that when she was a little girl\nof about eleven years of age, a certain man who lived in that\nneighbourhood had gone from home, for some months, and just about\nthe time when he was expected to return the little girl was one day\nwalking along the road near the village, about two o'clock in the\nafternoon. She suddenly met the man coming home. He was coming along\nthe road towards her, and looked at her, and then suddenly disappeared\nthrough a gate into an adjoining field. She was very much surprised,\nas the man was not expected home till next day. The next moment two\nsisters of the man appeared on the scene, and the girl informed them\nthat she had just seen their brother, and inquired whether they had\nmet him as they passed along the same road about the same time. But\nthey in reply positively affirmed that they had seen no sight of him\non the road or anywhere else since he left home, and that the girl\nmust have been dreaming or inventing some idle tale, for their brother\nwas not returning home till to-morrow. About 2 p.m., the next day,\nthe man did come home, and, strange to say, it was found out that\nthe day Miss Pergrin had seen him, he was far away from the district,\nso it was concluded that she had seen his spirit, and that in broad\ndaylight. Miss Pergrin did not like to give the man's name.\n\n\n\nSPIRIT OF A LIVING WOMAN SEEN ON A MOONLIGHT NIGHT, NEAR LLANYBRI\nIN CARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nA woman named Mrs. M. Davies, who lives in the small village of\nLlanybri, in Carmarthenshire, informed me that her mother when a\nyoung woman, was going home one evening to Llanybri, on a moonlight\nnight. As she walked along, to her great surprise, she saw an old\nwoman known in the neighbourhood as Rachel Y Gweydd, or the weaver,\nsitting by the roadside and busily engaged in knitting a stocking. The\nyoung woman ran home as fast as she could and told her mother what she\nhad seen. \"Och y fi\" said her mother, \"something strange is sure to\ntake place after this.\" Within a few days a man named Thomas Davies,\nof Cwmllan-wybryn, died, and was buried at the Capel Newydd. As the\nfuneral procession passed along, there was Rachel Y Gweydd sitting\nby the roadside, and knitting her stocking at the very same spot\nwhere her spirit had been seen by the young woman on the moon-light\nnight. The old woman had gone to sit by the roadside in order to\nwatch the funeral procession passing.\n\nA sister of the above Mrs. Davies, Mrs. Weekes, of Llangynog, also\ngave me the following account of her mother's experience of seeing\n\"Yspryd dyn byw.\"\n\n\n\nSPIRIT OF A REJECTED LOVER APPEARING TO A YOUNG WOMAN.\n\nMrs. Weekes's mother, when a young girl, living with her parents\nnear Llanybri, Carmarthen, went out one evening to fetch some water\nfrom a well close by, and she saw, as she thought, Thomas of Felin\nGwm standing near the hedge. \"Thomas?\" says she, \"what do you want\nhere?\" The man vanished into nothing all at once, and so she perceived\nthat it was his spirit she had seen. Thomas was in love with her,\nbut she had refused to have anything to do with him.\n\n\n\nTALE OF A DOCTOR.\n\nThe following tale appeared in \"Welsh Folk-Lore,\" page 296 by the\nlate Rev. Elias Owen, F.S.A., who had obtained the story from the\nRev. Philip Edwards:--\n\n\"At Swyddffynnon, in Cardiganshire, there lived a Mrs. Evans, who\nhad a strange vision. Mr. Edwards's father called one evening upon\nMrs. Evans, and found her sitting by the fire in company with a\nfew female friends, greatly depressed. On enquiring as to the cause\nof her distress, she stated that she had had a strange sight that\nvery evening.\n\n\"She saw, she said, in the unoccupied chamber at the further end of\nthe house, a light, and, whilst she was wondering what light it was,\nshe observed a tall, dark, stranger gentleman, who had a long, full\nbeard, enter the house and go straight to the room where the light was,\nbut before going in he took off his hat and placed it on the table;\nthen he took off his gloves and threw them into the hat, and without\nuttering a single word he entered the lit-up room.\n\n\"Shortly afterwards, she saw the stranger emerge from the room and\nleave the house, and on looking again towards the room she saw that\nthe light had disappeared. It was, she said, this apparition that\nhad disconcerted her.\n\n\"Some time after this vision, Mrs. Evans was in a critical state,\nand as she lived far away from a doctor, my informant's father was\nrequested to ride to Aberystwyth for one. He found, however, that the\ntwo doctors who then resided in that town were from home. But he was\ninformed at the inn that there was a London doctor staying at Hafod. He\ndetermined, whether he could or could not, induce this gentleman\nto accompany him to Swyddffynnon, to go there. This gentleman, on\nhearing the urgency of the case, consented to visit the sick woman.\n\n\"Mr. Edwards and the doctor rode rapidly to their destination, and\nMr. Edwards was surprised to find that the doctor did everything\nexactly as it had been stated by Mrs. Evans. There was also a light\nin the chamber, for there the neighbour had placed the still-born\nchild, and it was the providential help of the London doctor that\nsaved Mrs. Evans's life.\n\n\"I may add that the personal appearance of this gentleman corresponded\nwith the description given of him by Mrs. Evans.\"\n\n\n\nSPIRIT OF A LIVING MAN IN A FIELD.\n\nI heard the following story in the neighbourhood of Llanddewi, about\nmy own grandfather, the late Mr. John Evans, of Gogoyan, who died\nabout fifty-five years ago. (The \"Hiriaid Gogoyan\" were descended\nfrom Gruffydd Hir o Llanfair, great-great-grandson of Gwaethfoed);\nso saith Gwynionydd, in his book on \"Enwogion Ceredigion.\" But now\nfor the story:--\n\nMr. Evans one day had gone to Aberystwyth, either riding or driving\nas this was in the days before the introduction of railways into that\npart, the distance was over twenty miles.\n\nEarly in the afternoon on the same day one of his servants who was\nploughing in the field, saw Mr. Evans walking about quite close to\nhim in the field.\n\nThe servant was quite surprised at this, as he knew that his master\nhad gone to Aberystwyth early in the morning. When the master came\nhome that night from Aberystwyth, the servant told him that he had\nseen him in the afternoon in the field.\n\n\"Well,\" said Evans in reply, \"if you saw me you only saw my spirit,\nfor I have been away all day; now to see the spirit of a living man\nis not a bad sign.\"\n\nIt is rather curious that a story very similar to the above is given\nby Mr. T. Lloyd, Dinas Powis, in \"Cymru Fu\" (\"Weekly Mail\" reprints)\nfor November 16th, 1889, which is as follows:--\n\n\n\n\"YSFRYD DYN BYW.\n\n\"Many years ago at a farm called Ystradteilo, near the pretty village\nof Llanrhystyd in Cardiganshire, the servant girl was sent to the\nfield to fetch home the cows for milking, and while in the field she\nsaw her master doing something there. The master's name was Williams,\nand he was a near relation to the eminent scholar Rev. E. Williams,\nM.A., of Lampeter. When, however, the servant girl returned home,\nshe was astonished to find her master in the house. 'How in the world\ndid you come home so quick?' she asked. 'Just now I saw you in the\nfield.' He replied that he had not been from the house during the\nafternoon, and added, 'look here, girl, that was not a bad sign at\nall but if you will see me like that after my departure you may depend\nthat I shall be in a place of torture.' It was a general belief that\nof the dead the ghosts of the wicked only were to be seen.\"\n\n\n\nSPIRIT OF A LIVING MAN THROWING STONES.\n\nMr. Thomas Stephens, an intelligent old man in the neighbourhood of\nMydroilyn, in the Parish of Llanarth, Cardiganshire, informed me that\nbetween 60 and 70 years ago his father, John Stephens, when a young\nman, was coming home late one evening after spending a few hours of\npleasant time with the young woman of his affection at a neighbouring\nfarm. As he was walking along a lonely lane, to his great surprise,\nhe heard the sound of some one throwing stones about in a field which\nhe was passing by. When he looked around, he beheld the spirit of a\nman of his acquaintance who was well and alive, throwing stones with\nall his might in a field where stones were not to be found.\n\nSpirit of a living man was sometimes heard without being seen, of\nthis I was informed by an old man at Llanddewi Brefi.\n\nIn some ghost stories we find the spirits of the departed appearing\nto comfort the living.\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF A DEAD MOTHER APPEARING TO HER BOY-SON AT LLANGYNOG,\nCARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nA very old man named Thomas Ticker, who lives at the small village\nof Llanybri, gave me the following remarkable account:--\n\nMany years ago when one William Thomas, Pengelly Isaf, Llangynog, was\na little boy of ten or twelve years of age, his mother died. One day\nthe boy in great sorrow went out into a field which was quite close to\nthe house, and wept bitterly, almost breaking his heart. Suddenly,\nthe spirit of his dead mother appeared to him in a white dress,\ntelling him not to cry, \"because\" saith she, \"your crying gives me\npain, and you need not be in trouble about the future, as there is\nplenty of food for thee.\" The child was on the ground when she spoke,\nand when he looked up he beheld his mother vanishing suddenly.\n\nThis W. Thomas who saw his mother's spirit, died when a comparatively\nyoung man, but his son, from whom my informant obtained the account\nof the vision, lived till eighty years of age, and died about sixty\nyears ago.\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF A DEAD DAUGHTER APPEARING TO THE MOTHER.\n\nAbout ninety years ago one Mrs. D. Thomas, Llanfair, Llandyssul,\nhad a daughter who was very promising, and her mother was so fond\nof her. She was sent to the well-known school of the celebrated\nMr. Davis of Castell Howell. Unfortunately, however, the girl died,\nto the great sorrow of her poor mother who bewailed her loss day and\nnight. But one day when the old lady was out in the potato field,\nthe spirit of her dead daughter appeared suddenly to her, and spoke to\nher mother with severe looks: \"Don't cry after me, for I am in a much\nbetter place.\" The above account I heard from the lips of Mr. Rees,\nMaesymeillion, parish of Llandyssul, about three years ago, to whom\nand his brother I am indebted for several other stories.\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF A DEAD MOTHER APPEARING TO HER CHILDREN.\n\nThe following story was related to me by Mr. Brutus Davies, who died\nat Aberystwyth about two years ago, and who vouched for the truth of\nthe account:--\n\nAbout seventy years ago a certain man who was working on the Estate\nof Col. ---- in the parish of Llangeler, Carmarthenshire, had buried\nhis first wife and had married again. He had several children from\nhis first wife, but not one from the second. One particular day,\nthe children went out to play as they often did. When they came to\na certain spot which served them as a playground, they found some\nsmall cakes on the ground, which were very tempting to children;\nbut just as they were going to eat them, the spirit of their dead\nmother appeared on the scene and addressed them as follows:--\"My dear\nchildren, don't eat those cakes, for there is poison in them!\" When\nthis strange occurrence became known in the neighbourhood, people\nsuspected the step-mother of having intentionally and secretly placed\nthe cakes on the children's playground.\n\nSometimes we hear of the appearance of the ghost of a child, especially\nif a baby has been ill-treated or murdered, and the following story\nis well-known in the Northern part of Cardiganshire.\n\n\n\nALLT Y CRIB GHOST, NEAR TALYBONT.\n\nAbout sixty years ago, the dead body of a little baby was found in\na hole or an old mine shaft, known till the present day as \"Shaft y\nplentyn\" (the child's shaft), and as the people of the neighbourhood\nof Talybont guessed who its mother was, there was a rumour that both\nshe and her family were haunted by the child's ghost. This ghost also,\nit is said, wandered about at night, and its bitter crying disturbed\nthe whole neighbourhood, till many timid people were afraid to go\nout after dark. My informant was the late J. Jones, Bristol House.\n\nThere is a similar story of a child's ghost in the parish of\nTroedyraur, South Cardiganshire. This spirit always appeared as a\nchild dressed in yellow clothes, and on that account the unearthly\nvisitor was known as \"Bwci Melyn Bach y Cwm.\"\n\n\n\nTHE GHOST OF PONT-Y-GWENDRAETH, NEAR KIDWELY IN CARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nIt was an old belief among the Welsh people in former times\nthat the spirit of a suicide was doomed to walk the earth as\na punishment. Several versions of the well-known Kidwely Legend\nhave already appeared, but a book of West Wales Folk-Lore would be\nincomplete without it.\n\nSir Elidir Ddu was a Lord of Kidwely. He had two sons, Griffith and\nRhys, and one beautiful daughter named Nest.\n\nThe Crusades had been proclaimed, and this Elidir Ddu was preparing\nto depart, and accompanied by his youngest son Rhys; but the eldest\nson Griffith and Nest, the only daughter, remained at home in Kidwely\nCastle, as well as another fair young lady whose name was Gwladys,\na niece of Sir Elidir, and cousin to Nest. Nest was in love with a\nhandsome young Norman named Sir Walter Mansel, her cousin Gwladys also\nwas in love with him, but the young man was true to Nest. Griffith\nloved Gwladys, but she did not like him as she wanted Sir Walter\nMansel. This complicated matters very much. Nest's father before he\nhad left to the Holy Land, had forbidden the young Norman the house,\nand now the young lady's brother, Griffith, guarded the place against\nhim; but the sanguine lover (Sir W. M.) found means of meeting the fair\nNest in the country round, and many stolen interviews were held. But\nthe jealous Gwladys watched Nest, and found out her place of meeting\nwith her lover, which was Pont-y-Gwendraeth, and she informed Griffith\nof it. Griffith was in love with Gwladys, but she had snubbed him\nhopelessly. Now, however, in order to use him as an accomplice in her\nrevenge, she flattered his hopes with feigned kindness, and wrought\nhim up to such a pitch of fury against the Norman, that he agreed to\njoin her to destroy the young lover by fixing upon a bad fellow called\nMerig Maneg to carry out the evil deed. The next trysting place of the\nlovers was, by some means ascertained to be a bridge over the tidal\nportion of the Gwendraeth, and as Sir W. came forward to greet his\nlady-love an arrow whistled from a reed bed and pierced his side. The\nvillain Merig, then rushed from his hiding place, and before the very\neyes of Nest, hurled Walter's body into the rushing tide. The young\nlady overcome with horror, gave a wild shriek of despair and plunged\nin after the hapless knight. After this, the villain Merig was haunted\nby Nest's spirit, and on one occasion, she told him that her spirit\nwas doomed to walk the earth as a punishment for her suicide unless a\nmarriage should take place between one of her father's descendants and\na member of the Mansel family, and that until that did occur she would\nappear on Pont-y-Gwendraeth to give warning of the approaching death\nof every member of the family. From that day the Bridge became known\nas Pont-yr-yspryd-gwyn, and for generations a white lady occasionally\nappeared, giving utterance to a wild unearthly shriek and vanish.\n\n\n\nMr. Charles Wilkins in his \"Tales and Sketches of Wales,\" gives the\nfollowing sequel to the story:--\n\nIn 1775, Mr. Rhys, a lineal descendant of Rhys Ddu, of Kidwely Castle,\na magistrate, was returning one evening from Quarter Sessions when he\nwas startled by seeing a white figure flit rapidly across the Bridge,\nand disappear over it into the water. His horse trembled and refused\nto go on. Mr. Rhys thought of the Ghost Story and prediction, and\nriding towards Kidwely, noticed a large crowd and heard that a shocking\nmurder had been committed upon a poor old woman. He entered the cottage\nand discovered a small portion of a man's coat sleeve lying upon the\nbed. By inquiry, found it belonged to \"Will Maneg.\" Will was arrested,\nconfessed, and was hanged on Pembrey mountain, while as still further\nto strengthen the prediction, Mr. Rhys was informed that day of the\ndeath of his brother Arthur of the R.N., who was drowned at sea;\nand also of his wife's mother's death, Lady Mansel, of Iscoed, who\nwas burnt to death at Kidwely.\n\n\n\nHAUNTED MANSIONS OF LLANELLY, CARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nMr. Innes, in \"Old Llanelly,\" page 145, says:--\n\n\"The ghost of Lady Mansel 'walked' and haunted Old Stradey House,\"\nand \"Llanelly House probably had had ghosts for it is certain that\nspirits may be found there even now; and an old man has recently\nmade a statement that when a boy he slept in the Stepney Mansion;\nbut as he ascended to his room he heard the rustling brocade of a\nlady's dress in an apparently empty corridor.\n\n\"This lady during the night played upon an organ built up in one of\nthe thick walls.\"\n\n\n\nA GHOST HAUNTING A YOUNG LOVER WHO WAS OUT LATE AT NIGHT, NEAR\nALLTWALIS IN CARMARTHENSHIRE.\n\nAn old man named Griffiths, who is 96 years of age, and lives at\n'Renallt Farm, near Carmarthen, gave me the following ghost story\nconcerning his own father.\n\nWilliam Griffiths (my informant's father), when a young man, nearly a\nhundred years ago, was engaged as a servant at a farm called Pontiauar,\nin the Parish of Llanpumpsaint. William had been out late one night\nto see the young woman of his affection, and having enjoyed the\npleasure of love for some hours, he returned home about three o'clock\nin the morning. He had some miles to go through a lonely district,\nand worse than that he had to pass the Haunted Red Gate of Glynadda,\na place famous for its ghosts in former times.\n\nOn he walked as fast as he could, but to his great terror, when\nhe came to the Red Gate the ghost appeared in the shape of a big\nman. William passed on and ran, but the Ghost followed him all the\nway to the village of Llanpumpsaint, till the young man was terrified\nalmost to death. When he arrived at the house of Dafydd Llwyd, the\nBlacksmith (who worked even at that early hour), he entered the house\nor the Blacksmith's shop, and fell down near the fire half-fainting,\nand they had to take him home to the farmhouse in a cart.\n\n\n\nA PEMBROKESHIRE GHOST HAUNTING A SHIP.\n\nSometimes we hear of ghosts at sea, and the following account of a\nGhost on board H.M.S. \"Asp,\" which was written by Capt. Alldridge,\nR.N., Commander of that vessel, appeared in the \"Pembroke County\nGuardian,\" February 16th, 1901.\n\n\nMarch 15th, 1867.\n\nMy dear Sir,--I herewith readily comply with your request as far\nas I am able, respecting the unaccountable \"apparition\" on board my\nship. Call it ghost or what you will, still I assure you that which I\nam going to relate is what really did take place, and much as I was,\nand am, a sceptic in ghost stories, I must confess myself completely\nat a loss to account by natural causes for that which did actually\noccur. Many years having elapsed since I retired from active service\nI am unable to recollect all the dates with exactness, but I will\ngive them as far as I can remember them.\n\nIn the year 1850, the \"Asp\" was given me by the Admiralty as a\nsurveying vessel. On taking possession of her, the Superintendent\nof the Dockyard, where she lay, remarked to me, \"Do you know, Sir,\nyour ship is said to be haunted, and I don't know if you will get any\nof the Dockyard men to work on her.\" I, of course, smiled, and I said\n\"I don't care for ghosts, and dare say I shall get her all to lights\nfast enough.\"\n\nI engaged the shipwrights to do the necessary repairs to the vessel,\nbut before they had been working in her a week they came to me in\na body and begged me to give the vessel up as she was haunted and\ncould never bring anything but ill-luck. However, the vessel was at\nlength repaired, and arrived in safety in the river Dee, where she\nwas to commence her labours. After my tea in the evening, I generally\nsat in my cabin and either read to myself or had an officer of mine\n(who is now master of the 'Magician') to read aloud to me: on such\noccasions we used frequently to be interrupted by strange noises,\noften such as would be caused by a drunken man or a person staggering\nabout, which appeared to issue from the after (or ladies') cabin.\n\nThe two cabins were only separated from each other by the companion\nladder, the doors faced each other, so that from my cabin I could\nsee into the after one. There was no communication between either\nof them and the other parts of the ship, excepting by the companion\nladder, which no one could ascend or descend without being seen\nfrom my cabin. The evening shortly after our arrival in the Dee,\nthe officer I mentioned was reading to me in my cabin when all at\nonce his voice was drowned by a violent and prolonged noise in the\naft cabin. Thinking it must be the steward he called out \"Don't make\nsuch a noise, steward,\" and the noise ceased. When he began to read\nagain the noise also recommenced. \"What are you doing, steward--making\nsuch a--noise for?\" he cried out, and taking the candle rushes into\nthe next cabin. But he came back quicker than he went, saying there\nwas nobody there.\n\nHe recommenced reading, and once more began the mysterious noise. I\nfelt sure there was some drunken person there whom my officer had\noverlooked, and accordingly rose and looked myself, and to my very\ndisagreeable surprise found the cabin empty!\n\nAfter this evening, the noises became very frequent, varying in kind\nand in degree. Sometimes it was as though the seats and lockers were\nbeing banged about, sometimes it sounded as though decanters and\ntumblers were being clashed together. During these disturbances the\nvessel was lying more than a mile off shore.\n\nOne evening I and the above-named officer went to drink tea at a\nfriend's house at Queen's Ferry, near Chester, the vessel at the time\nbeing lashed to the lower stage opposite Church's Quay. We returned on\nboard together about 10 p.m. While descending the companion ladder,\nI distinctly heard someone rush from the after cabin into the fore\ncabin. I stopped the officer who was behind me at the top of the\nladder and whispered to him, \"Stand still, I think I have caught the\nghost.\" I then descended into my cabin, took my sword, which always\nhung over my bed, and placed it drawn in his hand saying \"Now ----,\nallow no one to pass you; if anyone attempts to escape cut him down,\nI will stand the consequences. T then returned to the cabin, struck\na light and searched everywhere, but nothing could I find to account\nfor the noises I had heard, though I declare solemnly that never did\nI feel more certain of anything in my life than that I should find\na man there. So there was nothing to be done but to repeat for the\nhundredth time, \"Well, it is the ghost again!\" Often when lying in my\nbed at night have I heard noises close to me as though my drawers were\nbeing opened and shut, the top of my washing stand raised and banged\ndown again, and a bed which stood on the opposite side of my cabin,\npulled about; while of an evening I often heard while sitting in my\ncabin a noise as though a percussion cap were snapped close to my\nhead; also very often (and I say it with godly and reverential fear)\nI have been sensible of the presence of something invisible about me,\nand could have put my hand, so to say, on it, or the spot where I felt\nit was; and all this occurred, strange to say, without my feeling in\nthe least alarmed or caring about it, except so far that I could not\nunderstand or account for what I felt and heard.\n\nOne night, when the vessel was at anchor in Martyn Roads I was awoke\nby the quartermaster calling me and begging me to come on deck as\nthe look-out man had rushed to the lower deck, saying that a figure\nof a lady was standing on the paddle box pointing with her finger to\nHeaven. Feeling angry, I told him to send the look-out man on deck\nagain and keep him there till daybreak, but in attempting to carry my\norders into execution the man went into violent convulsions, and the\nresult was I had to go myself upon deck and remain there till morning.\n\nThis apparition was often seen after this, and always as described\nwith her finger pointing towards Heaven.\n\nOne Sunday afternoon while lying in the Haverfordwest river opposite\nto Lawrenny, the crew being all on shore, and I being at church,\nmy steward (the only man on board) whilst descending the companion\nladder was spoken to by an unseen voice. He immediately fell down with\nfright, and I found his appearance so altered that I really scarcely\nknew him! He begged to be allowed his discharge and to be landed as\nsoon as possible, to which I felt obliged to consent as he could not\nbe persuaded to remain on board for the night. The story of the ship\nbeing haunted becoming known on shore, the clergyman of Lawrenny called\non me one day and begged me to allow him to question the crew, which\nhe accordingly did. He seemed very much impressed by what he heard; he\nseemed to view the matter in a serious light and said that his opinion\nwas that \"some troubled spirit must be lingering about the vessel.\"\n\nDuring the years that I commanded the \"Asp\" I lost many of my men who\nran away on being refused their discharge, and a great many others I\nfelt forced to let go, so great was their fear, one and all telling\nme the same tale, namely, that at night they saw the transparent\nfigure of a lady pointing with her finger up to Heaven. For many\nyears I endeavoured to ridicule the affair as I was often put to\nconsiderable inconvenience by the loss of hands, but to no purpose. I\nbelieve that when the officers went out of the vessel after dark none\nof the crew would have ventured into the cabin on any account. One\nnight I was awoke from my sleep by a hand, to all sensations, being\nplaced on my leg outside the bedclothes. I lay still for a moment to\nsatisfy myself of the truth of what I felt, and then grabbed at it,\nbut caught nothing. I rang my bell for the quartermaster to come with\nhis lantern, but found nothing. This occurred to me several times,\nbut on one occasion as I lay wide awake a hand was placed on my\nforehead. If ever a man's hair stood on end mine did then. I sprang\nclean out of bed: there was not a sound. Until then I had never felt\nthe least fear of the ghost or whatever you like to call it. In fact\nI had taken a kind of pleasure in listening to the various noises as\nI lay in bed, and sometimes when the noises were very loud I would\nsuddenly pull my bell for the look-out man and then listen attentively\nif I could hear the sound of a footstep or attempt to escape, but\nthere never was any, and I would hear the look-out man walk from his\npost to my cabin when I would merely ask him some questions as to the\nwind and weather. At length in 1857, the vessel requiring repairs,\nwas ordered alongside the dockyard wall at Pembroke. The first night\nthe sentry stationed near the ship saw (as he afterwards declared)\na lady mount the paddle box holding up her hand towards Heaven. She\nthen stepped on shore and came along the path towards him when he\nbrought his musket to the charge \"who goes there?\" But the figure\nwalked through the musket, upon which he dropped it and ran for\nthe guard house. The next sentry saw all this take place and fired\noff his gun to alarm the guard. The figure then glided past a third\nsentry who was placed near the ruins of Pater old Church, and who\nwatched her, or it, mount the top of a grave in the old churchyard,\npoint with her finger to Heaven, and then stand till she vanished from\nhis sight. The sergeant of the guard came with rank and file to learn\nthe tale, and the fright of the sentries all along the Dockyard wall\nwas so great that none would remain at their post unless they were\ndoubled, which they were, as may be seen by the \"Report of guard\" for\nthat night. Singularly enough, since that, the ghost has never been\nheard of again on board the Asp, and I never heard the noises which\nbefore had so incessantly annoyed me. The only clue I could ever find\nto account for my vessel being haunted is as follows:--Some years\npreviously to my having her, the \"Asp\" had been engaged as a mail\npacket between Port Patrick and Donaghadee. After one of her trips,\nthe passengers having all disembarked, the stewardess on going into\nthe ladies' cabin found a beautiful girl with her throat cut lying\nin one of the sleeping berths quite dead! How she came by her death\nno one could tell and, though, of course, strict investigations were\ncommenced, neither who she was or where she came from or anything about\nher was ever discovered. The circumstances gave rise to much talk,\nand the vessel was remanded by the authorities, and she was not again\nused until handed over to me for surveying service. Here end my tale,\nwhich I have given in all truth. Much as I know one gets laughed at\nfor believing in ghost stories you are welcome to make what use you\nplease with this true account of the apparition on board the \"Asp.\"\n\n\n\nA SPIRIT ON HORSEBACK.\n\nRhosmeherin, in the neighbourhood of Ystrad Meurig, in Cardiganshire,\nwas formerly well known for its ghost. An old man named John Jones,\nwho lives at Pontrhydfendigaid, informed me that when a boy he heard of\nmany belated persons who were terrified in passing the haunted spot\nby seeing a ghost which appeared sometimes in the shape of a cat,\nat other times as a man on horseback.\n\nMr. Jones also added that a poor old woman had been murdered there\nin the old times, which was supposed to account for the spot being\nhaunted. I have heard several ghost stories in connection with this\nspot, but the best is the one which appeared in an interesting Welsh\nbook entitled, \"Ystraeon y Gwyll,\" written by the late Mr. D. Lledrod\nDavies, a promising young man, and a candidate for Holy Orders, who\ndied 20 years ago. Mr. Davies obtained the story from a person who had\nseen the ghost; so I give a translation of the Belated's own words:--\n\n\"I was going home one evening from my work from Ros y Wlad, and had to\ngo through Rhosmeherin. \"That place, you know is a terrible spot for\nits ghosts. People say that they are seen there in broad daylight. As\nto myself I did not see them in the daytime, but many a time was I\nkept there all night by Jack-a-Lantern.\n\nI saw a ghost in the form of a cat there also, and when I began\nto strike him he disappeared in a blazing fire. But now for the\ngentleman. I was near the spot where I had seen the cat, when I heard\nthe sound of a horse coming after me. I jumped one side to make room\nfor him to pass; but when he came opposite me he did not go forward a\nsingle pace faster than myself. When I went on slowly, he went slowly;\nwhen I went fast, he went fast. \"Good night,\" said I at last, but no\nanswer. Then I said it was a very fine night, but the gentleman on\nhorseback did not seem to take any notice of what I said. Then thinking\nthat he might be an Englishman (the man was speaking in Welsh),\nI said in English \"Good night,\" but he took no notice of me still.\n\nBy this I was beginning to perspire and almost ready to fall down with\nfright, hoping to get rid of him, as I now perceived that he was the\nDevil himself appearing in the form of a gentleman. I could think from\nthe sound of the saddle and the shining stirrups that the saddle was\na new one. On we went along the dark narrow lane till we came to the\nturnpike road, when it became a little lighter, which gave me courage\nto turn my eyes to see what kind of a man he was. The horse looked\nlike a soldier's horse, a splendid one, and his feet like the feet of\na calf, without any shoes under them, and the feet of the gentleman in\nthe stirrups were also like the feet of a calf. My courage failed me\nto look what his head and body were like. On we went till we came to\nthe cross-road. I had heard many a time that a ghost leaves everybody\nthere. Well, to the cross road we came. But ah! I heard the sound of\nthe ground as if it were going to rend, and the heavens going to fall\nupon my head; and in this sound I lost sight of him (the Spirit). How\nhe went away I know not, nor the direction he went.\"\n\n\n\nA SPIRIT IN A CAVE.\n\nSometimes we hear of haunted caves, where spirits are said to be seen\nor heard. One of such places is the Green Bridge Cave, near Pendine,\nCarmarthenshire.\n\nThere is a story in the neighbourhood that long ago an old fiddler\nentered once into this cave with his fiddle and a lighted candle to\nsee his way, and that his candle went out when he was in, so that\nhe failed to find his way out of the cave again. He is heard there\nsometimes, so it is said, playing his fiddle.\n\n\n\nA SPIRIT IN A RIVER.\n\nNear Llandyssul, in Cardiganshire, and the borders of Carmarthenshire,\nthere is a pool in the River Teivi, known as the \"Pool of the\nHarper.\" When I visited the village a few years ago I was told that\nit is said that an old harper was drowned there long ago; and that\nit is still believed by some that on a fine summer afternoon, one\nhears his spirit playing his harp in the pool.\n\n\n\nAPPARITIONS OF GOOD SPIRITS.\n\nIt is not, often we hear in Wales of Good Spirits appearing; but the\nRev. Edmund Jones in his \"Relation of Apparitions,\" a curious old\nbook published some generations ago, gives the following narrative\nof Apparitions of Good Spirits:--\n\n----\"There lived at a place called Pante, which is between Carmarthen\nand Laugharne towns, one Mr. David Thomas, a holy man, who worship the\nLord with great devotion and humility; he was also a gifted brother,\nand sometimes preached. On a certain night, for the sake of privacy,\nhe went into a room which was out of the house, but nearly adjoining to\nit, in order to read and pray; and as he was at prayer, and very highly\ntaken up into a heavenly frame, the room was suddenly enlightened,\nand to that degree that the light of the candle was swallowed up by\na greater light, and became invisible; and with, or in that light\na company of Spirits, like children, in bright clothing, appeared\nvery beautiful, and sung; but he recollected only a few words of it,\n'Pa hyd? Pa hyd? Dychwelwch feibion Adda' (How long? How long? Return\nye sons of Adam.) Something like Ps. xc. 3. After a time he lost\nsight of them: the light of the candle again came to appear, when the\ngreat light of the glorious company was gone. He was immersed in the\nheavenly disposition, and he fell down to thank and praise the Lord;\nand while he was at this heavenly exercise the room enlightened again;\nthe light of the candle became invisible, and the glorious company\nsung; but he was so amazed at what he saw and heard that he could\nremember only the following words, 'Pa hyd? Pa hyd yr erlidiwch?' (How\nlong? How long, will ye persecute the godly Christians?)\n\n\"After a while, they departed, and the candle light appeared. Any\nChristian who enjoyed much of God's presence will easily believe\nthat D. T. was now lifted up very high in the spiritual life by this\nextraordinary visitation from heaven.\"\n\n\n\nSPIRITS REMOVING CHURCHES.\n\nThere are several legends in West and Mid-Wales, especially in\nCarmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, in which spirits or some other\nmysterious powers, play a prominent part in the removal of Churches\nfrom one site to another.\n\n\n\nLLANDDEUSANT (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nI am indebted for the following to the Rev. H. M. Williams, Vicar\nof Lledrod:--\n\nThere is a tradition in the parish of Llanddeusant, that the parish\nchurch was to have been built at first at Twynllanan, in the centre\nof the parish; but the stones that were put up during the day were\nremoved in the night, to the spot where the church now stands.\n\n\n\nLLANBISTER CHURCH (RADNORSHIRE).\n\nThe Rev. Professor Tyrrell Green, St. David's College, Lampeter,\nwrites to me thus:--\n\n\"Jonathan Williams in his History of Radnorshire, p. 194, ed., 1859,\nsays that near Llanbister Church is a piece of land on which it\nwas originally intended to have erected the Church, but tradition\nreports that the accomplishment of this design was prevented by\nthe intervention of supernatural agency. \"The tradition that a\nsupernatural being carried away in the night whatever was built of\nthe church during the day, is still kept alive, because the warden\nclaims an annual rent of 2s. 6d. for the vacant and unconsecrated\nsite of the originally intended church.\" In the same book mention is\nmade of an old custom prevailing in this parish, viz., the payment\nof a certain tax or tribute called \"Clwt-y-Gyllell,\" or Knife Money,\nimposed on a certain corner of a field on some estates, consisting\nof a certain number of groats.\n\n\n\nPENBRYN CHURCH.\n\nFor the following legend, I am indebted to Mr. Prys Williams,\nY. Wenallt, an eminent antiquarian in the southern part of\nCardiganshire:--\n\nThe intended original site of the Church of Penbryn, according to\ntradition, was Penlon Moch, near Sarnau, where now stands St. John's\nMission Church; but all the materials they brought there, and built\nin the course of the day, were removed during the night by invisible\nhands to where it now stands. There is a similar tradition concerning\nBettws Ifan.\n\n\n\nLLANWINIO (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nWhen the attempt was first made to build this church, everything put\nup in the day fell down in the night, till at last the builder threw\nhis hammer into the air.\n\nThe church was then built on the spot where the hammer fell and the\nwork progressed without further hindrance.\n\nIn this story we do not hear of a spirit removing the material, but\nit is evident that it was believed that the falling down in the night\nof what was put up in the day, was caused by some supernatural agency.\n\n\n\nLLANGAN (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nIn the middle of the parish there is a field called Park y Fonwent,\nwhere, according to local tradition, the church was to have been\noriginally built, but the stones brought to the spot during the day,\nwere removed by invisible hands during the night to the spot where the\npresent church now stands, accompanied by a voice saying, \"Llangan,\ndyma'r fan,\" (Llangan, here is the spot).--See Arch. Cam., 1872.\n\n\n\nMAROS.\n\nNot far from Pendine, Carmarthenshire, is a field called Church Park,\na short distance to the west from the church. In this field it was\nintended at first to build the church, but invisible spirits during\nthe night removed both stones and mortar to the spot where the church\nnow stands. There is also a tradition that two giants were buried in\nthe field.\n\n\n\nLLANGELER CHURCH.\n\nLlangeler parish is in Carmarthenshire, and on the borders of\nCardiganshire. There is a tradition in the district that it was\nat first intended to build Llangeler Church on a spot known as\n\"Parc-y-Bwci,\" but what had been built during the day, was transported\nin the night to the site of the present church. There is no mention\nhere that the agency was a spirit; but the name of the spot is very\nsuggestive, for Parc-y-Bwci means the Goblin's Park.\n\n\n\nLLANFIHANGEL GENEU'R GLYN.\n\nThe parish church of Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn, is situated about five\nmiles north of Aberystwyth, and it is seen from the train. About a mile\nfrom the church and the village, there is a respectable farm house,\nnamed Glanfread, or Glanfread-fawr which belongs to the Gogerddan\nEstate. It is evident that Glanfread was a place of importance once,\nand long ago gentry lived there, and it was the birthplace of Edward\nLlwyd, the author of Arch\u00e6oligia Britanica. It is also believed\nthat the house received its name from St. Fraed, a devout woman who,\naccording to local tradition, came over from Ireland to build a church\non the spot.\n\nThere is a legend still extant in the neighbourhood that when the\nwork of erecting the church on the spot was actually commenced, the\nportion built during the day was pulled down during each night. At\nlast a voice from the spirit world was heard to speak as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Glanfread-fawr sy fod fan hyn,\n    Llanfihangel yn ngenau'r Glyn.\n\n   \"Glanfread-fawr is to be herein,\n    Llanfihangel at Genau'r Glyn.\"\n\n\nWhat the spirit meant by these words was that the church was to be\nbuilt at Genau'r Glyn, and that Glanfread-fawr farm or mansion was\nto occupy the spot they were then trying to build the church; and\nin accordance with the Spirit's direction the church was after this\nbuilt where it now stands instead of at Glanfread.\n\nThe above tradition was related to me by Lady Hills-Johnes, of\nDolaucothy, an intelligent lady who has been a friend to me for nearly\ntwenty years. The late Bishop Thirwall wanted Lady Hills-Johnes to\nwrite a book on the Legends of Wales.\n\nLlanfihangel, of course, is the Welsh for St. Michael, or rather\nMichael's Church; but as the early Welsh Christians generally\ndedicated their churches to Welsh Saints, it seems probable that the\nancient name of this church was Llanfread; and the name of the farm\nGlanfread, where it was first intended to build the church seems to\nsuggest this. Perhaps the church was re-dedicated to St. Michael by\nthe Normans, for we know that William the Conqueror seized some lands\nin the neighbourhood, and that particular part of the parish is known\nto this day as \"Cyfoeth y Brenin,\" (the King's wealth).\n\nSt. Michael was a favourite patron of churches with the Normans,\nas it was believed that an apparition of the Archangel had been seen\nby Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, directing him to build a church on\nMount St. Michael in Normandy.\n\n\n\nLLANWENOG.\n\nFrom a paper read before the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society,\nby the Rev. J. Morris, Vicar of Llanybyther, I find that there is\na tradition still extant that Llanwenog Church was also removed by\nsupernatural agency from one site to another.\n\nThese popular legends are, undoubtedly, very old, and are current\nnot only in Wales, but in parts of Scotland also as the following\nfrom Sir Walter Scott's Notes to the Lay of the Last Minstrel prove:\n\n----\"When the workmen were engaged in erecting the ancient church\nof Old Deer, in Aberdeenshire, upon a small hill called Bissau they\nwere surprised to find that the work was impeded by supernatural\nobstacles. At length the Spirit of the River was heard to say:\n\n\n   \"It is not here, it is not here,\n    That ye shall build the church of Deer;\n    But on Taptillery,\n    Where many a corpse shall lie.\"\n\n\n\"The site of the edifice was accordingly transferred to Taptillery, an\neminence at some distance from where the building had been commenced.\"\n\nAs to the origin of these legends or traditions of the mysterious\nremoval of churches, it is not easy to arrive at a correct\nexplanation. Some writers are of the opinion that they contain a\nrecord, imaginative and exaggerated, of real incidents connected with\nthe history of the churches to which each of them belongs, and that\nthey are in most cases reminiscences of an older church which once\nactually stood on another site. Others see in these stories traces of\nthe antagonism, in remote times, between peoples holding different\nreligious beliefs, and the steps taken by one party to seize and\nappropriate the sacred spots of the other.\n\nThat some of these tales have had their origin in primitive times,\neven anterior to Christianity, is probable.\n\n\n\nAPPARITIONS OF THE DEVIL.\n\nIn many of the Welsh Ghost Stories, the spirit or ghost was supposed\nto have been none other than the evil one himself.\n\nThe visible appearance of his satanic majesty was quite as common\nin Wales as in other countries, though, strange to say, he is often\ndepicted as an inferior in cunning and intellect to a shrewd old\nwoman, or a bright-witted Welshman, as the following two curious\nstories show:--\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE IN CARDIGANSHIRE.\n\nThe Devil's Bridge in the northern part of Cardiganshire is so called\nfrom the tradition that it was erected by him upon the condition that\nthe first thing that passed over it should be his. The story which\nis well-known is something as follows:\n\nAn old woman called Megan Llandunach had lost her cow, and espied the\nanimal across the gorge. When bewailing her fate, the Devil appeared\nand promised to build her a bridge over the gorge under the condition\nthat the first living thing which crossed should be surrendered into\nhis hand, \"and be beyond redemption lost.\" Megan agreed, the bridge\nwas completed; she took from her pocket a crust of bread and threw\nit over the bridge, and her hungry dog sprang after it. So the Devil\nwas balked in his design after all his trouble in erecting the bridge.\n\n\n\nPENTRE-CWRT FOLK AND THE DEVIL.\n\nOnce upon a time the devil was offended with the people of Pentre-Cwrt,\nin Carmarthenshire, and decided to drown them. One day in order to do\nthis mischief the Evil One was seen going along with a big shovelful of\nmound; and when he came to the parish of Llandyssul in Cardiganshire,\nwhich was only about two miles from Pentre-Cwrt, he met with a cobbler\nwho carried a very large bundle of old shoes. After saluting the devil\nthe cobbler asked him to where did he intend taking the shovelful\nof mound? \"To the mouth of Alltcafan,\" was the reply. \"For what\npurpose?\" asked the cobbler again. \"To dam the River Teivy so as to\ndrown the people of Pentre-Cwrt,\" said the devil. Now the cobbler was\na very shrewd man, and in order to frustrate the evil design of the\nOld Gentleman, he told him that the place where he intended to dam\nthe river was very far away. \"How far is it?\" asked the devil. \"I\ncannot tell you the exact distance,\" replied the cobbler, \"but in\nwalking from there I have worn out all these shoes.\" \"If that is so,\"\nsaid the devil, \"it is too far, for I am already tired,\" and down did\nhe throw the shovelful of mould, and the shovelful which the devil\nthrew down is to be seen to this day, and known as Cnwc Coedfoel.--See\nHanes Plwyf Llangeler, gan D. Jones.\n\nSometimes the devil manifests himself in a ball of fire, at other\ntimes in the form of a pig, mouse, calf, dog, or headless horse,\nand even as a gentleman on horseback, as we have already seen in the\nRhosmeherin ghost story.\n\nWhen I was in North Pembrokeshire a few years ago, I was told by\nseveral old people in the village of Eglwyswrw that the Evil One\nsometimes was to be seen at Yet Wen in that neighbourhood; occasionally\nas a \"white lady,\" but more often as a white cat.\n\nThe people of the same village informed me that Yet Wen, Pen'rallt,\nwas also a favourite resort of the devil, and that a woman once in\npassing the spot at night, shouted \"Come out you d----l,\" and the\nnext moment a white cat appeared.\n\nNags Head, in the same county was once haunted by the devil, as it\nseems from the following story of long ago:--\n\n\n\nTHE EVIL ONE APPEARING AT NAG'S HEAD IN THE FORM OF A DOG.\n\n\"As Mr. David Walter, of Pembrokeshire, a religious man, and far from\nfear and superstition, was travelling by himself through a field\ncalled the Cot Moor, where there are two stones set up called the\nDevil's Nags, which are said to be haunted, he was suddenly seized\nand thrown over a hedge. He went there another day, taking with him\nfor protection a strong fighting mastiff dog. When he had come near\nthe Devil's Nags there appeared in his path the apparition of a dog\nmore terrible than any he had ever seen. In vain he tried to set his\nmastiff on; the huge beast crouched, frightened by his master's feet\nand refused to attack the spectre. Whereupon his master boldly stooped\nto pick up a stone thinking that would frighten the evil dog; but\nsuddenly a circle of fire surrounded it, which lighting up the gloom,\nshowed the white snip down to the dog's nose, and his grinning teeth,\nand white tail. He then knew it was one of the infernal dogs of hell.\"\n\n\n\n\"THE OLD GENTLEMAN\" APPEARING IN PEMBROKESHIRE, AS A BLACK CALF.\n\nA black calf was supposed to haunt a stream that flowed across the\nroad that leads from Narberth in Pembrokeshire to the adjacent village\nCold Blow. People returning late that way were sure to get frightened\nas they passed and, as a consequence, they would go a long distance\nout of their way to avoid the haunted stream. One night, or rather\nearly morning, two villagers were going home from a fair caught the\nterrible calf and took it home, locking it up safely with some cattle,\nbut it had vanished when morning came.\n\n\n\nA GHOST SEEN IN THE FORM OF A CALF IN CARDIGANSHIRE.\n\nRhosygarth, between Llanilar and Lledrod, was a well-known haunted spot\nin former times. This demon often appeared on the road to travellers\nlate at night in the form of a calf, but with a head much like that\nof a dog. Many years ago, Mr. Hughes, of Pantyddafad, was going\nhome one night on horseback; but just as he was passing Rhosygarth,\nthe ghost appeared, and passed across the road right in front of the\nhorse. My informant, Thomas Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid, was a servant at\nPantyddafad, heard the old gentleman often speaking about the ghost he\nhad seen at Rhosygarth, and that Mr. Hughes was great-grand-father to\nDr. Hughes, of Cwitycadno, Llanilar. Mr. Jones also added that he knew\na young man who always laughed when people talked about seeing ghosts;\nbut one night, a man (as he at first thought), followed him for about\na mile, and after coming close to him, vanished into nothing. The\nyoung man nearly fainted, and after this never doubted the reality\nof the world of spirits.\n\n\n\nA DEMON ASSUMING THE FORM OF A HORSE.\n\nSir John Williams, Bart, now of Aberystwyth, informed me that when a\nboy in the neighbourhood of Gwynfi, Carmarthenshire, he often heard\nsome of the old people speak of a ghost which haunted the road in\nthat part of the country in former times. This ghost was known as\n\"Bwci,\" and always assumed the form of a horse. It is an old belief\nof the Celts that demons assumed the form of horses, and one of these\nmythic beings was the Water Horse, so well-known in North Scotland. It\nwas also known in Wales once.\n\n\n\nTHE GWYLLGI, OR DOG OF DARKNESS.\n\nThe Gwyllgi was a frightful apparition of a mastiff with baleful\nbreath and blazing red eyes. In former times, an apparition in\nthis shape haunted Pant y Madog, in the neighbourhood of Laugharne,\nCarmarthenshire. A woman named Rebecca Adams, passing this spot late\none night, fell down in a swoon, when she saw the spectral dog coming\ntowards her. When within a few yards of her it stopped, squatted\non its hounchers, \"and set up such a scream, so loud, so horrible,\nand so strong, that she thought the earth moved under her.\" I was\ninformed at Llangynog five years ago, that Spectral Dogs still haunt\nthat part of Carmarthenshire; and more than one of my informants had\nseen such apparitions themselves.\n\nA spirit in animal form was not always a demon; sometimes the Spirit\nof a mortal was doomed to wear this shape for some offence.\n\nIt was once believed that the Evil One, either from lust, or from\nnefarious designs, assumed the form of a young man or a young woman.\n\nThe following two stories, the first from South Pembrokeshire, and\nthe other from Gower, have reference to this belief.\n\n\n\n\"A DEMON STEWARD.\"\n\nGiraldus Cambrensis in his Itinerary through Wales (Bohn's edition,\npage 110) says:--\n\n\"In the province of Pembrock (Pembroke), another instance occurred,\nabout the same time, of a spirit's appearing in the house of Elidore\nde Stakepole, not only sensibly, but visibly, under the form of a\nred-haired young man, who called himself Simon. First seizing the keys\nfrom the person to whom they were entrusted, he impudently assumed the\nsteward's office, which he managed so prudently and providently, that\nall things seemed to abound under his care, and there was no deficiency\nin the house. Whatever the master or mistress secretly thought of\nhaving for their daily use or provision, he procured with wonderful\nagility, and without any previous directions, saying, \"You wished that\nto be done, and it shall be done for you.\" He was also well acquainted\nwith their treasures and secret hoards, and sometimes upbraided them\non that account; for as often as they seemed to act sparingly and\navariciously, he used to say, \"Why are you afraid to spend that heap\nof gold or silver, since your lives are of so short duration, and the\nmoney you so cautiously hoard up will never do you any service?\" He\ngave the choicest meat and drink to the rustics and hired servants,\nsaying that \"Those persons should be abundantly supplied, by whose\nlabours they were acquired.\" Whatever he determined should be done,\nwhether pleasing or displeasing to his master or mistress (for, as\nwe have said before, he knew all their secrets), he completed in his\nusual expeditious manner, without their consent. He never went to\nchurch or uttered one catholic word. He did not sleep in the house,\nbut was ready at his office in the morning. He was at length observed\nby some of the family to hold his nightly converse near a mill and\na pool of water; upon which discovery, he was summoned the next\nmorning before the master of the house and his lady, and, receiving\nhis discharge, delivered up the keys, which he had held for upwards\nof forty days. Being earnestly interrogated, at his departure who\nhe was? he answered, \"That he was begotten upon the wife of a rustic\nin that parish, by a demon, in the shape of her husband, naming the\nman, and his father-in-law, then dead, and his mother, still alive;\nthe truth of which the woman upon examination, openly avowed.\"\n\n\n\nA DEMON TEMPTING A YOUNG MAIDEN IN GOWER.\n\nFor the following tale I am indebted to Mr. T. C. Evans (Cadrawd)\nthe eminent antiquarian and folk-lorist of Llangynwyd:\n\n\"Once upon a time there lived a fair and gentle maiden in the\nneighbourhood of the Demon's Rock, who often wandered out in the sunset\nand balmy summer evenings to meet her lover, and would return with her\ncountenance radiant with joy, and the bright light of inexpressible\nrapture beaming in her love-lighted eye. Evening after evening\nwould she stray out alone to the trysting place to meet her lover,\nand seemed as happy as a bird that warbles its morning song when\nthe early sun gladdens the earth. However, it chanced that one of\nher companions followed her one moonlight night--saw the maiden go\nto a widespreading oak, and heard the whispering soft and low. She\nwas surprised that she could not observe anyone, neither could she\nhear any reply to the maiden's sweet and loving voice. Affrighted,\nshe hastened back and said that a mysterious dread had crept over\nher while listening and watching her companion; they kept it secret,\nbut questioned the maiden on her return. She said that her lover was a\ngentleman, and that she had promised to meet him the next evening in\nthe same spot. The next evening they followed her again and saw her\naddressing the empty air--they felt assured now that it must be the\nSpirit of Darkness that was tempting the girl. Her companions warned\nher and told her how she had been watched, and that they could not\nsee who or whom she spoke to.\n\n\"She became alarmed, but yet could not refrain from meeting her lover,\n(as she supposed), once again, as she had made a vow and bound\nherself by a solemn promise to meet him in this valley in the dead\nhour of the night. She was also bound to go alone. It was a fearful\ntrial. The night came, the moon hid itself, and dark clouds swept\nhurriedly across the sky. With blanched cheeks and trembling steps\nthe maiden approached the appointed place. She held (firmly grasped)\nin her hand a Bible, and as the traitor approached, a straggling gleam\nof moonshine revealed his form; and oh! horrible to relate, she saw the\ncloven hoof! With one long piercing cry for protection from heaven she\nfled; at the same instant the valley was filled with wild unearthly\nshrieks. The roar of the deafening thunder shook the hills to their\nfoundations; wild and blinding lightnings, together with yells and\nhowls from the legions of baffled fiends rushed by on the startled air.\n\n\"The bewildered whirlwinds dashed through the woodlands, snapping the\noaks of a century like fragile reeds, or hurling them like feathers\ndown into the brook--now a boiling torrent that swept all before\nit. In the morning a strange scene of devastation presented itself,\nand the woods seemed crumbled up; the valley was a chaotic mass of\nconfusion, while in the centre of the hamlet was this huge stone which\nthey say the vengeful demon tore from its firm bed on the hillside,\nand flung at the flying maiden as she evaded his grasp. It remains\nin the spot where it was cast, and is known as the Demon's Rock.\"\n\nThere is also a story all over Wales of the Evil One appearing to a\nyoung man as a lovely young lady.\n\n\n\nSATAN AND SABBATH BREAKERS; OR THE \"OLD GENTLEMAN\" APPEARING IN MANY\nFORMS TO A MAN WHO TRAVELLED ON SUNDAY.\n\nThe late Rev. Elias Owen, \"Welsh Folk-Lore,\" page 152, Vicar of\nLlanyblodwel, received the following tale from his deceased friend,\nthe Rev. J. L. Davies, late Rector of Llangynog, who had obtained it\nfrom William Davies, the man who figures in the story:--\n\n\"William Davies, Penrhiw, near Aberystwyth, went to England for\nthe harvest, and after having worked there about three weeks, he\nreturned home alone, with all possible haste, as he knew that his\nfather-in-law's fields were by this time ripe for the sickle. He,\nhowever, failed to accomplish the journey before Sunday; but he\ndetermined to travel on Sunday, and thus reached home on Sunday night\nto be ready to commence reaping on Monday morning. His conscience,\nthough, would not allow him to be at rest, but he endeavoured to\nsilence its twittings by saying to himself that he had with him no\nclothes to go to a place of worship. He stealthily, therefore, walked\non, feeling very guilty every step he took, and dreading to meet\nanyone going to Chapel or Church. By Sunday evening he had reached\nthe hill overlooking Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, where he was known,\nso he determined not to enter the village until after the people had\ngone to their respective places of worship; he therefore sat down on\nthe hill side and contemplated the scene below.\n\n\"He saw the people leave their houses for the House of God, he heard\ntheir songs of praise, and now he thinks he could venture to descend\nand pass through the village unobserved. Luckily, no one saw him\ngoing through the village, and now he has entered a barley field,\nand although still uneasy in mind, he feels somewhat reassured, and\nsteps on quickly. He had not proceeded far in the barley field before\nhe found himself surrounded by a large number of small pigs. He was\nnot much struck by this, though he thought it strange that so many\npigs should be allowed to wander about on the Sabbath Day. The pigs,\nhowever, came up to him, grunted and scampered away. Before he had\ntraversed the barley field he saw approaching him an innumerable number\nof mice, and these, too, surrounded him, only, however, to stare at\nhim, and then disappear. By this Davies began to be frightened, and\nhe was almost sorry that he had broken the Sabbath Day by travelling\nwith his pack on his back instead of keeping the day holy. He was\nnot now very far from home, and this thought gave him courage and on\nhe went. He had not proceeded any great distance from the spot where\nthe mice had appeared when he saw a large grey-hound walking before\nhim on the pathway. He anxiously watched the dog, but suddenly it\nvanished out of sight.\n\n\"By this, the poor man was thoroughly frightened, and many and truly\nsincere were his regrets that he had broken the Sabbath; but on he\nwent. He passed through the village of Llanilar without any further\nfright. He had now gone about three miles from Llanfihangel along the\nroad that goes to Aberystwyth, and he had begun to dispel the fear\nthat had seized him, but to his horror he saw something approach him\nthat made his hair stand on end. He could not at first make it out,\nbut he soon clearly saw that it was a horse that was madly dashing\ntowards him. He had only just time to step on to the ditch, when,\nhorrible to relate, a headless white horse rushed passed him.\n\n\"His limbs shook and the perspiration stood out like beads on bis\nforehead. This terrible spectre he saw when close to Tan'rallt, but\nhe dared not turn into the house, as he was travelling on Sunday,\nso on he went again, and heartily did he wish himself at home. In\nfear and dread he proceeded on his journey towards Penrhiw. The most\ndirect way from Tan'rallt to Penrhiw was a pathway through the fields,\nand Davies took this pathway, and now he was in sight of his home,\nand he hastened towards the boundary fence between Tan'rallt and\nPenrhiw. He knew that there was a gap in the hedge that he could get\nthrough, and for this gap he aimed; he reached it, but further progress\nwas impossible, for in the gap was a lady lying at full length, and\nimmovable, and stopping up the gap entirely. Poor Davies was now more\nterrified than ever. He sprang aside, he screamed and then fainted\nright away. As soon as he recovered consciousness, he, on his knees,\nand in a loud supplicating voice, prayed for pardon. His mother and\nfather-in-law heard him, and the mother knew the voice and said, \"It\nis my Will! some mishap has overtaken him.\" They went to him and found\nhe was so weak that he could not move, and they were obliged to carry\nhim home, where he recounted to them his marvellous experience. The\nlate Rector of Llangynog, who was intimately acquainted with William\nDavies, had many conversations with him about his Sunday journey,\nand he argued the matter with him, and tried to persuade him that he\nhad seen nothing, but that it was his imagination working on a nervous\ntemperament that had created all his fantasies. He, however, failed\nto convince him, for Davies affirmed that it was no hallucination,\nbut that what he had seen that Sunday was a punishment for his having\nbroken the Fourth Commandment.\n\n\"Davies ever afterwards was a strict observer of the Sabbath.\"\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL AND LLANARTH CHURCH.\n\nA writer in the Arch. Cam., 1850, page 73, says:--\n\nIn the Churchyard of Llanarth, near Aberaeron, on the South side\nof the Church, there is an inscribed stone (not hitherto published)\nof the twelfth century. It bears a cross covering the stone with four\ncircular holes at the junction of the arms. The inscription is on the\nlower limb of the cross; but as it is made of a micaceous sandstone,\npart has been split off, and the inscription is much mutilated.... The\ncurrent tradition of the place concerning it is, that one stormy night,\nsome centuries ago, there was such a tremendous shindy going on up\nin the belfry that the whole village was put in commotion. It was\nconjectured that nobody but a certain ancient personage could be the\ncause of this, and, therefore, they fetched up his reverence from the\nvicarage to go and request the intruder to be off. Up went the vicar\nwith bell, book and candle, along the narrow winding staircase, and,\nsure enough, right up aloft among the bells there was his majesty\nin person! No sooner, however, had the worthy priest began the usual\n'conjurate in nomine, etc.' than away went the enemy up the remaining\npart of the staircase on to the leads of the tower. The Vicar, nothing\ndaunted, followed, and pressed the intruder so briskly that the latter\nhad nothing else to do than to leap over the battlements. He came down\nplump among the gravestones below; and, falling upon one, made with his\nhands and knees the four holes now visible on the stone in question.\n\nAnother writer in \"Y Brython\" for 1859, says, that the Devil's\npurpose in troubling Llanarth Church was to rob it of one of its\nbells and carry it to Llanbadarn Fawr Church, near Aberystwyth, twenty\nmiles distant, as the latter, though once a cathedral, had only two\nbells, whilst the former, only a parish church, had four. And an old\nstory still lingers in the neighbourhood of Llanarth that the Devil\nwhilst thus engaged in carrying the bell, put it down and rested and\nre-arranged his heavy load at the very commencement of his journey,\nand a particular spot between the church and the river on a road\nknown as \"Rhiw Cyrff,\" is pointed out as the place where the D----l\nput down the bell. Moreover, it is added that from that day forth,\nthe sound of Llanarth bells cannot be heard from that spot, though\nit is only a few yards from the church tower.\n\nThe Llanarth legend is the only story in Wales that I know of in which\nthe Spirit of darkness carries a church bell, as it was believed in\nold times that the Evil One was afraid of bells, and fled away at\nthe sound of them.\n\nThere are, however, traditions of churches troubled by the Devil in\nother parts of Wales besides Llanarth, and in the old superstitious\ntimes the north door of a church was called \"Devil's Door.\"\n\nIt was thought that as the priest entered the church through the\nsouth door, the Evil Spirit was obliged to make his exit through the\nnorth door.\n\nIt might also be added that in former times no one was buried on the\nnorth side of a churchyard, as it was known as the \"Domain of Demons.\"\n\n\n\nHOW TO GET RID OF GHOSTS, SPIRITS, GOBLINS, AND DEVILS, ETC.\n\nIn some parts, especially on the borders of Cardiganshire and\nCarmarthenshire, it is believed that any one carrying a knife in his\nhands, will never see or be troubled by a spirit, even when passing\na haunted spot in the depth of night.\n\nWhen staying for a short time in the parish of Llandyssul about five\nyears ago, I was told that there lived a few years ago a certain man\nin the village of Pontshan in that parish, who, when coming home late\none night, saw a ghost on the roadside whilst passing a well-known\nhaunted spot in the neighbourhood. The man took out his knife from\nhis pocket, and the ghost vanished. After this, whenever he passed\na haunted place the man held a knife in his hand, and never saw a\nghost again. In South Pembrokeshire, a V-shaped twig of the mountain\nash was considered a protective against spirits.\n\nIt was also believed once in all parts of Wales that to wear body-linen\ninside out, and to nail a horseshoe against the door kept away both\nevil spirits and witches. Even in the present day people all over the\nworld think that there is some \"good luck\" in finding a horseshoe,\nand to a young girl it means a new lover.\n\nWhen a spirit troubled a house in Wales, it was sometimes customary\nto call together the most godly persons in the parish to hold a\nprayer-meeting; at other times a conjurer, or a priest was sent for,\nfor it was formerly thought that a clergyman had the power to \"lay\"\nor exorcise spirits. There were particular forms of exorcising. When\nthe Devil was in the belfry of Llanarth Church, Cardiganshire, the\nVicar went to drive away the Evil One, with \"Bell, Book, and Candle.\"\n\nUntil the time of Henry VIII., it seems that it was customary to curse\nmortals, as well as to exorcise fiends \"with bell, book and candle\";\nfor in an old book called \"Dugdale's Baronage,\" published in 1675, it\nis said that in the 37th. year of Henry III., \"a Curse was denounced\nin Westminster Hall against the violation of Magna Charta, with bell,\nbook and candle.\"\n\nAnd in Fox's account of the ceremony of excommunication, we are told\nthat three candles were carried before the clergy, and that as each\ncandle was extinguished prayer was made that the souls of malefactors\nand schismatics might be \"given over utterly to the power of the\nfiend as this candle is now quenched and put out.\"\n\n\n\nYSPRYD PENPOMPREN PLAS OR A SPIRIT \"LAID\" IN A BOTTLE.\n\nPenpompren Plas is a small mansion near Talybont in North\nCardiganshire. The late Mr. John Jones, Bristol House, informed me\nthat there was a spirit there once troubling the family, and the\nservants, and especially the head servant who had no peace as the\nghost followed the poor man everywhere whenever he went out at night,\nand often threw water into his face. At last the servant went to a\nwise man or a conjurer. The Conjurer came with him to Penpompren Plas\nto \"lay\" the Spirit, and transformed it into an insect, in a bottle,\nwhich was securely corked. Then the bottle was thrown under the river\nbridge close by.\n\nThere are many such stories in different parts of the country; and\nit is said that under the Monument Arch of Old Haverfordwest Bridge\nin Pembrokeshire, a spirit has been laid for a thousand years, and\nthat at the expiration of that time it will again be free to roam\nthe earth to trouble people.\n\nAbout 60 years ago, a spirit which appeared in all forms, pig, mouse,\nhare, etc., at Alltisaf, Llanfynydd, in Carmarthenshire, was \"laid\"\nby the celebrated wizard, Harries, of Cwrtycadno. I was told of this\nby two old men in the village of Llanfynydd about five years ago.\n\n\n\nTHE \"LAYING\" OF THE HAVOD UCHTRYD GOBLIN.\n\nHavod Uchtryd is a large mansion a few miles from Devil's Bridge,\nin Cardiganshire, and there is a tradition in the neighbourhood\nthat in the time of the celebrated Colonel Johnes about the\nbeginning of the last century the place was haunted by a mischievous\ngoblin. Fortunately, however, there happened to be a wizard nor far\noff, and the squire, so it is said, sent for him to Havod to lay the\nghost. The conjurer came and when he arrived at the spot where the\nhaunting usually took place he surrounded himself with an enchanted\ncircle which the spirit could not break through. Then he opened a\nbook and went through various incantations to invoke the spirit,\nwhich presented himself in various forms; first it appeared as\na bull, secondly as a bulldog; and at last as a fly which rested\non the wizard's open book. In an instant the enchanter closed the\nbook, and thus caught the evil one in a trap, and was only allowed\nto go out under the conditions that he should betake himself to the\nDevil's Bridge, and there with an ounce hammer and tintack cut off a\nfathom of the rock. But notwithstanding this \"laying\" of the spirit\none hundred years ago, there is a rumour still throughout the whole\nNorth of Cardiganshire, that Hafod is still haunted.\n\n\n\nTHE MONACHDY GHOST DOOMED TO CUT THE ROCK NEAR LLANRHYSTYD.\n\nAbout 70 or 80 years ago, Monachty, a fine mansion in the neighbourhood\nof Aberaeron, was rumoured to be haunted. My informant is an old man\nnamed James Jones, Golden Lion, Llanarth. Jones said that when he was\na boy at Pantycefn, he often felt almost too terrified to go to bed,\nas it was reported that the Monachty ghost was so small that it could\ngo through even the eye of a needle; and his father's humble cottage\nwas not without holes especially the window of his bedroom.\n\nAt last, however, Students from Ystrad Meurig College were sent\nfor to Monachdy to lay the ghost, which they did, so Jones said,\nand they doomed the unearthly being to cut a rock near Llanrhystyd,\nwhich proves that students, as well as Clergymen and ministers,\nhad the reputation of being able to lay spirits.\n\n\n\nTHE \"LAYING\" OF THE STACKPOLE GHOST.\n\nStackpole Court, the beautiful residence of the distinguished Earl of\nCawdor, is famous for its legendary lore. \"Seven hundred years ago,\nGiraldus Cambrensis tells the story of Sir Elidur de Stackpole's\ndemon steward, whose name was Simon; and in the more modern times the\nneighbourhood was haunted by the spirit of an old lady. This ghost\nappeared in the form of a party consisting of two headless horses,\na headless coachman and a headless lady in her carriage.\n\nAt last the ghost was \"laid\" by the Parson of St. Patrox, who doomed it\nto empty a pond with a cockle shell for a ladle, so that the phantom\nis not seen now.\n\nThere are several versions of this ghost story, and Col. Lambton,\nof Brownslade, who is much interested in Folk-Lore and Antiquities,\ninformed me that the headless lady was known as \"Lady Mathias.\"\n\nThe idea of giving employment to a spirit is most ancient, and in\nGrecian and Roman Mythology we find that the Danaides, or the fifty\ndaughters of Danaus, who all, except one, slew their husbands on their\nwedding night, were doomed in Tartarus to draw water in sieves from\na well until they had filled a vessel full of holes.\n\nIt seems from the following story, which I obtained from the\nRev. J. Jones, Brynmeherin, near Ystrad Meurig, that a ghost will\nnot follow one through water:--\n\n\n\nSHAN AND THE GHOST.\n\nAbout 35 years ago, there lived at Ynysfach, near Ystrad Meurig,\nan old man and an old woman known as \"Shon and Shan.\"\n\nShon was working in North Wales, for he was a quarryman at the time,\nbut he came home occasionally to spend his holidays with his wife,\nespecially about Christmas time.\n\nOn one occasion, however, when Shan expected her husband home the\nday before Christmas as usual, Shon came not. Nine o'clock in the\nevening she went out to meet him or to search for him and to prevent\nhim spending his money on beer at a public house which his friend,\na saddler kept at Tyngraig. But her husband was not at the public\nhouse, nor was he seen anywhere, so the old woman had to return home\nin disappointment. It was a cloudless moonlight night, almost as light\nas day, but the road was lonely and the hour late, and when she had\nwalked some distance, to her great terror, she noticed a ghost in the\nfield making his way nearer and nearer to her till at last the strange\nobject came to the hedge on the roadside quite close to her. Frightened\nas she was, she struck the ghost with the strong walking-stick which\nshe held in her hand, saying \"D----l! thou shalt follow me no longer.\"\n\nWhen Shan struck the ghost her walking-stick went right through the\nhead of the strange object, but she did not \"feel\" that it touched\nanything--It was like striking a fog; but the spirit vanished into\nnothing, and Shan walked on. The ghost was now invisible, but the old\nwoman \"felt\" that it still followed her, though she could not see it;\nbut when she was crossing a brook she became aware that her pursuer\nleft her.\n\n\n\nTWO YOUNG WOMEN AND THE GOBLIN.\n\nTwo young women, daughters of a farmer in the parish of Llandyssul,\nwere walking home one night from Lampeter Fair. After reaching the\nvery field in one corner of which the house in which they lived stood,\nthey wandered about this field for hours before they could find the\nbuilding, though it was a fine moonlight night.\n\nIt seemed as if the farm house had vanished; and they informed me\nthat they were convinced that this was the doings of the Goblin,\nwho played them a trick.\n\nThe Welsh word for Goblin is Ellyll.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nDEATH PORTENTS.\n\n\nAmong the most important of the superstitions of Wales are the\ndeath portents and omens; and this is perhaps more or less true of\nevery country. About a generation or two ago, there were to be found\nalmost in every parish some old people who could tell before hand\nwhen a death was going to lake place; and even in the present day\nwe hear of an old man or an old woman, here and there, possessing,\nor supposed to possess, an insight of this kind into the future.\n\nMrs. Lloyd, Ffynnonddagrau, Llangynog, Carmarthenshire, told me five\nyears ago that there lived at Ffynnonddagrau, an old man named Thomas\nHarries, who always foretold every death in the parish as he possessed\nsecond sight. John Thomas, Pentre, who worked about the farms, called\nwith my informant one day on his way home; he was in good health then,\nbut on the very next day he was very ill and soon died. Harries had\nforetold the death of the poor man some days before he was taken\nill. He had also foretold the death of one Howells, who was buried at\nEbenezer Chapel, and of an old woman known as Rassie of Moelfre Fach,\nas well as the death of one Thomas Thomas about 35 years ago. People\nwere almost frightened to see Harries as he so often foretold the\ndeath of someone or other, and his predictions were always correct. My\ninformant also added that Harries only died about 20 years ago.\n\n\n\nTHE \"TOILI\" OR PHANTOM FUNERAL.\n\nWith the exception of Corpse Candle, the most prominent death\nportent in West and Mid-Wales is the \"Toili\" or spirit funeral;\na kind of shadowy funeral which foretold the real one. In the\nvery north of Cardiganshire, such apparition is known as \"teulu\"\n(family); but throughout all other parts of the county it is called\n\"toili.\" Toili, or Toeli is also rather general in Carmarthenshire;\nin North Pembrokeshire, however, it is called \"Crefishgyn.\"\n\nThere are tales of phantom funerals all over the Diocese of\nSt. David's, and the following account of a Twentieth Century Phantom\nFuneral in Pembrokeshire is interesting, as my informant himself was\nthe man who witnessed the strange apparition, or a foreshadowing of\na funeral which actually took place soon afterwards.\n\n\n\nA PRESENT DAY PHANTOM FUNERAL.\n\nA young man who lives in the Gwaun Valley, between Pontfaen and\nFishguard informed me in the beginning of November, 1905, that he had\njust seen a phantom or a spirit funeral only a few weeks previously.\n\nA friend of his, a young porter at a Railway Station in the\nneighbourhood of Cardiff, had come home ill to his native place in\nPembrokeshire, and his friend, my informant, one night sat up by his\nbedside all night. About three o'clock in the morning the patient\nwas so seriously ill that my informant in alarm hurried to call\nthe father of the poor sufferer to come to see him, as the old man\nlived in a small cottage close by. As soon as he went out through\nthe door into the open air, to his great astonishment he found\nhimself in a large crowd of people, and there was a coffin resting\non some chairs, ready to be placed on the bier; and the whole scene,\nas it were, presented a funeral procession, ready to convey the dead\nto the grave. When the young man attempted to proceed on his way,\nthe procession also proceeded, or moved on in the same direction,\nso that he found himself still in the crowd. After going on in this\nmanner for about a hundred yards, he managed to draw one side from\nthe crowd and soon reached the house of his sick friend's father,\nand nearly fainted. Three days after this vision the seer's friend\ndied; and on the day of the funeral the young man noticed that the\ncrowd stood in front of the house and the coffin resting on chairs\nexactly as he had seen in the apparition. I may add that my informant\nwho had seen the phantom funeral was so terrified even at the time\nwhen I saw him, that he was too much afraid to go out at night. It so\nhappened that I was staying in that part of Pembrokeshire at the time,\nso I went to see the man myself, and a clergyman accompanied me.\n\nI obtained the following account of a phantom funeral from the\nRev. John Phillips, Vicar of Llancynfelyn, North Cardiganshire. The\nscene of the story was Cilcwm, Carmarthenshire:--\n\n\n\nA PHANTOM FUNERAL.\n\nThough more than thirty years have run their course since the incident\nwhich is to be described here occurred, still the impression which\nit left on the writer's mind was so vivid and lasting that he finds\nnot the slightest difficulty in recalling its minutest details at\nthe present moment. Some experiences are so impressive that time\nitself seems powerless to efface them from the memory, and of such\nthe following appears to be an instance:--\n\nIt happened in the early Spring, just when the days were perceptibly\nlengthening, and a balmy feeling was creeping into the air, and a\nglad sense of hope was throbbing throughout the whole of nature. A\nboy of ten, or may be a couple of years younger, tired out after a\nhard day of play and pleasure, sat resting on a log near a lonely\nhouse, in a sparsely populated district. As he sat, he gazed down a\nlong stretch of white and dusty road leading away past the house. As\na rule, few and far between would be the travellers who used that\nunfrequented road. The sole exception would be on a Sunday, when\nperhaps a dozen or more of the neighbours might be seen wending their\nway, to or from the nearest place of worship. Intense, therefore,\nwas the boy's surprise, when on this week-day, his eyes discerned a\ngoodly company turning the corner in the distance, and proceeding\nin an orderly procession along the stretch of straight road which\nhis vantage ground commanded. He watched it keenly, and wondered\ngreatly. Never had he before seen such a crowd on that particular\nroad. As the people drew nearer and nearer, something of solemnity in\ntheir orderly and silent manner struck on the watcher's imagination,\nbut no sense of anything akin to the supernatural obsessed his mind\nfor a second, still he failed not to mark, that for so large an\nassemblage, it was remarkably noiseless. Twenty yards, more or less,\nfrom where the youthful watcher sat, a footpath leading over a piece\nof wet and barren land joined the road. This path, which could be\ntraversed only in dry weather, terminated half a mile away, at the\ndoor of a solitary cottage inhabited by a farm hand named Williams,\nwho dwelt there with his wife and several young children. When the\ncrowd arrived at the spot where the path ran on to the road, there\nseemed to be a momentary hesitation, and then the procession left the\nroad and took to the footpath. The watcher strained every nerve, in an\neffort to recognise some one or other in the crowd, but though there\nwas something strangely familiar about it all, there was also something\nso dim and shadowy, as to preclude the possibility of knowing anyone\nwith certainty; but as the tail end of the procession curved round\nto gain the path, something he did observe, which caused a thrill,\nfor the last four men carried high on their shoulders a bier,--but it\nwas an empty bier. Soon as the multitude was out of sight, the boy\nrushed to the house, and related his curious experience. No thought\nof anything weird and uncanny had so far crossed his mind, and his one\ndesire at the time was to gain some information as to where the people\nwere bound for. Neither could he just then understand the manifest\nconsternation, and the hushed awe, which fell upon his hearers as he\nunfolded his tale. Amongst these there happened to be a visitor, an\nold dame of a class well known in many parts of rural Wales in those\ndays. It was her habit to stroll from farm to farm along the country\nside, regaling the housewives with the latest gossip. In return she\nwould be sure of a meal, and also something to carry home in her\nwallet. Naturally, such a character would be shrewd and keen, knowing\nwell not only what tales would suit her company, but also the truth,\nor otherwise, of any tales which she herself might be a listener\nto. In addition, the old dame in question was generally supposed to\nbe immune from all fear, and cared not how far from home she might\nbe when the shades of night overtook her. On the present occasion,\nalthough a few minutes before, she had been on the point of starting,\nand was indeed only waiting to be handed her usual dole of charity, no\nsooner had she heard the lad's strange tale, than she flatly declared\nthat no power on earth could move her to travel an inch further that\nevening, and so at the expense of much inconvenience to the household\na bed had to be prepared for her. However, she started early on the\nfollowing morning, and long before noon, owing mainly to her assiduous\ndiligence, the news had travelled far and near, that a phantom funeral\nhad been seen on the previous evening. Her tale made a deep impression\nthroughout the country-side. Those prone to superstition,--and it\nmust be confessed, they were many,--lent a ready ear. A few,--and\nthese prided themselves on their commonsense,--doubted. The latter\nclass were not slow to point out, what they considered to be, a\nfatal flaw in the evidence. The supposed funeral was travelling\nin a direction, which led away from the churchyard. Had it been\ngoing down the road instead of up, they argued, that there might\nbe something in it. Then again, it took the footpath, and it was\npointed out, not only that funerals kept to the high roads, but that\nthis particular path, could not by any stretch of imagination be said\nto lead to any burial ground. This seemed a reasonable view to take,\nand as one day succeeded another, without anything unusual happening,\nthe excitement cooled down. However, within a few weeks Williams,\nwho lived in the cottage across the marsh was taken ill. At first,\nit was thought that he had contracted a chill, and it was hoped that\nhe would soon be well again. The nearest medical man lived six miles\naway, and that caused further delay. On the fifth day the doctor came,\nbut he came to find that it was too late for his skill to be of any\navail. A glance at the patient had satisfied him that it was a case\nof double pneumonia, and that the end was rapidly approaching. A few\nhours later and Williams had drawn his last breath. Three days more\nand the funeral took place. As is the custom in country places, the\nneighbours from far and near attended, and on their way a group of\nmen called at the burial place for the bier. This group was joined\nby others so that long before the house of mourning was reached\nthe procession was a large one. It travelled up the long stretch\nof road where the lad had watched that mysterious crowd, in the\ntwilight six weeks before. The same lad watched again, and when\nthe procession reached the point, where the footpath branched away\nacross the fields, the man who acted as leader stopped, and raised\nhis hand, while the procession hesitated for a moment, then looking\nat his watch, the leader spoke in low clear tones, \"men,\" said he,\n\"it is already getting late if we go round by the road, it will get\nvery late; we will take the path.\" He led the way and as his followers\nswept round the curve, the lad saw that the last four men carried on\ntheir shoulders an empty bier. It was being taken to fetch the body.\n\n\n\nTHE NEUADDLWYD \"TOILI.\"\n\nJohn Jones, Coed-y-Brenin, near Neuaddlwyd, was going home one evening\nfrom Derwen-gam; and as he walked along he found himself suddenly\nin a phantom funeral, and was so pressed by the crowd of spirits\nthat he nearly fainted. At last he managed to escape by turning\ninto a field. He then noticed that the phantom funeral proceeded\ntowards Neuaddlwyd, and soon there was a light to be seen in that\nchapel through the windows. A few weeks after this a real funeral\ntook place. The above J. Jones, who had seen the apparition only\ndied about twelve years ago. My informant was Mr. Thomas Stephen,\nnear Mydroilyn, in the parish of Llanarth.\n\n\n\nA HORSE SEEING A \"TOILI\" OR PHANTOM FUNERAL.\n\nThe following tale was related to me by Mr. Jones, Bristol House,\nTalybont:--\n\nA farmer's wife, who lived in the northern part of Cardiganshire,\nhad gone to Machynlleth Market one day riding a pony. On her journey\nhome that evening she met a \"toili\" on the road. The pony was the\nfirst to notice the spirit-funeral, and the animal refused to go\nforward, but turned back and stood trembling under the shelter of a\nbig tree till the \"toili\" had passed. The woman was quite terrified,\nand as soon as she reached home she rushed into the house and asked\nher husband to go out and put the pony in the stable, and stated that\nshe felt unwell that night. Soon after this, one of the family died.\n\nSome persons have such clear vision of a phantom funeral, that they\nare able even to recognise and give the names of the persons that\nappear in the spectral procession.\n\nOwen Shon Morris, of Pant'stoifan, Llanarth, who died 85 years ago,\nsaw a \"toili\" passing his own house in the direction of Llanarth,\nat 1 o'clock in the morning. He even discovered that among the crowd\nwas his own friend, Evan Pugh, the tailor, and a woman wearing a red\npetticoat. When the \"toili\" had gone as far as a certain green spot on\nthe road, after passing the house, the tailor and the woman with the\nred petticoat left the procession, and returned to their homes. Twelve\nmonths after this a funeral took place, and in the procession were\nthe tailor and the woman with a red petticoat, both of whom returned\nhome after accompanying the crowd as far as the green spot.\n\nMy informant was an old farmer, named Thomas Stephens, near Mydroilyn.\n\n\n\nSPIRIT FUNERALS CARRYING PEOPLE TO CHURCHYARDS.\n\nI obtained the following account from an old man in North\nPembrokeshire:--\n\nAbout seven o'clock one winter evening, David Thomas, Henllan,\nEglwyswrw, went to the village shop to get some medicine for a sick\nanimal. When he was returning home, it was a fine moonlight night. All\nof a sudden, however, he found himself in utter darkness, being\ncarried back to Eglwyswrw almost unknown to himself by a \"Crefishgyn\"\nas such an apparition is called in North Pembrokeshire; and when he\ngot his feet on the ground once more, he discovered himself taking\nhold of the iron bars of the Churchyard Gate. In his adventure with\nthe apparition he had passed a blacksmith's shop, where several men\nwere working, without seeing or noticing anything.\n\nA farm servant, named David Evans in the parish of Llandyssul,\nCardiganshire, had visited his brother who was ill one night, but\nwhilst going home at two o'clock in the morning, a \"toili\" carried\nhim all the way to Llandyssul Churchyard. My informant was Rees,\nMaesymeillion.\n\nI have also heard of an old woman at Cilcennin, near Aberaeron, who\nwas also carried by force to the churchyard by a \"toili,\" and there\nare such tales all over the country.\n\n\n\nAN OLD WOMAN WHO SAW THE APPARITION OF HER OWN FUNERAL.\n\nMiss Martha Davies, a housemaid, at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire,\ninformed me that her family possessed the peculiar gift of second\nsight, and that her mother had seen the phantom of her own funeral\nbefore she died.\n\nWhen she was out walking one night, the old woman was terrified by\nseeing a funeral procession meeting her on the road and which passed on\ntowards Caersalem, a Nonconformist Chapel close by. The Rev. Jenkin\nEvans, Vicar of Pontfaen, was walking behind the procession, and\nshe even took notice of his dress and what kind of hat he had on his\nhead. She was taken ill the very next day, and in a very short time\ndied, and every one in the neighbourhood believed that she had seen an\napparition of her own funeral. The deceased was buried at Caersalem;\nand as her daughter, Martha, was at the time a maid-servant at Pontfaen\nVicarage, the Vicar accompanied the girl to her mother's funeral in\nhis carriage. When he arrived in the neighbourhood where the funeral\nwas to take place, he left his horse and trap at a public house,\nand proceeded to the house of mourning on foot, as the distance the\nfuneral procession had to go from Melin Cilgwm to Caersalem burial\nplace was very short. Strange to say, when the funeral did proceed, it\nso happened that the Vicar of Pontfaen walked behind the procession,\nand his clothes, and even his very hat were in exact accordance with\nthe description which had been given by the dead woman of the vision.\n\n\n\nA PHANTOM TRAIN.\n\nA few years ago an old man named James, 75 years of age, living at\nNantgaredig, in Carmarthenshire, told me that he had seen a phantom\ntrain on one occasion.\n\nSome years ago when he happened to be out about midnight once, he\nsaw a train passing, which came from the direction of Carmarthen,\nand went towards Llandilo, and as no train was to pass through the\nstation of Nantgaredig at that hour he enquired of the Stationmaster\nnext morning what was the special train that passed at mid-night. In\nreply, he was told he had been either dreaming or had seen the spirit\nof a train, as no train had passed at that time of the night.\n\nA few days after this a special train passed through the station\nconveying a large funeral from Carmarthen to Llandilo; and James and\nhis friend were convinced that the train he had seen in the night\nwas nothing but an apparition of the real train with the funeral!\n\n\n\nA \"TOILI\" SEEN IN THE DAY-TIME.\n\nLike every other apparition a \"toili\" is supposed to be seen in the\nnight time only; but according to the late Mr. Lledrod Davies, people\nworking at the harvest near Llangeitho many years ago, saw a \"toili\"\nat mid-day in the churchyard of Llanbadarn Odwyn; and a funeral took\nplace soon afterwards.\n\nThe following story of a phantom funeral in the day-time was related\nto me by an old woman in Pembrokeshire, a farmer's wife in the Parish\nof Llanycefn:--\n\nAn old man named John Salmon saw an apparition of a funeral in the\nday-time, and he even recognised most of those who were in the\nprocession, but was surprised to find that the minister was not\namongst them.\n\nA few days after this the funeral took place, and the minister was\nprevented from being present as he had been called away from home at\nthe time.\n\nSometimes a \"Toili\" is heard without being seen.\n\nAn old woman who lived in a little cottage at Dihewid, in\nCardiganshire, forty-five years ago, heard every phantom funeral\nthat passed her house; she could tell even the number of horses in\nthe apparition.\n\nAn old woman who only a few years ago lived close to Llanafan\nChurchyard, in the same County, heard from her bed one night the\nVicar's voice, the Rev. W. J. Williams, reading the burial service\nquite distinctly, and soon after a funeral took place.\n\nThe Vicar was informed of this by the old woman herself.\n\n\n\nSINGING HEARD TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE DEATH.\n\nAbout sixty years ago, the mother of one David Hughes, Cwmllechwedd,\nwas one day standing outside the house, when all of a sudden, she\nheard the sound of singing. She recognised the voice of the singer\nas the voice of the Curate of Lledrod, but when she looked round\nshe could see no one anywhere. The maid servants also heard the same\nsound of singing.\n\nTwelve months after this her son, David Hughes, a young man of 22 years\nof age died, and on the day of the funeral, the Curate of Lledrod,\nstanding near the door, gave out a hymn, and conducted the singing\nhimself, just as the funeral was leaving the house.\n\nMy informant was Thomas Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid.\n\nA woman at Aberporth, informed me that she had heard a \"Toili\" singing:\n\n\n   \"Gwyn fyd v rhai trwy ffydd,\n    Sy'n myn'd o blith y byw.\"\n\n\nThree weeks before the death of her aunt.\n\nMr. John Llewelyn, Rhos-y-Gwydr, somewhere on the borders of\nCarmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, when he went to the door of\nRhydwilym Chapel one evening, he was surprised when he listened,\nto hear his own voice preaching a funeral sermon.\n\n\n\nA DAY-DREAM.\n\nAnother remarkable instance of second-sight seeing appeared in \"Notes\nand Queries\" for July, 1858. The contributor, Mr. John Pavin Phillips,\ngives the following account of what occurred to him himself in the\nyear 1818, upon his return home to Pembrokeshire, after many years'\nabsence:--\n\n\"A few days after my arrival, I took a walk one morning in the yard\nof one of our parish churches, through which there is a right of\nway for pedestrians. My object was a twofold one: Firstly, to enjoy\nthe magnificent prospect visible from that portion; and secondly, to\nsee whether any of my friends or acquaintances who had died during my\nabsence were buried in the locality. After gazing around me for a short\ntime, I sauntered on, looking at one tombstone and then at another,\nwhen my attention was arrested by an altar-tomb enclosed within an iron\nrailing. I walked up to it and read an inscription which informed me\nthat it was in memory of Colonel ----. This gentleman had been the\nassistant Poor Law Commissioner for South Wales, and while on one\nof his periodical tours of inspection, he was seized with apoplexy\nin the Workhouse of my native town, and died in a few hours. This\nwas suggested to my mind as I read the inscription on the tomb,\nas the melancholy event occurred during the period of my absence,\nand I was only made cognisant of the fact through the medium of the\nlocal press. Not being acquainted with the late Colonel ----, and\nnever having seen him, the circumstances of his sudden demise had long\npassed from my memory, and were only revived by my thus viewing his\ntomb. I then passed on, and shortly afterwards returned home. On my\narrival my father asked me in what direction I had been walking, and\nI replied, in ---- Churchyard, looking at the tombs, and among others\nI have seen the tomb of Col. ----, who died in the Workhouse. 'That'\nreplied my father 'is impossible, as there is no tomb erected over\nColonel ----'s grave.' At this remark I laughed. 'My dear father,'\nsaid I, 'You want to persuade me that I cannot read. I was not aware\nthat Colonel ---- was buried in the Churchyard, and was only informed\nof the fact by reading the inscription on the tomb.' 'Whatever you may\nsay to the contrary' said my father, 'What I tell you is true; there\nis no tomb over Colonel ----'s grave.' Astounded by the reiteration of\nthis statement, as soon as I had dined I returned to the Churchyard\nand again inspected all the tombs having railings around them, and\nfound that my father was right.\n\nThere was not only no tomb bearing the name of Colonel ----, but\nthere was no tomb at all corresponding in appearance with the one I\nhad seen. Unwilling to credit the evidence of my own senses, I went\nto the cottage of an old acquaintance of my boyhood, who lived outside\nof the Churchyard gate, and asked her to show the place where Colonel\n---- lay buried. She took me to the spot, which was a green mound,\nundistinguished in appearance from the surrounding graves.\n\nNearly two years subsequent to this occurrence, surviving relatives\nerected an Altar-tomb, with a railing round it, over the last resting\nplace of Colonel ----, and it was, as nearly as I could remember, an\nexact reproducing of the memorial of my day-dream. Verily, 'there are\nmore things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'\n\n\n\nTHE CORPSE CANDLE.\n\nThe \"Canwyll Corph\" or Corpse Candle, was another death portent often\nseen in West and Mid-Wales, about a generation or two ago. Indeed there\nare several persons still alive who have told me that they had seen\nthis mysterious light themselves. It was a pale light moving slowly\nand hovering a short distance from the ground. Some could tell whether\na man, woman, or child was to die. The death of a man was indicated\nby a red light, that of a woman by a white light, and a faint light\nbefore the death of a child. If two lights were seen together, two\ndeaths were to take place in the same house at the same time. If the\nlight was seen early in the evening a death was to take place soon,\nbut if late it was not to take place for some time.\n\nLike the \"toili\" or phantom funeral, the Corpse Candle also was seen\ngoing along from the house--where death was to take place--to the\nchurchyard along the same route which a funeral was to take, whether\nroad or path.\n\nSometimes the light was seen carried by a spectral representation of\nthe dying person, and it was even thought possible to recognise that\nperson by standing near the water watching the apparition crossing\nover it. Another way of recognising the dying person was to stand\nat the church porch watching the candle entering the building. There\nare some instances of people seeing their own corpse candle.\n\nThere was an old woman living at Llanddarog, in Carmarthenshire, named\nMargaret Thomas, who always saw every light or Corpse Candle going to\nthe churchyard before every funeral. She only died about 27 years ago.\n\nAnother old woman who also saw the same death portents was Mary Thomas,\nDafy, who lived close to Llandyssul churchyard in Cardiganshire. She\nwas buried sixty years ago.\n\nThere is a tradition that St. David, by prayer, obtained the Corpse\nCandle as a sign to the living of the reality of another world, and\naccording to some people it was confined to the Diocese of St. David's,\nbut the fact of it is there are tales of corpse candles all over Wales.\n\n\n\nA CORPSE CANDLE SEEN AT SILIAN.\n\nOwen Evans, Maesydderwen, near Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, who is\nover 90 years of age, gave me the following account of a Corpse Candle\nwhich had been seen at Silian, near Lampeter.\n\nWhen Evans was a boy, his father lived in an old house close to the\nchurchyard walls, and kept the key of the church door. At that time\nsinging practice was often conducted in the church, especially during\nthe long winter evenings. One evening a certain young man entered\nthe churchyard with the intention of going to the church to attend\nthis singing-class, though it was a little too early; but he could\nsee light in the church through one of the windows. So on he went\nto the church door thinking that the singing had commenced, or at\nleast that some one was in the church. But to his great surprise he\nfound the door closed and locked, and when he looked in through the\nkey-hole there was not a soul to be seen inside the church. The young\nman then went to the house of Owen Evans's father and informed the\nold man that there was light in the church, but that he did not see\nanyone inside. \"You must be making a mistake,\" said my informant's\nfather to the young man, \"there cannot possibly be any light in the\nchurch; no one could have entered the building to light it, for the\ndoor is locked, and I have the key here in the house.\" \"But I am\npositively certain,\" said the young man again, \"that there is light\nin the church, for I took particular notice of it.\" Both of the two\nmen now went to the church together, and as they approached, they\nnoticed a light coming out from the church. This light moved slowly\ntowards a certain part of the churchyard, and the two men followed it\nand watched it until it suddenly disappeared into the ground. That it\nwas a corpse candle they had no doubt in their minds. The young man\nhad a walking stick in his hand with which he made a mark or a hole\nin the ground on the spot where the light had sunk. Soon after this\na death took place in the neighbourhood, and the dead was buried in\nthe very spot where the corpse candle had sunk into the ground.\n\nMy informant told me also that he had seen a corpse candle himself\nbefore the death of an adopted son of one Mr. John Evans, who lived\nat Glandenis, in the same neighbourhood.\n\n\n\nA CORPSE CANDLE SEEN TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO.\n\nThere is a tradition at Llanilar that a young woman got drowned\nlong ago in attempting to cross the river Ystwyth during a flood;\nand that a short time before the melancholy event took place, people\nin the neighbourhood had seen a corpse candle hovering up and down\nthe river. According to the Rev. Edmund Jones, the young woman had\ncome from Montgomeryshire to see her friends at Llanilar.\n\nThere is also a tradition in Carmarthenshire of a three-flamed corpse\ncandle which had been seen on the surface of the water near Golden\nGrove a short time before three persons were drowned near the spot.\n\n\n\nA CORPSE CANDLE SEEN NEAR CONWIL.\n\nAn old man named James, living at Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire,\ngave me an account of how he himself and his father and others had\nseen a Corpse Candle in the parish of Conwil Elvet.\n\nWhen James was a boy, he was sent one day by a farmer's wife on a\nmessage to Llanpumpsaint, about three miles off, to fetch a pair of\nclogs from the blacksmith, and a few small things from a shop in the\nvillage. When he arrived there he went first to the blacksmith, but\nhe had to wait there as the clogs were not ready. Then he went to the\nvillage shop, but, unfortunately, the woman who kept the shop was not\nat home, and he had to wait several hours; so that when he returned\nto the farm with his message it was quite dark. But the farmer's\nwife gave him plenty to eat and a present of a waistcoat. Then he\nwent home to Nantglas, where his father and mother lived. It was\nnow getting late in the evening, and he was only a boy going along a\nlonely road. When he was between Yetyffin, and Cwmgweren, he noticed\nsome light coming after him nearer and nearer, and it even passed him\nat last. It hovered within about two feet from the ground as it went\nslowly along. The boy, who was a little bit frightened, now knocked\nat the door of a house he was passing and called the attention of\nthe inmates to the strange light on the road.\n\nOn he went again, and he even passed the light on the road; but when\nhe reached home and told his parents about it, his father would not\nbelieve that he had seen a light. But the boy opened the door just\nas the light was passing and he called his father to come out and\nsee it. The whole family now came out, and both his father and the\nother children saw the light, but his mother and one of the children\ndid not see it--not possessing second sight.\n\nSoon after this, a child died at a house called Yet-y-ffin; and my\ninformant's father and his neighbours were convinced that the light\nwhich they had seen was his corpse candle.\n\nSometimes a corpse candle was seen coming into the chamber of the\nperson about to die.\n\nA woman, who was a native of Gwynfi in Carmarthenshire, told me about\nfive years ago that when her child was dying, she took particular\nnotice of a pale bluish light coming in through the window and standing\nright over the bed. I have also heard several other persons saying\nthings of this kind.\n\n\n\nA PEMBROKESHIRE TALE OF A CORPSE CANDLE.\n\nThe following story was contributed to the \"Pembrokeshire County\nGuardian,\" May 11th., 1901, by Mr. Joseph Davies, Glynderwen:\n\n\"It happened not many miles from Tenby where a certain young school\nmistress lodged at a farm house where she was very happy in every\nrespect. One night after retiring to rest, the light having been put\nout, and she was lying awake, she suddenly noticed a peculiar greyish\nlight like a little star moving towards the foot of her bed from\nthe doorway. The light came to a stand-still by her bed and gently\nlowered to her feet. Almost paralysed with fear, she called with all\nher strength for help, and in a few minutes the whole of the household\nwere together in the room listening in amazement to the frightened\ngirl's story, and all sorts of means were used to pacify her and\nto induce her to go to sleep, but without avail. She would not stay\nin that room for the world, and her bed had to be removed and fixed\non a temporary bedstead in the room where the mistress slept. Time\npassed, and the story spread abroad; some made light of it, and some\nlooked serious, and all tried to get the young lady to shake off all\nthoughts of it. But to no purpose--let them laugh or chaff, she bore\nthe same sad expression, and said something would certainly follow\nto clear up the mystery. About six weeks or so had passed, and one\nnight the mistress, who was a strong healthy woman, suddenly took\nill, and quite unexpectedly died. The young schoolmistress happened\nat the time to be away on her holidays, and on hearing of the sad\nnews she hurried back to attend the funeral. When she arrived at the\nhouse she was taken upstairs to see the body, she again became almost\nparalysed on finding that the corpse had been laid out on the spare\nbedstead on the very spot where she had six weeks previously pointed\nout where the light had lowered and disappeared. No one had thought of\nthe incident until reminded of it. The body had been laid out there\nfor convenience at the time; no one ever thought of the young lady's\nfright until she now pointed it out herself.\n\n\"So after that it can be easily imagined the whole neighbourhood\nbecame convinced that there was something in it after all, and the\nold superstition got strengthened in the minds of the young people\nthat it remains to a great extent to the present time.\"\n\n\n\nA LLANGATHEN TALE.\n\nThe following appeared in \"Apparitions in Wales\" by Rev. Edmund Jones,\nand it is a story of long ago:\n\n\"Some years ago one Jane Wyat, my wife's sister, being nurse to Baronet\nRudd's three children, and his Lady being dead, his house-keeper\ngoing late into a chamber where the maid servants lay, saw five of\nthese lights together: while after that chamber being newly plastered,\na great grate of coal fire was kindled therein to hasten the drying\nof it. At night five of the maid servants went there to bed as these\nwere wont, and in the morning were all found dead, and suffocated\nwith the steam of the new tempered lime and coal.\"\n\nThis was at Llangathen, in Carmarthenshire.\n\n\n\nTHE CORPSE BIRD.\n\nThe most common death prognosticator throughout Wales in the present\nday is a peculiar bird known as \"Deryn Corph\" (Corpse Bird)--a bird\nflapping its wings against the window of the room in which there is\na sick person. This was considered an omen of death. Even in the\npresent day most people dread to see or hear a bird flapping its\nwings against the window when there is a sick person in the house;\nbut every bird is not a corpse bird.\n\nAn old woman in Pembrokeshire, Miss Griffiths, Henllan, near Eglwyswrw,\ntold me this bird is a little grey one and that it came flapping\nagainst her own window before the death of her father, and also before\nthe death of each of her three uncles.\n\nI have met with people in almost every district throughout the country\nwho have heard the flappings of this mysterious bird before a death.\n\n\n\nA BIRD COMING INTO A HOUSE BEFORE A DEATH.\n\nMr. Rees, Maesymeillion, Llandyssul, informed me that many years ago\nthere lived in that part of the country an old woman known as Nell\nGwarnant. The old woman at one time had an only son, a young lad who\nwas very dear to her. One day a certain bird came into the house quite\nsuddenly, and descended on the rim of the Spinning Wheel, flapping its\nwings. The old woman feared that the bird was a precursor of death,\nand to her great sorrow her only son soon died. A bird coming into\nthe house is also a sign of a storm.\n\nBirds as precursors of death seem to follow Welsh people to all\nparts of the world. A few years ago a Corpse Bird appeared in Perth,\nWestern Australia, before the death of a Welsh lady in that city; and\nthis reminds me of a strange incident which happened in Patagonia,\n30 years ago, when I was there. Two Welsh gentlemen, Mr. Powell,\nwho was known as \"Helaeg,\" and Mr. Lewis Jones, a friend of the late\nSir Love Jones Parry, M.P., were returning to the Welsh Colony, from\nBuenos Ayres, in a sailing vessel. When the ship came within a few\nmiles of the mouth of the river Chubut, the captain found it necessary\nto remain in the open sea that day, as the tide was too low to enter\nthe river over the bar just then. Mr. Jones and Mr. Powell, however,\nleft in a small boat manned by Italian sailors; but when they were\nwithin a certain distance of the land the sea was very rough, and a\ncertain bird appeared suddenly on the scene. Mr. Powell pointed out\nthe bird to his friend and said, \"Do you see that bird, that's the\nBird of Biam! We shall be drowned this very moment.\" Just as he spoke,\nthe boat suddenly turned over, and the unfortunate speaker got drowned\non the spot. The other men were saved. Mr. Powell, who, unfortunately,\ngot drowned, was a gifted Welsh Roman Catholic gentleman, who knew\nabout twelve languages, and was a friend of the President of the\nArgentine Republic.\n\nIt was reported in the \"Aberystwyth Observer\" twenty-two years ago,\nthat before the death of Mrs. Fryer, Lady Pryse (now Dowager), noticed\na bird hovering around Gogerddan, and at times flapping his wings at\nthe windows.\n\n\n\nBIRD SINGING HEARD BEFORE DEATH.\n\nIn the excellent Welsh Magazine \"Y Brython\" for January, 1860, page\n40, the following remarkable incident is given in connection with the\ndeath of the famous poet and clergyman, Tegid, which, being translated\nis as follows:--\n\n\"In his absence from Church, when lying on his death-bed, in the\nmorning of the Lord's Day, whilst a neighbouring clergyman was taking\nthe service for him in Llanhyfer Church, the voice of the reader was\nsuddenly drowned by the beautiful song of a thrust, that filled the\nwhole church.... It was ascertained on leaving the church that at that\nvery moment the soul of Tegid left his body for the world of spirits.\"\n\n\n\nMUSIC OF ANGELS HEARD BEFORE DEATH.\n\nIt is stated in the \"Cambro-British Saints,\" page 444, that previous\nto the death of St. David \"the whole city was filled with the music\nof angels.\"\n\nThe Rev. Edmund Jones in his \"Apparitions in Wales,\" says that at\nthe death of one Rees David in Carmarthenshire, \"a man of more than\ncommon piety,\" several persons who were in the room heard \"the singing\nof angels drawing nearer and nearer; and after his death they heard\nthe pleasant incomparable singing gradually depart until it was out\nof hearing.\"\n\n\n\nCYHYRAETH: OR DEATH SOUND.\n\nThe Cyhyraeth was another death portent. It has been described as\na wailing or moaning sound heard before a death, and it was thought\nto be a sound made by a groaning spirit. This spirit was never seen,\nonly its sound was heard.\n\nAccording to \"British Goblins\" by Sikes, one David Prosser,\nof Llanybyther, heard the Cyhyraeth pronouncing the words\n\"Woolach! Woolach!\" before a funeral.\n\nAccording to the same book \"this crying spirit, especially affected\nthe twelve parishes in the hundred of Inis Cenin, which lie on\nthe south-east side of the river Towy, 'where some time past it\ngroaned before the death of every person who lived that side of the\ncountry! It also sounded before the death of persons 'who were born\nin these parishes, but died elsewhere.'\n\n\"Sometimes, the voice was heard long before death, but not longer than\na quarter of a year. So common was it in the district named, that among\nthe people there is a familiar form of reproach to any one making a\ndisagreeable noise, or children crying or groaning unreasonably was\nto ejaculate 'Oh'r Cyhyraeth!' A reason why Cyhyraeth was more often\nheard in the hundred of Inis Cenin, was thought to be that Non, the\nmother of St. David lived in those parts where a village is called\nafter her name Llanon.\"\n\n\n\nTHE TOLAETH.\n\nThe Tolaeth is also a sound heard before death or a funeral.\n\nIt is represented as superstitious rappings, or knockings, strange\nnoises, or sounds of footsteps or of carriages, etc.\n\nThis superstition is common in all parts of the country at the present\nday; and I have met and heard of many carpenters who always know\nwhen they are to have an order for a coffin, as they hear strange\nknockings in their workshops resembling the noise or knockings made\nby a carpenter when engaged in coffin-making. An old lady who lives\nat Pontshan, Llandyssul, told me three years ago, that when she was\na young woman, she and two other young women were on one occasion\nsitting near the fire all night watching and nursing a sick old\nwoman of 80 years of age. About four o'clock in the morning, to their\ngreat surprise, they heard the door open, and the sound of someone or\nsomething entering the house and going about the room, but nothing\nwas visible, nor did the door open as a matter of fact. The aged\npatient also heard the sound and enquired who had come in. At four\no'clock next morning the old woman died. The same woman also told me\nthat before the death of a prominent Esquire in Carmarthenshire, she\nremembered hearing the sound of a carriage before the front entrance\nof the mansion, when no carriage was near.\n\nSound of carriages before the death of one of the gentry is a thing\nthat we often hear of even at the present day everywhere in West\nand Mid-Wales.\n\nSir Edward W. P. Pryse, Gogerddan, informed me that he was told\nthat people had heard the sound of carriages before the death of\nhis grandfather, who died in 1855, and was a member of Parliament\nfor Cardigan. Nanteos, another ancient family in the same county,\nhas, or had, not only a phantom coach, but even a tutelary guardian;\nbut whether this Welsh \"Banshi\" was a woman under enchantment, or a\nfairy, is not known.\n\nIt was formerly believed that the church bell was tolled by a spirit or\nsome other supernatural agency, before a death in certain families. I\nwonder if the word \"Tolaeth\" is derived from toll?\n\n\n\nTHE TOLLING OF BLAENPORTH CHURCH BELL BEFORE A DEATH.\n\nSeveral old persons living in the parish of Blaenporth, South\nCardiganshire, informed me that it is a fact that in former times\na death in certain families in that parish was always foretold by\nthe church-bell in the steeple tolling three times at the hour of\nmidnight unrung by human hands. One old woman gave me the following\ntradition concerning the origin of this tolling:--\n\nOnce upon a time a spirit came at midnight and knocked at the door\nof a farmhouse known as Tan-yr-Eglwys, which is close to Blaenporth\nChurch. \"Who is there?\" enquired the farmer from his bed. \"Mair Wen\n(white Mary) of Blaenporth,\" was the reply; \"the silver communion\ncup has been stolen from the church.\" Then the spirit begged the\nfarmer to get up from bed and proceed at once on a journey to the\ntown of Cardigan, as the man who had committed such sacrilegious\nact was resting that night on a sofa in a certain public house in\nthat town with the silver cup under his waistcoat. The farmer went\nto Cardigan, and when he arrived at the public house named by the\nspirit, and entered a certain room, a strange man who was lying on\nthe sofa got up, and the stolen cup from under his waistcoat fell\nto the floor. The farmer took it up in an instant, and returned with\nall speed to Blaenporth, and placed the sacred vessel in the church\nonce more. For his kindness and trouble in thus restoring the sacred\ncup, the good spirit or guardian angel of Blaenporth Church told\nthe farmer that the bell would toll three times before his death,\nand before the death of his descendants till the ninth generation.\n\n\n\nA REMARKABLE ACCOUNT OF KNOCKING AND WAILING BEFORE DEATH.\n\nA few miles from Newcastle Emlyn there is a farmhouse called\nPen'rallt-hebog, which is situated in the parish of Bettws-Evan,\nin Cardiganshire.\n\nBesides Pen'rallt-hebog there is also--or there was--another house\non the same farm known as Pen'rallt-Fach. And there lived at this\nPenrallt-fach about 25 years ago a tailor named Samuel Thomas, and\nhis wife.\n\nAbout that time a very strange incident occurred, and the following\naccount of it was given me by Mr. S. Thomas himself an intelligent\nmiddle-aged man who is still alive I believe.\n\nOne morning, very early, Thomas beard a knocking at the door of his\nbedroom, and he enquired from his bed \"who is there?\" but there was\nno reply, and everything was quiet again.\n\nThe next morning again he heard knocking at the door, though not the\nbedroom door this time, but the front door of the house. My informant\nexclaimed from his bed, \"Alright, I am getting up now.\" But when\nhe did get up, and opened the door, not a single soul could be seen\nanywhere. Thomas was quite surprised, and perplexed as to who could\nhave come to disturb him at five o'clock in the morning, two mornings\none after the other, and disappear so mysteriously. No voice had been\nheard, nor the sound of footsteps, only a knocking at the door. After\nthis there was no further knocking for some time.\n\nTwelve months to the very day after this a brother of Thomas who lived\nin some other part of the country came on a visit, and to spend a day\nwith him, and this was in the first week of January, 1883. Some day\nduring this week the two brothers went out with their guns to shoot\nsome game, but soon returned to the house again, and in the evening\nThomas went to his workshop to do some \"job\"; but as he was busily\nengaged in making a suit of clothes, he heard a knocking at the window\nquite suddenly--two knocks. He thought that some friend outside wanted\nto call his attention to something; but when he looked at the window\nthere was no one to be seen After a while the knocking went on again,\nand continued for about ten minutes.\n\nThe second night the knocking at the window continued as the previous\nevening between ten and eight o'clock, but nothing was to be seen.\n\nOn the third night there was a knocking at the window several times,\nand it was much louder or more violent than it had been on the two\nprevious evenings. The tailor and the young man who was his assistant\ndecided now to keep their eyes on the window, and as soon as they did\nso there was no more knocking; but the moment they ceased looking\nand resumed their work, the knocking was heard again. There were\nseveral young men present in the room this evening, and they heard\nthe knocking, and even the wife heard it from another apartment of\nthe house.\n\nThese \"spirit knockings\" had been now noised abroad everywhere,\nand amongst others who went there in order to hear them was the\nfarmer on whose land the tailor lived. The farmer did not believe in\nsuperstition, but when he heard the knocking he was convinced that\nthere was something supernatural about it.\n\nOn the fifth night a very loud knock at the door was heard as if\nsome one attempted to break through; and on the sixth evening when\nmy informant went out for a short walk he heard such noise as if two\nhundred horses were rushing by him.\n\nOn the seventh and eighth evenings the knocking still continued; and\non the ninth evening, Thomas went out with a gun in his hand, and\nfound that there was no one to be seen anywhere, but he heard some\ngroaning voice in the air, and doleful wailing. The man returned to\nthe house quite frightened.\n\nThere was no more knocking after this evening.\n\nIn the beginning of January, 1883, at the very time when these strange\nknockings, sound, and wailing were heard at Pen'rallt Fach cottage,\na woman whose old home had been this very house before she had left\nher native land was dying in America; and her crying on her death-bed\nin that far-off land was heart-rending, when she found that she was\ntoo ill to return to Wales, to die at her old home in Cardiganshire,\nand to be buried with her husband, who had died before she had left\nfor America. One Mr. Lloyd, from Newcastle Emlyn, happened to be at\nher death-bed in America, when she was longing in vain to die in her\nold home in Wales. This solves the mystery of the \"spirit knockings,\"\nand it also confirms the truth of the old belief that Death makes his\npresence known by knocking at the door of the relatives of friends\nof those he is about to strike.\n\n\n\nLLEDRITH--WRAITH.\n\nLledrith is an apparition or the spectre of a person seen soon before\nhis death or about the time he is dying.\n\nA most remarkable tale of an apparition of this kind is given in \"Ysten\nSioned,\" an interesting Welsh book written by the late Rev. Chancellor\nD. Silvan Evans, and Mr. John Jones (Ivon).\n\nAbout seventy years ago a young French sailor at Aberystwyth in\nCardiganshire, had fallen in love with a servant maid in that town,\nand she with him. One evening, when this young woman was preparing\nto go to bed she heard her lover calling to her by her name. It\nwas a bright moonlight night, and when she went to the door there\nshe saw the young man approaching and offering his hand to her;\nbut to her great surprise he disappeared again without speaking a\nsingle word. Soon after this, news came to the town that a ship from\nAberystwyth got lost on the coast of Spain, and that amongst others\nof the crew, who were drowned, was the young Frenchman. The young\nwoman discovered that her lover was drowned on the Spanish Coast in\nthe very same hour that she saw his apparition at Aberystwyth!\n\nThe young Earl of Lisburne ten years ago saw a wraith at Havod, on the\nnight his father was dying at Crosswood Park. Of this I was informed\nby Mr. Inglis-Jones, Derry Ormond, and by his Lordship himself.\n\nIt is well-known that the great Lord Brougham saw an apparition of\nthis kind when a friend of his was dying in India, about one hundred\nyears ago.\n\n\n\nTANWEDD.\n\nAnother death portent was the \"tanwedd,\" so called because it\nappeared as a fiery light. The Rev. Edmund Jones says in his\n\"Apparitions\".--\"When it falls to the ground it sparkleth and\nlightens. The freeholders and landlords upon whose ground it falls,\nwill certainly die in a short time after.\"\n\n\n\nGWRACH Y RHIBYN.\n\nGwrach y Rhibyn was an ugly old hag with long flowing hair, glaring\neyes and face as gloomy as death itself. The shriek of the old hag\nwas supposed to foretell a death or some misfortune. She appeared,\nas a rule, only before the death of a person who had lived a wicked\nlife; at least this is the saying in West Wales, especially in\nCarmarthenshire and Cardiganshire.\n\n\n\nCWN ANNWN--HELL HOUNDS.\n\nCwn Annwn were supposed to have been supernatural hounds whose yelling\nor howling on dark nights foreboded a death. If the howling was faint,\nit meant that the pack was close at hand, if loud, the hounds were\nonly hunting at a distance. These hounds were supposed to watch for\nthe souls of notoriously wicked men about to die.\n\nAn old farmer, named Mr. Thomas Stephens, Llwyncelyn, Llanarth,\nCardiganshire, informed me that his brother once heard the bark of\nthese hounds on the road near Bronwen.\n\n\n\nOTHER DEATH OMENS.\n\nThe Cock.--It was once thought in all parts of Wales that the crowing\nof a cock before or about midnight was a sign of death; but whether\none of the family or one of a neighbour's family was going to die,\nit depended on the direction of the cock's head whilst crowing.\n\nThe Hen.--A hen crowing like a cock is also supposed to indicate\na death in the family or some very near relation; or if not death,\nsome very bad luck.\n\nA hen laying two eggs in the same day was also a sign of death. A\nhen laying a small egg was also a bad sign.\n\nAn Owl persistently screeching near a house or a raven croaking\nhoarsely also indicated a death.\n\nThe Dog.--A dog howling, which is called in Welsh Ci-yn-udo, is a\nsign of a death.\n\nThe Death Watch.--A sound made by a small insect like the ticking of\na watch was once considered a sign of death. A few years ago a sound\nof this kind was for a long time heard at a house in the parish of\nLlanddewi Brefi; but as no one died in the house, the family was\ncured of the superstition.\n\nThe sound in the ear as of a bell, is a token of death in the family.\n\nClothes Burning.--A farmer's wife near Aberystwyth, informed me that\na few years ago she placed a servant boy's wet trousers on a chair\nto dry before the fire. Then she went out to milk the cows, but when\nshe returned to the house she found that the trousers was burnt. A\nfew days after this her mother died.\n\nThe untimely blossoming of a tree is another sign of a death.\n\nYarrow and Heather.--Bringing either yarrow or heather into a house\nis a presage of death; white heather, however, is a sign of good luck.\n\nDeath-pinch.--This is a mark that cannot be accounted for, appearing\nsuddenly on any part of the body, and is a sign of the death of one\nof the family or a relative.\n\nA Funeral Procession moving too fast is a sign that another funeral\nwill soon follow.\n\n\n\nMISSING A BUTT.\n\nA writer in \"Bye Gones\" for 1892 says:--\n\n\"The other day in going through Mid-Cardiganshire on election business,\nI observed one row of turnips growing in the middle of a field of\npotatoes on a farm occupied by a Nonconformist minister. When asked\nhow it happened that that solitary row of turnips came to be there,\nthe minister explained that by accident the planters missed putting\ndown potatoes, and the idea prevailed in the district if the vacant\nrow was not filled in by sowing something in it, some one would die\nin consequence in the neighbourhood.\"\n\nThis superstition is also found in Carmarthenshire as well as in\nCardiganshire.\n\nI have met with many ministers of the Gospel, Professors of\nUniversities, and other enlightened and educated men who are convinced\nthat there are death portents.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS BELIEFS, WEATHER SIGNS, BIRDS, LORE, Etc.\n\n\nTo find a horse shoe on the road or in a field is considered extremely\nlucky.\n\nTo see a lamb for the first time during the season with its head\nfacing you is also lucky.\n\nWhen you see a newly-wedded couple throw an old pair of shoes at them,\nfor it means \"good luck to them.\"\n\nThis was done now at Llanilar, October, 1910, at the wedding of Miss\nJones, Bryntirion, by Mrs. Richards, Derwen-Deg.\n\nTo drop your stick or umbrella on your journey is unlucky.\n\nWhen you have started on a journey, to turn back to the house for\nsomething you have forgotten, means bad luck.\n\nTo bring heather into the house is a sign of death: white heather,\nhowever, is considered extremely lucky.\n\nIt is unlucky to meet a white horse when on a journey, to change it\ninto luck spit over your little finger.\n\nIf a young lady looks through a silk-handkerchief at the first new\nmoon after New Year's Day, she will be able to see her future husband.\n\nIt is unlucky to find a coin on the road, but if the head and not\nthe tail happens to be up it is a lucky omen.\n\nTo carry in one's purse a crooked sixpence, or a coin with a hole in\nit is lucky.\n\nSpit on the first coin you get in the day, and you'll have luck for\n24 hours.\n\nNever begin any new work on a Friday or Saturday.\n\nIt is considered unlucky for a servant to go to service on a Thursday\nor a Saturday. In Cardiganshire servants go to service either on a\nMonday or Wednesday, which are considered lucky days.\n\nA woman near Narberth in Pembrokeshire told me that Tuesdays and\nThursdays are lucky days in that part.\n\nIn some parts of Carmarthenshire, the most lucky days are Tuesdays,\nThursdays and Saturdays.\n\nBut the fact of it is, I have discovered that the days which are\nconsidered lucky in one part of the country are considered unlucky\nin another part.\n\nOdd numbers, especially three, and seven, are said to be lucky numbers.\n\nThirteen, however, is considered very unlucky, and it is thought that\nif thirteen persons sit down to table, the last person who sits down\nand the first to rise up, are those to whom the ill-luck will fall.\n\nIt is considered unlucky by many to shake hands across a table;\nand when two people are shaking hands, if two others of the company\nattempt to shake hands across their hands it is a very unlucky sign.\n\nIt is considered unlucky by some to baptise more than one child in\nthe same water. There is also the same superstition respecting one\nman washing after another in the same water.\n\nIn Cardiganshire, it is believed that he who dies on Sunday is a\ngodly man.\n\nMr. Eyre Evans, Aberystwyth, informed me that he has just come across\nsome people in Montgomeryshire who consider it unlucky to pick up or\ncarry white stones in their pockets; and it seems from Sir John Rhys,\nthat Manx Fishermen do not like to have a white stone in a boat.\n\nCurious Belief about Salt.--When people remove into a new house it\nis customary to take a bar of salt into the building before taking\nin any of the furniture. This is supposed to secure good luck.\n\nWhen this salt ceremony is forgotten or neglected, some people,\nespecially women, are very much perturbed.\n\nI have discovered that this curious old belief about salt is very\ncommon at present in the towns of Aberystwyth, Carmarthen, and Tenby,\nand other parts of West Wales.\n\nTo spill salt denotes quarrels. To serve another person with salt,\nis to serve him with sorrow.\n\nWhen a white spot appeals on the nail of one of our fingers it means\na present.\n\nNever stir the fire in anybody's house unless you are a friend of\nseven years' standing.\n\nTo break a looking-glass signifies ill-luck for seven years.\n\nTo put the bellows on a table is considered unlucky. There is also\nthe same superstition about boots all over Wales.\n\nNever mend your clothes while you are wearing them.\n\nIf you see a pin pick it up to insure good luck.\n\nThere is a saying in Welsh \"Gwell plygu at bin, na phlygu at ddim,\" (It\nis better to bend down for a pin, than to bend down for nothing.) It\nseems that a needle, however, is not considered so lucky; for I once\noverheard a woman who had quarrelled with her neighbour telling her\nhusband that her neighbour and herself were friends before she had\ngiven her a needle.\n\nIf a bramble clings to the skirts of a young lady some one has fallen\nin love with her; and the same is said of a young man when his hat\ngoes against the branches of a tree.\n\nWelshpeople believe that those who have cold hands are very\nwarm-hearted; hence the saying \"Llaw oer a chalon gynes,\" (A cold\nhand and a warm heart).\n\nTwo spoons in a saucer denote a wedding, or according to some that\nyou are to be married twice dining your lifetime.\n\nIn West Wales it is considered unlucky to eat herring or any kind of\nfish, from the head downwards; and in order to ensure good luck the\nproper way is to eat the fish from the tail towards the head. This\nsuperstition is also known in Cornwall.\n\nIf in making tea you forget to replace the lid on the teapot, it is\nthe sure sign of the arrival of a stranger.\n\nDavid Evans, a millwright, of Llandilo, informed me a short time ago,\nthat one evening when he was staying in Lampeter, the woman of the\nhouse who was preparing tea for supper at a late hour, forgot to\nreplace the lid on the pot. When she found it out, she exclaimed:\n\"A stranger is sure to come here to-night.\" The husband and wife,\nand the millwright sat down by the fire till a late hour, but there\nwas no sign of a stranger; just as they were going to bed, however,\nthere was a knock at the door, and a stranger came in!\n\nSuperstitions about Knives.--To cross your knife and fork is considered\nunlucky; and crossed knives foretell some approaching disaster.\n\nTo find a knife on the road or in a field is also supposed to be\na very bad omen. This superstition is very general in all parts of\nWales, and even in far off parts of the world as well. Many years ago\nin Patagonia, South America, two friends of mine and myself met in a\nfield one morning by appointment, in connection with some particular\nbusiness. Each of us three had come from different directions, and\neach of us had arrived at the spot the same time, and when we came\ntogether, strange to say, we discovered that each of us had found\na knife on the way! The names of my two friends were Edwin Roberts,\nand William James, one was a native of Flintshire, and the other a\nnative of Cardiganshire, both of them were no means superstitious;\nbut I well remember that they were very much perturbed on account\nof the knives, and feared that some serious misfortune was going to\nhappen. As soon as we went home we heard the sad news that a young\nman named Isaac Howells, was accidentally drowned in the river!\n\nIt is also very generally believed at present, that it is unlucky to\nreceive a knife as a present. In such cases it is customary to pay\na penny for the knife.\n\nWish whenever you get the first taste of the season of any kind of\nfood. It is also considered very lucky to taste as many Christmas\npuddings as you can.\n\nIt is considered unlucky to pass under a ladder.\n\nWhen walking a long journey if your feet are sore rub the feet of\nyour stockings with soap.\n\nA ringing in the right ear is a sign of good news; but a ringing in\nthe left one, unpleasant news.\n\nWhen the palm of your left hand itches, you are about to give away\nsome money, or some one is blaming you; but when the palm of you\nright hand itches, it is a sign that you are about to receive money,\nor that someone is praising you or writing a kind letter to you.\n\nWhen going on a journey, if the sole of your right foot itches,\nthe journey will be a pleasant one; but the contrary if the left\nfoot itches.\n\nA child born with a caul is supposed to be very lucky, and he will\nalways be safe from drowning. A caul is much appreciated among sailors\nin West Wales, as it is believed that to keep one on board the ship\nsecures a safe voyage.\n\nIn all parts of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, it is generally\nbelieved among women that it is unlucky to cut the nails of an infant\nunder six months old. The mother bites them off as they grow.\n\nSuperstition about Whistling.--It is considered unlucky for a young\nwoman to whistle. Whistling is also, or at least was regarded,\nas \"Talking with the Devil.\" Mr. Ferrar Fenton in \"Pembrokeshire\nAntiquities,\" page 59, says, that many years ago he happened to\nwhistle one day whilst walking on the pier at Fishguard with a\nyoung sea captain. The Captain seemed very much perturbed at the\nwhistling, and at last said to Mr. Fenton:--\"I wish you would not\nwhistle here!\" \"Why? What harm does it do?\" \"Well, you know,\" he\nsaid slowly, as if shy at his words, \"We Welshmen and sailors are\nsuperstitious over some things, and whistling as you now do, is one\nof them.\" \"Superstitious! Not you! But tell me about it: I love all\nthose old tales.\" \"You see,\" he replied, \"my mother and all the old\npeople told me when a boy that such kind of whistling was the way\nCroignorian (Magicians) talk with the Devil, and sailors believe\nsomething like it, and it always makes my heart start to hear it,\nespecially on the seashore.\" Then he added, \"Look! how muggy it\nis behind Pencaer. You'll bring a gale, and I always feel pity for\nthe sailors afloat when a sou'-wester rages in the channel behind\nit.\" When the great Divine and Martyr, Bishop Ferrar, of St. David's,\nwas burnt alive at Carmarthen in 1555, amongst other pretences for\nhis destruction he was accused of being a Magician, and \"teaching\nhis infant son to talk with the Devil by means of whistling.\"\n\nIn the old days of sailing ships, wind was an agent of great value;\nand sometimes sailors whistled for a wind, and this whistling was\nconsidered a direct invocation to \"the prince of the power of the air\"\nto exert himself on their behalf. I have heard of an old man who is\nstill alive who believes that the devil has some control over wind\nand rain.\n\n\n\nTHE MOON.\n\nThere are still lingering in Wales many beliefs and practices with\nrespect to the moon. It is considered unlucky to see the new moon the\nfirst time through the window, and many persons go out of doors to see\nher and show her a piece of money to insure good luck while that moon\nlasts. I was told by an old gentleman in Cardiganshire that he had seen\nmany taking off their hats and bowing to the new moon; some ladies\nalso make a curtsey to her, and it is considered very lucky to see\nher over the right shoulder. If a person wishes anything when he sees\nthe new moon after New Year's Day, his wish will be granted to him.\n\nPutting a Hen to Sit.--A hen is put to sit so as to get the chick\nout of the egg at the waxing, and not at the waning of the moon,\nas it is believed that the young birds are strong or weak according\nto the age of the moon when they are hatched.\n\nSowing.--There are still many people who are very particular to sow\ntheir seeds in their gardens and their fields during the first quarter\nof the moon, owing to the idea that the seed will then germinate\nquicker, and grow stronger than when the moon is on the wane. I knew\na farmer--a native of Llanfynydd, in Carmarthenshire--who was always\nvery careful to sow his wheat during the first quarter or the waxing\nof the moon, and it is a well-known fact that he had always a good\ncrop at harvest time.\n\nThere are also people who are very particular about having their\nhair cut just before or about full moon so that it might grow better\nafterwards.\n\nWhen a child, I was told that the dark object which is to be seen in\nthe moon is a man who was taken up there as a punishment for gathering\nfirewood on the Sabbath Day.\n\n\n\nWEATHER SIGNS, SEASONS.\n\nThe cat sitting with her back to the fire is considered to be a sign\nof snow.\n\nThe cock crowing on rainy weather is a sign of fair weather for the\nrest of the day.\n\nSea-gulls flying seaward betoken fair weather; when they fly landward,\na storm is coming.\n\nWhen the crane flies against the stream, that is, up the river\ntowards its source, it is considered a sign of rain; but the same\nbird going down the river, is a sign of fair weather. The same is\nsaid of the heron.\n\nTo see ducks and geese flap their wings and dive wildly about is a\nsign of rain.\n\nCrows flying low portend rain; but if they fly high in the air it is\na sign of fair weather. The same is said of swallows.\n\nOther rain signs are the woodpecker's screech; and the cows running\nwildly about.\n\nIf the mountain ponies leave the low and sheltered valleys and return\nto the mountains during hard weather, it is a sign of a change in\nthe weather.\n\nThe sheep flocking together is a sign of rough weather.\n\nAccording to the old Welsh saying the rainbow appearing in the sky\nin the morning portends rain; and in the afternoon fair weather:--\n\n\n   \"Bwa'r arch y bore,\n    Aml a hir gawode;\n    Bwa'r arch prydnawn,\n    Tywydd teg a gawn.\"\n\n    Rainbow in the morning,\n    Frequent and long showers;\n    Rainbow in the afternoon,\n    Fair weather we shall have.\n\n\nCeredigion, in \"Bye-Gones,\" August 2nd, 1905, says: \"All along the\nMerioneth and Cardiganshire Coasts farmers watch the sea carefully\nin harvest time. If there be not a cloud in the sky; if the wind be\nin a dry quarter; and if the sea be of cerulean blue, if the margin\nbe discoloured and muddy, the farmers know that rain is approaching\nand will probably be on them before nightfall.\"\n\nIf distant mountains are clearly seen, rain may be expected; but if the\nmountains appear as if they were far off, it is a sign of fine weather.\n\nWhen the smoke from the chimney falls down toward the ground, instead\nof rising upward, it is a sign that rainy weather will soon follow;\nbut if the smoke goes upward straight, it is a sign of fair weather.\n\nIn the evening, when the horizon in the west is tinged with a ruddy\nglow it is a sign that fair and dry weather will come.\n\nIn the summer, when the atmosphere is dense and heavy it is a sign\nof a thunder-storm.\n\nRough weather may be expected when the wind blows the dust about,\nand throws down people's hats.\n\nWhen the stone floors are damp and are long in drying after having\nbeen washed is a sign of fair weather.\n\nIt is also considered a good sign to see large numbers of white\nbutterflies.\n\nAnother good sign of fine weather is the sun setting red and clear.\n\nBread and butter falling on the floor upside down signifies \"rain is\nnear,\" according to some folks.\n\nWhen the moon's horns are turned up, it is a sign of fine weather;\nif they are turned down rain is coming. When the face of the moon is\npartially obscured by a light thin vapour rain is coming.\n\nWelsh people in country places generally expect a change of weather\nwhen the moon changes; and I have just been informed at Llanilar,\nthat a new moon on a wet Saturday, brings wet weather, but that,\non the other hand, a new moon on a fine Saturday, brings fine weather.\n\nBy Christmas, the days are said to have lengthened \"a cock's stride.\"\n\nThe following Welsh weather sayings I often heard when a boy:--\n\n\n   \"Chwefrol chwyth,\n    Chwytha'r deryn oddiar ei nyth.\"\n\n    (February's blast\n    Blows the bird from its nest.)\n\n\n   \"Mawrth a ladd,\n    Ebrill a fling.\"\n\n    (March kills,\n    April flays.)\n\n\nIf the hazel (collen) blooms well it is a sign of a fruitful year.\n\n\n\n\"A NUTTY YEAR.\"\n\nIn Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, it is believed that if nuts\nwill be numerous, many children will be born that year.\n\n\n\nA MILD WINTER.\n\nI have met many people all over Wales who think that a very mild\nwinter is not good, and they repeat the old saying:--\n\n\n    \"Gaeaf glas, mynwent fras.\"\n\n\nwhich means that\n\n\n    \"When the winter is green, many funerals will be seen.\"\n\n\n\nBIRDS AND BEASTS LORE.\n\n\nTHE CUCKOO.\n\nIt is believed in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire by many,\nespecially old people, that the cuckoo does not go away from this\ncountry in winter, but sleeps in some sheltered place. When a boy,\nI often heard the following ditty:--\n\n\n   \"Amser y gwcw yw Ebrill a Mai,\n    A hanner Mehefin, chwi wyddoch bob rhai.\"\n\n    (The Cuckoo's time is April and May,\n    And half of June, as all know, I daresay).\n\n\nThe cuckoo making its appearance before the leaves are on the hawthorn\nbush is a sign of a bad year; and for the bird not to appear at its\nusual time is also a bad sign; hence:\n\n\n   \"Gwcw Glamme,\n    Cosyn dime.\"\n\n\nWhen you hear the cuckoo for the first time in the season it is very\nimportant to have money in your pocket in order to secure good luck\nfor the coming year. People turn the money in their pockets with\ntheir hands, and sometimes toss a piece into the air. It is also\nconsidered very lucky to hear this bird for the first time when you\nare standing on green grass; but if you are on the road or on bare\nground, it is otherwise.\n\nI have met people who do not like to hear the cuckoo for the first time\nbefore they get up from bed in the morning. To see the bird coming to\nthe door is also regarded as an evil omen by some. A woman in North\nCardiganshire informed me that a cuckoo came to the door before her\nfather died. The cuckoo is supposed to be accompanied by the wryneck\nknown in Welsh as Gwas-y-Gwcw.\n\nIf we are to believe an old legend, the cuckoo in former times used\nto begin to sing at Nevern, in Pembrokeshire, on the 7th of April,\npatron day of that parish; and George Owen of Henllys, who lived in\nthe time of Queen Elizabeth, says, \"I might well here omit an old\nreport as yet fresh, of this odious bird, that in the old world the\nparish priest of the Church would not begin mass until this bird,\ncalled the citizen's ambassador, had first appeared and began her\nnote, on a stone called St. Byrnach's Stone, being curiously wrought\nwith sundry sorts of knots, standing upright in the Church-yard of\nthe parish, and one year staying very long, and the priest and the\npeople expecting her accustomed coming (for I account this bird of\nthe feminine gender) came at last, lighting on the said stone, her\naccustomed preaching place, and being scarce able once to sound the\nnote, presently fell dead.\"\n\nAccording to another old legend, this stone upon which the cuckoo\nbegan her note, was at first intended by St. David for Llanddewi\nBrefi, but St. Brynach prevailed upon him to leave it at Nevern. The\nRev. J. T. Evans, Rector of Stow, gives this legend in \"The Church\nPlate of Pembrokeshire.\"\n\n\n\nTHE SWALLOW--Y WENNOL.\n\nMany superstitions which cluster round the Swallow, have descended to\nus from remote antiquity; and among the Romans this bird was sacred to\nthe household gods and the family. In Wales, it was formerly believed\nthat the swallow, like the cuckoo, slept through the winter. This\nbird is also supposed to bring good fortune to the house upon which\nit builds its nest. If, however, the bird forsakes its old nest on a\nhouse, it is considered a sign of ill-luck. It is also most unlucky\nto break a swallow's nest.\n\n\n   \"Y neb a doro nyth y wenol\n    Ni wel fwyniant yn dragwyddol.\"\n\n    (Whoever breaks a swallow's nest,\n    Never, never shall be blest.)\n\n\n\nROBIN REDBREAST.\n\n\"Cursed is the man who kills a Robin,\" and ill-luck follows those\nwho take the eggs of this little bird.\n\nThe following Carmarthenshire story about the robin appeared in Bye\nGones, vol. 1. p. 173:--\n\n\"Far, far away, is a land of woe, darkness, spirits of evil, and\nfire. Day by day does the little bird bear in its bill a drop of water\nto quench the flame. So near to the burning stream does he fly that his\ndear little feathers are scorched; and hence is he named Bronchuddyn\n(Qu. Bronrhuddyn), i.e., breastburned, or breastscorched. To serve\nlittle children, the robin dares approach the infernal pit. No good\nchild will hurt the devoted benefactor of man. The robin returns from\nthe land of fire, and, therefore, he feels the cold of winter far\nmore than the other birds. He shivers in brumal blasts, and hungry\nhe chirps before your door. Oh, my child, then, in pity throw a few\ncrumbs to the poor redbreast.\"\n\nThis old Welsh legend has been rendered into verse by the poet\nWhittier.\n\n\n\nTHE WREN--Y DRYW.\n\nIt seems from the following Welsh rhyme that the wren was also a\nsacred bird:--\n\n\n   \"Pwy bynag doro nyth y dryw,\n    Ni wel byth mo wyneb Duw.\"\n\n    (Whoever breaks a wren's nest\n    Shall never know the Heavenly rest.)\n\n\nIt was once customary in Pembrokeshire to carry a wren round the\nhouses during the Christmas holidays. I have given a full account of\nthis custom in another chapter.\n\nHow the wren became king of the birds, is related in the next\nparagraph.\n\n\n\nTHE OWL.\n\nThe Owl is rather unpopular in Wales, and its hooting is considered\na sign of ill-luck, if not of death. This bird is also supposed to be\n\"hateful unto all birds.\" To account for the unpopularity of the owl\nthere are many legends. The following is given by Mr. H. W. Evans,\nSolva, in the \"Pembrokeshire Antiquities,\" p. 49:\n\n\"At one time all the birds unanimously decided to elect unto themselves\na king; and (probably with an eye on the eagle) they resolved to crown\nmonarch the bird that would soar the highest. On a signal being given\nthey all started on their upward flight. After a very exciting contest\nthe eagle was seen considerably higher than all other birds. Having\nreached the highest altitude possible he, in a loud voice, proclaimed\nhimself king. 'No, no, not yet,' said a wren which had perched on the\neagle's back and had now flown a few yards higher. 'Come up here,'\nsaid the wren; but the eagle, having exhausted his strength, was\nunable to raise himself, and so the wren became king. When the birds\nbeheld their king, they became very sad and sorrowful, and they cried\nbitterly. Afterwards they met in solemn conclave, and decided to drown\ntheir king in tears. So they procured a pan to hold their tears, and\nthe birds gathered and craned their necks over the pan and wept. But\nthe owl clumsily mounted the edge of the pan, thereby upsetting it,\nand spilled the tears. The birds became enraged at this, and swore\nvengeance against the owl, and ever since he has not dared to show\nhimself during the day, and is obliged to seek his food at night,\nwhen all other birds are asleep.\"\n\nAccording to another version of this tale which is extant in\nCarmarthenshire, the wren in the contest for the kingship fell to the\nground and hurt himself. The birds in compassion, prepared healing\nbroth to cure the little bird--each bird putting something in the pot\ntowards making this broth--the owl through his clumsiness was guilty\nof upsetting this pot containing the healing broth.\n\nAccording to the Mabinogion, (see Math the son of Mathonwy) a woman\nnamed Blodeuwedd, for her wickedness towards her husband was turned\ninto an owl; \"and because of the shame thou hast done unto Llew Llaw\nGyffes, thou shalt never show thy face in the light of day henceforth;\nand that through fear of all the other birds.... Now Blodeuwedd is\nan owl in the language of this present time, and for this reason is\nthe owl hateful unto all birds.\"\n\n\n\nTHE RAVEN.\n\nTo see one raven crossing the road when a person starts on a journey,\nis a bad omen; two ravens, however, are considered lucky.\n\n\n\nTHE MAGPIE.\n\nI know many people in country places who are pleased to see two or\nthree magpies going together from left to right when a person starts\non a journey, as they regard it an omen of good luck. But to see a\nmagpie crossing from the right to the left means ill-luck. Fortunately,\nhowever, a person can make void this bad luck by making a cross on the\nroad and spit in the middle of it. A raven crossing after the magpie\nalso makes void the bad luck, according to some; but the superstitions\nabout the magpie and the raven are very similar.\n\nShould a magpie descend on the back of a cow on the evening the\nanimal is taken into the cow-house for the winter, it is a bad sign;\nbut should this occur when the cow is taken out from the cowhouse\nfor the summer, it is a good omen.\n\nAn old woman at Yspytty Ystwyth, informed me that the magpie was a\nbird of evil omen; for on the very day before her husband was killed\nat the mines, she saw three magpies close to the window.\n\n\n\nTHE MAGPIE AND THE WOOD-PIGEON.\n\n\"The Magpie, observing the slight knowledge of nest building possessed\nby the wood-pigeon, kindly undertook the work of giving his friend\na lesson in the art, and as the lesson proceeded, the Wood-pigeon,\nbowing, cooed out:--\n\n\n    Mi wn! Mi wn! Mi wn!\n    I know! I know! I know!\n\n\nThe instructor was at first pleased with his apt pupil, and proceeded\nwith his lesson, but before another word could be uttered, the bird,\nswelling with pride at its own importance and knowledge, said again:--\n\n\n    I know! I know! I know!\n\n\nThe Magpie was annoyed at this ignorant assurance, and with bitter\nsarcasm said: 'Since you know, do it then,' and this is why the wood\npigeon's nest is so untidy in our days. In its own mind it knew all\nabout nest building and was above receiving instruction, and hence its\nclumsy way of building its nest. This fable gave rise to a proverb,\n\"As the wood pigeon said to the magpie: 'I know.'\" Iolo MSS., page 567.\n\n\n\nTHE PIGEON.\n\nIt is said that if a sick person asks for a pigeon's pie, or the flesh\nof a pigeon, it is a sign that his death is near. There is also a\nsuperstition that people cannot die in ease if there are pigeon's\nfeathers in their pillows. A writer in \"Bye-Gones\" refers to the\ncase of a woman who died in 1803 at a farm-house called Southern\nPills in the Parish of Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire, and states that on\nher death-bed the nurse snatched the pillow from under her head.\n\n\n\nTHE BEES.\n\nThe bees understand Welsh; for a woman on the borders of Cardiganshire\nand Carmarthenshire informed me that they have a Queen, who leads,\nand that they follow, when she bids them to come in these words:--\n\n\n    \"Dewch, Dewch, Dewch.\"\n\n    (Come, come, come.)\n\n\nThere are many superstitions about bees. There was a custom once of\ntelling the bees of a death in the family, and they were even put in\nmourning. It was once considered by some very lucky to find that a\nstrange swarm of bees had arrived in the garden or tree; if, however,\nthey alighted on a dead tree it was an ill omen.\n\n\n\nTHE BEES AND ST. DAVID.\n\n\"Modomnoc, a disciple of St. David, went to Ireland, and a large\nswarm of bees followed him, and settled on the prow of the ship\nwhere he sat. They supplied him with meat during his Irish Mission;\nbut he, not wishing to enjoy their company by fraud, brought them\nback to Wales, when they fled to their usual place, and David blessed\nModomnoc for his humility. Three times the bees went and returned,\nand the third time holy David dismissed Modomnoc with the bees, and\nblessed them, saying that henceforth bees should prosper in Ireland,\nand should no longer increase in Glyn Rosyn. 'This,' adds Rhyddmarch,\n'is found to be the fact: swarms forthwith decreased at David's;\nbut Ireland, in which, until that time, bees could never live, is\nnow enriched with plenty of honey. It is manifested that they could\nnot live there before; for if you throw Irish earth or stone into\nthe midst of the bees, they disperse, and, flying, they will shun\nit.'--\"Pilgrimage to St. David's.\"\n\n\n\nTHE COCK.\n\nIt is very curious that some people think that it is very lucky to\npossess a white cock and a black cat, whilst others look upon them\nwith extreme disfavour.\n\n\n   \"Na chadw byth yng ynghylch dy dy,\n    Na cheiliog gwyn na chath ddu.\"\n\n    (Never keep about thy house,\n    A white cock, nor a black cat.)\n\n\nA cock crowing in the day-time before the door announces the visit\nof a friend; but should he crow at night before or about midnight,\nit is considered a sign of death.\n\nCock-fighting was once common in Wales, and spots have been pointed\nout to me here and there, in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire where\nsuch fights took place.\n\n\n\nTHE CAT.\n\nIn some parts of the country a black cat is looked upon with extreme\ndisfavour; in other parts again people say that a black cat keeps\ntrouble out of the house. \"Cath ddu yn cadw gofid ma's o'r ty.\"\n\nIt was thought that cats born in May bring snakes into the house.\n\nIf the cat washed her face, strangers might be expected.\n\n\n\nFLYING SERPENTS--GWIBEROD.\n\nThe Welsh name Gwiber means a flying snake, or a flying serpent,\nan imaginary creature supposed to be a kind of dragon. There are\ntraditions of these dangerous creatures in several parts of Wales; and\nit was formerly believed that a snake, by drinking the milk of a woman,\nbecame transformed into a flying serpent. This superstition was very\ncommon in the southern part of Cardiganshire until very recently. A few\nyears ago when staying for a short time at Talybont in the northern\npart of the same county, a rocky spot was pointed out to me, about a\nmile from the village, where, according to tradition, a Gwiber which\nattacked people, had a lurking place in former times. There is also\na tradition in the parish of Trelech, Carmarthenshire, that a Gwiber\nlurked in that neighbourhood once upon a time. At last the creature\nwas shot.\n\n\n\nA FLYING SERPENT AT NEWCASTLE EMLYN.\n\nThe most remarkable story of this kind is the well-known tradition\nof the appearance of a gwiber or Flying Serpent in the neighbourhood\nof Newcastle Emlyn, in the Vale of Teivi. This interesting small\ntown boasts of a fine old castle, or at least the ruins of one,\nand it was upon the top of this castle the flying serpent or dragon\nalighted and rested. According to some, this took place as late as\nthe eighteenth century, on a fine summer day. The flying creature was\nseen about mid-day, and as there was a fair at Newcastle Emlyn that\nday the town was crowded with people. The appearance of the \"Gwiber\"\nor dragon terrified the people, both old and young, and they feared\nthat their lives were in jeopardy. The strange creature's skin was\ncovered by a hard and stony substance or shell, except the navel. The\npeople were afraid of attempting to kill this flying monster, and\ndid not know what to do. Fortunately, a valiant soldier who had\nbeen fighting for his country on land and sea, volunteered to put\nan end to the life of this strange and terrific creature, or die\nin the attempt. So taking off all his clothes, except his trousers,\nhe proceeded with his gun in hand and stood right in the river. He\nthen took a good aim at the creature's navel which was the only part\nof its body not covered with shell. As soon as the soldier fired,\nin order to escape an attack from the flying serpent, he left a red\nflannel on the surface of the water, whilst he himself dived into\nthe river and, at last, by swimming against the current, succeeded\nto land safely on the bank on the other side. The serpent fell or\nrushed into the river and began to attack the red flannel, but it\nwas soon discovered that the creature had been mortally wounded,\nfor the water of the river was coloured with its blood.\n\nA version of this story appeared in \"Y Brython,\" fifty years ago,\nand another version of it written by the Rev. W. Eilir Evans, appeared\nin a Welsh book called \"Hirnos Gauaf,\" published in 1899.\n\n\n\nCATTLE.\n\nMany of the farmers are very much perturbed when a cow brings forth\ntwo calves. A few years ago a farmer's wife in the parish of Llangybi,\nnear Lampeter, informed me that one of the cows had twin calves, and\nthat she was very anxious to sell the animal as soon as possible, as\nsuch an incident was considered an omen of ill-luck or a very great\nmisfortune to the family or the owner. This superstition is very\ngeneral in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire; but I have heard that\nin some parts of North Wales a contrary view is taken of such an event.\n\nWhen the first calf of the season happens to be a male one, it is\na sign of a successful year to its owner, but the contrary, if the\ncalf is a she one.\n\nIf the new born calf is seen by the mistress of the house with its\nhead towards her, as she enters the cowhouse to view her new charge\nand property, it is a good omen. It is also considered a good sign to\nfind the cattle wild and difficult to manage on the way to the fair;\nfor you'll sell them to your advantage.\n\n\n\nTHE MILK-WHITE MILCH COW.\n\nThe milk-white Milch Cow gave enough of milk to every one who desired\nit; and however frequently milked, or by whatever number of persons,\nshe was never found deficient. All persons who drank of her milk,\nwere healed of every illness; from being fools they became wise, and\nfrom being wicked, became happy. The cow went round the world; and\nwherever she appeared, she filled with milk all the vessels that could\nbe found; leaving calves behind her for all the wise and happy. It was\nfrom her that all the milch cows in the world were obtained. After\ntraversing the Island of Britain, for the benefit and blessing of\ncountry and kindred, she reached the Vale of Towy; where, tempted by\nfine appearance and superior condition, the natives sought to kill and\neat her; but just as they were proceeding to effect their purpose,\nshe vanished from between their hands, and was never seen again. A\nhouse still remains in the locality, called Y Fuwch Laethwen-Lefrith,\n(the Milk-white Milch Cow).--Iolo M.S.S., page 475.\n\nThere is a version of this well-known legend of the mythic cow,\nlocated near Aberdovey. According to the Aberdovey tale, the cow\nwas of Fairy origin, and disappeared into Barfog Lake when a farmer\nattempted to slaughter the animal.\n\n\n\nTHE ASS.\n\nI was told when a boy that the stripe over the shoulders of this\nanimal was made by our Lord when He rode to Jerusalem.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nWITCHES, WIZARDS, PROPHECIES, DIVINATION, DREAMS.\n\n\nWITCHES.\n\nThe popular belief in witchcraft, is often alluded to by\nShakespeare. In times gone by witches held dreaded sway over the\naffairs of men, perhaps more or less in almost every country; for they\nwere suspected to have entered into a league with Satan, in order to\nobtain power to do evil, and it was thought that they possessed some\nuncanny knowledge which was used by them to injure people, especially\nthose whom they hated. It was also believed that they could cause\nthunder and lightning, could travel on broomsticks through the air,\nand even transform themselves and others into animals, especially\ninto hares. A good many other imaginary things were also placed to\nthe credit of witches.\n\nIn the beginning of last century, and even up to the middle of\nit, witchcraft was very strongly believed in in many parts of\nPembrokeshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Radnorshire, and\nMontgomeryshire. Even at the present time, there are some who believe\nthat there is in it something more than a mere deception. I have met\nseveral who still believe in it. Many well-known characters were proud\nof being looked upon as witches and conjurors; because they were feared\nas such and could influence people to be charitable to them. Many\nan old woman supposed to be a witch, took advantage of the credulity\nof the people, went about the farm houses to request charity in the\nway of oat-meal, butter, milk, etc., and could get almost anything,\nespecially from the women, from fear of being witched; for it was\nbelieved that these witches could bring misfortune on families,\ncause sickness, and bring a curse on both men and animals; so that\nmany used to imagine that they were bewitched whenever anything went\nwrong, even a slight mischance. Unfaithful young men would soon fulfil\ntheir promise when they found out that the girl they had slighted\nwas consulting a witch, so that there was some good even in such a\nfoolish superstition as witchcraft.\n\n\nWITCHES SELLING THEMSELVES TO THE DEVIL.\n\nIn order to become witches it was believed in Cardiganshire that\nsome old women sold themselves to the Father of Lies by giving to\nHis Satanic Majesty the bread of the Communion. The following story\nI heard about three years ago, and my informant was Mr. John Davies,\nGogoyan Farm, a, farmer who had heard it from old people:--\n\nSometime in the beginning of the last century, two old dames attended\nthe morning service at Llanddewi Brefi Church, and partook of the\nHoly Communion; but instead of eating the sacred bread like other\ncommunicants, they kept it in their mouths and went out. Then they\nwalked round the Church outside nine times, and at the ninth time\nthe Evil One came out from the Church wall in the form of a frog, to\nwhom they gave the bread from their mouths, and by doing this wicked\nthing they were supposed to be selling themselves to Satan and become\nwitches. It was also added that after this they were sometimes seen\nswimming in the river Teivi in form of hares!\n\nAccording to Cadrawd, there was an old man in North Pembrokeshire, who\nused to say that he obtained the power of bewitching in the following\nmanner:--The bread of his first Communion he pocketed. He made pretence\nat eating it first of all, and then put it in his pocket. When he\nwent out from the service there was a dog meeting him by the gate,\nto which he gave the bread, thus selling his soul to the Devil. Ever\nafter, he possessed the power to bewitch.\n\n\n\nA SERVANT MAID WITCHED IN A CHAPEL.\n\nAn old woman of about eighty years of age, named Mrs. Mary Thomas,\nBengal, near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, informed me about four\nyears ago, that when she was a young girl, the Gwaun Valley in that\ncounty was full of witches, more especially of the descendants of\none particularly malicious old woman who in her time had proved a\nterror to the neighbourhood. On one occasion, a well-known family\nwho practised the black art and were guilty of witchcraft, wanted to\nbecome members of the Baptist Chapel at Caersalem, and at last they\nwere admitted; but after being received as members of the chapel, they\nwere ten times worse than before. One witch during Divine Service,\neven on the very day she became a communicant, witched a young woman\nwho was a fellow servant of my informant at a farm called Gellifor,\nnear Cilgwyn. The witch was sitting behind, and in the very next\npew to the young woman she witched, which caused the unfortunate\ngirl to rush out from the chapel, and was seen running about the\nroad almost wild and mad. After she had been wild and ill for some\ntime, and every remedy having failed to recover her, her father at\nlast went to Cwrt-y-Cadno, over forty miles away in Carmarthenshire,\nto consult Dr. Harries, a well-known wizard and a medical man. The\nconjurer informed the man that his daughter had been witched in chapel\nby an old woman who was a witch, and he showed him the whole scene in\na magic mirror! In order to unwitch the girl, and to prevent further\nwitchcraft, the wizard gave the father some paper with mystic words\nwritten on it, which the young woman was to wear on her breast.\n\n\n\nA GIRL WHO WAS BEWITCHED BY THE GYPSIES, NEAR CARMARTHEN.\n\nAbout fifty years ago there was a young woman very ill in the parish\nof Llanllawddog, Carmarthenshire, but no one could tell what was the\nmatter with her, and the doctor had failed to cure her. At last, her\nmother went to consult the local wizard, who at that time kept a school\nin the neighbouring parish of Llanpumpsaint, and lived at a place\ncalled Fos-y-Broga. At the woman's request the conjurer accompanied\nher home to see her daughter. After seeing the girl he entered into a\nprivate room alone for a few minutes, and wrote something on a sheet\nof paper which he folded up and tied it with a thread. This he gave\nto the woman and directed her to put the thread round her daughter's\nneck, with the folded paper suspending on her breast. He also told\nthe mother to remember to be at the girl's bedside at twelve o'clock\nthat night. The young woman was put in bed, and the wizard's folded\npaper on her breast. The mother sat down by the fireside till midnight;\nand when the clock struck twelve she heard her daughter groaning. She\nran at once to the poor girl's bedside, and found her almost dying\nwith pain; but very soon she suddenly recovered and felt as well in\nhealth as ever. The conjurer had told the girl's mother that she had\nbeen bewitched by the Gypsies, which caused her illness, and warned\nthe young woman to keep away from such vagrants in the future. The\nConjurer's paper, which had charmed away her illness was put away\nsafely in a cupboard amongst other papers and books; and many years\nafter this when a cousin of the mother was searching for some will\nor some other important document, he accidentally opened the wizard's\npaper and to his surprise found on it written:\n\n\n        \"Abracadabra,\n    Sickness depart from me.\"\n\n\nMy informant, whose name is Jones, an old farmer in the parish of\nLlanpumpsaint, vouches for the truth of the above story, and that\nthe young woman was a relation of his.\n\nAnother old man, named Benjamin Phillips, who lives in the same\nneighbourhood gave me a similar tale of another girl bewitched\nby the Gypsies, and recovered by obtaining some wild herbs from\na conjurer. Such stories are common all over the country. Certain\nplants, especially Meipen Fair, were supposed to possess the power\nof destroying charms.\n\n\n\nA CARDIGANSHIRE GIRL WHO HAD BEEN WITCHED.\n\nI obtained the following story from David Pugh, Erwlwyd,\nCarmarthenshire, an old farmer who is over 90 years of age:--\n\nA woman from Cardiganshire whose daughter was very ill and thought\nto have been bewitched, came to the Wizard of Cwrt-y-Cadno, in\nCarmarthenshire to consult him. The wise man wrote some mystic words\non a bit of paper, which he gave to the woman, telling her that if\nher daughter was not better when she arrived home to come to him\nagain. The woman went home with the paper, and to her great joy found\nthe girl fully recovered from her illness. My informant knew the woman,\nas she had called at his house.\n\n\n\nANOTHER CARDIGANSHIRE WOMAN WITCHED.\n\nAn old man living in the parish of Llangwyryfon, seven miles from\nAberystwyth, named Jenkin Williams, told me the following story six\nyears ago when he was 89 years of age, and vouched for the truth of the\naccount:--A certain woman who lived in that parish was supposed to be\na witch, and it was said she had a brother a wizard: Her husband was\na shoemaker. Another woman who used to go back and fore to the town\nof Aberystwyth, with a donkey-cart, refused on one occasion to bring\nsome leather to the supposed witch and her husband. Soon after this,\nthe woman was taken ill, and the shoemaker's wife was suspected of\nhaving witched her. The son of the sick woman went to Cwrt-y-Cadno\nin Carmarthenshire to consult the \"Dyn Hysbys.\" The conjurer told\nthe young man to go home as soon as possible, and that he should see\nthe person who caused his mother's indisposition coming to the house\non his return home. When the son reached home who should enter the\nhouse but the supposed witch, and as soon as she came in she spoke\nin Welsh to his mother something as follows:--\"Mae'n ddrwg genyf eich\nbod mor wael, ond chwi wellwch eto, Betti fach.\" (I am sorry you are\nso unwell, but you will get well again, Betty dear). The sick woman\nrecovered immediately!\n\n\n\nA FARMER'S DAUGHTER AT WALTON EAST, IN PEMBROKESHIRE BEWITCHED FOR\nFIFTEEN YEARS FOR REFUSING ALMS TO AN OLD HAG.\n\nMrs. Mary Williams, Dwrbach, a very old woman, informed me, that about\n55 years ago, there was a well-known witch in the neighbourhood of\nWalton East, and that on one occasion two young women, daughters of\na farm in that part of the country, were taken ill quite suddenly,\nand were supposed to have been witched by this old woman. The mother\nof the two young women went to the witch and rebuked the old hag,\nsaying: \"Old woman, why did you witch my daughters? Come and undo thy\nwickedness.\" The old woman replied that she did not do anything to\nthem. But the mother still believing that she was guilty, compelled\nher to come along with her to the farmhouse and undo her mischief. At\nlast, she came, and when they reached the door of the farmhouse, the\nwitch pronounced these words in Welsh: \"Duw ai bendithio hi.\" (God\nbless her). Any such expression pronounced by a witch freed the\nbewitched person or an animal from the spell. One of the two sisters\n(both of whom were in bed in another room), overheard these words of\nthe old woman, but her sister did not hear or at least did not catch\nthe words. The young woman who heard the supposed witch saying \"Duw\na'i bendithio hi,\" got well at once, but her poor sister who missed\nhearing, instead of recovering went worse, if anything, than before,\nand continued to keep to her bed for fifteen years. And during all\nthese years she was so strange, that even when her own mother entered\nher room, she would hide under the bed clothes like a rat, and her\nfood had to be left on her bed for her, for she would not eat in\nthe presence of anybody. At last, the old woman who was thought to\nhave witched the young woman, died, and as the the mortal remains of\nthe witch were decaying in the grave, the girl began to get better,\nand she soon fully recovered and became quite herself again after\nfifteen years' illness. My informant added that after recovering,\nthe young woman got married and received \u00a31,500 from her parents on\nher wedding-day, and that she is still alive (or was very lately)\nand a wife of a well-to-do farmer. My informant also said that she\nwas well acquainted with the family.\n\n\n\nMEN WITCHED BY AN OLD LLEDROD HAG.\n\nAbout sixty years ago Thomas Lewis, Garthfawr, between Llanilar and\nLledrod, was for some time suffering from almost unbearable bodily\npain, and did not know what to do. The general belief was that he had\nbeen bewitched by an old woman who was a terror to the neighbourhood;\nand at last a man went to Llangurig, in Montgomeryshire, to consult a\nwise man about it. It was found out soon afterwards that as soon as the\nconjurer was consulted, the sick man fully recovered from his illness,\ngot up from bed, dressed himself, and came down from his bedroom and\nfelt as well as ever, to the very great surprise and joy of all his\nfamily and friends. My informant, Thomas Jones, of Pontrhydfendigaid,\nwho knew the man well, vouches for the truth of this story.\n\nMr. Jones also gave me an account of another man who was witched by\nthe same old hag. The wife of Rhys Rhys, Pwllclawdd and her sister were\nchurning all day, but the milk would not turn to butter. Rhys, at last,\nwent to the old witch and asked her to come and undo her mischief,\nas she had witched the milk. She was very unwilling to come, but Rhys\ncompelled her. When Mrs. Rhys and her sister saw the old witch coming,\nthey ran to hide themselves in a bedroom. The hag took hold of the\nchurn's handle for a few seconds, and the milk turned to excellent\nbutter at once; but poor Rhys who had always been a strong man till\nthen, never enjoyed a day of good health after; for the old hag witched\nthe farmer himself in revenge for compelling her to unwitch the milk.\n\n\n\nA HORSE WITCHED.\n\nThomas Jones, an old man who is 85 years of age and lives at\nPontrhydfendigaid, informed me that about sixty years ago, the old\nwitch was greatly feared by the people of the neighbourhood, as it\nwas generally believed that the hag cursed or witched those whom she\ndisliked. On one occasion, when her neighbour's horse broke through\nthe hedge into her field, she witched the animal for trespassing. The\nhorse was shivering all over and everything was done in vain to cure\nthe poor animal; but the very moment John Morgan, the Llangurig\nconjurer was consulted, the horse fully recovered, and looked as\nwell as ever. My informant vouches for the truth of this, and says\nhe had seen the horse, and that the man who consulted the conjurer\nwas a friend of his, and, that he even knew the conjurer himself.\n\n\n\nCATTLE WITCHED.\n\nAt Mathry in Pembrokeshire, there was a celebrated witch, and people\nbelieved that she was often guilty of witching the cattle. On one\noccasion when a servant maid of a farm-house in the neighbourhood had\ngone out one morning to milk the cows, she found them in a sitting\nposture like cats before a fire, and in vain did she try to get them\nto move. The farmer suspected the witch of having caused this. He\nwent to her at once, and compelled the hag to come and undo her evil\ntrick. She came and told him that there was nothing wrong with the\ncows, and she simply put her hand on the back of each animal, and\nthey immediately got up, and there was no further trouble.\n\n\n\nHORSES KILLED BY WITCHCRAFT IN RADNORSHIRE.\n\nMr. Theophilus, a blacksmith, at Cilcwm, in Carmarthenshire, 80 years\nof age, informed me that he well remembered a Radnorshire farmer who\nhad lost two horses, one after the other, and as he had suspected\nthat the animals were \"killed by witchcraft\" he decided to go all\nthe way to Cwrt-y-cadno to consult the wise man about it. The man\ntravelled all the way from Radnorshire, and in passing the small\nvillage of Cilcwm, where my informant lived, begged the blacksmith\nto accompany him to the conjurer who lived in another parish some\ndistance off. The wizard told him that it was such a pity he had\nnot come sooner, \"for,\" said he, \"if you had come to me yesterday,\nI could have saved your third horse, but now it is too late, as the\nanimal is dying. But for the future take this paper and keep it safely\nand you will have your animals protected.\"\n\nI was also informed that farmers came all the way from Herefordshire\nto consult the wise man of Cwrt-y-Cadno.\n\n\n\nSHEEP KILLED BY AN OLD WITCH.\n\nMrs. Edwards, an old woman who lives at Yspytty Ystwyth, in\nCardiganshire, informed me that she knew an old witch who lived in the\nneighbourhood of Ystrad Meurig. One day, this hag saw two shepherds\npassing her cottage on their way to the mountain with some sheep. The\nold woman espied one particular lamb and begged one of the shepherds\nto give the animal to her as a present, but the young man refused\nher request. \"Very well,\" said the witch, \"thou wilt soon loose both\nthe lamb and its mother, and thou shalt repent for thus refusing\nme.\" Before reaching the end of the journey to the mountain, the\nsheep and her lamb died, and it was all put down to the hag's account,\nfor it was believed that she had witched them to death in revenge.\n\n\n\nA SHIP WITCHED.\n\nOn a particular occasion nearly sixty years ago, a large number of\nthe leading gentry and others from all parts of Pembrokeshire went to\nwitness the launch of H. M. Ship \"C\u00e6sar,\" at Pembroke Dock. Among the\ncrowd there was an old woman named \"Betty Foggy\" who was believed to\npossess the power of witching. When Betty noticed a lot of gentry going\nup the steps to the grand stand, she followed suit with an independent\nair; but she was stopped by the police. She struggled hard to have her\nway, but was forced back. She felt very angry that she had to yield,\nand shouted out loudly: \"All right, the ship will not go off,\" but\nthe old hag's threat was only laughed at. The usual formalities were\ngone through, and weights dropped, and amidst cheering the ship began\nto glide away--but not for long, for the \"C\u00e6sar\" soon became to stand\nand remained so till the next tide when she got off by the assistance\nof some ships afloat, and other means. The old witch was delighted,\nand people believed that she was the cause of the failure to launch\nthe ship.\n\n\n\nMILK THAT WOULD NOT CHURN AND THE WITCH.\n\nMany believe, and some still believe, especially in Cardiganshire,\nthat when milk would not churn that witches had cursed it. An old\nwoman at Ystrad Meurig, who was supposed to be a witch, called one\nday at a farm house and begged for butter, but being refused she\nwent away in a very bad temper. The next time they churned the milk\nwould not turn to butter, and they had to throw it out as they were\nafraid of giving it to the pigs. When they were churning the second\ntime again the milk would not turn to butter as usual. But instead\nof throwing out the milk as before, they went to the old woman and\nforced her to come to the farmhouse and undo her spell. She came\nand put her hand on the churn, and the milk successfully turned to\nbutter. My informant was Mrs. Edwards, Ysbytty Ystwyth.\n\n\n\nANOTHER CARDIGANSHIRE STORY OF MILK THAT WOULD NOT TURN TO BUTTER.\n\nThe following account was given me by Mr. Jenkin Williams,\nLlangwyryfon:--\n\nThere was a man and his family living at a cottage called Penlon, a\nsmall place just enough to keep one cow. The name of the man was John\nJones; and on one occasion when he and his wife were trying to churn\nthey failed to do so, or in other words the milk would not turn into\nbutter. At last J. Jones went to Cwrt-y-Cadno, in Carmarthenshire to\nconsult the \"Dyn Hysbys.\" The wizard as he often did, gave the man\na bit of paper with some mystic words on it, and told him not to\nshow it to anybody, as the charm could not work after showing the\npaper to others. As he was passing on his way home through a place\ncalled Cwm Twrch, he met with a woman who accosted him and asked\nhim where he had been to. The man was rather shy, but at last he\nadmitted that he had been to Cwrt-y-Cadno to consult the conjurer,\nand he told the woman everything. \"I well knew,\" said the woman,\n\"You had been to Cwrt-y-Cadno, for only those who go to the conjurer\npass this way; show me the paper which he gave to you, for I am a\ncousin of the conjurer.\" And the man showed it to her. \"The paper is\nalright,\" said she, \"Take it home with you as soon as you can.\" He\nwent home with great joy, but unfortunately the churning still proved\na failure. Instead of undertaking another journey himself again,\nJ. Jones went to his neighbour Jenkin Williams, and begged him to\ngo to the conjurer to obtain another paper for him, and at last\nJ. Williams went. The conjurer, however, was not willing to give\nanother paper without \u00a31 cash for it; but he gave it at last for a\nmore moderate price, when my informant pleaded the poverty of his\nfriend. When Williams asked the wise man what was the reason that the\nmilk would not churn, the reply was that an enemy had cursed it by\nwishing evil to his neighbour. When this second paper was taken home\n(which was not shown to anybody on the road), the milk was churned\nmost successfully, and splendid butter was obtained.\n\nIn some places a hot smoothing iron thrown into the churn was effective\nagainst the witch's doings.\n\n\n\nBURYING THE CHARM.\n\nIn some of the stories I have already given a paper obtained from\na conjurer in the way of charm was considered very effective to\nundo the witch's evil doings; but from the following story, which\nI obtained from David Pugh, Erwlwyd, it seems that it was necessary\nin some cases to bury this bit of paper in the ground. It was also\nthought a few generations ago, that a letter hidden under a stone\nwas a good thing to keep away both witches and evil spirits and to\nsecure good luck to a house.\n\nMany years ago in the neighbourhood of Llandilo, Carmarthenshire,\na young farmer was engaged to be married to a daughter of another\nfarmer; but a few days before the wedding-day the bride and bridegroom\nand their families quarrelled, so that the wedding did not take\nplace. After this, ill-luck attended the young farmer day after day;\nmany of his cattle died till he became quite a poor man very depressed\nin spirit. The young woman who had been engaged to him was a supposed\nwitch so she was suspected of having caused all his misfortunes. His\nfriends advised him to consult a wizard, and he did so, as there\nwas a \"dyn hysbys\" close by at Llandilo, in those days, so it was\nsaid. The wizard informed the farmer that he and his friends were\nright in their suspicions about the young woman, and that his losses\nhad been brought about by her who had once been engaged to be married\nto him. Then the wizard wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed\nit to the young farmer directing him to bury this paper down in the\nground underneath the gate-post at the entrance to his farmyard. The\nyoung man went home and buried the paper as directed by the wizard,\nand from that time forth nothing went wrong.\n\n\n\nPROTECTIVES AGAINST WITCHCRAFT.\n\nMrs. Mary Thomas, Bengal, near Fishguard, informed me that it was\ncustomary when she was young to counteract the machinations of witches\nby killing a mare and take out the heart and open and burn it, having\nfirst filled it up with pins and nails. This compelled the witch to\nundo her work. Mrs. Thomas also added that when the heart was burning\non such occasions the smoke would go right in the direction of the\nwitch's house.\n\nAnother old woman near Fishguard, informed the Rev. J. W. Evans,\na son of the Rector of Jordanston, that she remembered an old woman\nwho was thought to be guilty of witching poor farmers' cattle. At\nlast she was forced to leave the district by the people who believed\nher to be a witch. But soon after she left a cow died, and even her\ncalves were ill. People took out the cow's heart and burnt it, which\nforced the hag to return to heal the calves.\n\n\n\nA FISHGUARD WITCH DISCOMFITED.\n\nAnother way of protecting oneself from witchcraft was to keep a nail\non the floor under the foot when a witch came to the door. Mr. David\nRees, baker at Fishguard, told me a few years ago that there was\nonce a particular witch in that town who was very troublesome, as\nshe was always begging, and that people always gave to her, as they\nwere afraid of offending her. She often came to beg from his mother,\nwho at last, as advised by her friends, procured a big nail from\na blacksmith's shop. She put the nail under her foot on the floor,\nthe next time the old witch came to the door begging. The old hag\ncame again as usual to beg and to threaten; but my informant's mother\nsent her away empty handed, saying, \"Go away from my door old woman,\nI am not afraid of you now, for I have my foot on a nail.\" She kept\nher foot on the nail till the witch went out of sight, and by doing\nso felt herself safe from the old hag's spells.\n\nNails or a horseshoe or an old iron were considered preservatives\nagainst witchcraft.\n\n\n\nA CILCWM STORY.\n\nMr. Theophilus, the old blacksmith, at Cilcwm, in Carmarthenshire,\ntold me that when he was a boy the cattle had been witched by an\nenemy. They would not touch the grass in the field of their own\nfarm; but whenever put in any field of another farm they would\ngraze splendidly. My informant's mother could not understand this,\nand she felt very much distressed about it. At last she took the\nadvice of friends and went to consult the Wizard of Cwrt-y-Cadno,\nwho informed her that an enemy with whom she was well acquainted,\nhad witched her cattle. Then he advised her to go home and buy a\nnew knife, (one that had never been used before), and go directly\nto a particular spot in the field where a solitary \"pren cerdinen\"\n(mountain ash) grew, and cut it with this new knife. This mountain\nash, and some of the cows' hair, as well as some \"witch's butter\"\nshe was to tie together and burn in the fire; and that by performing\nthis ceremony or charm, she should see the person who was guilty of\nwitching her cows, coming to the door or the window of her house. My\ninformant told me that his mother carried out these directions, and\nthat everything happened as the wizard had foretold her. After this,\nthere was nothing wrong with the cows.\n\n\n\nWITCHES AND THE MOUNTAIN ASH.\n\nOf all things to frustrate the evil designs of witches the best was a\npiece of mountain ash, or as it is called in Welsh \"pren cerdinen.\" The\nbelief in mountain ash is very old in Wales, and the tree was held\nsacred in ancient times, and some believe that the Cross of our\nLord was made of it. Witches had a particular dread of this wood,\nso that a person who carried with him a branch of \"pren cerdinen\"\nwas safe from their spells; and it is believed in Wales, as well as\nin parts of England, that the witch who was touched with a branch\nof it was the victim carried off by the devil when he came next to\nclaim his tribute--once every seven years.\n\nI was told a few years ago at Talybont, that many in that part of\nCardiganshire grew mountain ash in their gardens, and that a man\ncarrying home a little pig was seen with a branch of this wood to\nprotect the animal from witchcraft. In South Pembrokeshire many carry\nin their pockets a twig of the mountain ash when going on a journey\nlate at night; and a woman at Llanddewi Brefi, in Cardiganshire,\nMiss Anne Edwards, Penbontgoian, informed me about seven years ago\nthat when she was a child the neighbourhood was full of witches, but\nnothing was so effective against them as the mountain ash; no witch\nwould come near it. A man travelling on horseback, especially at night,\nwas very much exposed to the old hags, and the horse was more so than\neven the man riding the animal; but a branch or even a twig of the\nmountain ash carried in hand and held over the horse's head, protected\nboth the animal and the rider against all the spells of witches. The\nsame woman informed me that on one occasion, the servant man and the\nservant girl of Llanio Isaf, in that parish, were going to the mill\none night, but all of a sudden they found both themselves and their\nhorse and cart right on the top of a hedge. This was the work of the\nwitches. After this, they carried a mountain ash, so as to be safe.\n\nAnother old woman in Pembrokeshire, named Mrs. Mary Williams, Dwrbach,\ninformed me that a notorious old hag who was supposed to be a witch,\nwas coming home on one occasion from Haverfordwest fair, in a cart with\na farmer who had kindly taken her up. As they were driving along the\nroad between Haverfordwest and Walton East, they happened to notice\nthree teams harrowing in a field, and the farmer who was driving the\ncart asked the witch whether she could by her spells stop the teams? \"I\ncould stop two of them,\" said she, \"but the third teamster has a piece\nof mountain ash fast to his whip, so I cannot do anything to him.\"\n\nMrs. Mary Williams also informed me that when she was a little girl\nher mother always used to say to her and the other children on the\nlast day of December: \"Now children, go out and fetch a good supply\nof mountain ash to keep the witches away on New Year's Day,\" and\nbranches of it were stuck into the wall about the door, windows and\nother places outside. Then witches coming to beg on New Year's Day\ncould do no harm to the inmates of the house.\n\nIn Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, and North Pembrokeshire, the\nmountain ash is called \"pren cerdinen,\" but it was once known in the\nSouth of Pembrokeshire, where the people are not of Welsh origin, as\n\"rontree\"; and the name \"rowan\" is still retained in some parts of\nEngland, which is derived according to Dr. Jameson, from the old Norse\n\"runa,\" a secret, or charm, on account of its being supposed to have\nthe power to avert the evil eye, etc.\n\n\n\nDRAWING BLOOD FROM A WITCH.\n\nDrawing blood from a witch by anyone incapacitated the old hag,\nfrom working out her evil designs upon the person who spilt her\nblood. Many years ago a farmer from the neighbourhood of Swyddffynon,\nin Cardiganshire, was coming home late one night from Tregaron,\non horseback. As he was crossing a bridge called Pont Einon (once\nnoted for its witches), a witch somehow or other managed to get up\nbehind him on the horse's back; but he took out his pocket-knife with\nwhich he drew blood from the witch's arm, and he got rid of the old\nhag. After this, she was unable to witch people. My informant was\nMr. John Jones, of Pontrhydfendigaid.\n\n\n\nTHE TRANSFORMATION OF WITCHES.\n\nWitches were supposed to transform themselves into animals, especially\nthat of an hare. And this belief is a very old one, for Giraldus\nCambrensis seven hundred years ago in his \"Topography of Ireland,\"\n(Bonn's edition) says: \"It has also been a frequent complaint, from\nold times as well as in the present, that certain hags in Wales, as\nwell as in Ireland and Scotland, changed themselves into the shape\nof hares, that, sucking teats under this counterfeit form, they might\nstealthily rob other people's milk.\" Tales illustrative of this very\nold belief are still extant in Wales, and John Griffiths, Maenclochog,\nin Pembrokeshire, related to me the story of:\n\n\n\nA WITCH WHO APPEARED IN THE FORM OF AN HARE EVERY MORNING TO A SERVANT\nMAID AT MILKING TIME.\n\nGriffiths informed me that when his mother was young, she was engaged\nas a servant maid at a small gentleman's seat, called Pontfaen, in the\nVale of Gwaun. But whenever she went out early in the morning to milk\nthe cows, an old witch who lived in the neighbourhood always made her\nappearance in the form of an hare, annoying the girl very much. At\nlast she informed her master of it, and at once the gentleman took\nhis gun and shot the hare; but somehow, the animal escaped, though\nhe succeeded in wounding and drawing blood from her. After this, the\nyoung woman went to see the old hag who was supposed to be a witch,\nMaggie by name, and found her in bed with a sore leg.\n\n\n\nA WITCH IN THE FORM OF AN HARE SHOT BY A FARM SERVANT.\n\nThe following tale was told me by a Mrs. Edwards, Ysbytty Ystwyth,\nin Cardiganshire:--\n\nAn old witch who lived at Tregaron, went to Trecefel, a large farm in\nthe neighbourhood, to beg for the use of a small corner of a field to\ngrow some potatoes for herself. The farmer himself was away from home\nat the time, but his wife was willing, as she was afraid of offending\nthe witch. The head servant, however, refused her request, and sent\nher away, which naturally made her very angry, and in departing she\nused threatening words. One day, soon after this, the same servant\nwas out in the field, and he noticed a hare in the hedge continually\nlooking at him, and watching all his movements. It occurred to him at\nlast that this creature was the old witch he had offended, appearing\nin the form of a hare, and somehow or other he had not the least doubt\nin his mind about it, so he procured a gun and fired, but the shot\ndid not inflict any injury on the hare. In the evening, when he met\nsome of his friends at a house in the village, the man servant told\nthem everything about the hare and of his suspicion that she was the\nwitch. One of his friends told him that ordinary shots or bullets were\nno good to shoot a witch with, but that it was necessary for him to\nload his gun with a bent four-penny silver coin. He tried this, and\nthe next time he fired the hare rolled over screaming terribly. Soon\nafter this, people called to see the old woman in her cottage, and\nfound that she had such a wound in her leg that she could hardly\nmove. Dr. Rowland was sent for, and when he came and examined her\nleg he found a fourpenny silver coin in two pieces in it. \"You old\nwitch,\" said he, \"I am not going to take any trouble with you again:\ndeath is good enough for your sort,\" and die she did.\n\nThe possibility of injuring or marking the witch in her assumed form\nso deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her natural form\nwas a common belief.\n\n\n\nA WITCH IN THE FORM OF A HARE HUNTED BY A PEMBROKESHIRE SQUIRE'S\nHOUNDS.\n\nThe following tale was told me by Mrs. Mary Thomas, Bengal, near\nFishguard:--\n\nThe Squire of Llanstinan, was a great huntsman, but whenever he\nwent out with his hounds, a certain hare always baffled and escaped\nfrom the dogs. He followed her for miles and miles, day after day,\nbut always failed to catch the animal. At last the people began to\nsuspect that this hare must have been a witch in the shape of a hare,\nand the gentleman was advised to get \"a horse and a dog of the same\ncolour,\" and he did so. So the next time he was hunting he had a\nhorse and a dog of the same colour, and they were soon gaining ground\non the hare; but when the dog was on the very point of catching the\nanimal, the hare suddenly disappeared through a hole in the door of a\ncottage. The Squire hurried to the spot and instantly opened the door,\nbut to his great surprise the hare had assumed the form of an old\nwoman, and he shouted out: \"Oh! ti Mari sydd yna.\" (It is you Mary!)\n\n\n\nA WITCH IN THE FORM OF A HARE HUNTED IN CARDIGANSHIRE.\n\nMr. Rees, Maesymeillion, Llandyssul, told me the following tale which\nhe had heard from an old woman in the neighbourhood:--\n\nOnce there was a Major Brooks living in the parish of Llanarth, who\nkept hounds and was fond of hunting. One day, he was hunting a hare\nthat a little boy of nine years old had started; but the hare not only\nmanaged to elude her pursuers, but even to turn back and attack the\nhounds. The hunting of this hare was attempted day after day, but with\nthe same results; and the general opinion in the neighbourhood was,\nthat this hare was nothing but an old witch who lived in that part,\nwith whom the huntsman had quarrelled.\n\nAn old man in Carmarthenshire informed me that an old woman known as\nPeggy Abercamles, and her brother Will, in the neighbourhood of Cilcwm,\nin that county were seen running about at night in the form of hares.\n\n\n\nTHE FAMILIAR SPIRIT OF A WITCH SHOT IN THE FORM OF A HARE.\n\nFrom the following story which I heard at Talybont, in North\nCardiganshire, it seems that witches did not always transform\nthemselves. In some cases it was thought that the hare was not the\nwitch herself, but the old hag's Familiar Spirit assuming the shape of\na hare in her stead; but the life of the witch was so closely connected\nwith the Familiar, that when the Familiar was shot, the witch suffered.\n\nThe tale is as follows:--\n\nThere was an old woman at Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, who was supposed\nto be a witch. One day a man in the neighbourhood shot a hare with\na piece of silver coin. At the very time when the hare was shot,\nthe old woman who was a witch was at home washing, but fell into\nthe tub, wounded and bleeding. It was supposed by the people of\nthe neighbourhood that the hare which was shot was the old hag's\nfamiliar spirit.\n\n\n\nMEN CHANGED INTO ANIMALS.\n\nIt is said that an old witch near Ystrad Meurig, in Cardiganshire,\nturned a servant man of a farm called Dolfawr, into a hare on one\noccasion; and into a horse on another occasion and rode him herself.\n\nIn the Mabinogion we have the Boar Trwyth, who was once a King, but\nGod had transformed into a swine for his sins. Nynniaw and Peibaw\nalso had been turned into oxen. And in the topography of Ireland,\nby Giraldus Cambrensis, mention is made of a man and a woman, natives\nof Ossory, who through the curse of one Natalis, had been compelled\nto assume the form of wolves. And while speaking of witches changing\nthemselves into hares the same writer adds: \"We agree, then, with\nAugustine, that neither demons nor wicked men can either create or\nreally change their nature, but those whom God has created can, to\noutward appearance, by His permission, become transformed, so that\nthey appear to be what they are not.\"\n\nIf learned men, like Augustine and Giraldus Cambrensis and others,\nbelieved such stories, it is no wonder that ignorant people did\nso. I am inclined to believe, like the late Rev. Elias Owen, that\nthe transformation fables that have descended to us would seem to\nbe fossils of a pagan faith once common to the Celtic and other\ncognate races.\n\nThe belief in transformation and transmigration has lingered among some\npeople almost to the present day. Mr. Thomas Evans, Gwaralltyryn, in\nthe parish of Llandyssul, informed me that he was well-acquainted with\nan old Ballad singer, who was known as Daniel Y Baledwr. Daniel lived\nnear Castle Howel, and sang at Llandyssul fairs, songs composed by\nRees Jones, of Pwllffein. This ballad-singer told my informant that he\nwas sure to return after death in the form of a pig, or of some other\nanimal; and that an animal had a soul or spirit as well as a man had.\n\n\n\nWIZARDS.\n\nThere were many conjurers in Wales in former times, and even at the\npresent day there are a few who have the reputation of practising\nthe Black Art; for we still hear occasionally of persons taking long\njourneys to consult them, especially in cases of supposed bewitched\ncattle, horses, pigs, etc. I have already given stories of conjurers\ncounteracting the machinations of witches, and delivering both\npeople and animals from their spell. But they were accredited with\nthe power to do many other things beside. They could, it was thought,\ncompel a thief to restore what he had stolen; could also reveal the\nfuture and raise and command spirits.\n\nThe possibility of raising spirits, or to cause them to appear, was\nonce believed in in Wales, even in recent times; and Shakespeare in his\nHenry the Fourth, Act III., S. 1., makes the Welshman, Glendower say:--\n\n\n    \"I can call Spirits from the vasty deep.\"\n\n\nWizards and others who practised magical arts were supposed to be\nable to summon spirits at will; but it seems that some could not\ncontrol the demons after summoning them. An old man at Llandovery,\nnamed Mr. Price, who was once a butler at Blaennos, informed me that\nan old witch at Cilcwm, named Peggy, found it most difficult to control\nthe spirits in the house, and sometimes she had to go out into a field,\nand stand within a circle of protection with a whip in her hand.\n\nConjurers possessed books dealing with the black art, which they\nhad to study most carefully, for it was thought that according to\nthe directions of magical books the spirits were controlled. It\nwas considered dangerous for one ignorant of the occult science to\nopen such books, as demons or familiar spirits came out of them,\nand it was not always easy to get rid of such unearthly beings. An\nold woman at Caio, in Carmarthenshire, informed me that the great\nmodern wizard Dr. Harries, of Cwrtycadno, who lived in that parish,\nhad one particular book kept chained and padlocked. The old woman\nalso added that people were much afraid of this book, and that even\nthe wizard himself was afraid of it, for he only ventured to open\nit once in twelve months, and that in the presence and with the\nassistance of another conjurer, a schoolmaster from Pencader, who\noccasionally visited him. On a certain day once every twelve months,\nDr. Harries and his friend went out into a certain wooded spot not far\nfrom the house, and after drawing a circle round them, they opened the\nchained book. Whenever this ceremony was performed it caused thunder\nand lightning throughout the Vale of Cothi. My informant vouched for\nthe truth of this, and stated that her husband had been a servant\nto Harries.\n\nA wizard in Pembrokeshire, named William Gwyn, of Olmws, Castell Newydd\nBach, with his magic book invoked a familiar spirit. The spirit came\nand demanded something to do; William commanded him to bring some\nwater from the River in a riddle!\n\nIn the 18th century a well-known wizard in the same county was\none John Jenkins, a schoolmaster. But the greatest wizard in the\nbeginning of 19th century was Aby Biddle, of Millindingle, who was\nin league with the evil one or at least many of the people in South\nPembrokeshire believed so. Aby Biddle's real name was Harries; but,\nof course, he was not the same person as Harries of Cwrtycadno, in\nCarmarthenshire. There are still many most curious stories concerning\nhim in South Pembrokeshire, and as typical of other tales, I give the\nfollowing story which appeared a few years ago in \"The Welsh Tit Bits\"\ncolumn of the \"Cardiff Times:\"--\n\n\n\nTHE PRIESTS AND THE HORNETS.\n\nIn the winter of 1803 there was an evening gathering at the ----\nVicarage, which consisted chiefly of clerics, and Aby Biddle was\nof the number of the guests, having been invited as a source of\npastime to help beguile some of the long hours of that forsaken\nspot. Seldom did he go beyond the solemn dingle, but he had been\nprevailed upon on this occasion. Much merriment was expected, nor was\nthe expectation misleading, save that it was entirely at the expense\nof the clerics. The hours glided along gently on the wings of fairy\ntales. The party remained until the small hours of the morning,\nsinging, merry-making, and tale-telling in turn. The conversation\nnow furtively drifted in the direction of occult science. Aby Biddle\nsat near the window. Every now and again as he listened to the words\nmagic and witchcraft and various opinions respecting them, he pulled\nback a corner of the blind and the pale light of the moon flickered\non his countenance, revealing the lines of a retreating smile.\n\nA loquacious young cleric interposed a caustic remark at this point and\nfanned the fire into flame, and the discussion was like to have taken a\nsomewhat lively turn had not a broad-browed divine on whose head rested\nthe snow of full three score winters and ten, sternly rebuked the young\npriest. This divine denounced sorcery and conjuration in unmeasured\nlanguage. Another aged divine of Puritanic air nodded his assent.\n\nAby Biddle said nothing, though some of the company invited him to\nspeak, but played carefully with the fringe of the curtain. During a\nmomentary lull in the conversation, he rose suddenly, paced the room\nfor a minute or two, and disappeared into the lawn. He was not gone\nmany seconds before he returned with three small rings in his hands. He\nheld these up and remarked, \"Gentlemen, we'll see whether conjuring\nis possible or not.\" He placed the rings on the floor, at a distance\nof about a yard apart, and hurriedly left the room, taking care to\nturn the key in the lock on the smooth side of the door. The priests\nturned their gaze intently in the direction of the rings. Suddenly\nthere appeared in one of the rings a fly flitting and buzzing. The fly\ngrew. In half a minute or less it had grown into a monster hornet. No\nsooner had this metamorphosis taken place than it frisked into one\nof the other rings, and another fly appeared in its place. This one\nalso developed into a hornet, giving way, when fully formed, to a\nthird fly. Each ring was now occupied, and the clerics wondered what\nnext would happen. Little time had they for musing, for the third\nfly quickly accomplished its transformation, when the first one left\nthe ring and flew through the room. New hornets appeared in quick and\nquicker succession. The guests became now thoroughly alarmed. Priestly\namusement gave way to pallid amazement. More and more came the dreaded\nhornets, louder and louder their droning hum. They filled the room,\nthey darkened the whitened ceiling, and insinuated themselves into the\nhoary locks of the Puritanic divine so that he yelled hoarsely. It\nwas utter confusion, and all were rushing wildly here and there for\nrefuge or escape, when the conjuror reappeared with a merry laugh,\nand a loud \"Ho! is conjuring possible now, gentlemen?\" The Cloth was\nsoon pacified, the hornets dismissed to their sylvan home, and the\nreputation of the Aby Biddle established as a mighty magician in the\nminds of some noted parsons of Pembrokeshire.\n\n\n\nSIR DAFYDD LLWYD, YSPYTTY YSTWYTH.\n\nAbout two hundred years ago there lived in the neighbourhood of Ysbytty\nYstwyth, in Cardiganshire, a wizard and a medical man, known as Sir\nDafydd Llwyd, who had been a clergyman before he was turned out by\nthe Bishop for dealing in the Black Art. According to \"A Relation\nof Apparitions,\" by the Rev. Edmund Jones, it was thought that he\nhad learnt the magic art privately at Oxford in the profane time\nof Charles II. Like other wizards Sir Dafydd also had a Magic Book,\nfor the Rev. Edmund Jones tells us that on one occasion when he had\n\"gone on a visit towards the Town of Rhaiadr Gwy, in Radnorshire,\nand being gone from one house to another, but having forgotten his\nMagic Book in the first house, sent his boy to fetch it, charging\nhim not to open the book on the way; but the boy being very curious\nopened the book, and the evil Spirit immediately called for work; the\nboy, though surprised and in some perplexity, said, \"Tafl gerrig o'r\nafon,--(throw stones out of the river) he did so; and after a while\nhaving thrown up many stones out of the river Wye, which ran that way,\nhe again after the manner of confined Spirits, asking for something\nto do; the boy had his senses about him to bid it to throw the stones\nback into the river, and he did so. Sir David seeing the boy long in\ncoming, doubted how it was; came back and chided him for opening the\nbook, and commanded the familiar Spirit back into the book.\"\n\n\n\nSIR DAFYDD DEFEATING A RIVAL WIZARD.\n\nAccording to the stories still extant in North Cardiganshire, this\nSir Dafydd Llwyd had a most wonderful control over the demons.\n\nThe following tale was told me by Mr. D. Jones, Bryntirion, Llanilar:\n\nA rival wizard who lived in the neighbourhood of Lampeter, on one\noccasion challenged Sir Dafydd to a contest in the black art, in order\nto prove to the world which of the two wizards was the cleverest in\ncontrolling the demons. On the morning of the appointed day for the\ncontest between the two experts in the black art, Sir Dafydd sent\nhis boy to an elevated spot to have a look round if he could see a\nbull coming from the direction of Lampeter. The boy went, but ran\nback immediately to inform his master that a most savage bull was\napproaching. Off went Sir Dafydd to Craig Ysguboriau, and stood on\nthe spot with his open magic book in his hand. The bull, or rather\na demon in the form of a bull, fiercely attempted to rush at him,\nbut Sir Dafydd compelled him to return whence he came. The animal\nreturned to Lampeter and rushed at once at the Lampeter wizard,\nand killed him. So Sir Dafydd defeated and got rid of his rival.\n\nAnother story I heard at Ysbytty Ystwyth was that one Sunday morning\nwhen Sir Dafydd went to Church, he sent his boy to keep away the crows\nfrom the wheat field; but when he came home he found that the boy had\ncollected all the crows into the barn. Sir Dafydd at once discovered\nthat the boy had learnt the Black Art.\n\nThere is a tradition in the neighbourhood that the body of Sir Dafydd\nlays buried under the wall of Yspytty Ystwyth Churchyard, and not\ninside in the Churchyard itself, and people still believe that this\nis a fact. The story goes that the wizard had sold himself to the\ndevil. The agreement was that the arch-fiend was to have possession\nof Sir Dafydd if his corpse were taken over the side of the bed,\nor through a door, or if buried in a churchyard. In order to escape\nfrom becoming a prey to the Evil One, the wizard on his death-bed\nhad begged his friends to take away his body by the foot, and not\nby the side of the bed, and through a hole in the wall of the house,\nand not through the door, and to bury him, not in the churchyard nor\noutside, but right under the churchyard wall. So that his Satanic\nmajesty, who had been looking forward for the body of Sir Dafydd,\nwas disappointed after all.\n\nThat it was formerly believed that the devil could be out-witted or\ndeceived is evident from the fact that in the Middle Ages it was often\ncustomary to bury an ungodly rich man in the garb of a Monk. This\ncould be done by paying the Monks a certain sum of money.\n\nThere is a story very much like the one I have just given, to\nbe found in the South-Western part of Montgomeryshire. In the\nMontgomeryshire version, however, the wizard is not Sir Dafydd Llwyd,\nbut Dafydd Hiraddug, who had charged his friends, that on his death,\nthe liver and lights were to be taken out of his body and thrown on\nthe dunghill. They were then to take notice whether a raven or a dove\ngot possession of them; if a dove got possession of them, he was to\nbe buried like any other man in the churchyard; but if a raven, then\nhe was to be buried under the wall, and under the wall he was buried,\nas a raven got possession of the liver and lights.\n\nThe devil in disappointment cried out:--\n\n\n   \"Dafydd Hiraddug ei ryw,\n    Ffals yn farw, ffals yn fyw.\"\n\n    (Dafydd Hiraddug, ill-bred\n    False when living, false when dead.)\n\n\nThe dove and the raven play their part in many of the wizards tales. An\nold man from Llandilo, named David Evans, informed me that the wizard\nof Cwrtycadno asked his friends to throw his heart on the dunghill. If\na dove came for it first, he had been a good man; but a raven, a sign\nthat he had been a bad man.\n\nThe appearance of a dove at the time of a death or a funeral was\nregarded as a sure sign that the deceased had been a good man. The\nRev. Edmund Jones in his \"Apparitions,\" referring to the death of\na certain godly man, says that \"Before the body was brought forth,\na white dove came and alighted upon the bier.\"\n\n\n\nWIZARDS RIDING DEMONS THROUGH THE AIR.\n\nIn the present day we hear a great deal about airships; but if we are\nto believe some of the old folk-stories, magicians travelled through\nthe air in days long before anyone had ever dreamt of a balloon. In\nformer times it was believed by the ignorant that a wizard with his\nmagic book could, and did, summon a demon in the shape of a horse,\nand travelled on the back of the fiend through the air. It is said\nthat Sir Dafydd Llwyd of Ysbytty Ystwyth, employed a demon for that\npurpose; and one night when he was riding home from Montgomeryshire\non a demon in the shape of a horse, a boy who rode behind him on the\nsame horse lost one of his garters on the journey. After this the\nboy went to search for his garter, and to his great surprise saw it\non the very top of a tree near the church, which convinced him that\nthe wizard and himself had been riding home through the air!\n\nThere was also at Llanbadarn Fawr, in the same county, about seven\nhundred years ago, a Knight named Sir Dafydd Sion Evan, who was\nsupposed to be taking journeys through the air on a demon-horse. This\nSir Dafydd was at times absent for weeks; and when he returned he was\noften wet with foam and covered with seaweed, or his head and shoulders\nsprinkled with snow, during the heat of summer. At other times he\nwas blackened with smoke and smelling strong of sulphureous fire. On\none occasion when Sir Dafydd had mounted this \"devil-born\" horse,\nand had gone up a considerable height into the air, the horse turned\nhis head and said, \"How I have forgotten Sir Davy Sion Evan; I asked\nnot of the course of thy travel; art thou for steering above wind,\nor below wind\"? \"On Devil-born!\" said Sir Davy, \"and stint prate.\"\n\nSuch tales of wizards riding through the air on demons are to be\nfound in Scotland as well as Wales, and Sir Walter Scott in his\nNotes to the Lay of the Last Minstrel, gives the following story\nconcerning Sir Michael Scott, who was chosen, it is said, to go upon\nan embassy to obtain from the King of France satisfaction for certain\npiracies committed by his subjects upon those of Scotland. Instead\nof preparing a new equipage and splendid retinue, the ambassador\nretreated to his study, opened his book, and evoked a fiend in the\nshape of a huge black horse, mounted upon his back, and forced him\nto fly through the air towards France. As they crossed the sea, the\ndevil insidiously asked his rider what it was that the old women in\nScotland muttered at bedtime? A less experienced wizard might have\nanswered that it was the Pater Noster, which would have licensed the\ndevil to precipitate him from his back. But Michael sternly replied,\n\"What is that to thee? Mount Diabolus, and fly!\" When he arrived\nat Paris, he tied his horse to the gate of the palace, entered,\nand boldly delivered his message. An ambassador with so little of\nthe pomp and circumstances of diplomacy was not received with much\nrespect; and the King was about to return a contemptuous refusal to\nhis demand, when Michael besought him to suspend his resolution till\nhe had seen his horse stamp three times. The first stamp shook every\nsteeple in Paris, and caused all the bells to ring; the second threw\ndown three of the towers of the palace; and the infernal steed had\nlifted his hoof to give the third stamp, when the King rather chose\nto dismiss Michael with the most ample concessions than to stand to\nthe probable consequences.\n\nIt seems that in Eastern countries also, there are traditions of\nmagicians riding through the air, for in the \"Arabian Nights,\" we\nhave the story of the Enchanted Horse.\n\nAn old carpenter, named Benjamin Phillips, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthen,\ninformed me the Wizard of Fos-y-Broga, often caused a demon to appear\nat night in the form of a white bull, on the road near Llanpumpsaint.\n\n\n\nTHE HARRIESES OF CWRTYCADNO, THE POPULAR MODERN WIZARDS.\n\nThe most popular and greatest wizards of modern days were undoubtedly\nthe Harrieses of Cwrtycadno, in Carmarthenshire.\n\nJohn Harries lived at Pantcoy, Cwrtycadno, in the Parish of Caio,\nand died in the year 1839. His sons were also popular conjurers,\none of whom only died about 45 years ago.\n\nHarries was a medical man, an astrologer, and a wizard, and people\ncame to enquire of his oracle from all parts of Wales, and from the\nEnglish borders, especially Herefordshire, and his name was familiar\nthrough the length and breadth of the land. It is said that he had a\nwonderful power over lunatics; could cure diseases; charm away pain;\nprotect people from witches, and foretell future events, etc. Good many\nstories are told of him by old people, and I have already introduced\nhis name in my account of witches.\n\nI was told by an old man, Mr. David Evans, a millwright from Llandilo,\nthat the popularity of Harries as a wizard originated as follows:--A\nyoung woman somewhere in that part of the country was lost, and could\nnot be found after searching for her everywhere; at last her relations\nand friends went to Cwrtycadno to consult Dr. Harries. The wizard\ninformed them that the girl had been murdered by her sweetheart, and\nthat he had hid her body in the earth, under the shades of a tree,\nin the hollow of which they would find a bee's nest. The tree stood\nalone near a brook. The searching party at last came across the spot\nindicated by the conjurer, and here they found the young woman's body\nburied, as the wise man had told them. The young man who had murdered\nthe girl was found, and confessed the crime. When the authorities of\nthe law became aware of these facts, the wizard was brought before\nthe magistrates, at Llandovery, where he was charged with knowing and\nabetting of murder, otherwise he could not have known she was murdered,\nand where she was buried. He was, however, discharged. According to\nthe \"History of Caio,\" by F. S. Price, an interesting book presented\nto me by Lady Hills-Johnes, the wizard told the magistrates (Lloyd,\nGlansevin, and Gwyn, Glanbran), that if they would tell him the hour\nthey were born, he would tell them the hour they would die!\n\n\n\nCWRTYCADNO CONJURER AND SPIRIT RAISING.\n\nI did not hear any stories of Dr. Harries riding demons through the\nair like Sir Dafydd Sion Evan and others; but it was believed, and\nit is still believed by many, that he could and did summon spirits\nto appear. A few years ago when I was allowed to search what is left\nof the Library of Harries, which is still to be seen at Pantcoy,\nwhere he lived, I found a large number of medical books, and Greek\nand Latin works, I also found several books dealing with astrology,\nmagic art, charms, etc.; but the much talked of padlocked volume full\nof demons was last I was told though amongst other curious things I\nfound the following \"Invocation\":--\n\n\n\nHOW TO OBTAIN THE FAMILIAR OF THE GENIUS OR GOOD SPIRIT AND CAUSE\nHIM TO APPEAR.\n\n\"After the manner prescribed by Magicians, the exorcist must inform\nhimself of the name of his Good Genius, which he may find in the Rules\nof the Travins and Philermus; as also, what Chonactes and Pentacle,\nor Larim, belongs to every Genius. After this is done, let him compose\nan earnest prayer unto the said Genius, which he must repeat thrice\nevery morning for seven days before the Invocation.... When the day\nis come wherein the Magician would invocate his prayer to Genius\nhe must enter into a private closet, having a little table and silk\ncarpet, and two waxen candles lighted; as also a chrystal stone shaped\ntriangularly about the quantity of an apple which stone must be fixed\nupon a frame in the centre of the table; and then proceeding with\ngreat devotion to Invocation, he must thrice repeat the former prayer,\nconcluding the same with Pater Noster, etc., and a missale de Spiritu\nSancto. Then he must begin to consecrate the candles, carpet, table\nand chrystal, sprinkling the same with his own blood, and saying:\nI do by the power of the holy Names Aglaon, Eloi, Eloi Sabbathon,\nAnepheraton, Jah, Agian, Jah, Jehovah; Immanuel, Archon, Archonton,\nSadai, Sadai, Jeovaschah, etc., sanctifie and consecrate these holy\nutensils to the performance of this holy work, in the name of the\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Which done, the Exorcist must say\nthe following prayer with his face towards the East, and kneeling with\nhis back to the consecrated table:--O thou blessed Phanael my angel\nguardian, vouchsafe to descend with thy holy influence and presence\ninto this spotless chrystal, that I may behold thy glory, etc. This\nprayer being first repeated towards the East, must be afterwards said\ntowards all the four winds thrice. And next the 70th Psalm repeated\nout of a Bible that hath been consecrated in like manner as the rest of\nthe utensils, which ceremonies being seriously performed, the Magician\nmust arise from his knees and sit before the chrystal bareheaded with\nthe consecrated Bible in his hand and the waxen candle newly lighted\nwaiting patiently and internally for the coming and appearance of\nthe Genius.... Now about a quarter of an hour before the spirit come,\nthere will appear great variety of apparitions within the glass; as\nfirst a beaten road or tract, and travellers, men, and women marching\nsilently along. Next there will be rivers, wells, mountains, and seas\nappear, after that, a shepherd upon a pleasant hill feeding a goodly\nflock of sheep, and the sun shining brightly at his going down; and\nlastly, innumerable flows of birds and beasts, monsters and strange\nappearance, and which will all vanish at the appearance of the Genius.\n\n\"The Genius will be familiar in the stone at the performance of\nthe wizard.\"\n\nThe following story of this Welsh wizard's spirit summoning was\nrelated to me a short time ago by a clergyman who is a native of\nCarmarthenshire, the Rev. J. Phillips, vicar of Llancynfelyn:\n\n\n\nTHE FARMER WHO CONSULTED THE CONJUROR; OR THE FAMILIAR SPIRITS AND\nTHE LOST COWS.\n\nA farmer who lived in the Southern part of Carmarthenshire, lost three\ncows. Having searched in vain for them everywhere, he at last went to\nCwrt-y-Cadno, though he had a very long journey to go. When he arrived\nthere and consulted Dr. Harries, the worthy wizard told him that he\ncould not give him any information concerning his lost cows till next\nday, as he wanted time to consult his magic books. The farmer was a\nlittle disappointed, as he wanted to go home that evening; but under\nthe circumstances there was nothing to be done but try and get a bed\nfor the night at some farm in the neighbourhood. So he left the wizard\nfor the night with the intention of returning to him again in the\nmorning, when he hoped to hear something of his lost cows. But after\ngoing out of the house, he noticed a barn close by, which he entered,\nand found in a corner a heap of straw where he thought he could lie\ndown and sleep comfortably till next morning. This he did unknown to\nthe wizard, who took for granted that the farmer had gone to stay for\nthe night at some house in the neighbourhood. He slept comfortably\nin the barn for a while, but about one o'clock in the morning, he was\nawakened by the sound of the wizard's footsteps entering the place at\nthat untimely hour, with a lantern in his hand. The disturbed farmer\ncould not imagine what he wanted in the barn at this time of the night,\nand he was afraid of being discovered. Presently, however, he noticed\nthe conjurer drawing a circle around himself in the middle of the room;\nthat is the well-known Wizard's Circle. Then he stood right in the\nmiddle of this circle, and having opened a book, he summoned seven\ndemons or familiar spirits to appear, and in an instant they came\none after another and stood outside the circle. Then he addressed or\ncalled out to the first spirit something as follows:--\"Tell me where\nare the farmer's lost cows\"? But the demon answered not. He repeated\nthe question two or three times, but the Familiar was quite dumb. At\nlast, however, it shouted out, 'A pig in the straw' but this was no\nreply to the wizard's question.\n\nHaving failed with the first spirit, the wizard addressed the second\none, and then the third, and so on till he had given the question\nto each one of the familiars except one, without any result; the\nspirits seemed very stupid on this occasion, and would not give the\ninformation required. Fortunately, however, when the question was given\nto the seventh and last of the demons, it shouted out, 'The farmer's\ncows will be on Carmarthen Bridge at 12 o'clock to-morrow.' Then the\nwizard left the barn and went to bed well pleased.\n\nThe farmer who was hiding in the straw heard everything, and made\nup his mind to travel to Carmarthen at once, so as to be there in\ntime to find his cows on the Bridge. So off he went to Carmarthen,\nand reached the Bridge just at 12 o'clock, and to his great joy the\ncows were there. Then he drove them home, but when he had gone about\nhalf-a-mile from the Bridge, the cows fell down as if half dead on\nthe roadside, and in vain did he try to get them to move forward any\nfurther. So he had to go all the way to Cwrt-y-Cadno again, so as to\nconsult what to do. When he arrived there \"Serve thee right,\" said\nthe wizard to him, \"I have cast a spell on thy cattle for running\naway secretly last night from the barn without paying me for the\ninformation obtained from the spirits.\"\n\nThen the farmer gave the wizard a certain sum of money and returned\nto his three cows which he had left on the road half-a-mile from\nCarmarthen Bridge; and to his great joy the cows went home without\nany further trouble.\n\n\n\nA FAMILIAR SPIRIT IN THE SHAPE OF A DOG AND THE LONELY NIGHT TRAVELLER.\n\nOn one occasion a certain man from Cilcwm, was on a visit in the\nneighbourhood of Cwrtycadno. When he started to return home it was\ngetting rather late, and he had a long journey to go through a lonely\nmountainous country. The wizard, Dr. Harries, asked him if he was\nafraid of such a journey over the mountain in the depth of night. The\nman confessed that he did not like such a journey at that late hour\nwithout a single soul to accompany him, but that he was obliged to\ngo home that night without fail; and so he proceeded on his way. As\nhe journeyed along, the darkness of night overtook him on his way\nover the mountain, but to his great surprise, when he looked around\nhim, he noticed a black dog following him, or rather walking by his\nside. The dog was very friendly, and the lonely traveller felt glad\nof the animal's company. So on they went together; but when they\nwere nearing his home the dog vanished suddenly into nothing. The man\nwas quite convinced that the dog was nothing but a familiar Spirit,\nin the shape of a dog, sent by the wizard to bear him company in his\nlonely night journey.\n\nThe above story was related to me by the Rev. J. Phillips, vicar\nof Llancynfelyn.\n\n\n\nCONJURERS AND LUNATICS.\n\nAbout one hundred years ago there lived in the neighbourhood of\nPencader, a wizard, named Phillips, who was very successful in curing\nlunatics. On one occasion, an old woman from Tregroes, near Llandyssul,\ntook her son to him who had been insane from his birth. The wise man\nblew into the young man's face, and informed his mother that he would\nbe sane for twenty years, and so it happened; but after twenty years\nhe became insane again as the wizard had predicted.\n\nMy informant was Mr. Rees, Maesymeillion, in the parish of Llandyssul,\nwhose father's uncle remembered the lunatic.\n\nThe wizard of Cwrt-y-Cadno was also very successful in curing\nlunatics. He would take the insane to the brink of the river and\nfire an old flint revolver which would frighten his patient to such\na degree that he fell into the pool.\n\n\n\nWIZARDS REVEALING THE FUTURE.\n\nIt was believed that conjurers could tell fortunes, or reveal the\nhidden future, and a good many, especially young people, consulted\nthem.\n\nThe following is a copy of a card which Harries of Cwrt-y-cadno\ndistributed:--\n\n\n\n\"NATIVITY CALCULATED.\"\n\nIn which are given the general transactions of the Native through life,\nviz:--Description (without seeing the person), temper, disposition,\nfortunate, or unfortunate in their general pursuits; honour, riches,\njourneys, and voyages (success therein, and what places best to travel\nto, or reside in); friends, and enemies, trade, or profession best\nto follow; whether fortunate in speculation, viz: Lottery, dealing\nin Foreign Markets, etc., etc., etc. Of marriage, if to marry.--The\ndescription, temper, and disposition of the person, from whence,\nrich or poor, happy or unhappy in marriage, etc., etc. Of children,\nwhether fortunate or not, etc., etc., deduced from the influence of\nthe Sun and Moon, with the Planetary Orbs at the time of birth. Also,\njudgment and general issue in sickness and diseases, etc.\n\nBy Henry Harries.\n\n\"All letters addressed to him or his father, Mr. John Harries,\nCwrtycadno, must be post paid, or will not be received.\"\n\n\n\nA CONJURER SHOWING A YOUNG MAN HIS FUTURE WIFE.\n\nHarries, Cwrtycadno, had a magic glass, so it is said, into which\na person looked when he wished to know or see the woman he was to\nmarry. A young man named Phillips, once had gone from the parish of\nLlanllawddog, to Cwrtycadno, to show Dr. Harries some of his father's\nurine, which he took with him in a small bottle, as the old man was\nvery ill. Harries examined it, and told the young man that his father\nwould never get well again. The young man now decided to return home as\nsoon as he could through Abergorlech, and Brechfa, where he intended\nstaying for the night, as the journey was a long one. Just before\nhe departed, however, Harries asked him, \"By the way young man,\nwould you like me to tell your fortune? I'll do it for 2s. 6d.\";\nand so it was agreed. The conjurer had a large looking glass, the\nMagician's Glass, which was covered with a large board. He took off\nthis covering, and told the young man to look into the glass. so as\nto see his future wife. He did look stedfastly as he was directed,\nand saw in the glass the form of a young woman passing by. Meanwhile,\nthe wizard himself had entered alone into a little side room, where\nhe was speaking loudly to a familiar Spirit, or something; but he\nsoon returned to the young man and asked him, \"Did you see anything\nin the glass?\" \"Yes, I saw a young woman.\" \"Did you know her?\" \"No. I\nhad never seen her before: she was a perfect stranger to me.\" \"Well,\"\nsaid the conjurer, \"whether you have met her or not, that young woman\nyou saw in the glass is to be your future wife.\"\n\nSometime after this, the young man and his brother, both being\ncarpenters, were one day working on the roof of a house which had\nbeen damaged by a storm, and it so happened that some woman and\nher daughter, who were passing by, came to speak to them. When the\nwomen had gone away out of hearing, the young man, who had been to\nCwrtycadno, said to his brother in surprise: \"That young girl was\nthe very one I saw in the Wizard's Magic Glass.\" This was their first\nacquaintance, and by and by they were married. My informant was their\nown son who is a carpenter, and lives about a mile from Bronwydd Arms\nStation, in Carmarthenshire. His name is Benjamin Phillips.\n\n\n\nANOTHER SIMILAR TALE.\n\nAbout sixty years ago, Isaac Isaac, Tyllain, Llanarth, in\nCardiganshire, went to Harries, Cwrtycadno, to consult him about\nsomething. The wise man was at the time busy with his harvest,\nand he asked Isaac to be as kind as to help him a little for\ntelling his fortune, and he did so. As they were working together\non the field. Harries asked the young man if he intended going to\nLondon? Isaac said, no, but that he had a letter in his pocket he\nwanted to forward to London. Then Harries took the young man to the\nhouse and showed him his future wife in a magic glass. He recognised\nher at once as the young woman to whom he was already engaged,\nand whom he finally married, though much against the wishes of the\nyoung lady's parents. My informant was Mr. Watkin Evans, Blaenpark,\nan old man who lives in the parish of Llanarth.\n\n\n\nTHE WIZARD OF CWRTYCADNO FORETELLING THE FUTURE DESTINY OF A NEW\nBORN CHILD.\n\nOwen Evans, Maesydderwen, near Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, an old\nman of 90 years of age, informed me about four years ago that on\none occasion, long ago, when a baby, a girl, was born to him and\nhis wife, he went to Dr. Harries, Cwrtycadno, to consult him about\nthe future destiny of the child. The conjurer spoke to him something\nas follows:--\"I hope you will not be distressed when you hear what\nis going to happen to your dear child; but the truth of it is, she\nwill have a very narrow escape from drowning at the age of four,\nand death awaits her at the age of twenty!\" My informant then went\non to tell me with tears in his eyes, that everything took place\nexactly as Harries told him. His dear girl at the age of four one\nday, whilst playing and running along the river side (River Cothy),\nfell over the banks into the water and nearly got drowned. After this,\nshe never enjoyed good health, and at the age of twenty she died!\n\nOwen Evans informed me that when he went to Cwrtycadno, several other\nmen accompanied him there, and one of them was named John Lloyd, who\nwas a perfect stranger to Dr. Harries. But the wise man through his\nknowledge of the occult science, was able to tell this stranger that\nhe had a mole on his head, and had met with an accident on his leg,\nwhich was true. My informant also added that the wizard \"set great\nimportance on the Planet under which a man was born.\"\n\nMr. Thomas Davies, Penybont, Llanddewi Brefi, over 90 years of age,\nvouched for the truth of the following account:--Many years ago,\nWiliam Davies, Pistill Gwyn Bach, Llanddewi Brefi, in Cardiganshire,\nhad lost some money, and could not find it, so he went to Cwrtycadno,\nto consult Dr. Harries about it. The Conjurer told him where to find\nthe money, and warned him to keep away from fairs, lest some accident\nshould befall him. Wiliam was very careful for a time, but at last a\nson of his got married, and persuaded him to accompany him to a fair\nat Lampeter. He went, and was thrown down by a horse, and died in a\nfew days.\n\nIt is said in the neighbourhood of Caio that Dr. Harries had foretold\nthe death of the Late Lamented Judge Johnes, of Dolaucothy, about\nthirty years before it took place. Mr. Johnes, who was highly\nrespected, was cowardly murdered by a native of Ireland in 1876.\n\nMr. D. Owen (Brutus), in his book \"Brutusiana\" which was published\nin 1840, condemns the wizard for his fortune telling:\n\n\n   \"The first day of winter.\n    Severe is the weather,\n    Unlike the first Summer,\n    None but God can foresee what is to come.\"\n\n                              Druidical \"Warrior Song.\"\n\n\n\nPREDICTION CONCERNING THE DEATH OF HIS LATE MAJESTY KING EDWARD.\n\nAccording to Mr. Arthur Mee, Cardiff, in the \"Western Mail,\" May,\n1910, astrologers who make a study of national forecasts, had predicted\nthe death of the late King.\n\n\n\nSIR RHYS AP THOMAS CONSULTING A WIZARD CONCERNING KING HENRY VII.\n\nWhen the Earl of Richmond (afterwards Henry VII.) was about to land\nin Wales from France on his way to Bosworth, Sir Rhys Ap Thomas,\nconsulted a well-known wizard and prophet, who dwelt at Dale, as to\nwhether the Earl would be successful to dethrone Richard III. After\nmuch hesitation, and at the urgent demand of Sir Rhys, the Conjurer\non the next day prophesied in rhyme as follows:--\n\n\n   \"Full well I wend, that in the end\n    Richmond, sprung from British race.\n    From out this land the boare shall chase.\"\n\n\nThe \"Boare\" meant Richard III. See \"Life of Sir Rhys Ap Thomas,\"\nby M. E. James, page 49.\n\n\n\nTHE CONJURER AND THE LOST OX.\n\nMr. Thomas Jones, Brunant Arms, Caio, gave me the following account of\nwhat took place about 55 years ago, when his father lived at Penlifau,\nin the parish of Cilcwm, on the mountain side, and near the road which\nleads over the mountain from Cilcwm to Cwmcothi. A young farmer who\nlived at a place called Foshwyaid, Cwm Du, near Talley, has taken some\ncattle to Caio fair, in the month of August. Somehow or other, one of\nhis oxen went astray from the Fair, and could not be seen anywhere\nin the neighbourhood. The young farmer and others went in every\ndirection in search of the animal, but returned disappointed. At last,\nthe man went to Cwrtycadno, to consult the \"Dyn Hysbys.\" The wise man\ninformed him that his ox had wandered away from the Fair, at first in\na northernly, and afterwards in an easterly direction, \"and\" said he,\n\"if you take the road leading from here over the mountain to Cilcwm,\nyou will meet a man (the conjurer gave a description of the man)\nwho is likely to know something, or at least give you some clue to\nyour lost animal.\"\n\nThe young farmer then went on his way, and after proceeding for some\ndistance, he did meet a man as the conjurer had told him, and he told\nhim all his troubles. Now this very man happened to be my informant's\nfather who lived close by. Mr. Jones sympathised very much with the\nyoung farmer, and though a stranger, invited him home with him to\nget something to eat, and he accordingly went, and at the house,\nthey talked together for some time. At last, the young farmer had\nto proceed again on his journey, rather disappointed, as his new\nfriend who had showed every kindness, could give him no information\nabout his lost ox. Jones went with him for a short distance, just to\nshow him a path (a short cut) leading from the house to the road; and\nafter bidding each other farewell, they parted. But before the young\nfarmer had gone far, Jones called him back, and informed him that he\nhad just recollected hearing some men, when coming home from Cilcwm\nChurch last Sunday, talking together about some new ox which they had\nnot noticed before in the field or yard of Tim. Davies, Gweungreuddyn\n(a path from the Church went close by T. D.'s farm). When he heard\nthis bit of news from Jones, off he went at once as fast as he could\ngo to Mr. Timothy Davies; and to his great joy, when he arrived\nthere, found his stray animal quite safe in the \"ffald.\" The local\nauthorities had discovered the ox wandering about the country; but\nbefore the young farmer was allowed to take his animal home with him,\nthe sum of seven shillings was to be paid for faldage. The young man\nwent back to Jones, obtained the loan of seven shillings which he\nrepaid honestly after arriving home with his ox.\n\nMy informant also added that the conjurer had addressed the same young\nfarmer as follows:--\"My poor fellow, you are in great sorrow,\" \"No\"\nsaid the farmer, \"Yes\" said the conjurer again, \"you have buried your\nmother a few weeks ago.\" The man then confessed that this was quite\ntrue. The wise man added, \"A more melancholy event still awaits you\nat the end of twelve months.\" And at the end of twelve months the\nyoung farmer himself died!\n\nWatkin Evans, Blaenpark, informed me that a farmer in the parish of\nDihewyd, Cardiganshire, found a harrow which he had lost by consulting\na conjurer.\n\nOne John Evans, of Llanddarog, in Carmarthenshire, 85 years ago, lost\na bull, but he found the animal at Morfa, Kidwelly, by consulting\na conjurer.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CONJURER AND THE LOST HORSE.\n\nAn old farmer, Mr. David Pugh, Erwlwyd, near Caio, Carmarthenshire,\ntold me the following story a few years ago, and vouched for the\ntruth of it:--\n\nA friend of Mr. Pugh had lost a horse, and after searching in\nvain for the animal for a whole fortnight, he was at last advised\nto go to consult the \"Dyn Hysbys.\" He rather hesitated at first,\nbut he, however, went. The man was a farmer in the neighbourhood of\nLlandovery, but my informant did not wish to mention his name. The\nWizard, Harries, of Cwrtycadno, consulted his oracles, but did not\nknow what reply to give to the farmer at first about his animal. \"Do\ntell me\" said the farmer most earnestly, \"what has become of my horse,\nor who has taken away the animal? It is such a loss to me to lose such\na fine steed.\" Presently, the wizard informed him that a certain man\n(whom he described) had found the horse on the road, and caught the\nanimal and tied him to a tree which was close by. After a while, this\nstranger took him home quietly and closed him in his own stable, fully\nmaking up his mind to sell the horse at the first opportunity. \"And\nI am almost certain he'll succeed in doing so,\" added the conjurer,\n\"I am afraid you'll never see your horse again.\" \"Can you do something\nto prevent the thief selling my horse\"? asked the farmer. \"Yes,\"\nreplied the wizard. The wise man then took some paper or parchment\non which he inscribed some magic word, or words, and gave it to the\nfarmer, telling him that so long as the parchment was kept safely\nin his pocket, the thief could not succeed in selling the horse at\nthe fair. \"But what can I do to find my stolen horse\"? \"Watch on the\nroad next Friday, near Glanbran, and I feel almost certain that you\nwill And your horse before the day is over, grazing on the roadside\nsomewhere in that neighbourhood.\"\n\nThe farmer then departed with the magic paper safely in his pocket,\nand when Friday came, he watched on the road, and to his great joy\nand surprise, he found the horse near Glanbran. Just as he mounted the\nanimal to go home, a young man who passed by, told him that a few days\nago, he had seen this very horse offered on sale at Rhayader fair,\nbut that the man who was trying to sell him failed to do so!\n\n\n\nA LLANFAIR CLYDOGAU WIZARD.\n\nMr. Walter Evans (Pentre-Richard), in the Parish of Llanddewi Brefi,\ninformed me a few years ago, before he died, that some years ago,\nwhen he lost some sheep, a conjurer who lived on Llanfair mountain,\ndirected or pointed out to him where to find them, and that they were\nfound two days afterwards in some water nearly drowning as the wise\nman had said. This Llanfair Clydogau conjurer only died about nine\nyears ago, and until he died people consulted him from the surrounding\ndistricts of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire.\n\nThe best service rendered by conjurers to society was to help people\nto discover thieves, and the superstitious often restored what they\nhad stolen through fear.\n\nOn one occasion a man who was often losing potatoes from the field went\nto Harries, Cwrtycadno, who was a terror to thieves. The conjurer\nshowed him the thief in a magic glass, which enabled the man to\ndiscover who the culprit was. In another potato tale, the wise man,\nby means of his magic art forced the thief to appear at his house\nand confess his guilt.\n\n\n\nTHE WIZARD OF LLANPUMPSAINT AND THE DUCKS OF ALLTYFERIN.\n\nMr. Griffiths, of 'Rhenallt, an old farmer near Carmarthen, informed me\nabout six years ago that long ago when he was a young man, he was once\na servant at Alltyferin. Ducks were continually lost at the farm, and\nhis master who suspected a neighbour as the thief, sent Griffiths with\na letter to a conjurer who lived at Fosybroga. The wise man sent a note\nin reply giving a full description of the thief, and he was caught.\n\nA woman in Pembrokeshire, who had lost a most valuable picture,\nconsulted a well-known wizard, who showed her a picture of the thief\nin a magic glass. She recognised the culprit at once as one of her\nintimate friends. The wizard then wrote the name of the thief on a\npiece of paper, and pierced it with a needle, and informed his client\nthat if the picture was not restored to her within half an hour the\nthief would be eaten up of a strange disease.\n\n\n\nWIZARD MARKING THE CULPRITS.\n\nIt was believed in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, that Harries,\nCwrtycadno, could mark out thieves, and also persons who had an\n\"Evil Eye,\" by causing a horn to grow out of their foreheads. A man in\nTregaron had witched a woman, but the conjurer marked the mischievous\nperson by putting a horn on his head.\n\nA farmer from the parish of Llangwyryfon, in Cardiganshire, whose\ncattle had been witched by a neighbour who had an evil eye, went to\nLlangurig in Montgomeryshire, to consult, a well-known conjurer who\nonly died a few years ago. The Wizard for the payment of 10s. showed\na picture of the offender in a magic mirror, and offered to cause\nhim to die of a strange disease. The farmer begged the conjurer not\nto do that; that he did not desire to kill his enemy, only to punish\nhim, and he was punished. My informant was a farmer who lives near\nTalybont, Cardiganshire.\n\nThis Llangurig wizard was continually consulted by clients from\nMontgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Radnorshire, and other counties. Not\nlong ago, there was also a conjurer at Llanidloes, in the same county\n(Montgomeryshire), who was consulted on all cases of cursed fields,\nbewitched cattle, horses, pigs, churns, backward lovers, bewitched\nwomen, etc.\n\n\n\nA WIZARD AND THE YOUNG MAN WHO HAD BEEN CURSED.\n\nAn old man named Evan Morris, who lives at Goginan, near Aberystwyth,\ninformed me that about 60 years ago, a young man in that neighbourhood\nwas struck dumb all of a sudden, that he could not utter a word. As he\nhad neither been ill nor met with an accident it was suspected that\nhe had been witched by some neighbour. So his father at last went\nover the mountain to Llangurig, about twenty miles off, to consult a\nwell-known wizard named \"Savage.\" The wizard opened his magic book,\nfrom which out came a big fly, buzzing or making a humming noise,\nboom, boom, boom, near the conjurer's face, who exclaimed, \"What is\nthe matter with this old fly?\" The wise man then struck the insect\nwith his hand and commanded it back into the book, and closed the\nvolume; but he opened it again at another page, and out came another\nfly of a different colour. This fly again was buzzing till the wizard\ncommanded it back into the book, which he now closed altogether; and\naddressing the man who had come to consult him, said to him: \"You have\nsuspected a certain man in your neighbourhood of having witched your\nson; but you are wrong; another man whom you do not suspect is the\nguilty. But your son has not been witched at all; he is under a curse.\"\n\nWelsh conjurers made a distinction between witchcraft and a\ncurse. Thomas Jones, of Pontrhydfendigaid, informed me that a conjurer\nat Llangurig, named Morgans, told him once, that some men who were\nborn under certain planets, possessed an inherent power of cursing,\n\"and their curse,\" said he, \"is worse than witchcraft itself.\"\n\nWhen the man returned home from the conjurer, to his great joy and\nsurprise, he found his son able to speak. My informant vouches for\nthe truth of the story, and added that this conjurer was so deep in\nthe Black Art that he could do almost anything.\n\n\n\nMERLIN.\n\nI have in the preceding pages given some instances of modern and\nmedi\u00e6val magicians or wizards; but divination astrology and magic\nin this country are of very ancient date. The names of Idris Gawr,\nGwyddion, the Diviner by Trees, and Gwyn, the son of Nud, have come\ndown to us from prehistoric times. So great was these three's knowledge\nof the stars, that they could foretell whatever might be desired to\nknow until the day of doom. In Welsh Mythology, several even of the\nkingly families are represented as playing the role of magicians,\nespecially Rhiannon, the daughter of Heveydd Hen. Math Ap Mathonwy,\nKing of Gwynedd, could form a maiden out of flowers, and transform\nmen into deers and wolves, etc. But, perhaps, the greatest of all the\nwizards was Myrddin, or Merlin as he is known among English readers,\nwho lived about the beginning of the sixth century. Myrddin was born\nin the neighbourhood of Carmarthen, or at least so it is believed;\nand it is also believed that the meaning of Carmarthen is Myrddin's\ntown, and the people of Carmarthen to this day feel proud of such\na famous prophet who was born in their town. Merlin (or Myrddin)'s\nfame spread throughout all the Western parts of Europe, if not to\nother parts of the world, and his mighty magic adorned the tales\nof romance, and in the tenth century one eminent scholar on the\nContinent, went as far as to write, a commentary on his prophecies\nor prognostications. But to confine ourselves to Welsh writers,\nwe have some account of Merlin by Nennius in the eighth century,\nand by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth.\n\nGeoffrey says:--\"Vortigern, after the infamous treachery of the long\nknives, retreated to Mount Erir--which is Eryri, or snowden--and here\nhe ordered the building of a great tower of defence, whose foundations,\nhowever, were swallowed up by the earth as fast as they were filled\nin.\" The Magicians, on hearing this, said he must procure the blood of\n\"a youth that never had a father,\" and sprinkle it on the stones and\nmortar. Vortigern, accordingly, sent messengers to different parts of\nthe country in search of such a youth; and \"in their travels they came\nto a city, called, afterwards, Caermerdin, where they saw some young\nmen playing before the gate, and went up to them; but being weary\nwith their journey, they sat them down there.... Towards evening,\nthere happened on a sudden a quarrel between two of the young men,\nwhose names were Merlin and Dalbutius. In the dispute, Dalbutius said\nto Merlin, 'As for you, nobody knows what you are, for you never had\na father.' At that word the messengers looked earnestly upon Merlin,\nand asked who he was. They learnt it was not known who was his father,\nbut that his mother was daughter to the King of Dimetia, and that\nshe lived in St. Peter's Church, among the nuns of the city.\"\n\nMerlin and his mother at the request of the messengers accompanied\nthem from Carmarthen to Snowdon to the presence of King Vortigern;\nand when the boy was asked who was his father, his mother in reply\ngave a very peculiar account of the birth of her son, whose father she\ndeclared was a supernatural being, and so had no human father. Then\nthe King said to Merlin, \"I must have thy blood.\" And when the youth\nasked the King what good could his blood be more than the blood of\nany other man, he was informed in reply that the twelve wise men\nor bards had suggested the blood of a youth in order to make the\nbuilding stand. Then Merlin asked the bards or magicians what was\nthe real cause that the building of the tower was not a success? But\nthey could give no answer. Young Merlin now upraided them for their\nignorance and the cruelty of their suggestion. He then gave orders to\ndig the ground, and when this was done a lake was discovered. Merlin\ndrained this lake, and at the bottom, as he had predicted, a stone\nchest was discovered in which there were two sleeping dragons. These,\nwhenever they awoke, fought with each other, and their violence shook\nthe ground, thus causing \"the work to fall.\" When the King commanded\nthe stone chest to be opened the two dragons came out and began a\nfierce battle. One of these dragons was white and the other red. At\nfirst the white dragon drove the red one to the middle of the pool,\nthen the red one, provoked to rage, drove the white one thither in\nturn. When the King asked what this should signify, Merlin exclaimed\nas follows:--\"Woe to the red dragon for her calamity draws nigh,\nand the white dragon shall seize on her cells. By the white dragon\nthe Saxons are signified, and the Britons by the red one, which the\nwhite shall overcome. Then shall the mountains be made plains, and\nthe glens and rivers flow with blood. The Saxons shall possess almost\nall the island from sea to sea, and afterwards our nation shall arise,\nand bravely drive the Saxons beyond the sea.\" Nennius, chap. 43.\n\nThe old King Vortigern then left the neighbourhood of Snowdon, and\nremoved to South Wales, and built a fort or a Castle on a spot known\nto this day as Craig Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigern's Rock, near Llandyssul\nand Pencader.\n\nThe white and the red dragons respectively symbolised the Celtic and\nSaxon races, and Merlin's prophecy concerning the final overthrow of\nthe Saxons by the Britons made a deep and lasting impression on the\nminds of the Welsh people for ages, and even nearly nine hundred\nyears after Merlin's time. Owen Glyndwr found these prophecies\nhighly instrumental in his favour when fighting against the\nEnglish. According to a little book which I have in my possession\nentitled, \"Prophwydoliaeth Myrddin Wyllt,\" (Merlin's prophecy), one\nOwen Lawgoch, who is tarrying in a foreign land, is to drive out the\nSaxons, and become King under the title of Henry the ninth. Welshmen of\nthe present day, however, believe that Merlin's prophecy was fulfilled\nin the year 1485, when Henry VII., a Welshman leading a Welsh army\nto Bosworth Field, became King of England.\n\nThere are also many prophecies here and there attributed to Merlin;\nsome of which have been fulfilled, and others to be fulfilled in the\nfuture. He had foretold even of the railway train running along the\nVale of Towy, which prediction has proved true:\n\n\n   \"Fe ddaw y gath a'r wenci ar hyd Glan Towi i lawr;\n    Fe ddaw y milgi a'r llwynog i Aberhonddu fawr.\"\n\n   \"The cat and the weasel shall come down along the banks of Towy;\n    The greyhound and the fox shall come into the town of Aber honddu,\"\n\n                                                               (Brecon).\n\n\nIt is believed that the train has fulfilled these sayings.\n\nIn the Vale of Towy, near Abergwili, there is a large stone in a\nfield belonging to Tyllwyd farm. I went to see it myself, and several\npeople in the neighbourhood informed me that a young man was killed\nwhen digging under this stone in search of hidden treasure, and that\nMerlin had prophesied about this.\n\nAccording to another prophecy of Merlin a fearful catastrophe awaits\nthe town of Carmarthen:--\n\n\n   \"Llanllwch a fu,\n    Caerfyrddin a sudd,\n    Abergwili a saif.\"\n\n    (Llanllwch has been,\n    Carmarthen shall sink,\n    Abergwili shall stand).\n\n\n   \"Caerfyrddin, cei oer fore,\n    Daear a'th lwnc, dwr i'th le.\"\n\n    (Carmarthen, thou shalt have a cold morning,\n    Earth shall swallow thee, water into thy place).\n\n\nThe people of the neighbourhood even to this very day, more than\nhalf believe that Carmarthen is to sink. At the end of a long street\nin that town there is an old tree known as Merlin's Tree, in a very\nwithered condition. Every care is taken to protect it from falling,\nas Merlin had prophesied that when this tree shall tumble down,\nthe town of Carmarthen shall sink.\n\n\n   \"When Merlin's Tree shall tumble down.\n    Then shall fall Carmarthen town!\"\n\n                         (A Prophecy of Merlin).\n\n\nAccording to another prophecy attributed to the same ancient wizard,\nCarmarthen is to sink when Llyn Eiddwen, a lake in Cardiganshire,\ndries up.\n\nIt is said that Merlin had predicted that a bull would go right to\nthe top of the tower of St. Peter's Church, Carmarthen, and that a\ncalf fulfilled this prophecy.\n\nMy cousin, the Rev. Joseph Evans, the Rector of Jordanston, in\nPembrokeshire, informed me a few years ago that one mile from the\ntown of Fishguard, there is a farm called Tregroes, respecting which\nMerlin prophesied that it would be in the middle of the town some\nday. There are now signs that this ancient prophecy is likely to be\nfulfilled. September 4th, 1909, the Royal Mail Ship, Mauretania, the\nfinest and fastest liner afloat, inaugurated the new Transatlantic\nService from New York to Fishguard, so that there is a great future\nbefore the place as indicated by Merlin of old. It is also interesting\nto note that the captain of the Mauretania was a Welshman (Pritchard),\nand the first passenger to land was also a Welshman, named Mr. Jenkin\nEvans, brother to the Rector of Jordanston.\n\nI have been informed that a relation of the Chancellor of the\nExchequer, lives at this very house respecting which Merlin had\nprophesied.\n\nGeneral Gwynne, a fine old gentleman I met a short time ago at the\nhouse of my genial friend, Col. Gwynne-Hughes, of Glancothy, wrote\nto me as follows respecting another remarkable prophecy of Merlin\nand its fulfilment:--\n\n\n   \"Glancothy, Carmarthenshire, Oct. 12, 1909.\n\n    Dear Mr. Davies,--\n\n\n    I have heard you are writing a book on the Folk-Lore of\n    Wales. Perhaps the following may be of use to you.\n\n    Some time in the forties, when I was at the College at Llandovery,\n    my sister, Madam ---- speaking of our old property Glanbran,\n    at that time mortgaged, said, there is an old Welsh saying\n    attributed to Merlin to the effect that the Gwynnes should be at\n    Glanbran until a man standing at Dover could speak to another at\n    Calais. Years after, when I was in India, about the year when the\n    telephone or telegraph was perfected between France and England,\n    a document was sent out to me for my signature, which was my\n    final release to the Glanbran Estate as the youngest son of the\n    late Col. Sackville Gwynne of Glanbran Park.\n\n\n    Yours sincerely,\n    NADOLIG GWYNNE.\n\n\nAccording to Giraldus Cambrensis, Merlin had prophesied that a\nKing of England and Conqueror of Ireland, should die in crossing\n\"Llechllafar,\" a stone of great size which was placed across the\nstream dividing the cemetery of St. David's from the north side of\nthe Church to form a bridge. When Henry II. passed over it on his\nreturn from Ireland a frantic woman called upon Llechllafar to kill\nhim according to Merlin's prophecy.\n\n\"The King, who had heard the prophecy, approaching tie stone, stopped\nfor a short time at the foot of it, and, looking earnestly at it,\nboldly passed over; then, turning round, and looking towards the stone,\nthus indignantly inveighed against the prophet: 'Who will hereafter\ngive credit to the lying Merlin?' A person standing by, and observing\nwhat had passed, in order to vindicate the injury done to the prophet,\nreplied, with a loud voice, 'Thou art not that King of whom Ireland\nis to be conquered, or of whom Merlin prophesied!'\"\n\nAccording to an ancient tradition, this stone spoke or groaned once\nwhen a corpse was carried over it.\n\nI was informed by many persons who live in the neighbourhood of\nAbergwili, near Carmarthen, that Merlin was such a giant that he\ncould jump over the Vale of Towy.\n\n\n\nMERLIN'S FATE.\n\nThe end or final fate of Merlin is surrounded by mysteries. A few years\nago when I was staying in the neighbourhood of Carmarthen, Merlin's\nHill (Bryn Myrddin) was pointed out to me where the great magician\nstill lives (so they say) in a cave in that hill, and held there in\nimprisonment by an artful woman who contrived his disappearance from\namong human beings. Moreover, it is added, that if you listen in the\ntwilight, you will hear his groans, and also the clanking of the iron\nchains which hold him bound. Others say he is heard working in this\nunderground prison.\n\nIt seems from Spenser's \"Faerie Queen,\" however, that according to\nanother ancient tradition, Merlin's place of confinement is, or was,\na cave near Dynevor, in the neighbourhood of Llandilo:\n\n\"And if you ever happen that same way to traveill, go to see that\ndreadful place. It is an hideous hollow cave (they say) under a\nrock that lyes a little apace emongst the woody hilles of Dynevowre\n(Dynevor), etc.\"\n\nSome stories describe Merlin as being held spellbound in a bush\nof white thorns in the woods of Bresilien in Brittany. Others say\nthat he died, and was buried at Bardsey Island. But according to the\nTriads he went to sea and sailed in a house of glass, and was never\nheard of any more. In this voyage, Merlin took with him the thirteen\ncuriosities of Britain, which were:--\n\n1. Llen Arthur (the veil of Arthur), which made the person who put\nit on invisible.\n\n2. Dyrnwyn.\n\n3. Corn Brangaled (the horn of Brangaled), which furnished any\nliquor desired.\n\n4. Cadair, neu car Morgan mwynfawr (the chair or car of Morgan\nMwynfawr), which would carry a person seated in it wherever he wished\nto go.\n\n5. Mwys Gwyddno (the hamper of Gwyddno), meat for one being put into\nit, would become meat for a hundred.\n\n6. Hogalen Tudno (the whetstone of Tudno), which would sharpen none\nbut the weapon of a brave man.\n\n7. Pais Padarn (the cloak of Padarn).\n\n8. Pair Drynog (the caldron of Drynog), none but the meat of a brave\nman would boil in it.\n\n9. Dysgyl a gren Rhydderch (the dish and platter of Rhydderch),\nany meat desired would appear on it.\n\n10. Tawlbwrdd (a chess board, or, rather backgammon board), the ground\ngold, and the men silver, and the men would play themselves.\n\n11. Mantell (a robe).\n\n12. Modrwy Eluned (the ring of Eluned), whoever put it on his finger\ncould make himself invisible.\n\n13. Cyllell Llawfrodedd,--which was a kind of knife with which the\nDruids killed their victims for sacrifices.\n\n\"The story of Merlin and Vivian as told in Brittany,\" translated from\nthe French-Breton magazine \"L'Hermine,\" edited by M. Tiercelin, is\ngiven in Part X. of the Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian\nSociety, from which I give the following short extract--Viviane,\nthe love-making temptress, had enchanted the enchanter (Merlin). He\nsleeps, says the legend, in the forest of Broceliande, vaulted\nby an impenetrable hedge, on the bank of the fountain of love,\nhis head resting on the knees of Viviane; the enchanter enchanted;\nand nobody has yet awakened the Celtic Orpheus from his eternal\nslumber. \"Ne onques puis Merlin ne issit de ceste tour, o\u00f9 sa mie,\nViviane l'avait mis.\"\n\n\n\nPEMBROKESHIRE WOMAN'S PROPHECY FULFILLED.\n\nThe following appeared in the \"Pembrokeshire County Guardian\":--\n\n\n   \"About one hundred and sixty years ago, there lived on a farm near\n    Spittal in Pembrokeshire, a man of the name of David Evans. He\n    had a family of five children: Thomas, the eldest, was born\n    on November 3, 1756, and married Sarah Bevan, of Martel Mill,\n    on Sunday, November 14, 17--, and they lived on a small farm\n    near Trefgarn Rocks, called Penyfeidr. This Sarah Bevan, or\n    Mrs. Evans was, like her husband, noted for her piety, and among\n    her neighbours was possibly more noted for her visions and her\n    ability to foresee and foretell coming events, of which there\n    are many reliable records still existing and talked of in the\n    district to this day. Entering the house one day, she told those\n    present that she had just seen a most remarkable sight below the\n    house in Trefgarn Valley, and described it as a large number of\n    heavily laden carts or waggons going very fast one after the other,\n    and no bullock or horses drawing them, but the first one appeared\n    from the smoke she saw, to be on fire. George Stephenson was the\n    first to introduce steam locomotive power into practical use in\n    the year 1825. So we may state with certainty that the rustics\n    of Pembrokeshire had no idea or knowledge whatever of the railway\n    train at the time that Mrs. Evans saw the vision. About 54 years\n    ago the railway was brought into Pembrokeshire, and the scheme\n    of the great engineer, Brunel, was to extend it to the sea shore\n    near Fishguard. With this in view, much work was accomplished in\n    cuttings and embankments in Trefgarn Valley, which are now to be\n    seen there. The country people were jubilant, expecting soon to\n    realise the prophetic vision. But strong influence was brought to\n    bear on Brunel, and finally he abandoned that route and took the\n    line to New Milford instead. And the vision and prophecy came to\n    nought. Afterwards the old people looked forward to the joining\n    of Fishguard and Goodwick with the main line, and believed the\n    truth of the story. But, alas! when the branch line was made,\n    it was many miles to the North of Trefgarn, and the old lady and\n    her vision were once more ridiculed, and apparently, there were\n    no further grounds for hoping that the prophecy would be fulfilled.\n\n   \"When the project of the G. W. Ry. Co. got matured, it was found\n    that the old loop line via Letterston was not suitable for a fast\n    and direct service from Goodwick to London. So it was decided\n    to make a new line from Goodwick through Trefgarn Valley,--thus\n    re-adopting Brunel's original scheme. And last week I actually saw\n    'a large number of heavily laden carts or waggons going very fast,\n    one after the other, and no bullocks or horses pulling them, but\n    the first one appeared from the smoke I saw, to be on fire.' Just\n    as described, and in the very spot indicated by Mrs. Evans about\n    100 years ago.\n\n\n   \"H.W.E.\n\n   \"Solva, December 26th, 1905.\"\n\n\nThe people of Pembrokeshire have been remarkable for their insight\ninto the future; navvies were heard making railway cuttings many years\nbefore the introduction of steam locomotive power into practical use.\n\nI have been informed that the sound of a railway engine, whistling,\nwas heard at Llanilar, in Cardiganshire, fifty years before a railway\nwas constructed through the neighbourhood; and it is also said that\nthe sound of blasting was heard at Tyngraig, between Ystrad Meurig\nand Llanafan, where afterwards a tunnel was made. My informants were\nMrs. Lloyd, the Vicarage, Llanilar, and Mr. Jones, Tyncoed.\n\n\n\nTHE CRIMEAN WAR SEEN IN THE SKIES.\n\nAbout six months before the outbreak of the Crimean War, in 1853, John\nMeyler, Cilciffeth, saw a strange mirage in the sky. He was returning\nhome late from Morville, and when nearing Penterwin he saw the image\nof armies in the skies. There were several battalions at first,\nand they increased in number till they spanned the heavens. There\nwere two opposing forces, and he could distinctly see the image of\nmen falling and of horses galloping across the firmament, and the\nclashing of great masses of men. He was so terrified that he called\nat Penbank and called the attention of Mr. James Morris, who lived\nat that place at that time, and he saw the same thing. This strange\nphenomenon appeared for about two hours.\n\nThe above account of this strange vision in the skies appeared\nin the \"Cardiff Times,\" a few years ago, sent to that paper by\nCadrawd. Pembrokeshire has always been known as the land of phantasm.\n\n\n\nA REMARKABLE FULFILMENT OF A CONDEMNED MAN'S PREDICTION.\n\nIn the Churchyard of Montgomery is a grave where the grass refuses\nto grow, though it is in the midst of luxurious vegetation. The\nunfortunate man named John Newton, who was buried there in the year\n1821, had predicted this as a proof that he was innocent of the charge\nbrought against him at the Assizes, when he was condemned to die on\nthe evidence of two men named Thomas Pearce, and Robert Parker, who\ncharged him with highway robbery. On being asked at the trial why\njudgment should not be passed upon him, he said before the judge:\n\"I venture to assert that as I am innocent of the crime for which\nI suffer, the grass, for one generation at least, will not cover my\ngrave.\" The poor man's prediction proved true, for the grave to this\nday remains a bare spot.\n\nOne of the condemned man's accusers became a drunkard, and the other\n\"wasted away from the earth,\" and a curse seems to follow every one\nwho attempts to get anything to grow on the spot. At the head of the\ngrave is the stem of a rose tree, and it is said that the man who put\nit there soon fell sick and died. I had heard of this grave even when\nI was a boy, and some account of the story respecting it has appeared\nin the papers from time to time.\n\n\n\nSHOULDER-BLADE DIVINATION.\n\nGiraldus Cambrensis, seven hundred years ago, speaking of the Flemings\nof South Pembrokeshire, in his \"Itinerary through Wales,\" says:--\"It\nis worthy of remark, that these people, from the inspection of the\nright shoulder of rams which have been stripped of their flesh,\nand not roasted, but boiled, can discover future events, or those\nwhich have passed and remained long unknown. They know, also, what is\ntranspiring at a distant place, by a wonderful art, and a prophetic\nkind of spirit. They declare also undoubted symptoms of approaching\npeace and war, murders and fires, domestic adulteries, the state of\nthe King, his life and death. It happened in our time, that a man\nof those parts, whose name was William Mangunel, a person of high\nrank, and excelling all others in the aforesaid art, had a wife big\nwith child by her own husband's grandson. Well aware of the fact, he\nordered a ram from his own flock to be sent to his wife as a present\nfrom her neighbour; which was carried to the cook and dressed. At\ndinner the husband purposely gave the shoulder bone of the ram,\nproperly cleaned, to his wife, who was also well skilled in this\nart, for her examination; when, having for a short time examined the\nsecret marks, she smiled, and threw the oracle down on the table. Her\nhusband dissembling, earnestly demanded the cause of her smiling\nand the explanation of the matter; overcome by his entreaties, she\nanswered, 'The man to whose flock this ram belongs has an adulterous\nwife, at this time pregnant by the commission of incest with his own\ngrandson.' The husband, with a sorrowful and dejected countenance,\nreplied, 'You deliver indeed an oracle supported by too much truth,\nwhich I have so much more reason to lament, as the ignominy you\nhave published redounds to my own injury.' The woman thus detected,\nwas unable to dissemble her confusion, betrayed the inward feelings\nof her mind by external signs; shame and sorrow urging her by turns,\nand manifesting themselves, now by blushes, now by paleness, and lastly\n(according to the custom of women), by tears.\n\nThe shoulder of a goat was also once brought to a certain person\ninstead of a ram's, both being alike when cleaned, who, observing\nfor a short time the lines and marks, exclaimed 'Unhappy cattle\nthat never was multiplied! Unhappy likewise the owner of the cattle,\nwho never had more than three or four in one flock!'\n\nMany persons, a year and a half before the event, foresaw by\nthe means of the shoulder bones the destruction of their country\nafter the decease of King Henry the First, and selling all their\npossessions, left their homes, and escaped the impending ruin. In\nour time, a soothsayer, on the inspection of a bone, discovered not\nonly a theft, and the manner of it, but the thief himself, and all\nthe attendant circumstances; he heard also the striking of a bell,\nand the sound of a trumpet, as if those things which were past were\nstill performing. It is wonderful, therefore, that these bones,\nlike all unlawful conjurations, should represent by a counterfeit\nsimilitude to the eyes and ears, things which are past as well as\nthose which are now going on.\"\n\nIt is evident that the Celts, as well as the Flemings, knew something\nof Shoulder-bone Reading, for J. G. Campbell, in his \"Superstitions\nof the Scottish Highlands,\" an interesting book presented to me by\nCountess Amherst, states that this mode of divination was practised,\nlike the augury of the ancients, as a profession or trade; and Pennant,\nin his \"Tours in Scotland,\" 150 years ago, says that when Lord Loudon\nwas obliged to retreat before the Rebels to the Isle of Skye, a\ncommon soldier, on the very moment the battle of Culloden was decided,\nproclaimed the victory at a distance, pretending to have discovered\nthe event by looking through the bone; and Sir S. R. Meyrick, in his\n\"History of Cardiganshire,\" writing one hundred years ago, says that\nthe remains of this custom still existed in Cardiganshire in his time;\n\"but the principal use made of the bone is in the case of pregnant\nwomen. The shoulder bone of a ram being scraped quite clean, a hole\nis burnt in it, and it is then placed over the door of the apartment\nin which the pregnant woman is, and she is told that the sex of her\noffspring will be precisely the same as that of the first person who\nshall enter the room.\"\n\n\n\nDREAMS.\n\nA dream was a common way of making known the will of God to the\nprophets of old. We know from the Bible that important dreams took\nplace in the early ages of the world, and Welsh people, like other\nnations, believe in the importance of these mysterious night visions,\nand of their power of forecasting the future, and there are both\nmen and women all over the country who can give instances of dreams\nwhich came true. There are, undoubtedly, some persons whose dreams,\nas a rule, are reliable; whilst the dreams of others are not to be\ndepended on. It is also said that morning twilight dreams are more\nreliable than other dreams; and it is believed that a dream which is\nrepeated is more to be relied on than that which occurs only once. I\nhave had most striking dreams myself; indeed almost everything that\nhappens to me has been presaged by a dream. About nine years ago\nI dreamed that I was delivering a lecture to a large audience, and\nspeaking most fluently. On awaking, I had a distinct recollection of\nevery word I had uttered; and I am now very sorry that I did not write\ndown next morning the lecture which I had delivered in my dream. The\nmost remarkable fact is this: Previous to my dream I had no knowledge\nwhatever of the subject on which I lectured, as I had never studied\nthe subject in my life, and as a psychological curiosity I may mention\nthat by means of my dream I had become possessed of knowledge on a\nparticular subject which would have taken me at least a whole month's\nhard study to acquire. (I am, of course, used to public speaking).\n\nI have taken notes of few of my latest dreams, and perhaps it would\nnot be out of place to record here a remarkable dream which I dreamt\njust before this book was going to press:\n\nOne night in January, 1910, I dreamed that I was walking near\nSt. Bride's, the country seat of Lord Kensington, in Pembrokeshire,\nand I met Lord Kensington himself, who spoke to me thus: \"Go into\nthe house, Lady Kensington is home, and I'll be with you in a few\nminutes.\" Then I went to the door and rang the bell, and the butler\ntook me into the drawing-room. After waiting in the room alone for\nsome time without seeing anyone, all the household servants came\nto me in a group, dressed in their holiday attire, and informed me\nthat Lady Kensington was not home after all, but that her Ladyship\nhad gone away and had got lost somewhere in going about, and that\nLord Kensington was seeking in vain for her everywhere, but failing\nto find her anywhere. When I awoke from my dream I felt certain that\nsomething had happened to one of the Kensingtons. A day or two after\nmy dream I was surprised to read in the papers that a cable-gram was\nreceived in London from Calcutta, announcing the death of Dowager\nLady Kensington in India. I discovered that her death took place\non the very date of my dream, and that a few days previously Lord\nKensington had hurriedly left for India, having received news of the\nDowager's serious condition.\n\nIn order to add to the interest of the dream, I may state that the very\nday before I dreamt, I expected every moment to hear of the Dowager's\nreturn to England, as her Ladyship knew one or two interesting\n\"traditions of Bridget of Ireland, known as St. Bride,\" which she\nintended to write down for me in order to record them in this book,\nto which she was looking forward, as she was greatly interested in\nWelsh traditions, especially those of Pembrokeshire.\n\nOne night, about seventeen years ago, when I was spending a few days at\nPenmachno, in North Wales, where I had delivered a lecture, I dreamt\nthat I was receiving a letter; and when I looked at the envelope,\nI recognised the handwriting at once as that of Lady Hills-Johnes,\nof Dolaucothy. I then opened the letter and read it all through, and\nfound it was from her Ladyship; and when I awoke up from my sleep I\nremembered every word of its contents. In the morning as soon as I went\ndown for breakfast, the landlady of the house delivered me a letter\nwhich had come by post. I looked at the envelope as I had done in my\ndream; it was from Lady Hills-Johnes; and when I read it, I discovered\nthat I knew every word of its contents beforehand from my dream.\n\nWhen I was in Australia ten years ago, I had another remarkable dream\nabout Dolaucothy, just when Sir James Hills-Johnes was leaving home\nfor South Africa, to see his friend Lord Roberts, during the War;\nbut I have been asked by Lady Hill-Johnes not to publish the dream.\n\nA remarkable fulfilment of a dream was reported in the \"Aberystwyth\nObserver\" in the year 1888, in relation to the sudden death of the\nlate Colonel Pryse, an uncle of Viscountess Parker, and Great-uncle\nof Sir Edward Webley-Parry-Pryse, Bart., of the ancient Family of\nGogerddan:--\"It was not considered safe to break to Viscountess\nParker the news of her uncle's death for some days, and Mr. Fryer\nwent up to London to convey to her the information. On his arrival at\nher residence, in Montague Square, a maid announced to her Ladyship\nhis arrival. 'Mr. Fryer!' she said, 'I know what it is. My uncle is\ndead. He died on a lane leading from Rhiwarthen to Penwern. I have\ndreamt four times in four years that this would happen, and the last\ntime was the night before baby was born. I have tried many times to\nkeep him from going that way. Ask Mr. Fryer to come up.' She afterwards\nsaid that she meant the road leading to Penuwch which is in the same\ndirection, and that she would know the spot.\"\n\nThe editor of \"Blackwood\" gives authenticity to the following\ndream:--A young man, engaged in a china manufactory at Swansea,\nabout the beginning of the last century, dreamed that he saw a man\ndrowning in one of their pools; he dreamed the same a second time,\nand a third time, and then could not resist making an effort to rise\nand satisfy himself that it was not so. He did rise, went to the spot,\nand found the man drowned. A man in the neighbourhood of Newcastle\nEmlyn, dreamed a similar dream in the 18th century.\n\nThe late Rev. J. E. Jenkins, Rector of Vaynor, in Breconshire, in\nhis interesting book on that parish gives the following account of\na girl saved by a dream:--\n\n\"The Rev. Williams Jones, afterwards Canon Jones, was curate in sole\ncharge here in 1822, and for many years afterwards. The Old Rectory\nHouse and the Glebe land was at that time occupied by a man named Enos\nDavies and his family. The Rev. W. Jones also had rooms at the Rectory.\n\n\"One morning at the end of May in that year, about two o'clock Enos\nhad a remarkable dream. He dreamt the Church was on fire. He suddenly\nawoke, and in great excitement jumped out of bed and knocked at the\nbedroom door of Mr. Jones, and cried:--'Master! Master! come down\nat once, I have dreamt the Church is on fire.' The worthy divine\nlaughed at him, and told him to go back to bed, and not to give heed\nto foolish dreams and nightly visions. Enos obeyed, but could not\nsleep. During the day Mr. Jones walked down to the Church, and found\neverything in the usual order, safe and uninjured. The following\nmorning, at the same hour, strange to say, Enos had the same dream,\nand again disturbed the peaceful slumbers of his good master. 'Come\ndown to Church, Master,' said he, 'there must be something wrong,\nI have again dreamt the Church is on fire.' 'All right Enos,' said\nMr. Jones; 'I will come with you, it is a fine morning.' By the time\nthey reached the Church it was half-past three. Coming-down the Lych\nGate, which was close by the little brook--the old entrance--they\nwere struck with a great awe and a terrified feeling came over them,\nfor they heard a peculiar sound coming, as it were, from the direction\nof the Church. They stood, listened, and looked at each other in mute\nastonishment, and Enos's hair stood on end. The sound became plainer:\nit was like the sound of a sexton digging or opening a grave inside\nthe Church, as was often the custom in those days. Enos trembled,\nand became as pale as death; whilst the clergyman, who was a tall\nstrongly built man, entered the churchyard, and stealthily went to\nlisten at the west door. He could distinctly hear a man digging a\ngrave. Mr. Jones soon found that an entrance had been made into the\nChurch through one of the north side windows. Re-tracing his steps to\nEnos, who was still standing on the road by the brook, his attention\nwas directed to a young girl coming down the steep pathway over Cae\nBurdudd--'the field of carnage'--the field where the mound is. She came\nrunning down merrily, and in a pleasant manner, said--'good morning,\nMr. Jones, you are here before me.' 'Yes, my girl,' said the curate,\n'where are you going so early?' 'Coming to be married, to be sure;'\nwas her joyous reply. The curate took in the situation in a moment and\ntold her:--'You have made a mistake as to the time. You must wait till\neight o'clock; I cannot marry you before eight. Go up to the Rectory\nto Mrs. Davies and get some breakfast; we shall come after you in\na short time. We will wait here until John comes, and will bring\nhim up.' The innocent girl departed as requested, but had not gone\nfar when the south door of the church was opened from within by her\ntreacherous lover. He was at once apprehended by the courageous curate\nand Enos, and was made to stand over the grave he had prepared for the\ngirl he had shamefully deceived and ruined, and whom he had intended\nmurdering. He pleaded hard for mercy, and, ultimately, in order to\navoid public scandal, on his promising to leave the neighbourhood\nimmediately, and never again to return to Vaynor, he was allowed to\ndepart. He was a native of Herefordshire, and was at this time in a\nservice at a well-known farm in the parish. He left at once, and was\nnever heard of afterwards by anyone from this parish. The curate, in\na calm, gentle way, partly detailed to the maid the evil intentions\nof her base lover, and stated how God, in his good providence by the\nmeans of a dream, had preserved her from an untimely death.\n\n\"The young girl was terribly shocked, and fell unconscious into the\narms of the curate. She lost her health, and after a time was taken\nhome to the neighbourhood of Knighton, and in a few months later\nnews reached Vaynor that the poor girl had died of a broken heart,\nand the curate was asked to go up to bury her, but failed to go. The\nabove account was given me by my predecessor, the Rev. Rees Williams,\nand was confirmed by the testimony of the late Mrs. Thomas, formerly\nof Cwm and others. Mrs. Evans, late of Pengellifach, however, added\nthat the would-be murderer was handed over by Mr. Jones to the charge\nof the Parish Constable, and was afterwards released. It should be\nremembered that there were but few, if any, fixed pews in the Old\nChurch, only movable benches. Neither was the floor paved or boarded.\"\n\n\n\nCONVERSING WITH THE DEPARTED IN A DREAM.\n\nThe following appeared in the \"Weekly Mail,\" Cardiff, for June 18,\n1910:--\"The Rev. Hugh Roberts, Rhydymain, Dolgelly, discoursed on\n\"The Intermediate State\" on a recent Sunday, and in the course of the\nsermon related the substance of a conversation which he had had with\ndeparted friends. \"Recently in a dream,\" he said, \"I conversed with an\nold deacon friend who has been in the intermediate state for some time,\nand was assured by him that he was not in a state of inertia by any\nmeans. It is a 'country' where everybody has something to do--where\none and all contribute to make each other happy. However, they pine\neven in the intermediate state--some are longing for the circles\nwhich they left on earth, others pining for their bodies. But all\nlonging will cease when the Spirit has completed the heavenly bodies.\"\n\nWelshpeople believe that if a young girl dreams that she has a long\nhair, that she will marry a very wise man.\n\nTo dream of being well-dressed is a sign of wealth and prosperity,\nespecially if you are dressed in silks.\n\nIf a person dreams that he is going to get married, it foretells\nsickness.\n\nIf a man dreams that he is surrounded by pigs, some one will come to\nhim to ask him for some money.\n\nTo dream of a horseshoe is a sign of good news.\n\nWelshpeople generally believe that it is not good for any one to dream\nthat he is losing his teeth, and that it means either a death or the\nloss of friends.\n\nTo dream of bacon is also considered bad.\n\nIf a young man dreams of a full barn, it means that he will marry a\nwealthy young woman.\n\nThose who are interested in the interpretation of dreams must consult\ndream-books, as I am not expected to enter fully into such subject\nhere.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE HEALING ART; OR HOW TO CHARM AWAY DISEASES, Etc.\n\n\nCHARMS FOR WARTS.\n\nThere were and there are still, many charms in use for the purpose of\nremoving warts; and the writer can prove from experience that there\nare cases of complete cures through the instrumentality of charms.\n\nI remember once when I was a boy I had the misfortune of having\ntwo big warts right under my foot, which caused me a great deal of\ndiscomfort in walking. As I was complaining about this to my mother,\nshe advised me to go and see a lady friend of hers, who was the wife\nof a very prominent gentleman in the neighbourhood. I went to the\nwoman and told her everything about the warts. She told me to go home\nand take a small bit of flesh meat and rub the warts with it. Then\nI was to go out though the back door, the meat in one hand, and a\nspade in the other, and after proceeding to the middle of a field,\ndig a hole in the ground, and bury the meat in it. Perfect silence\nwas to be observed during the ceremony, and everything to be done\nin secret, for if detected in the act of burying the meat, the charm\nlost its efficacy. I did everything as I was directed by the woman,\nand strange to say within two or three days the warts had disappeared.\n\nMajor Price Lewes, Tyglyn-Aeron, informed me that when he was a boy\nat Llanllear, an old woman in the neighbourhood charmed away warts\nfrom his hands.\n\nA woman in the neighbourhood of Ystrad Meurig informed me that she\ngot rid of her warts by washing her hands in the water in which the\nblacksmith cools iron.\n\nAnother way of charming away warts is to pick up small white stones\nfrom a brook,--one stone for each wait--and rub the warts with\nthem. Then the stones are to be tied up in paper, and the person\nwho has the warts is to go to the nearest cross roads, and throw the\nstones over his shoulders, and whoever picks up the parcel gets the\nwarts. A young woman in the parish of Llanarth, in Cardiganshire,\ndid this, and got rid of her warts. Soon after this an old woman who\nlives in the neighbourhood, passed by, and picked up the parcel of\nstones, thinking it contained some biscuits or sweets which one of\nthe school children had lost on the way home from school. But to her\ngreat surprise, when she opened the paper, she only found small white\nstones! After this the old woman found her hands covered with warts;\nbut she in her turn charmed them away by washing them with spittle\nfrom the mouth. My informant was the old woman herself.\n\nAnother charm for warts is to cut a slip of an elder tree, and make\na notch in it for every wart. Rub the elder against each wart, and\nburn or bury it, and the warts will disappear.\n\nIn former times Holy Wells were much resorted to by those who desired\nto get rid of their warts, when a pin was dropped into the well, and\na rag with which the warts had been rubbed, hanged on the nearest tree.\n\n\n\nROSEMARY CHARM FOR TOOTHACHE.\n\nMany people still believe that toothache is caused by a worm in the\ntooth, and it was once thought that to burn a Rosemary bough until\nit becomes black and place it in a strong linen cloth, and anoint\nthe teeth with it would kill this worm.\n\nAccording to the old Welsh Magazine, \"Y Brython,\" vol. 3, page 339,\nthere were many charms performed with Rosemary.\n\nRosemary dried in the sun and made into powder, tied in a cloth around\nthe right arm, will make the sick well.\n\nThe smoke of Rosemary bark, sniffed, will, even if you are in gaol,\nrelease you.\n\nThe leaves made into salve, placed on a wound, where the flesh is dead,\nwill cure the wound.\n\nA spoon made out of its wood will make whatever you eat therewith\nnutritious.\n\nPlace it under the door post and no snake nor adder can ever enter\nthy house.\n\nThe leaves placed in beer or wine will keep these liquids from becoming\nsour and give such a flavour that you will dispose of them quickly.\n\nPlace a branch of rosemary on the barrel and it will keep thee from\nfever, even though thou drink of it for a whole day.\n\n\n\n\"SLIME\" OF TROUT AS MEDICINE.\n\nIn West Wales once a freshly caught trout was placed in a pan of milk\nin which it would swim, and after it was supposed that the fish had\npassed the milk through its gills and left some of its slime in the\nmilk, the milk was supposed to have been given the necessary medicinal\npowers for the cure of whooping cough and other illness.\n\n\n\nCHARMS FOR FITS AND FOR QUINSY.\n\nThere is a belief in some parts of West Wales that fits may be cured\nby wearing round the neck a band made of the hair from the crop of an\nass's shoulder. Hair cut at midnight from the shoulder of an ass and\napplied to the throat was also thought to be efficacious in curing\nthe quinsy.\n\nCharm for Rheumatism.--Carry a potato in your pocket.\n\nA charm for the Ague.-- Ague was charmed away by tying on the breast\na piece of cheese; and after keeping it there for a time, throw it\naway back over the head.\n\nCharms for Whooping Cough.--Drink the milk of a female ass; or buy\na penny roll, drape it in calico, bury it in the garden take it up\nnext day, then eat the roll until it is consumed.\n\n\n\nABRACADABRA.\n\nOne of the most famous and popular charms in the central parts of\nWales--especially Cardigan and Carmarthenshire--was the magic and\nmysterious word Abracadabra, which was obtained from wizards by paying\na certain sum of money for it. The word was inscribed on a paper or\nparchment, line under line, repeating the same, but with one letter\nless in each line till it ended in A, as follows:--\n\n\n                         A B R A C A D A B R A\n                          A B R A C A D A B R\n                           A B R A C A D A B\n                            A B R A C A D A\n                             A B R A C A D\n                              A B R A C A\n                               A B R A C\n                                A B R A\n                                 A B R\n                                  A B\n                                   A\n\n\nThere are many people even at the present day in West and Mid-Wales who\nkeep this mystic cabala in their houses as a most valuable treasure. It\nis called \"papur y Dewin\" (the wizard's paper). It was considered a\nprotection against witches and the \"evil eye,\" as well as all other\nevil influences; and an antidote against fevers. It was effective to\nprotect both persons and animals, houses, etc. Sometimes it was worn\nround the neck, or on the breast, at other times carried in the pocket,\nand kept in the house. It was also the custom to rub the charm over\ncattle or to tie it round their horns, especially when witchcraft\nwas suspected.\n\nThis mysterious word, Abracadabra, to which the superstitious\nattributed such magical power was, according to some, invented by\none Basilides, and that he intended the name of God by it. Others\nsay that it was the name of an ancient heathen deity worshipped in\nSyria, or in Assyria. Dr. Ralph Bathurst is of the opinion that the\nword is a corrupt Hebrew: dabar is verbu, and abraca is benedixit;\nthat is verbum benedixit.\n\nAs the charm appears very much like a pyramid (though upside down),\nperhaps that has something to do with the superstition concerning its\nmagical power: anything in the shape of a pyramid is considered very\nlucky, quite as much as--if not more so--than a horse-shoe.\n\n\n\nTHE PENTACLE.\n\nCadrawd, in the \"Welsh Tit-Bits\" column of the \"Cardiff Times,\"\nspeaking of South Pembrokeshire, says:--\n\nThe pentacle, or pentalpha--a figure consisting of five straight lines\nso joined and intersected as to form a five-pointed star--is still\nregarded in Fleming-land as a physical charm and the repository of\nTalismanic power. This credulity is identical with the traditions of\nthe Greek Christians, who used the figure as a mystic sign in astrology\nand necromancy. The figure was held in veneration by medi\u00e6valists,\nand was known as the \"Pentacle of Solomon.\" Sir William Jones, the\ngreat Oriental scholar, in his work on \"Folklore,\" observes that \"it\nis worthy of remark that at the present time the magical pentalpha\nin the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey is\none of the emblems which still exist and speaks to the initiate that\nthe black monks who once chanted in the choir were deeply read in\noccult science.\"\n\nSome years ago, when on a tour in quest of lore, a Pembrokeshire\ngentleman tells us that he remembers being puzzled by the appearance\nof a number of pentacles being cut into the bark of several oak trees\nnear the solitary dwelling of a charmer. He addressed the Solon a few\nquestions on the meaning of these strange figures, but was cut short\nwith the reply, \"They be signs.\" On Cresswell Hill, near Lady's Well,\nthere grows a row of tall beeches, on one of which may be seen the\nfigure of a pentacle. It stands about 15 feet from the ground, and\nthe wound was evidently made well nigh a century ago, judging by its\nappearance. There is a tale that many years ago the \"White Ladies\"\nwere charmed away or banished from the vicinity of the Lady's Well,\nof Cottage Dingle, by means of several pentacles being cut into the\nbark of trees growing near by.\n\n\n\nCHARMS FOR CATTLE AND PIGS.\n\nAn old man named Evan Morris, Goginan, near Aberystwyth, informed me\nthat he had several times consulted a conjurer in cases of bewitched\ncows and pigs. The conjurer, said my informant, took a sheet of paper\non which he drew a circular figure very much \"like the face of a\nclock.\" Sometimes he made more than one figure, which he filled in\nwith writing. In fact, the paper was covered all over with writings\nand figures and symbols; and it took the wise man about half-an-hour\nto do this. This paper or charm, the conjurer gave to my informant,\nand charged him to rub the bewitched animal's back with it, \"all\nover the back right from the ears to the tail,\" and at the same time\nrepeating the words, \"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and\nof the Holy Ghost.\" Morris added that this charm never failed. His\nsister-in-law once had a sow which refused to take any food for\nnine days; a farrier was sent for, but when he came, he could do\nnothing. At last, my informant went to a conjurer and obtained a charm,\nwith which his sister-in-law, after some hesitation, rubbed the sow,\nrepeating \"In the name, etc.\" and to their great surprise the sow\nfully recovered and began to eat immediately, and soon ate up all the\nfood intended for two fat pigs. When I asked my informant to show\nme one of the papers he obtained from the conjurer, he stated that\nhe never kept such paper longer than twelve months. I next asked him\nif he had read one of the papers, and what were the words written on\nit? He replied that he could not decipher the conjurer's writing.\n\nMr. Hamer, in \"The Montgomeryshire Collections,\" vol X., page 249,\nstates that a paper or charm in his possession opens thus:--\n\n\"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen\n... and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ my redeemer, that I\nwill give relief to ---- creatures his cows, and his calves, and his\nhorses, and his sheep, and his pigs, and all creatures that alive be\nin his possession, from all witchcraft and from all other assaults\nof Satan. Amen.\"\n\nMr. Hamer also states that \"at the bottom of the sheet, on the left,\nis the magical word, \"Abracadabra,\" written in the usual triangular\nform; in the centre, a number of planetary symbols, and on the right,\na circular figure filled in with lines and symbols, and underneath them\nthe words, 'By Jah, Joh, Jah?' It was customary to rub these charms\nover the cattle, etc., a number of times, while some incantation was\nbeing mumbled. The paper was then carefully folded up, and put in\nsome safe place where the animals were housed, as a guard against\nfuture visitations.\"\n\nIn West Wales, there was once a kind of charm performed upon a cow\nafter calving, when some fern was set on fire to produce smoke, over\nwhich a sheaf was held until it was well-smoked. Then it was given\nto the cow, to be consumed by the animal.\n\n\n\nTHE CURE OF RICKETS.\n\nThe complaint which is called in West Wales \"llechau\" means rickets,\na complaint to which children are subject. It was thought that it could\nbe cured by cutting a slit in the lobe of one of the child's ears. The\npractice was once common in Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire and other\nparts; and Mr. H. W. Williams, of Solva, mentions in \"Cambrian Notes\nand Queries,\" for January 11th., 1902, of a man in the Rhondda Valley\nwho had recently cut the rickets. He was a Cardiganshire man.\n\n\n\nHOW TO CURE A DOG THAT HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A MAD DOG.\n\nWrite down on a bit of paper the words \"Arare, cnarare, phragnare,\"\nin three lines as follows:\n\n\n    Arare Charare Phragnare.\n    Phragnare Cnarare arare\n    Arare cnarare phragnare.\n\n\nAlso write down in addition the name of the dog.\n\nHaving done this, put the paper in a piece of bread and give to the\ndog to eat. About the middle of the last century, when mad dogs were\ncommon, this \"prescription\" was considered \"a sure and certain cure\";\nor at least, so says my informant, an old farmer in the neighbourhood\nof Ystrad Meurig, who also added that the mountain farmers obtained\nthis charm from Dr. Harries, the wizard of Cwrtycadno.\n\n\n\nHEALING STONES.\n\nThere is at the present day preserved at Gilfachwen, Llandyssul,\nby D. J. Lloyd, Esq., a small white stone, not quite the size of an\negg. The stone is comparatively soft, and was supposed to possess\nhealing power to cure people bitten by mad dogs. A little substance of\nthe stone was scraped off, and mixed with milk and given as a dose to\nthe patients. In years gone by--though not now--people believed so much\nin this stone that some travelled long distances to Gilfachwen; but how\nmany of them were cured I have not been able to discover. The stone is\ncalled Llaethfaen, and when I visited Gilfachwen about five years ago,\nMr. Lloyd showed me the interesting relic, and a few weeks afterwards I\nreceived from the same gentleman, the following communication by post,\nwith an enclosed copy of his late brother's MS. concerning the stone:--\n\n\n    Gilfachwen,\n    Llandyssul,\n    Cardiganshire,\n    Feb. 20th, 1905.\n\n    Sir,--\n\n\n    I send you, as promised, a copy of all my late brother knew about\n    the Llaethfaen. He died in 1889, but the paper was written many\n    years before his death. There is no record of where the stone\n    was found, or how it came to the Rev. D. Bowen's hands.\n\n\n    I remain,\n    Yours truly,\n    D. J. LLOYD.\n\n\nThe following is a copy of the paper written by the late Mr. John\nLloyd:--\n\n\n\nLLAETHFAEN.\n\nI know very little about this stone or what curative power it has or\nwas supposed to have. I only know that it was very much in request\nmany years ago. It came to my father's possession on the death of his\nuncle, Rev. David Bowen, of Waunifor about the year 1847. In those\ndays and for many years afterwards, mad dogs were very \"fashionable,\"\na summer never passing without one hearing of a great many people\nhaving been bitten, and, consequently, a great many people called at\nGilfachwen for a dose of the Llaethfaen, and whether it had curative\nor preventive powers or not, none of the patients were ever known\nto be attacked with hydrophobia. People who had been bitten would\ntravel immense distances in order to get the stone. I remember a\nwhole family, father, mother, and four or five children, who had\nbeen bitten by the same dog, arriving at Gilfachwen early one summer\nmorning, before anyone was up, having travelled all night in order\nto be treated with the stone cure; they went away very happy and\nrelieved in mind, after each had received a dose. It has not been\nused now for many years. The last instance I recollect was this: two\nmen employed in a Brewery at Llanon, on the Cardigan coast, had been\nbitten by the same dog, supposed to be mad, arrived here on a Sunday\nafternoon; poor fellows, they looked utterly miserable and wretched;\nthey had spent nearly a week enquiring for the stone, and meanwhile,\nhad been advised by some old woman who was supposed to be learned in\nsome ailments, not to eat any food; this advice they very foolishly\nfollowed, and when they arrived here, they were truly in a terrible\nplight. After giving each of them a dose of the Llaethfaen and a good\nmeal they went away happy and never heard of them since.\n\n\nJOHN LLOYD, Gilfachwen.\n\n\nIt is rather interesting that Iolo Morganwg saw a stone of this\nkind in the year 1802, in the neighbourhood of Bridell, North\nPembrokeshire. The following extracts from Iolo's Diary appeared\nin \"Young Wales,\" June, 1901:--\"Leave Cardigan, take the road to\nLlanfernach. Bridell Church.... Meet a man who carries a stone about\nthe country, which he calls Llysfaen. Scrapes it into powder with a\nknife, and sells it at about five shillings an ounce as an infallible\nremedy for the canine madness. He says that this stone is only to be\nfound on the mountains after a thunderstorm, that every eye cannot see\nit. He showed me the stone, and when I assured him and a little crowd\nthat had gathered about him, that the stone was only a piece of the\nGlamorgan alabaster, the poor fellow was confounded and seemed very\nangry; but I was surprised to hear many positively assert that they had\nactually seen the Hydrophobia cured in dogs and man with this powder\ngiven in milk, and used as the only liquid to be taken nine days,\nand the only food also.... The name by which this fellow named his\nstone is obviously a corruption of Cleisfaen, from its blushy white\ncolour, veined or spotted with a livid or blackish blue colour like\nthat of a bruise (clais).\"\n\nThe excellent old Welsh Magazine \"Y Gwyliedydd\" for the year 1824,\npage 343, gives an account of two other such stones, one of them\npreserved at Maes y Ffynon, Maelienydd, and the other at Llwyn Madog,\nBreconshire. How these two stones were discovered the following story\nis given:--A man attacked with hydrophobia wandered away one day and\nslept on a hill, where he dreamt that a remedy for his disease was to\nbe found in the ground under his head, where he was sleeping. After\ndigging the ground, two white stones were discovered.\n\nA healing stone supposed to have descended from the sky was discovered\non a farm called Disgwylfa, in Carmarthenshire.\n\n\n\nTHE PHYSICIANS OF MYDDFAI.\n\nThe following extracts from the book of remedies of The Physicians of\nMyddfai, will not be irrelevant, as those celebrated Physicians were of\nFairy origin, having been furnished with medical prescriptions by their\nsupernatural mother, the Fairy lady of Llyn y Fan, in Carmarthenshire.\n\n\n\nTO EXTRACT A TOOTH WITHOUT PAIN.\n\n\"Take some newts, by some called lizards, and those nasty beetles\nwhich are found in ferns during summer time, calcine them in an\niron pot and make a powder thereof. Wet the forefinger of the right\nhand, insert it in the powder, and apply it to the tooth frequently,\nrefraining from spitting it off, when the tooth will fall away without\npain. It is proven.\"--Physicians of Myddfai.\n\n\n\nFOR THE BITE OF A MAD DOG.\n\n\"Seek some plantain, and a handful of sheep's sorrel, then pound\nwell in a mortar with the white of eggs, honey, and old lard, make\nit into an ointment and apply to the bitten part, so that it may be\ncured.\"--Physicians of Myddfai.\n\n\n\nFOR PAIN IN THE EYE.\n\n\"Seek the gall of a hare, of a hen, of a eel, and of a stag, with\nfresh urine and honeysuckle leaves, then inflict a wound upon an ivy\ntree, and mix the gum that exudes from the wound therewith, boiling\nit swiftly, and straining it through a fine linen cloth; when cold,\ninsert a little thereof in the corners of the eyes, and it will be a\nwonder if he who makes use of it does not see the stars in mid-day,\nin consequence of the virtues of this remedy.\"--Physicians of Myddfai.\n\n\n\nHOLY BREAD AS A REMEDY.\n\n\"Black or Holy Bread is that which has been made on Good Friday and\nkept for twelve months. It is stored in the cottage-roof where it\nkeeps dry and becomes black, and is consumed on Good Friday only. This\nbread is here said to be an excellent remedy for people and cattle\nsuffering from certain complaints.\"--The Church Plate of Radnorshire\nby the Rev. J. T. Evans, page 15.\n\n\n\nHOW TO CURE A \"FOUL FOOT.\"\n\n\"If a hoofed animal is found to be suffering from \"Foul Foot\" it must\nbe taken to a field, or sward, and the impression made on the ground\nby one of its hoofs must be carefully cut out and placed upside down\non a hedge or bush; when the turf has withered the animal will be\ncured.\"--Church Plate of Radnorshire, page 16.\n\n\n\nPILLS OF DEAD MEN'S BONES.\n\nPentrevor, in the \"Pembroke County Guardian,\" says:--I have a valuable\nrecipe for quack doctors. Mr. George Williams, knows of a young\nlady who was one day cleaning a window when a flash of lightning\nso frightened her that she became subject to fits. As an infallible\ncure, someone suggested that a dead man's bone be procured. Llanwnda\nChurchyard was visited for the purpose, while a new grave was being\ndug, and dead men's bones were thrown up by the spade. A bone was\nfound and cleaned, ground into powder and made into pills, which the\npatient took, and was completely cured.\n\n\n\nGWELLA CLEFYD Y GALON, OR HEART DISEASE, A LOVE SICKNESS.\n\nA writer in \"Cymru Fu\" an interesting reprint from \"The Weekly Mail,\"\nsays:--\n\nIt is a well-known fact that \"clefyd y Galon,\" or love-sickness is a\nvery prevalent complaint in Wales, especially among young females who\nhave been jilted, or have failed to win the affection of the young\nman whom they admire best. The lamented Talhaiarn knew all about it\nwhen he penned the line in one of his love songs:--\n\n\n    \"Minau'n ceisio caru Gwen, a hithau'n caru Roli.\"\n\n\nA cure of this disease has been for centuries, and still is, a secret\nof great value in the Principality, and there are many old women,\nand some young men, now living, who are making splendid profits out\nof the secret they have in their possession. An old wag called \"Ned\ny Wain,\" who resided near Aberystwyth; Harries, Cwrtycadno; and a\nshrewd old woman in the neighbourhood of Ystumtuen, Cardiganshire,\npractised the \"cure\" as a part of a professional conjuring, and\nmany excellent but ridiculous stories are current anent the visits\nof young females, especially the \"Ladies of Borth,\" to the chambers\nof the enchanters. The \"secret\" came into my possession thirty-eight\nyears ago in the following manner:--\n\nWhen a young lad at home, I had the privilege of visiting a farm house,\nthe last on the borders of Cardiganshire, adjoining Montgomeryshire,\nwhere resided a wealthy young widower now living. The landlady of\nthe adjoining farm on the other side of the River Llyfnwy, during my\nstay, used to cross the river frequently to visit the young widower,\nwith whom she spent hours closeted in the parlour. The frequency of\nher calls, and the great secrecy observed at her coming and going,\ndrew my attention, and provoked my curiosity, and I began to twit the\nyoung widower, who was a local preacher, of something he could not\nvery well relish, and in order to clear himself of all suspicion,\nhe told me that the woman visited him only to cure Clefyd-y-galon;\nand handed over to me the cherished secret, which I now divulge as a\nrelic of the dark days of Wales, and for the amusement of the readers\nof \"Cymru Fu.\"\n\nThe MS. was in Welsh, of which the appended is a translation:--\n\n1st.--Ask the name of the person, and the surname, and the age;\nand take a double threaded yarn and measure it with your naked\narm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger three times,\nnaming the person, and saying the age, in the name of the Father,\nthe Son, and the Holy Ghost. Then put a mark on the thread, and if\nit is on the person the thread will shorten, but it not, the thread\nwill lengthen. For example, say thus--I am Joseph, thirty-six years\nof age in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; and\nmeasuring, and say it each time while measuring; and do not cut the\nthread until you have measured three times. It is necessary that the\nthread should be scoured white wool. Take care not to put the age of\nthe person more than it is. Then put it round the neck of the person,\nand leave it there for three nights; then take it from the neck and\nbury it under the ashes in the name of the Trinity. Put a knot on one\nend of it after cutting it. It is necessary to look several times if\nthe person is recovering or not. Should the thread shorten above the\nmiddle finger, there is but little hopes of his recovery; nevertheless,\nmany recover when it shortens the finger's length. It is necessary\nto keep the whole affair as secret as you possibly can. Again, take\nnotice, it is necessary to measure three lengths from the elbow to\nthe tip of the middle finger; then put a mark on the spot, or let\nanyone take hold of it; then begin to measure the same way again,\nnaming as said before until you have measured three times, and take\nnotice, as said before if the thread shortens.\n\n\n\nTHE MEDICINE.\n\nSix penny worth of gin, or quart of beer, four penny-worth of best\nsaffron; give them a boiling on a slow fire, and take them for seven\nmornings, after putting red hot steel in to warm it.\n\n\n\nTOUCHING; OR THE CURE OF THE DISEASE KNOWN AS \"THE KING'S EVIL.\"\n\nIn the new and valuable History of Radnorshire (p. 321), published by\nDavis and Co., Brecon, appeared the following transcript of a printed\npaper, now in a decayed state, which was pasted on a board and placed\nin a conspicuous part of the Church of Diserth, in that County:--\n\n\"At the Court of Whitehall, the 9th of January, 1683.\n\n\"Whereas by the Grace of God, the King and Queen of this Realm,\nby and for many years past, have had the happiness by their sacred\ntouch, and invocation of the name of God, to cure those who are\nafflicted with the disease called the King's Evil; and His Majesty\nin no less measure than any of his royal predecessors, having had\nsuccess therein, and in his most gracious, and pious disposition,\nbeing as ready and willing as any King or Queen of this realm ever\nwas in anything to relieve the distresses and necessities of his good\nsubjects; yet in his princely wisdom, foreseeing that in this (as in\nall other things) order to be observed, and fit times are necessary\nto be appointed for the performance of this great work of charity,\nhis Majesty was therefore this day pleased to declare in Council his\nroyal will and pleasure to be that (in regard heretofore the usual\ntimes of presenting such persons for this purpose have been prefixed\nby his royal predecessors) from thenceforth be from the Feast of All\nSaints, commonly called All Hallowtide to Christmas until the first\nof March, and then to cease till Passion Week, on account of the\ntemperature of the season, and in respect of contagion, which may\nhappen to his Majesty's Sacred person. And when his Majesty shall\nat any time think fit to go, any progression, to appoint such other\ntimes for healing as shall be convenient. And his Majesty doth order\nand command that from the time of publishing this his Majesty's order,\nnone present themselves at his Majesty's Court to be healed of the said\ndisease, but only at, or within the times for that purpose appointed\nas aforesaid. And His Majesty was further pleased to order that all\nsuch as shall hereafter repair to the Court for this purpose, shall\nbring with them certificates under the hands and seals of the ---- or\nminister, and of both, or of one of the Churchwardens of the respective\nparishes whereto they belong, and from whence they come, testifying\naccording to the truth, that they have not at any time before been\npresented to the intent of being healed of that disease. And all\nministers and Churchwardens are ordered to be careful to examine\ninto the truth before they give certificates, and also to keep and\nregister the names of such persons, to whom such certificates they\nshall from time to time give. And to the end that all His Majesty's\nloving subjects may be informed of His Majesty's command, His Majesty\nwas pleased to direct that this order be published in all parish\nchurches, and then to be affixed to some conspicuous place there;\nand that to that end a convenient number of copies be sent to the\nMost Reverend Father in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and\nthe Lord Archbishop of York, who are to take care that the same be\ndistributed to all the parishes in their respective provinces.\"\n\nThe above proclamation was issued in the Reign of Charles II.\n\n\n\nHOLY RELICS.\n\n\nTHE NANTEOS CUP.\n\nThere is preserved at the mansion of Nanteos, near Aberystwyth, a\nsacred healing cup known in Welsh as the \"Phiol,\" which interesting\nrelic was shown me a few years ago by Mrs. W. B. Powell, to whom, and\nto the genial Squire, I am indebted for much kindness and respect. In\nthe same week an intelligent and wealthy Roman Catholic lady--an\ninvalid--came all the way from London, as she had such faith in the\nefficacy and healing virtues of the Sacred Cup.\n\nThe Cup is of a very dark wood and supposed to have been formed from\nthe wood of the true Cross, and it seems to have been preserved in\nthe Abbey of Strata Florida. At the time of the Dissolution, the\nAbbey, lands and goods, were given to the Stedman family, who also\ncarefully preserved the relic, and from that family it passed over\nto the Powells as well as the demesne.\n\n\n\nTHE HEALING CUP.\n\nUntil a few years ago it was usual for people who were ill, especially\nthose suffering from hemorrhage to send to Nanteos for the loan of\nthis healing cup, as it was supposed to possess healing power which\ncould only be called miraculous, and there are many instances of\ncures believed to have been effected by taking food and medicine or\nwine out of the cup. It is a great pity that this interesting relic\nis now in an unshapely condition, having been considerably damaged\nby some of the patients who were not content with drinking from it,\nbut tried to bite away parts of the cup itself.\n\nIt is quite possible that this holy relic was the chalice therein\nour Lord consecrated the wine and water at the institution of the\nEucharist, and in which was said to be preserved some of the blood\nwhich fell from the Saviour's wounds as he hung on the cross.\n\nIn an interesting little book written five years ago, by Miss\nEthelwyn M. Amery, B.A., entitled \"Sought and Found,\" the writer,\nafter giving the story of the the Holy Grail, concludes. \"Not far\nfrom the sea-side town of Aberystwyth, in Mid-Wales, stands the\nHouse of Nanteos, the country seat of the Powells. The family is an\nancient one; it was ancient in the days of the Reformation, and is\npossessed of all the traditions of antiquity, including a phantom\ncoach, which foretells death. To this house came, one summer's day,\na party of holiday-makers from Aberystwyth--ordinary twentieth century\npeople, with all the most up-to-date ideas--and to them was shown\nthe house and its treasures. There was old armour in the hall, old\nchina in the gallery, a wonderful carved arch in the drawing-room,\nand many other things which attract the sightseer, attracted one and\nanother of the party. But there were a few who had no eyes for these\nthings; to them the centre of interest was found in a small glass,\ncarefully covered with silk, which was brought out to the lawn from\nits home in the library, so that all might more easily see it. Now\nthose who looked at this case wondered what this treasure could be\nwhich was thus carefully guarded, and when the cover was withdrawn,\nthe astonishment of many more than equalled their previous curiosity,\nfor in this case was a fragment of wood, at first sight shapeless and\nworm-eaten (and many saw no more than this), but those who looked\nmore closely saw that this worm-eaten fragment was shaped like a\nwooden bowl about five inches high, of which one side was broken\nnearly down to the foot, and the other part was roughly held together\nby two rivets. Many having seen this were satisfied, and went away,\nbut some listened to what their hostess told them concerning the cup,\nand this is the story she told:\n\n\"'Many years ago, when Henry VIII. was destroying the Monasteries, his\nservants came into Wales, and hearing of an ancient Monastery among the\nhills, where only seven old monks remained to guard their treasure,\nhe determined to destroy the Abbey and seize their goods. But the\nmonks were warned by friendly neighbours, and fled by night, bearing\ntheir treasure with them. Their journey was long and dangerous for\nsuch old men, but they reached the House of Nanteos in safety, and\ndeposited the treasure they had suffered so much to save. One by one\nthe old monks died, and at the point of death he entrusted the treasure\nto the owner of the house that had sheltered them, until the Church\nshould once more claim its own. But the Church has not yet claimed it,\nand it is that treasure of the monks which you now see.'\n\n\"And again some were satisfied and went away, only wondering that\nthe old monks risked their lives for so small a thing. But those\nwho remained heard further, that the monks had regarded this cup\nas sacred. Many reasons were given for this: one was that it had\na Communion Chalice, another that it possessed miraculous power of\nhealing, but the true reason is told only to the few who press closely\nfor it, and it is thus:--\n\n\"Not for its healing properties alone was this cup treasured, not\nbecause from it the Monks had received the Communion wine; the cup\nwas older than the Monastery--indeed, the Monastery had been built\nto receive it; it had been handed down from Abbott to Abbott through\nthe ages, and in each age its secret was told to one or two, that\nthey might guard it the more carefully, for this cup is none other\nthan the one from which our Lord drank at the Last Supper--the cup so\neagerly sought for by King Arthur's knights; found and handled by many,\nwho, because of their blindness were unable to perceive the treasure\nwhich was before them; seen and realized by the pure knight Galahad,\nand then hidden from common touch and sight during the sinful days\nwhich followed, but preserved carefully through them all, and powerful\neven yet to give to those who will wait for it, a faint--alas! very\nfaint--glimpse of Galahad's vision, and to remind them that even yet\n'The pure in heart shall see God.'\"\n\nJust as I am sending this to the press, Mrs. Powell of Nanteos,\nshowed me a letter which she had just received from a noble French\nlady begging her to send to her in a letter, an handkerchief, or ever\na rag, which had been tied round this Healing Cup for 24 hours.\n\n\n\nTHE STAFF OF ST. CURIG.\n\nIn the Church of St. Harmon, Radnorshire, was once preserved a pastoral\nstaff supposed to have belonged to St. Curig, the founder of Llangurig,\nin Montgomeryshire. Giraldus Cambrensis says that this staff was\n\"covered on all sides with gold and silver, and resembling in its upper\npart the form of a cross; its efficacy has been proved in many cases,\nbut particularly in the removal of glandular and strenuous swellings.\"\n\n\n\nPENGLOG TEILO (TEILO'S SKULL.)\n\nA relic known as \"Penglog Teilo\" is still preserved at Llandilo\nLlwydiarth, Pembrokeshire. I give a full account of it in my chapter\non Holy Wells.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nFOLK-LORE OF FOUNTAINS, LAKES, AND CAVES.\n\n\nHOLY WELLS.\n\nThere is much Folk-Lore in connection with wells, in Wales, and\nan interesting volume might be written on the subject. Holy Wells\nwere once much frequented by devotees in search of health, omens, or\nprognostications of coming events; and even at the present day some of\nthem are made use of as wishing wells by young men and young women, who\nthrow a bent or a crooked pin into the well, and wishing at the same\ntime. In the old times when \"Gwyliau Mabsant,\" or Saints' Fetes, were\nin vogue in Wales, wells were sometimes the scenes of great merriment,\nboth before and even after the Reformation. According to an old writer\nthey were much frequented in the time of Queen Elizabeth. The habit of\ntying rags to the branches of a tree close to the well was well-known\nonce in several places. This was done by people who were suffering from\nmaladies. The rag was first dipped in the water, and the afflicted\npart of the body bathed with it. Afterwards before going away from\nthe well the rag was tied to the branch of a tree near it. It is also\nworth mentioning that this ceremony is in vogue in Eastern Countries\nas well, such as Arabia and Persia. As far as Wales is concerned, some\nof the wells frequented in times past, possessed medicinal properties;\nbut it must be admitted that some of the superstitious ceremonies which\nwere performed at them, must have come down from pre-Christian times;\nand it seems evident that water was once an object of worship, or at\nleast of veneration, and that offerings were made either to the water\nitself, or more probably to the tutelary god of the fountain. This\nwas the opinion of the late Rev. Elias Owen, F.S.A., who had made a\nspecial study of the subject all his life-time. That the inhabitants\nof Great Britain were, in ancient times, given to the adoration of\nfountains, is evident from the fact that in 960, King Edgar commanded\nby Canon law \"That every priest industriously advance Christianity\nand extinguish heathenism and forbid the 'Worship of Fountains,\nand necromancy and auguries.\"\" But finding the worship of fountains\ntoo strong to put down at once, the priest effected a compromise, by\ntransferring veneration from the tutelary god by dedicating the well\nto a saint, and building a church on the spot, and baptised his flock\nin the well; nevertheless many pagan customs of well worship lingered\non from generation to generation. At the present day in some places,\nwe find a village pump situated at the corner of the Churchyard,\nwhich is not at all a good thing from a sanitary point of view. But\nwe must bear in mind that the well was there before the Churchyard,\nand that in most of such cases the site of the Church had been fixed\nupon because of the virtue and attractions  of the well.\n\n\n\nST. TEILO'S WELL.\n\nThis strong spring rises within a short distance of the ruined church\nof Llandilo Llwydiarth, near Maenclochog, in Pembrokeshire, and close\nby, there is a farm-house in which a skull, traditionally called\n\"Penglog Teilo,\" (Teilo's Skull) is kept, and has been kept from\ntime immemorial. This skull is used for drinking water out of from\nSt. Teilo's Well. In former times St. Teilo's Well had a wide-spread\nreputation as a healing well, and the sick from all parts of South\nWales resorted to it; but it was considered absolutely necessary\nto drink the water out of the skull, which had to be dipped in\nthe well, and filled with water, and handed to the patient by the\nhereditary keeper. The present keeper of the relic is Mr. Melchior,\nan intelligent farmer, who informed me that his ancestors had been\nkeepers of the skull from time immemorial. How the skull first came\nthere, Mr. Gibby, of Llangolman, gave the following tradition:--When\nSt. Teilo was dying he bade a female servant take his skull from\nLlandilo, in Carmarthenshire, to Llandilo, in Pembrokeshire, and that\nif this was done, the skull would be a blessing to coming generations\nof men who would have their health restored by drinking water out of\nit. According to another tradition which I have heard, the skull came\nfrom Llandaff Cathedral, where St. Teilo was Bishop, though born in\nthe neighbourhood of Tenby. If we believe the old legend, the miracles\nhe worked in death were marvellous; for, \"on the night of his decease,\nthere arose a great dispute between the clergy of the three Churches\neach asserting its authority and privileges for obtaining his body;\nbut at length, attending to the advice of discreet men, they had\nrecourse to fasting and prayer, that Christ, the great judge, who is\nthe true authority, and privilege of holy persons, should declare by\nsome sign, to which of them he would be pleased to commit the body\nof the saint. And in the morning a certain elder, looking towards\nthe place where the body was, spoke with a loud voice, saying,\n\"Our prayer, brethren, has been heard by the Lord, who deprives no\none of his reward; arise, and behold what things have been done by\nChrist the meditator between God and man, that our dispute might be\nsettled; and as in the life so in the death of the holy confessor,\nTeilo, miracles should be performed.\" For, lo! they saw there three\nbodies, to which there was the same dimensions of body, the same\nbeauty of countenance; they had the lineaments of the whole frame,\nwithout any difference. So peace being restored, each with their own\ncorpse returned homewards, and they buried the different bodies in\nthose several places with the greatest reverence.\"\n\nSt. Teilo died in the year 566, and people of the present day hardly\nbelieve that the relic at Llandilo Llwydiarth is the real skull of\nthis saint, though the skull in question is a very old one, and only\nthe brain pan now remains. About five years ago an old man named John\nGriffiths, living in the village of Maenclochog, informed me that he\nwell remembered the time when people came to St. Teilo's Well, from all\nparts of the country, for the alleviation of their ailments, \"and were\ncured\" said he, \"by faith.\" The same old man also told me that when a\nboy, he and other two boys who were suffering from the whooping cough,\nwere sent by their mothers early in the morning to drink water from\nthe well out of the skull. They did so and got rid of their coughs\nentirely. I was told by another person in the neighbourhood, that\nabout seventy years ago, a gentleman from Glamorganshire, drove his\nconsumptive son in a carriage all the way to Pembrokeshire, to try this\nhealing fountain of St. Teilo, but arrived home in Swansea without\nfeeling any better. He had drunk the water from the well, but not\nout of the skull. His father took the boy all the way to St. Teilo's\nWell a second time, and now made him drink out of the skull, and was\ncompletely cured of his complaint. When I was spending a few weeks at\nMaenclochog, some years ago, in quest of information, I accompanied\nMr. Melchior to the well one day, and drank out of the skull. But,\nunfortunately, I did not get rid of my cold, from which I was suffering\nat the time, but, perhaps, my faith was not strong enough.\n\n\n\nTHE PRIEST'S WELL.\n\n\"There is a well on the Picton Castle Estate, situated near the Red\nHouse Cottages, called the Priest's Well, which the children are\n(this was written thirty-five years ago) in the habit of decorating\nwith mountain ash (or as it is called \"Cayer\" in the district) and\ncowslips on May Day. This is supposed to have the effect of keeping\nthe witches away from those families who get water from the well during\nthe year. The children sing over the well while decorating it \"Cayer,\nCayer, keep the witches in May Fair.\"--Bye-Gones, December, 1874.\n\n\n\nST. LEONARD'S WELL.\n\nThis well, which is situated in the parish of Rudbaxton, in the\nneighbourhood of Haverfordwest, was once much made use of for its\nmedical properties, especially by those who were suffering from sore\neyes. There was once a St. Leonard's Chapel a short distance from\nthe well, though St. Leonard was not a Welsh Saint.\n\nThe Chalybeate Wells, Gumfreston, Tenby, had a great reputation once\nfor their healing virtues.\n\n\n\nWELLS OF THE FIVE SAINTS.\n\nThese are five wells or pools in the river, near Llanpumpsaint,\nin Carmarthenshire, and I am indebted for the following tradition\nconcerning them, to old records in the possession of the Rev. Canon\nLloyd, B.D., Vicar of that parish. Llanpumpsaint, of course, means\nthe \"Church of the Five Saints.\" According to the tradition the five\nwells were made use of by the five Saints, and each particular saint\nhad his particular well. In former times on St. Peter's Day, yearly,\nbetween two and three hundred people got together, some to wash in,\nand some to see the wells. In the summer time the people in the\nneighbourhood bathed themselves in the wells to cure their aches.\n\n\n\nTHE HOLY WELL OF LLANFIHANGEL GENEU'R GLYN.\n\nThis well is about four miles north from Aberystwyth, in\nCardiganshire. It is situated quite close to the eastern wall of\nthe Churchyard of Llanfihangel Parish Church. This well has been,\nand perhaps still is, held in honour for its curative virtues. It is\nsurrounded by a small building and within a few years of the present\ntime, people in search of health took the trouble of coming from\nlong distances to drink from and to bathe in its waters. When the\nRev. Z. M. Davies, vicar of the parish, and myself, visited the spot\nfive years ago, a lady living quite close to the well, informed us,\nthat a short time previously, a crippled girl from Glamorganshire,\nwho had come there on crutches, was able to walk away without them,\nand left them behind.\n\nFfynnon Francis, is also a well in the Parish of Llanfihangel\nGeneu'r Glyn, on a farm called Penuchaf, and it seems that it was\nonce popularly esteemed, for there is a tradition at Talybont,\nthat its waters had the power of restoring sight to a blind old man\nnamed Francis.\n\n\n\nTHE LLANCYNVELYN WELL.\n\nThe parish of Llancynvelyn is situated on high ground which juts\nout into the bog called Gors Fochno not far from Borth, in North\nCardiganshire. Cynvelyn, to whom the Church is dedicated, was a Welsh\nSaint, descended from Cunedda. Within the memory of many people who are\nnow alive, there was a holy well in the Churchyard of Llancynvelyn,\nand the sexton, an intelligent old man, informed me a few years ago,\nthat its water was thought to possess health-restoring qualities,\nand he himself noticed people resorting there to bathe their feet in\nthe well; and some came with bottles and carried some of the water\nhome with them as a household remedy.\n\n\n\nCANNA'S WELL (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nThe parish of Llangan is not far from Whitland. The holy well there,\nknown as Canna's Well, was much resorted to in former times, as its\nwater was supposed to cure ague and intestinal complaints. After\nthrowing a pin into the well, and drink of the water or bathe in\nit, it was customary for the patient to sit down in \"Canna's Chair\"\nfor a certain length of time and try to sleep. \"Canna's Chair\" is a\nstone. In former times the superstitious believed it had a peculiar\nvirtue in connection with the well.\n\n\n\nST. ANTHONY'S WELL.\n\nSt. Anthony's Well, at Llanstephan, Carmarthenshire, was formerly\nfamous for its curative virtues; and it is rather popular at the\npresent day as a \"Wishing Well.\" Young men and young women resort\nto the spot to wish, and are in the habit of throwing a pin into the\nwell as an offering to its deity or to St. Anthony, its patron saint.\n\n\n\nTHE \"WISHING WELL\" OF CAREG CENEN CASTLE.\n\nAbout four miles to the east of the town of Llandilo, in\nCarmarthenshire, are the remains of a remarkable old castle called\nCareg Cenen, which stands on the summit of a solitary rock. This rock\nis about 300 feet high. The most noted feature in connection with\nthe Castle is its underground gallery. In one part of the building\na passage terminates in a flight of steps leading down to a dark\nsubterranean cave of about 200, or perhaps, 250 feet long, and at the\nend of this passage or cave, there is a well which is still used as a\n\"wishing well,\" more especially by young people. When I went to see the\nremains of the Castle a few years ago, I also visited the subterranean\ncave. After lighting a candle and descending the flight of steps, I\nproceeded along this dark and marvellous passage slowly and cautiously,\nas there was water in some places. After going on underground in this\nmanner about forty yards, to my great surprise, I heard the sound of\nhuman voices, and saw a light in front of me; and all of a sudden I\ncame upon three young ladies, one from London, and two from Ammanford,\nwho informed me that they had intended going on as far as the well,\nbut turned back before reaching it, as they were afraid of proceeding\nany further into the interior of such a dreary dungeon. However, when\nI offered to take the lead, they followed me with joy, and at last we\nreached the Wishing Well at the far end of the cave. Before we left\nthe spot, each one of the three young ladies threw a bent pin into the\nwell, wishing, I suppose that she might have her heart's desire. We\nfound many pins at the bottom of the well, which had been probably\nleft there by young people given to the practice of amorous spells.\n\nThere is also a well in the neighbourhood of Llandilo, called\nFfynon-fil-feibion (thousand men's well), respecting which tradition\nstates that 1,000 men fell near it.\n\n\n\nST. MARY'S WELL, RHAYADER.\n\nIn the \"History of Radnorshire\" it is stated: \"On the western extremity\nof the common called Maes-y-dref, is a most excellent spring of pure\nand limpid water, namely, St. Mary's Well. It was heretofore a custom\nfor the young people of Rhayader, of both sexes, to resort hither on\nSunday evenings, during the Spring and Summer seasons, to drink this\nsalutary beverage sweetened with sugar.\"\n\n\n\nPILLETH CHURCHYARD WELL (RADNORSHIRE).\n\nThe water of this well was once considered beneficial in ophthalmia and\nother diseases of the eyes. There are in Radnorshire numerous springs\nfor the cure of various diseases, and in this county also is the\ncelebrated and well-known health resort of Llandrindod. Builth Wells,\nLlangamarch, and Llanwrtyd (Breconshire), are also on its borders.\n\n\n\nLLANNON (CARMARTHENSHIRE.)\n\nThere is a holy Well in this parish dedicated to Non, mother of\nSt. David. Tradition also says that Non herself got water from\nthis well.\n\n\n\nLLANELLY.\n\nIn former times there was a Holy Well in the neighbourhood of Llanelly,\nknown as \"Ffynnon Elli,\" supposed to possess medical qualities.\n\n\n\nHOLY WELL AT LLANGYBI.\n\nLlangybi is about four miles from Lampeter, in Cardiganshire. The\nVicar, the Rev. J. N. Evans, informed me that there is a well in\nthis parish known as \"Ffynon wen,\" formerly supposed to possess\nhealing powers; and that there is a tradition in the neighbourhood\nthat St. Gybi himself lived at a house which is still called \"Llety\nCybi.\" Mr. Evans also adds in the Transactions of the Cardiganshire\nAntiquarian Society, Vol I., that within a quarter-of-a-mile of the\nHoly Well, there used to be a large stone called \"Llech Gybi,\" which\nthe invalids who came to this well for healing were required to touch.\n\nThere is a Holy Well of St. Gybi in Carnarvonshire also, to which\nit was once customary for young women to travel long distances,\nin order to find out their lover's intentions at the forthcoming\nfair. A pocket handkerchief was thrown on the surface of the water,\nand \"if it floated to the South there would be great joy and delight,\nbut if to the North, the girl would be an old maid.\"\n\n\n\nTHE HOLY WELL OF ST. GWENOG.\n\nSt. Gwenog's Well is close to the graveyard walls of the Church of\nLlanwenog, which is situated about six miles from Lampeter, and two\nfrom Llanybyther. The well was once much resorted to, even within\nmemory of people who are still alive, as its water was considered\nvery beneficial, especially to wash children whose backs were weak.\n\n\n\nTHE LLANLLWNI WELL.\n\nIn the parish of Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire, there is a well called\nFfynon Garedig, which seems to have been famous once. There is an old\nsaying that if you hold your two arms in this well for a certain length\nof time, you will find out whether you are healthy or unhealthy. If\none's arms are red when taken out of the water, it is a sign of good\nhealth, but if white, a sign of bad health.\n\n\n\nTHE PWLLFFEIN WELL.\n\nMr. Rees, Maesymeillion, Llandyssul, Cardiganshire, informed me,\nthat there was once a famous well for its healing virtues, on the\nside of the river Clettwr, known as \"Ffynon Pwllffein.\" An old man\nwho is now dead, informed him that this well was much resorted to\nabout the first part of the last century, and pins were once found\nat its bottom. The well has been destroyed by the river now.\n\nFfynon-Ddewi, or St. David's Well, near Alltyrodyn, in the same\nparish, was also much resorted to once, even within living memory,\nas it was popularly esteemed for its cures of whooping-cough.\n\n\n\nTHE LLANDYSSILIO WELL.\n\nIn the parish of Llandyssiliogogo, Cardiganshire, a well, known as\nFfynon Blaenglewinfawr, was once popularly esteemed for its cures of\nbad legs and other physical troubles. It is said that some who went\nthere on crutches were cured.\n\n\n\nFFYNON Y GROES (WELL OF THE CROSS).\n\nThis well is in the parish of Llangranog, Cardiganshire, and was famous\nonce, for tradition, says that in former times, pilgrims rested here\nto quench their thirst and to make the sign of the Cross. This parish\nhas also its Ffynon Fair, or St. Mary's Well.\n\n\n\nFFYNON Y PISTYLL.\n\nThis well, which was once celebrated for its healing virtues is in\nthe neighbourhood of Kidwelly, in Carmarthenshire, and its water\ncured sore eyes.\n\n\n\nTHE WELL OF FFOSANNA.\n\nThis well is also in Carmarthenshire, in the parish of Cyuwil\nElvet. There was hardly a well in the county more celebrated in former\ntimes than \"Ffynon Ffosanna,\" and there are traditions still extant\nin the neighbourhood, that many of the cripples who resorted here,\nwent home healed.\n\n\n\nFFYNON BECCA.\n\nAnother well-known well of great repute in Carmarthenshire, is\nBecca's Well, between Newcastle Emlyn and Llandyssul. This well is\nstill thought by many to possess health-restoring qualities, and its\nwater cured both gravel and diseased eyes. It was much resorted to\nwithin living memory.\n\n\n\nST. NON'S WELL, NEAR ST. DAVID'S.\n\nThis famous holy well, dedicated to Non, the mother of St. David,\nPatron Saint of Wales, is situated near the remains of St. Non's\nChapel, near St. David's, and was formerly much resorted to for\nmany complaints; and Fenton in his History of Pembrokeshire says:\n\"In my infancy, as was the general usage with respect to children at\nthat time, I was often dipped in it, and offerings, however trifling,\neven of a farthing or a pin, were made after each ablution, and the\nbottom of the well shone with votive brass.... At the upper end of the\nfield leading to Non's Chapel there appears the ruined site of a house,\nprobably inhabited by the person deputed to take care of the spring,\nmost likely a lucrative employment in more superstitious times.\"\n\nWhen I visited the neighbourhood a few years ago, an old man at\nSt. David's informed me that he remembered diseased persons coming\nto the well, and returning home completely restored to good health,\nand that without doubt there must be healing virtues in the water\nof this sacred spring. The old man also believed that St. David was\nbaptised in the well. Pembrokeshire people firmly believe that the\nPatron Saint of Wales was born in the neighbourhood which bears his\nname. The Welsh name for the cathedral and the town of St. David's\nis Ty Ddewi, which means the House of David.\n\n\n\nST. EDREN'S WELL.\n\nSt. Edren's is situated about half way between Haverfordwest and\nFishguard. According to a local tradition there was once a most\nfamous sacred well in the Churchyard, much resorted to for the cure\nof many complaints, especially hydrophobia; but one time, a woman\nwashed her clothes in this well on Sunday, which caused the spring\nto dry up as a curse for breaking the Sabbath. Fortunately, however,\nfor poor patients, the healing propensities or virtues of its water\nwere miraculously transferred into the churchyard grass. So people\ntook some of the grass to their homes to eat it with their food,\nwhich cured them of their ailments. There was a hole in the church\nwall to receive the offerings of those who came to procure some of\nthis grass. One old man informed the Vicar, the Rev. J. Bowen, who\nis an enthusiastic antiquarian, that the sacred well had been closed\nin order to drain the graveyard, but that there is still a spring in\na field outside the wall.\n\n\n\nTHE LETTERSTON WELL.\n\nAnother Pembrokeshire well supposed by some to possess curative\nproperties is called \"Ffynon Shan Shillin,\" at Letterston, about five\nmiles from Fishguard. Some say that the water of the well was once\nso valuable that it was sold for a shilling a bottle.\n\n\n\nTHE LLANLLAWER WELL.\n\nA well near the Church of Llanllawer, in the neighbourhood of\nFishguard, had once the reputation of possessing medical properties,\nand was much frequented in the old times.\n\nThere is a Rocking-Stone also in this neighbourhood, perhaps once\nused in divination.\n\nThere was also a well near Moelgrove, between Nevern and Cardigan,\nwhich was resorted to once, and pins were discovered at the bottom\nof it.\n\n\n\nRHOSCROWTHER.\n\n\"Down in a hollow beside the stream stands the ancient Parish Church,\ndedicated to St. Decumanus, patron of Springs and Wells, who in old\ntimes was held in high esteem for the cures effected at the bubbling\nrill hard by.\"--\"Nooks and Corners in Pembrokeshire,\" page 82.\n\n\n\nST. KEYNAN'S WELL (LLANGURIG.)\n\nAccording to the late Rev. Elias Owen, F.S.A., this well granted the\nwish of the first who drank it; and every married couple endeavoured\nto first drink the water, for the one did so became the master in\ntheir wedded life.\n\n\n\nLAKES.\n\n\nLLYN MOEL LLYN.\n\nThis is a lake in the parish of Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, North\nCardiganshire. There is a saying that every bird that attempts to\nfly over this lake, falls into it dead. There is also a tradition in\nthe neighbourhood that when an attempt was made to drain the lake,\nterrific thunder and lightning compelled them to give up the attempt.\n\n\n\nTREGARON LAKE.\n\nThere is a small lake near Tregaron, between Lampeter and Aberystwyth;\nand there is a tradition in the neighbourhood that the village or\ntown of Tregaron was once situated on the spot which is now occupied\nby the lake, but that it sunk, and some fancy they can see some ruins\nor remains now at the bottom of the lake.\n\n\n\nPENCARREG LAKE.\n\nPencarreg Lake is not far from Lampeter, but lies on\nthe Carmarthenshire side of the river Teivy, and near\nLlanybyther. According to an old tradition in the district, a village\nonce stood on the spot where now the lake is; but the village was\nswallowed up, and the lake is now known as the \"bottomless.\"\n\n\n\nTALLEY LAKES.\n\nTalley Lakes are close to the remains of the fine old Abbey, and not\nfar from Edwinsford, the country seat of Sir James Drummond, Bart.,\nLord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire. Respecting these lakes also there\nis a tradition that a town lies beneath their waters.\n\nSuch traditions of towns lying buried beneath lakes are common to\nmany lakes, both in Wales, and other countries. Such traditions have\nprobably come down from pre-historic times, when people dwelt in lake\nhabitations, and in caves, for safety from the beasts of the forest as\nwell as from human foes. Traces of lake dwelling have been discovered\nin Switzerland and in other countries.\n\n\n\nLLYN LLECHWEN.\n\nLlyn Llechwen, or Llyn Llech Owen, lies on the top of a hill near\nGorslas, in Carmarthenshire. According to a local tradition there\nwas only a small well once on the spot now occupied by the lake. The\nwell had a stone cover which had to be removed by those who came to\nobtain water, and to be carefully replaced after obtaining it. But\nonce upon a time a certain farmer in the neighbourhood sent a boy\nalmost every day to the well to water his horse. Whenever the boy\nreturned the farmer always asked him, \"Did you put back the stone\nover the mouth of the well, my boy?\" The boy answered \"Yes.\" One\nday, however, when in a hurry, the lad quite forgot about replacing\nthe stone, and the consequence was that the water of the well burst\nforth till it formed a lake. The above story was told me by an old\nman named John Jones, who lives in the small town of Llangadock,\nwho added that he had heard it from his mother when a boy.\n\nAccording to another tale respecting the spot, it was one famous\nwarrior known as Owen Lawgoch, and his men, who forgot to replace the\ncover; but when he found the water bursting forth both he and his men\nentered a cave in alarm, and fell asleep which is to last till it is\nbroken by the sound of a trumpet and the clang of arms on Rhiw Goch,\nthen to sally forth to conquer.\n\n\n\nLLYN Y FAN FACH.\n\nThis lake is known to all lovers of Welsh Fairy Lore. It lies on the\nBlack Mountain on the borders of Carmarthenshire and Breconshire. It\nhas been customary from time immemorial for people from all parts to\nthrong the banks of this lake on the first day of August to see the\nFairy Lady of the Lake appearing on the surface of the water to comb\nher hair. For account of this lady see Fairies in this book.\n\n\n\nLLYN EIDDWEN, LLYN FANOD, AND LLYN FARCH.\n\nThese are a group of lakes in which the river Aeron, in Cardiganshire,\nrises. There is an old story that wild cattle used to come out of\nEiddwen, and rush back when disturbed. Mr. David Rees, Glynwern,\nLlanilar, informed me that according to an old prophecy attributed\nto Merlin, when Llyn Eiddwen dries up the town of Carmarthen will\nsink! There is also a story about Llyn Farch that, once upon a time, a\nmost wonderful animal came out of its waters, and was shot by a farmer.\n\n\n\nSAVADDAN LAKE (BRECONSHIRE).\n\nThis celebrated lake which is known by several names, such as\nLlangorse Lake, Lake of Brycheiniog, etc., occupies a spot where,\naccording to ancient tradition, once stood a large city, which was\nswallowed up by an earthquake. Camden once thought that the supposed\ncity was the ancient Loventium of the Romans; but Loventium stood,\nin all probability, in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi, Cardiganshire.\n\nThis lake was once celebrated for its miracles, and Giraldus Cambrensis\nseven hundred years ago, says:--\"In the reign of King Henry I.,\nGruffydh, son of Rhys ap Theodor, held under the King, one comot,\nnamely, the fourth part of the cantred of Caoc, in the Cantref Mawr,\nwhich, in title and dignity, was esteemed by the Welsh, equal to the\nsouthern part of Wales, called Deheubarth, that is, the right-hand\nside of Wales. When Gruffydh, on his return from the King's Court,\npassed near this lake, which at that cold season of the year was\ncovered with waterfowl of various sorts, being accompanied by Milo,\nEarl of Hereford, and Lord of Brecheinioc, and Payn Fitz-John, Lord of\nEwyas, who were at that time secretaries and privy counsellors of the\nKing; Earl Milo, wishing to draw forth from Gruffydh some discourse\nconcerning his innate nobility, rather jocularly than seriously thus\naddressed him: 'It is an ancient saying in Wales, that if the natural\nprince of the country, coming to this lake, shall order the birds to\nsing, they will immediately obey him.' To which Gruffydh, richer in\nmind than in gold (for though his inheritance was diminished, his\nambition and dignity still remained), answered, 'Do you therefore,\nwho now hold the dominion of this land, first give the command'; but\nhe and Payn having in vain commanded, and Gruffydh, perceiving that it\nwas necessary for him to do so in his turn, dismounted from his horse,\nand falling on his knees towards the East, as if he had been about\nto engage in battle, prostrate on the ground, with his eyes and hands\nuplifted to Heaven, poured forth devout prayers to the Lord: at length,\nrising up, and signing his face and forehead with the figure of the\ncross, he thus openly spake: 'Almighty God, and Lord Jesus Christ,\nwho knowest all things, declare here this day Thy power. If Thou hast\ncaused me to descend lineally from the natural princes of Wales,\nI command these birds in Thy name to declare it;' and immediately\nthe birds, beating the water with their wings, began to cry aloud,\nand proclaim him. The spectators were astonished and confounded; and\nEarl Milo hastily returning with Payn Fitz-John to Court, related\nthis singular occurrence to the King, who is said to have replied,\n'By the death of Christ (an oath he was accustomed to use), it is\nnot a matter of so much wonder; for although by our great authority\nwe commit acts of violence and wrong against these people yet they\nare known to be the rightful inheritors of this land.'\"\n\n\n\nRIVER LEGENDS.\n\n\n                           \"Hafren ag Wy, hyfryd eu gwedd\n                            A Rheidol fawr ei hanrhydedd.\"\n\n                            (How beautiful are the Severn and Wye\n                            And Rheidol is held in honour they say.)\n\n\nThe Severn, the Wye, and the Rheidol rise on Plinlimon Mountain. These\nrivers, which are called three sisters, agreed to make a visit to\nthe sea in the morning. Severn rose up very early, and took compass\nthrough Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire. Wye rose\nlater and took her journey through the counties of Radnorshire and\nHereford, falling in with her sister near Chepstow, and went hand in\nhand to the ocean. Rheidol indulged in her dreams and lay so late that\nshe was forced to take the nearest road to Aberystwyth. According to\nanother version of this legend five sister fountains are mentioned,\nnamely, Wye, Severn, Rheidol, Llyfnant and the Dulas.\n\nThere is another interesting old legend having close connection with\nthe Severn, the following version of which is given by Milton in his\nHistory of Britain:--\"After this Brutus in a chosen place, built Troja\nNova, changed in time to Trimovantum, now London; and began to enact\nlaws (Heli being then High Priest in Judea); and having governed\nthe whole isle twenty-four years died, and was buried in his new\nTroy. Three sons--Locrine, Albanact, and Camber--divided the land\nby consent. Locrine had the middle part, Loegria; Camber possessed\nCambria or Wales; Albanact, Albania, now Scotland. But he in the end,\nby Humber, King of the Hums, who, with a fleet, invaded that land,\nwas slain in fight, and his people driven back into Loegria. Locrine\nand his brother go out against Humber; who now marching onward was by\nthese defeated, and in a river drowned, which to this day retains his\nname. Among the spoils of his camp and navy were found certain maids,\nand Estrilidis, above the rest, passing fair, the daughter of a King\nin Germany, from whence Humber, as he went wasting the sea-coast,\nhad led her captive; whom Locrine, though before, contracted to\nthe daughter of Corineus, resolves to marry. But being forced and\nthreatened by Corineus, whose authority and power he feared, Gwendolen,\nthe daughter, he yields to marry, but in secret loves the other; and\nofttimes retiring as to some sacrifice, through vaults and passages\nmade underground, and seven years thus enjoying her, had by her a\ndaughter equally fair, whose name was Sabra. But when once his fear\nwas off by the death of Corineus, not content with secret enjoyment,\ndivorcing Gwendolen, he makes Estrilidis his queen. Gwendolen, all, in\nrage, departs into Cornwall; where Pladan, the son she had by Locrine,\nwas hitherto brought up by Corineus, his grandfather; and gathering\nan army of her father's friends, and subjects, gives battle to her\nhusband by the river Sture, wherein Locrine, shot with an arrow, ends\nhis life. But not so ends the fury of Gwendolen, for Estrilidis and\nher daughter Sabra she throws into a river, and, to have a monument\nof revenge proclaims that the stream be thenceforth called after the\ndamsel's name, which by length of time is changed now to Sabrina or\nSevern.\" The Poet in his \"Mask of Comus\" makes the nymph Sabrina \"that\nwith moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream\" the goddess of the\nriver, but still retaining her maiden gentleness, and the shepherds,\nat their festivals, \"Carol her goodness loud in their rustic lays,\nand throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream of pansies, pink,\nand gaudy daffodils. And, as the old swain said, she can unlock the\nclasping charm, and thaw the number spell, if she be right invoked\nin warbling song; for maidenhood she loves, and will be swift to aid\na virgin, such as was herself, in hard-besetting need.\" In the year\n1634 when this \"Comus\" was presented at Ludlow Castle before the Lord\nPresident of Wales, the President's own daughter, Lady Alice Egerton,\nwhen only a little girl, acted in it; and it is an interesting fact\nthat this same Lady Alice, some years afterwards, became the wife of\nthe Earl of Carbery, Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire, who entertained\nJeremy Taylor during the time of the Commonwealth.\n\n\n\nCAVES.\n\n\nOGOF MORRIS (MORRIS'S CAVE).\n\nNear Tre'rddol in North Cardiganshire, there is a cave known as Ogof\nMorris. According to a tradition I heard in the neighbourhood, this\nMorris was a notorious robber who lived in this cave, and went about\nto steal hens and sheep; but at last he was caught and hanged at\nCardigan. According to the eminent antiquarian, Mr. Barnwell, there\nwas a robber of the name also in Pembrokeshire, who had a little dog\ntrained to fetch the arrows shot at unfortunate wayfarers. At last he\nwas killed and buried at a spot where there is a stone still called\n\"Bedd Morris\" on the highway from St. David's to Newport.\n\n\n\nBLOODY CAVE.\n\nThere is a cave at Pendine, in Carmarthenshire, in which according to\ntradition a gang of most desperate and murderous robbers once made\ntheir headquarters. At last, these scoundrels were attacked by the\npeople of the neighbourhood, and put to death for murdering a woman\nfor her money.\n\n\n\nPLANT MAT'S CAVE.\n\nAccording to tradition \"Plant Mat,\" or \"Plant y Fat,\" were two sons\nand a daughter of one Matthew Evans, who kept a public house at\nTregaron in the seventeenth century. These persons became highway\nrobbers and lived in a cave near Devil's Bridge. The entrance to the\ncave admitted only one person at a time and this enabled the robbers\nto keep out hundreds when they were attacked. It seems that they had\nsome notion of honour, for it is said that if either had a friend,\nhe gave him his glove, which served as a passport when stopped by the\nothers. They lived for some years in this cave, but at last they were\nexecuted for murder. One of them was captured near Hereford, just\nas he was giving out the well-known hail of \"Deliver or die.\" These\nrobbers are also credited with the attributes of the fairies.\n\n\n\nTWM SHION CATTI'S CAVE.\n\n                           \"Mae llefain mawr a gwaeddi,\n                            Yn Ystradffin eleni;\n                            Mae'r ceryg nadd yn toddi'n blwm,\n                            Rhag ofn twm Sion Catti.\"\n\n                            (In Ystradffin a doleful sound\n                            Pervades the hollow hills around;\n                            The very stones with terror melt,\n                            Such tear of Twm Shion Catti's felt.)\n\n\nThis cave, which is near Ystradffin, on the borders of Carmarthenshire\nand Cardiganshire, was once, says tradition, the stronghold of Twm\nShion Catti, or to give him his proper name Thomas Jones. This\nThomas Jones, or Twm Shion Catti, lived at Tregaron in the time\nof Queen Elizabeth. It seems that he had been in his younger days\na freebooter, but reformed and became a celebrated bard, antiquary\nand a genealogist. The legends which have gathered round the name of\nthis eminent man, are still retained in the memory of the people in\nCardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, and the late Mr. T. J. L. Prichard,\nof Llandovery, made him the hero of a most popular romance, into\nwhose book the stories have been introduced, and embellished.\n\n\n\nOWEN LAWGOCH'S CAVE.\n\nThis cave is in the limestone rock of Dinas, Llandebie, in\nCarmarthenshire, respecting which there is a story that a great\nwarrior named Owen Lawgoch and his men fell asleep in it, but who\nare some day to awake and sally forth. A version of the legend is\ngiven in the Brython for 1858, page 179, by the late Gwynionydd,\nand an English translation of the same story is given by Sir John\nRhys in his \"Celtic Folk-Lore.\"\n\n\"Not the least of the wonders of imagination wont to exercise the\nminds of the old people was the story of Owen Lawgoch. One sometimes\nhears sung in the fairs the words:--\n\n\n   'Yr Owain hwn yw Harri'r Nawfed\n    Sydd yn trigo 'ngwlad estroniaid, etc.'\n\n    (This Owen is Henry the Ninth\n    Who tarries in a foreign land, etc.)\n\n\nBut this Owen Lawgoch, the national deliverer of our ancient race\nof Brythons, did not, according to the Troed yr Aur people, tarry\nin a foreign land, but somewhere in Wales, not far from Offa's\nDyke. They used to say that one Dafydd Meirig of Bettws Bledrws,\nhaving quarrelled with his father left for England. When he had\ngot a considerable distance from home, he struck a bargain with a\ncattle dealer to drive a herd of his beasts to London. Somewhere on\nthe corner of a vast moor, Dafydd cut a very remarkable hazel stick;\nfor a good staff is as essential to the vocation of a good drover as\nteeth are to a dog. So while his comrades had had their sticks broken\nbefore reaching London, Dafydd's remained as it was, and whilst they\nwere conversing together on London Bridge a stranger accosted Dafydd,\nwishing to know where he had obtained that wonderful stick. He replied\nthat in Wales he had had it, and on the stranger's assuring him that\nthere were wonderful things beneath the tree on which it had grown,\nthey both set out for Wales. When they reached the spot and dug a\nlittle they found that there was a great hollow place beneath. As\nnight was spreading out her sable mantle, and as they were getting\ndeeper, what should they find but stairs easy to step, and great lamps\nilluminating the vast chamber! When they reached the bottom of the\nstairs, they found themselves near a large table, at one end of which\nthey beheld sitting a tall man of about seven foot. He occupied an\nold-fashioned chair and rested his head on his left hand, while the\nother hand, all red, lay on the table and grasped a great sword. He\nwas withal enjoying a wondrously serene sleep, and at his feet on the\nfloor lay a big dog. After casting a glance at them, the wizard said\nto Dafydd: 'This is Owen Lawgoch, who is to sleep on till a special\ntime, when he will wake and reign over the Brythons. That weapon in\nhis hand is one of the swords of the ancient Kings of Britain.' Then\nthey moved slowly on, gazing at the wonders of that subterranean\nchamber; and they beheld everywhere the arms of ages long past, and\non the table thousands of gold and silver pieces bearing the images\nof the different Kings of Britain. They got to understand that it\nwas permitted them to take a handful of each, but not to put any in\ntheir purses. They both visited the cave several times, but at last\nDafydd put in his purse a little of the gold bearing the image of one\nof the Owen's ancestors. But after coming out again they were never\nable any more to find Owen's subterranean palace.\"\n\nThis story of Owen Lawgoch and his sleeping warriors is a version of\nthe well-known Welsh tradition of the enchanted sleep of King Arthur\nand his Knights.\n\nAccording to an old Welsh ballad, Owen Lawgoch does not sleep in a\ncave in Wales, but \"tarries in a foreign land\"; and Dr. O. T. Lewis,\nof the University College, addressing the Cardiganshire Antiquarian\nSociety, November 30th, 1910, stated that the garrison at Aberystwyth\n\"was increased in 1369, when Owen Lawgoch with his French auxiliaries\nwere expected from beyond the seas.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nLOCAL TRADITIONS, Etc.\n\n\nLLANDDEWI BREFI.\n\nThis parish is celebrated for its legendary lore; and no wonder for\nit is a spot of great historic interest.\n\nThere is a tradition current in the neighbourhood to the effect that\nit was originally intended to build the Church of Llanddewi Brefi in a\nfield on Godregarth farm, and that the work was actually commenced on\nthat spot, but the attempt to build there was constantly frustrated,\nfor that which was set up during the day was pulled down in the night\nby a Spirit, and all the material removed or carried to the spot where\nthe Parish Church now stands. The field pointed out by tradition is\nabout a mile away from the village, and yew trees are still to be\nseen there.\n\nAccording to another most ancient tradition, when the Church was\nin process of construction, two oxen known as the \"Ychain Bannog\"\nwere employed to draw the stone required for the building. The load\nwas so heavy that one of the two oxen died in the attempt to drag\nit forward; but before falling down dead he bellowed nine times,\nand so powerful was the echo that the hill, which before presented\nitself as an obstacle, divided or split in two. The other ox alone\nwas then able to bring the load unassisted to the site of the Church.\n\n\n   \"Llanddewi Brefi fraith,\n    Lle brefodd yr ych naw gwaith,\n    Nos hollti craig y Foelallt.\"\n\n    (Llanddewi Brefi the spotted,\n    Where the ox bellowed nine times,\n    Till Foelallt rock split in two.)\n\n\nAccording to another version of the story, it was the ox which survived\nwas the one that bellowed, and not the one that died. According to\nanother story given in Meyrick's History of Cardiganshire, these\ntwo Bannog Oxen were on one occasion used to draw \"away a monstrous\nbeaver dead\"; but this is only a version of a legend which is to be\nfound in several parts of Wales, and is founded on the older story\nof Hu Gadarn, or Hu the Mighty, who, with his Bannog Oxen, drew to\nland the avanc out of Llyn Llion, so that the lake burst out no more\nto deluge the earth. See \"Legend of Llyn y ddau Ychain\" in Folk-Lore\nof North Wales, by the late Rev. E. Owen, page 132.\n\nThe two Ychain Bannog of Llanddewi were sometimes called \"dau ychain\nDewi\" (St. David's two oxen). In a poem written in the Twelfth Century,\nthe Welsh Bard Gwynfardd Brycheiniog alludes to the old tradition\nas follows:--\n\n\n   \"Dau ychan Dewi, deu odidawe,\n    Dodyssant eu gwar dan garr kynawe,\n    Dau ychen Dewi ardderchawe oeddynt.\"\n\n\nThere used to be preserved at Llanddewi Church a remarkable fragment\nof a horn called \"Madcorn yr Ych Bannog,\" that is, the core of the\nBannog Ox's Morn, which, according to tradition, had been kept there\nas a valuable relic ever since the time of St. David. This horn is\nnow at Llidiardau, Llanilar, kept privately. It has been pronounced\nby Professor Boyd Dawkins to have belonged to \"the great urns (Bos\nPrimigenius) that Charlemagne hunted in the forest of Aachen, and\nthe Monks of St. Galle ate on their feast days.\"\n\nWhen St. David was preaching at Llanddewi at the great Synod, in\nthe year 519, it is said that the ground on which he stood rose up\nand formed a hillock under his feet. Cressy recounts the miracle in\nthe following words:--\"When all the fathers assembled enjoined David\nto preach, he commanded a child which attended him, and had lately\nbeen restored to life by him, to spread a napkin under his feet; and,\nstanding upon it, he began to expound the Gospel and the law to the\nauditory. All the while that this oration continued, a snow-white\ndove, descending from Heaven, sate upon his shoulders; and, moreover,\nthe earth, on which he stood raised itself under him till it became\na hill, from whence his voice, like a trumpet, was clearly heard and\nunderstood by all, both near and far off, on the top of which hill\na church was afterwards built, and remains to this day.\"\n\nThe people of Llanddewi Brefi told me that there is another tradition\nstill extant in the neighbourhood, which says that as St. David\nwas preaching on this great occasion, a nightingale appeared on the\nspot, and sang. The music of the bird was so sweet, that the people\nlistened to the nightingale's song, instead of continuing to give\ntheir attention to the sermon. Seeing this, the Holy Saint David\nrebuked the congregation, and informed them that the nightingale\nshould never again sing in the neighbourhood; and from that day\ntill now the bird has never been heard there. According to the\ngreat historian George Owen, there is a different version of this\nstory in Pembrokeshire. \"St. David, being seriouse occupied in the\nnight tyme in his divine orizons, was so troubled with the sweete\ntuninges of the nightingales, as that he could not fasten his minde\nupon heavenlie cogitacions, as at other tymes, being letted (hindered)\nby the melodie of the bird, praied unto the Almightie, that from that\ntyme forward there might never a nightingale sing within his Dioces,\nand this saieth our women (old wives' fables), was the cause of\nconfininge of the bird out of this country.\"\n\nAt Llanio Isaf, in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi are the remains\nof Loventium, which was a large Roman city. About half a mile from\nGogoyan, in the same parish, was once a holy well called Ffynon Ddewi,\nor St. David's Well, the water of which, according to tradition,\nflowed up miraculously when St. David restored to life the son of a\nwidow. The well has now been closed up, and a house stands on the\nspot. There is another \"Ffynon Ddewi,\" on the road-side between\nAberaeron and Cardigan.\n\n\n\nCAIO (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nIn the parish of Caio, there is a gold mine which in ancient times\nwas worked by the Romans. It is on the estate of Dolaucothy, and the\nspot is known as the \"Ogofau,\" or caves, and part of it is a height,\nhardly a mountain, that has been scooped out like a volcanic crater by\nthe Romans during their occupation. In this hollow or basin it is said\nthat the five saints named Ceitho, Gwyn, Gwynno, Gwynnoro, and Celynin,\nwho flourished in the sixth century, had retired in a thunderstorm\nfor shelter. They had penetrated into the mine and had lost their\nway, and taking a stone for a bolster had laid their heads on it and\nfallen asleep. And there they would remain in peaceful slumber till the\nreturn of King Arthur, or till a more godly bishop than has hitherto\nbeen should occupy the throne of St. David. When that happens, Merlin\nhimself is to be disenchanted and restore to liberty the dormant\nsaints. An inquisitive woman named Gweno, who, led by the devil,\nsought to spy on the saintly brotherhood in their long sleep, was\npunished by losing her way in the passage of the mine. She, likewise,\nremained in an undying condition, but was suffered to emerge in storm\nand rain, and in the night, when her vaporous form might be seen about\nthe old Ogofau, and her sobs and moans were heard and frightened many.\n\nMr. F. S. Price, in his interesting \"History of Caio,\" says that\nanother legend is that one of these saints appears to have a special\ncommemoration, but under a female appelative in \"Ffynon\" and \"Clochdy\nGwenno,\" the latter an isolated rock standing up in the midst of the\ngreat gold excavations, and marking their depth in that particular\nplace. The well had, in good old times, a high reputation for healing\nvirtues, and that \"on an unfortunate day, Gweno was induced to\nexplore the recesses of the cavern beyond a frowning rock, which had\nalways been the prescribed limit to the progress of the bathers. She\npassed beneath it and was no more seen. She had been seized by some\nsuperhuman power, as a warning to others not to invade those mysterious\n'penetralia,' and still on stormy nights, when the moon is full, the\nspirit of Gweno is seen to hover over the crag like a wreath of mist.\"\n\n\n\nST. GOVAN'S.\n\nAbout seven miles from Pembroke, and a mile from Bosheston, there\nis a small chapel of rude masonry half way down the cliff known\nas St. Govan's Chapel. It is a seaside building, perched across a\nfissure in the side of the cliff, and a long flight of steps leading\ndown to it from above. There is a popular belief that these steps\ncannot be numbered by anyone correctly, or \"counted by none both ways\nalike.\" I visited the spot myself in October, 1909. In the east wall\nof the Chapel a doorway admits into a cleft of the rock in which is a\nmarvellous cell or crevice, \"that enables the largest person to turn\nround therein, and at the same time quite filled by the smallest.\" This\ncavity has been regarded by the superstitious as a miraculous cell,\nand according to a legend Our Lord on one occasion, when pursued by\nHis enemies, the Jews, sought safety in this neighbourhood. \"Passing\nthrough a field where men were sowing bailey, He ordered them at\nonce to go for their reaping hooks, and, if any passed that way\nand inquired after Him, to say that they had seen such an one, but\nit was in sowing time. The men although they knew not who it was,\ndid as they were bid, fetched their hooks, and lo! on their return,\nthe field was waving with ripe corn. Whilst engaged in the reaping,\na band of men accosted them, as was expected, who, having received the\nappointed answer, gave up the chase in despair. The Lord, meanwhile,\nhad been concealed in this crevice, which had opened to receive Him,\nand still bears a faint impression of His person.\"\n\nAccording to another tradition which is still extant in the\nneighbourhood it was St. Govan (Sir Gawain), one of King Arthur's\nknights, that took shelter in this cell when he was pursued by his\npagan persecutors. The cell has been used from time immemorial as a\n\"wishing place,\" and it is said that \"all who turn round therein,\nand steadfastly cling to the same wish during the operation will most\ncertainly obtain their wish before the expiration of the year.\" It\nis still resorted to I believe by young people.\n\nA few yards lower down in the ravine is a holy well, once much resorted\nto for the cure of diseases. This well was frequently visited seventy\nyears ago, and, it is said that its water was so efficacious that\nsome who came there on crutches were able to walk away without them.\n\nThere are, or at least were, somewhere in this part, three upright\nstones, about a mile distant from each other. The tradition is,\nthat on a certain day these stones meet to \"dance the Hay,\" at a\nplace called Saxon's Ford, and when the dance is over, travel back\nand resume their places.\n\nThe late Mr. Thomas, Greenpark, informed me that there was a moving\nstone of this kind in the parish of Llandyssul, Cardiganshire.\n\n\n\nTREGARON.\n\nAt a distance of about three miles from Tregaron there is a ridge\nrunning east and west separating Upper and Lower Tregaron. It is called\n\"Cwys yr Ychain Bannog,\" the Furrow of the large-horned Oxen. Tradition\nhas it that the \"Furrow\" was made by two Bannog Oxen dragging along\nthe ground the carcass of a huge reptile which had been killed by the\npeople of the neighbourhood in ancient time. (For more about Tregaron\nsee Lakes.)\n\n\n\nCRUG MAWR.\n\nThe Rev. Peter Roberts, in his \"Cambrian Popular Antiquities,\" says\nthat Crug Mawr, or Pentychryd Mawr, is a lofty hill in Cardiganshire,\nsituated in the Vale of Aeron, mentioned in Giraldus, where he says,\n\"there is an open grave, which fits the length of any man lying in it,\nshort or long.\" Hence arose the ancient tradition, that a powerful\ngiant, kept his post on this hill, and was endowed with the genius of\nthe Aeron Vale. He had a lofty palace erected on the hill, and used\noccasionally to invite the neighbouring giants to a trial of strength\non the top of it. At one of these meetings coits were proposed and\nintroduced, and, after great efforts, the inhabitant of the spot won\nthe day, by throwing his coit clear into the Irish shore, which ever\nafter gave him the superiority over all other giants in Ceredigion,\nor the land of Ceredig.\n\nGwynionydd in the First Volume of the \"Brython,\" 1859, mentions two\nplaces known as \"Crug Mawr,\" one near Cardigan, and the other in the\nVale of Aeron.\n\nNear the road leading from Newcastle Emlyn to Lampeter, is \"Crug\nBalog,\" where a warrior or giant of the name of Balog was buried.\n\n\n\nCANTREF Y GWAELOD; OR THE LOST LOWLAND.\n\n\n                           \"Ochenaid Gwyddno Garanhir,\n                            Pan droes y don dros ei dir.\"\n\n                            (The sigh of Gwyddno Garanhir,\n                            When the waives swept over his land.)\n\n\nThere is a well-known tradition in Cardiganshire, and indeed all over\nWales, that what is known to-day as Cardigan Bay was once dry land. The\ncountry was known as Cantref y Gwaelod, or The Lowland Hundred. It\nhad sixteen cities, and in the beginning of the sixth century the\ndistrict was governed by a king named Gwyddno Garanhir. As the land\nwas below sea-level, dykes had been built to check the encroachments\nof the sea. One day, however, Saethennyn Feddw, that is, Saethennyn\nthe Drunkard, son of the King of South Wales, opened the sluices,\nand the sea flowed in, but the people fled to the uplands.\n\nOne of the ancient Welsh Triads commemorates the inundation as\nfollows:--\n\n\"The three abandoned drunkards of the Isle of Britain were, first,\ndrunken Geraint, King of Siluria, who in the paroxysm of a fit of\nintoxication set fire to the standing corn; the conflagration in\nconsequence of which rash act spread so violently, that all the corn\nof the country, to an immense distance, was totally consumed, and a\ndestructive famine ensued.\"\n\n\"The second was Vortigern, surnamed the wry-mouthed, who when\nintoxicated gave Horsa, the Saxon chief, the Isle of Thanet, for\npermission to have an illicit connection with his daughter Rowena;\nand further promised, that her son, the fruit of that amour, should\nsucceed to the Crown of England; which proved productive of treachery,\nand a sanguinary massacre of a prodigious number of the chieftains\nof the Cambrian race.\n\n\"The third was drunken Seithinyn, the son of Seithyn Saidi, King\nof Dimetia; who when in a state of intoxication suffered the sea\nto overflow Cantref y Gwaelod, where lands and habitations the most\nbeautiful in all Wales, excepting only Caerleon or Usk, to the number\nof sixteen cities and towns, were in a short period inundated and\nruined. The lowland hundred was the property of Gwyddno, surnamed\nlongshanks, King of Ceredigion (Cardiganshire). This event happened\nin the reign of Emrys Wledig. The inhabitants who escaped from that\ninundation landed in Ardudwy, and ascended the mountains of Snowdon,\nwhich had never been inhabited before that period.\"\n\nThere is a poem on this inundation in the ancient Welsh book \"Llyvr\nDu Caerfyrddin\" (Black Book of Carmarthen).\n\nNear Wallog, a few miles to the North of Aberystwyth, a causeway\ncalled Sarn Cynfelyn, extends several miles into the sea. According\nto local tradition this is supposed to have been a main road leading\ninto the submerged country, and it is said that there was a royal\npalace in this part. Other places which traditions associate with the\nLowland Hundred are Sarn Cadwgan and Sarn Ddewi, further South, near\nAberayron, and Sarn Badrig, in North Wales. So much has been written\non this subject, both in prose and verse, that it it not necessary to\ndwell further on it here. But it is of interest to add that there is a\ntradition, which is still extant that between Borth, in Cardiganshire,\nand Aberdovey, in Merionethshire, there once stood a town at a spot\nwhich is now covered by water. There is also a well-known story of\nthe chimes of bells being heard at the bottom of the sea.\n\nDwellers near Ramsey Sound, in Pembrokeshire, also hear the chimes\nof bells in the sea, and this reminds us of the Story of Grallon,\nin Brittany, who reigns beneath the waves.\n\n\n\nLLANFIHANGEL YSTRAD.\n\nThere is a tradition in the Vale of Aeron that some generations\nago, a man from the neighbourhood of Ystrad, was sentenced at the\nCardigan Assizes, to be hanged for sheep-stealing, or some other such\noffence. The sentence, however, was not carried out, as the criminal\nwas a useful man, particularly so to the Squire who happened to be\nthe High Sheriff that year. But before the Squire's year of office\nhad elapsed, urgent inquiries came down from the Government as to the\nexecution, of which no report had ever reached them. The Squire was so\nfrightened at the Government's inquiries, that he had the unfortunate\nman, who was out in the fields at the time, seized, bound and hanged\non a birch tree. One of the Squire's servants entered a small cottage\nand begged an old woman for the loan of her apron, but concealing from\nher what he was going to do with it. When the old woman discovered\nthat her apron was made use of to blindfold the poor man who was so\nunceremoniously hanged, she pronounced a curse on the Squire and his\ndescendants. After this everything went wrong with that Squire.\n\n\n\nA STRANGE CARMARTHENSHIRE TREE LEGEND.\n\nThere is a fine old mansion in Carmarthenshire, with a very strange\ntradition in connection with it. I am not permitted to mention the\nname of the place.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a certain tree, or rather a bush, in a\nfield, or in the Park, which bloomed with flowers every Christmas\nmorning. Christmas after Christmas, when putting forth its blossoms,\nthe bush made a strange noise, which attracted to the spot large\ncrowds of people from all parts of the country. At last the selfish\nSquire cut down this sacred bush, in order to put a stop to the people\ndamaging his park; but by doing this rash act he brought upon himself\nand his descendants a curse, and his offence has not been expiated\ntill this day.\n\n\n\nMAESYFELIN.\n\nThe most popular tradition associated with Lampeter is that known\nas the \"Curse of Maesyfelin.\" Maesyfelin was a stately mansion\non the banks of the river Dulas, on the east side of the town of\nLampeter. It was once a place of consequence, and an ancient family\nof Lloyds lived there. About the beginning of the 17th Century the\nfamous Vicar Pritchard of Llandovery, author of \"Canwyll y Cymry\"\nhad a son named Samuel. Tradition has it that this young Samuel\nwas an intimate friend of Sir Francis Lloyd, Knight of Maesyfelin,\nwho was a wicked man. At last, so the story goes, the two quarrelled\nover some love affair, and young Samuel was stifled to death between\ntwo feather beds. The body, tied in a sack and placed on horse-back,\nwas conveyed over the mountain in the depth of night and thrown into\nthe river Towy in Carmarthenshire. When the body of his lamented son\nwas discovered in the river, the broken-hearted father pronounced a\ncurse on Maesyfelin in the following words:--\n\n\n   \"Melldith Duw ar Maesyfelin--\n    Ar bob carreg, ar bob gwreiddyn--\n    Am daflu blodau tref Llan'ddyfri\n    Ar ei ben i Dywi i foddi.\"\n\n    (The curse of God on Maesyfelin!\n    On every stone, and root therein,\n    For throwing the flower of Llandovery town\n    To Towy's water, there to drown.)\n\n\nPeople believe to this day that the judgment of God fell on\nthe family and mansion of Maesyfelin. The palace delapsed and no\nlonger exists. Materials from its ruins were carried away to repair\nFfynonbedr, another mansion in the neighbourhood; but that place is\nalso in ruin now, so that it is believed that the curse of Maesyfelin\nfollowed the material to Ffynonbedr.\n\n\n\nTENBY (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nIn former times Tenby was so celebrated for its fishery and it was\nknown as Dinbych-y-Pysgod, that is Tenby-of-the-Fish. There is a\ntradition in the neighbourhood of some extraordinary bank or rock,\nat sea, called \"Will's Mark,\" on which codfish in great abundance\nwere formerly taken. The spot is no longer to be found, and the loss\nis said to have been occasioned as a curse which the inhabitants of\nthe town brought upon themselves by their barbarous usage of a deaf\nand dumb man, who had come into the town begging.\n\n\n\nCWM KERWYN (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nIn this locality is a huge stone or rock, which, according to\ntradition, was thrown there by King Arthur of old; and somewhere in\nthe same neighbourhood is \"Bedd Arthur,\" Arthur's Grave.\n\n\n\nLLANSTEPHAN CASTLE (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nIt is popularly supposed that there is an underground passage from\nthis old Castle to the mansion, known as Plas Llanstephan. Tradition\nhas it that many an attempt was made in former times to go through,\nbut always in vain, as a spirit extinguished the candles of all who\nentered the passage after proceeding a certain distance.\n\n\n\nCWMYREGLWYS (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nAccording to Pentrevor, in \"The Pembroke County Guardian,\" March,\n1903, a \"Fairies' Town\" has been seen in the sea occasionally in\nthis neighbourhood. He also adds that there are on the extreme\npoint of Dinas Head, some steps in the rock called \"The Devil's\nFootprints.\" There are also \"Devil's Footprints\" in a rock, to be\nseen in Cardiganshire, between Llanwenog and Llanarth.\n\n\n\nMESUR Y DORTH (MEASURE OF THE LOAF).\n\nBetween St. David's and Fishguard is an object not unlike a milestone,\nupon which is rudely traced a cross within a circle: the irregular\ndisc being about a foot in diameter. This is known as \"Mesur y Dorth,\"\n(Measure of the Loaf); and the tradition is, that St. David caused\nthese figures to be made in order to regulate the size of the loaf\nof bread in times of scarcity.\n\n\n\nABERGWILI.\n\nNear the Bishop of St. David's Palace, Abergwili, is a pool in the\nriver Towy, called \"Pwll y Coach\" (the Coach's Pool). The tradition is\nthat in the old Coaching Days the \"Great Coach\" fell into this pool,\nand was never seen again.\n\n\n\nCAE POETH (HOT FIELD).\n\nIn the parish of Llanon, Carmarthenshire, is a field called \"Cae\nPoeth.\" Tradition says that images which were in the Church before\nthe Reformation were burnt at this spot.\n\n\n\nCRAIG GWRTHEYRN (VORTIGERN'S ROCK).\n\nCraig Gwrtheyrn is in the neighbourhood of Pencader, in\nCarmarthenshire. According to an old legend, the disreputable old\nBritish King Vortigern, built a castle here in the fifth century;\nbut he and his castle were destroyed by fire from heaven. There is\nalso a story that Owen Glyndwr sleeps in a cave here.\n\n\n\nBRYNBERIAN (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nNear Brynberian, in North Pembrokeshire, there is a grave known as\n\"Bedd yr Afanc,\" or the Avanc's Grave. According to an old tradition in\nthe neighbourhood, this Avanc was a most dangerous beast or monster,\nwhich at last, after much trouble, was caught in a pool in the river,\nand buried with pomp and religious rites on a spot which still bears\nthe name \"Bedd yr Afanc.\"\n\n\n\nLLANON (CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\nNon was the mother of St. David. The Vicar, Mr. Lewis, informed me\nthat there is a tradition in the neighbourhood that the Patron Saint\nwas born here, and owned much land here, including all the flats\nknown as Morfa Esgob--The Bishop's March. It is said that St. David\ndivided the land into small portions which he gave to the fishermen\nof the place. There was a stone on the exterior wall of the ruins\nof St. Non's Chapel, on which was carved the face of a woman with a\nchild in her arms, traditionally reputed to be that of Non and her\nchild David. There is also a tradition that the Saint was educated\nat Henfynyw. See more about this in Mr. Eyre Evans' interesting book\non the Antiquities of Cardiganshire.\n\nSome three miles from Llanon, says Mr. Horsfall-Turner in his\n\"Wanderings in Cardiganshire,\" legends have been busy with a huge\nstone pillar which marks, perhaps the grave of some long-forgotten\nhero. \"During the building of Devil's Bridge, we are told, his Satanic\nmajesty wished to employ this monolith and carried it away, his finger\nmarks may still be seen--leaving another impression. He sat so long\nand thought so deeply, that at the crowing of the cock, he was startled\nand vanished so rapidly that the stone was so completely forgotten.\"\n\n\n\nTYNYCASTELL (DEVIL'S BRIDGE).\n\nAccording to the Rev. John Griffith, Llangynwyd, there is a version\nof the well-known legend of Arthur or Owen Lawgoch and the Sleeping\nWarriors attached to this place; but as I have already given a version\nof this story in connection with Owen Lawgoch's Cave, near Llandebie,\nI shall not repeat it here. King Arthur figures rather prominently\nin North Cardiganshire. Between Devil's Bridge and Llanafan is a farm\nbelonging to the Earl of Lisburne called \"Maen Arthur\"--Arthur's Stone;\nand in the parish of Llanbadarn-fawr there is a \"Llys Arthur\"--Arthur's\nCourt, a legendary residence of the renowned King.\n\n\n\nBEDD TALIESIN (TALIESIN'S GRAVE).\n\nAbout eight miles north of Aberystwyth is an ancient grave known as\nBedd Taliesin. According to a local tradition, Taliesin, Chief Bard\nof the Island of Britain was buried on this spot. The grave, which\nis composed of stones, is in the centre of a large heap of earth or\nmound surrounded by stone circles, and some generations ago bones,\nand even a human skull, were found in it, which probably were the\nremains of the great ancient poet. There is a superstition respecting\nBedd Taliesin that should anyone sleep in it for one night, he would\nthe next day become either a poet or an idiot. There is a similar\npopular belief in connection with Cader Idris, in Merionethshire,\nwhere an eminent bard once tried the experiment. Taliesin's Grave\nis in the Parish of Llanfihangel genau'r Glyn, and in the adjoining\nparish of Llancynfelin there is a village bearing the name of Taliesin;\nand, according to the \"Mabinogion,\" the great poet was born somewhere\nbetween the Dyvi and Aberystwyth. The people of North Cardiganshire\nbelieve to this day that Taliesin was both born and buried in their\ndistrict. The origin of his birth, which was supposed to be very\nmiraculous, and other legends which cling to the memory of this great\nman are to be found in the Mabinogion.\n\n\n\nCRUGIAU'R LADIS (CARMARTHENSHIRE).\n\nOn the mountain above the village of Caio, there are two peculiar\nheaps of stone known as Crugiau'r Ladis, concerning which there is the\nfollowing curious tradition:--Two ladies from London were exiled from\ntheir homes, and lived in this district. The change of town life to\ncountry was so great, that they set to work and gathered heaps of\nstone together to build a Babel heavenward, from the top of which\nthey could see London from the land of exile.\n\nI heard a story when a boy that Derry Ormond tower, near Lampeter,\nwas also built in order to see London.\n\n\n\nEURGLAWDD.\n\nIn a field called Llettyngharad on this farm, which is in the parish\nof Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, there are two stones respecting which\nan ancient prophecy says that when the third appears, the end of the\nworld will be at hand. At Llwynglas, in the same parish, there was once\npreserved a long knife, which, according to tradition, was used by the\nSaxons in the time of Vortigern, at the treachery of the long knives.\n\n\n\nTRAETH SAITH (CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\nTradition says that Traeth Saith--the Seven's Shore--had its name from\nthe seven daughters of a king who were wrecked there, having been put\nby order of their father into a vessel without sails or oars. A poem\ncommemorates this tradition.\n\nProbably the place is named from a brook.\n\n\n\nLLANILAR.\n\nThe present vicar, the Rev. J. F. Lloyd, remembers hearing from\nan old lady, that when she was a little girl, it was customary for\nthe women of the parish to curtsy to an oil painting of the Blessed\nVirgin Mary, on entering the church. It seems that there was a holy\nwell once known as Ffynnon Drindod not far from Llanilar.\n\n\n\nLLANGADOCK.\n\nAn old man, named John Jones, informed me that Llangadock was a\nlarge town in ancient times; but that a part of it sunk. According\nto tradition, a church stood once where Pwll y Clychau--the Pool of\nthe Bells--is now, and the old man added that people still hear the\nsound of the bells at the bottom of the pool. There is a stone in\nthe river Sawdde, known as Coitan Arthur, respecting which there is\na tradition that it was thrown down from the top of Pen Arthur--about\na mile distant--by Arthur the Giant.\n\n\n\nABERMARLAIS.\n\nAt the entrance gate of Abermarlais Park there is an interesting stone,\nnear which, according to a tradition related to me by Mrs. De Rutzen,\nthe Welsh Princes held a council of war. I was also informed by people\nin the neighbourhood that the spot was once haunted by the ghost of\na lady in white.\n\n\n\nOYSTERMOUTH CASTLE (GOWER).\n\nIt is said that in an underground dungeon of Oystermouth Castle is,\nor there was, a large pillar known as \"The Wishing Post,\" around which\nyoung men and young women, when wishing for a lover or sweetheart,\nwere in the habit of walking nine times, and at the same time sticking\na pin in the pillar and looking on the wall, when they were supposed\nto see \"a lady in white.\"\n\n\n\nOXWITCH (GOWER).\n\nNear the Bone Caves is a cromlech known as Arthur's Stone. According\nto tradition, St. David split it with a sword in proof that it was\nnot sacred.\n\n\n\nCAE HALOG (NORTH CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\n\"Cae Halog,\" at Llanbadarn-fawr means \"Desecrated Field.\" The tradition\nin the neighbourhood is, that in former times people met together at\nthis spot to indulge in games and contests on Sundays, thus breaking\nthe Sabbath.\n\n\n\nMOUNT AND VERWICK (CARDIGAN).\n\nIt was customary in former times for the people of this district to\nmeet together on the First Sunday after New Year's Day, called by them\n\"Sul Coch\" (Red Sunday), when wrestling, football, etc., took place,\nto commemorate a victory over the Flemings.\n\nIn the neighbouring parish of Llangoedmore, is St. Cynllo's Cave,\nwhere, according to ancient tradition, the holy Saint prayed, and\nwhere marks of his knees are to be seen in the rocks.\n\n\n\nMAENCLOCHOG (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nIt is said that this parish received its name from a stone which\nsounded like a bell. An old man named John Griffiths, informed me\nthat he remembered this stone, which was a very large one, and that\npeople broke it up in order to see what caused it to sound.\n\n\n\nHIGHMEAD (CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\nThere are old traditions that an ancient Welsh King, named Pryderi\nAp Pwyll, had a palace here, somewhere on the river side, on a spot\nknown according to the Mabinogion, as \"Rhuddlan Teivi.\" The present\nmansion is the country residence of Colonel Davies-Evans, the worthy\nLord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire, who informed me that Sir John Rhys,\nOxford, has been trying to discover traces of Pryderi's palace.\n\nI dealt with this subject in a paper which I read at Highmead, June,\n1910, before the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, and which is to\nbe published in the Transactions of that Society. I may also add that\nthe Lord Lieutenant and Mrs. Davies-Evans are among my best friends\nin South Wales, and I have made much use of their valuable library.\n\n\n\nGOGERDDAN (NEAR ABERYSTWYTH).\n\nThe late John Jones, Bristol House, Talybont, informed me six years\nago, that there is a tradition in the neighbourhood that Henry\nVII. called at Gogerddan when on his way through Cardiganshire to\nBosworth Field. Henry had been entertained at Wern Newydd and Llwyn\nDafydd in the south of the county. Gogerddan is the ancient residence\nof the genial baronet, Sir Edward Webley-Parry-Pryse.\n\n\n\nLLANGYNLLO (CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\nThere is a tradition in this parish, that in ancient times, the\nRomans put to death a young woman in the neighbourhood of Gernos,\nand that her spirit haunted the spot for generations. At first,\nshe appeared as a cat, and afterwards as a \"White lady.\"\n\nThere is a tradition that a son of Howell Dda, King of Wales, lived\nin the neighbouring district of Dyffryn Cerri.\n\n\n\nLLANGWYRYFON (CHURCH OF THE VIRGINS).\n\nTradition says that this parish received is name from eleven thousand\nWelsh virgins, who were massacred by barbarians on the coast of\nGermany. The virgins were on their way to Brittany.\n\n\n\nPENBRYN (CARDIGANSHIRE).\n\nAccording to my friend, the Rev. Prys Williams (Brythonydd), there\nis a farm in this parish called \"Perth Geraint\"; and it is probable\nthat Geraint, one of King Arthur's knights was buried somewhere in\nthis neighbourhood, as tradition locates in the parish of Penbryn,\nthe \"Battle of Llongborth,\" at which Geraint was killed. This is\nthe Geraint who figures in the Mabinogion, and in Tennyson, as the\nknight who married the young Lady Enid, who is described as \"comely\nand graceful.\"\n\nThere is a stone near Troed-y-Rhiw, which, according to tradition,\nwas an ejected pebble from the clog of a giant who lived in the\ndistrict in ancient times.\n\n\n\nCILGERRAN (PEMBROKESHIRE).\n\nIt is said that the spot where the remains of the Castle now stand,\nwas known in ancient times as \"Dyngeraint,\" so named from Geraint, one\nof King Arthur's Knights. This is the Geraint I have just mentioned\nabove in connection with the traditions of Penbryn, Cardiganshire, a\nparish which is only about seven miles distance from Cilgerran. Arthur\nand his Knights figure prominently in the traditions of Pembrokeshire,\nand there is a legend of a battle fought by Arthur's sons in the\nneighbourhood of Precelly.\n\n\n\nGORSYGEDOL (MERIONETHSHIRE).\n\nLady Enid Vaughan, daughter of Countess Lisburne, and sister of the\nyoung Earl of Lisburne, informed me that there is a tradition in\nthe neighbourhood of Harlech that Charles I. during the Civil War,\nwas at one time hiding at Gorsygedol, and that the bedstead in which\nhe slept is still to be seen there. Near the same old mansion is a\nlarge stone known as \"Coeten Arthur\"--Arthur's coit.\n\n\n\nNICK-NAMES, OLD AND POPULAR SAYINGS.\n\n\n    \"There is one-half of him in Penboyr.\"\n\n\n\"Angylion Ceinewydd, Gwartheg Llanarth, Hwrddod Cilcennin.\" (New\nQuay's angels, Llanarth's cows, Cilcennin's rams.)\n\n\n   \"Gwyr Llanddeusant, capan crwyn,\n    Lladron defaid, mamau'r wyn.\"\n\n    (Llanddeusant men, skin caps,\n    Sheep stealers, lambs's mothers.)\n\n   \"Moch Sir Benfro.\"\n    (Pembrokeshire pigs.)\n\n\nIt is probable that Pembrokeshire was the particular part of Britain\ninto which pigs were first introduced. In the Mabinogion, Gwydion tells\nMath, son of Mathonwy, Lord of North Wales, that Pryderi, Lord of the\nSouth, had some beasts called pigs. Pryderi, though he had a palace\nat Rhuddlan Teivi, in Cardiganshire, was a Pembrokeshire Prince, and\nit would seem that his chief palace was still at Narberth, and that\nhe introduced some of his pigs from Pembrokeshire into Cardiganshire.\n\n\n   \"Esmwyth yw Cwsg cawl Erfin.\"\n    (Easily sleeps turnip broth.)\n\n\nIn the \"Cambrian Notes and Queries,\" reprinted from the \"Weekly mail,\"\nMarch, 1902, I.H.A. says: \"There were two families living in two small\ncottages somewhere in a secluded spot on one of the slopes of the Black\nMountain, Carmarthenshire, both in very straitened circumstances. The\npaterfamilias' names were John and David. John found a way out of\nthe difficulty of rearing a family upon the salary earned by farm\nlabourers in those days by stealing a sheep now and then from the\nmountain flocks. His family very often had mutton broth and plenty of\nmeat for supper while David's family had to sup upon a piece of coarse\nbread and turnip broth. Upon a certain night David had enjoyed his\nusual repast and gone to bed. Mrs. David had gone to the \"next door\" to\nview the feast, when suddenly two constables of the old fashion, made\ntheir appearance to demand the body of friend John, his depredations\nhaving been found out. Mrs. David was frightened and ran into her\nown house. She then called her husband. 'David! David! Come down at\nonce; they are going to take John of the next door to prison.' 'No,'\nsays David, 'I will sleep on'--\n\n\n   \"Esmwyth y Cwsg cawl erfin.\"\n    (Easily sleeps turnip broth.)\n\n\nThe above saying is well-known all over Wales, but in the northern\npart of the Principality people say, \"Esmwyth y cwsg potes faip.\" What\nis known as \"Cawl erfin\" in South Wales, is known in North Wales as\n\"potes faip.\"\n\nAnother similar saying which I have heard many a time is \"Esmwyth\ncwsg cawl dwr\"--easily sleeps water broth.\n\nMr. John Davies, of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, in the\n\"Cambrian Notes and Queries,\" says: \"'Esmwyth cwsg cawl dwr' is an old\nsaying in Cardiganshire, especially in the parish of Llandyssul. About\nthe year 1830 my grandfather was constable of the parish, 'Lladron\nDefaid' (sheep stealers) were very popular at that time; so old Siams\nIsaac, of Pantrhedynen, was called from his bed one winter night to\ntake a prisoner to Cardigan Gaol, who was caught red-handed in the\nact of killing the sheep in his house. On the road going from Horeb\nto Newcastle Emlyn the constable and prisoner went into a public\nhouse and called for a pint of beer and bread and cheese each. After\nresuming their journey for about a hundred yards, the landlady of the\npublic house called after them that the man had stolen a knife from\nthe house. A search was made, and the knife was found in the pocket\nof the 'Lleidr Defaid.' After the usual compliment of a few rounds of\nold-fashioned boxing, he was taken safely to a place of correction,\nand never returned to Tregroes. So the old woman who happened to live\nnext door always said to John, her husband, 'Esmwyth cwsg cawl dwr\nJohn bach,' (water broth, easy sleep, John dear).\n\n\n\n\"CYNGHOR GWRAIG HEB EI OFYN.\"\n\n(A Woman's advice without asking for it).\n\nWhen King Henry VII. (then Earl of Richmond) was on his way through\nWales to Bosworth Field, he consulted Dafydd Llwyd of Mathavarn, as\nto the final issue of the coming struggle with Richard III. Dafydd\nwas a country gentleman, a bard, a wizard, and a prophet. On this\noccasion, however, he did not know how to prophecy, and was greatly\nperplexed. Fortunately, his wife was a very shrewd woman, who, having\ndiscovered her husband's embarrassment or trouble of mind, secretly\nadvised him to tell Henry that he would be successful in dethroning\nRichard III. and in making himself King. She assured her husband that\nif the prediction failed of its fulfilment, he would hear no more on\nthe subject, but that it would make his fortune if confirmed by the\nevent. Henry went on his way to Bosworth, rejoicing, and we know that\nthe prophecy became true. Hence originated the proverb, \"Cynghor gwraig\nheb ei ofyn,\" which implies that it is always a good thing to follow\na woman's advice, when she gives you an advice without asking for it.\n\nIn an old book entitled \"The History of the Principality of Wales,\netc.,\" by Robert Burton, published as early as the year 1695, the\nwriter when speaking of Cardiganshire says:--\"They have a proverb\n'Bu Arthur ond tra fu'; that is, 'Arthur was only whilst he was.' It\nis honourable for old men if they can say, 'We have been brave\nfellows.' They have another proverb, 'Ni thorres Arthur nawdd gwraig,'\nthat is, 'King Arthur never violated the refuge of a woman.' For\nthe King was the mirror of knighthood. By the woman's refuge we may\nunderstand her tongue, (and no valiant man will revenge her words\nwith his blows).\"\n\nThe above sayings mentioned by Robert Burton 200 years ago have fallen\ninto disuse now, but I have occasionally heard, \"Ni thorres Arthur\nnawdd gwraig.\"\n\n\n\nCHALKING THE DOOR-STEP.\n\nThe following appeared in the \"Western Mail,\" December 3rd, 1910:--\n\nAccording to a work just published on South Pembrokeshire, the custom\nprevailing in that part of the country of chalking the door-step dates\nback to Druidical times. The object of this chalking was to keep evil\nspirits out of the house. The patterns run round the slated steps,\nand, elaborate as they often are, the essential thing is that there\nshould be no gap in them, because the evil spirits could enter into\nthe house through the gaps. Does this custom prevail in all parts\nof Wales? It undoubtedly does in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire,\nGlamorgan, and Pembrokeshire.\n\n\n\nWAKES IN RADNORSHIRE.\n\nThe following account by an eye-witness of a Wake at Disserth, on\nJuly 9th, 1744, will prove of interest:--\n\n\"At the end of a mead, by this river side (the R. Ieithon),\nwere a company dancing in a barn. They were about nine couple,\ngenteely dressed, and all people of fortune and fashion, and I may\nwith security say, the best and most active country dancers I ever\nsaw. We observed that the men were gay and genteel, handsome, and\nwell shaped; the women were genteel without pride, modest without\naffectation, beautiful without art, and free without fondness. The\ngenerous hand of nature appeared in every face, unspotted with the\nartful follies of this degenerate age. It gave me a strong idea\nof the happiness and simplicity of the ancient Britons before the\nRoman and other corruptions overwhelmed the now refined part of the\nisland (as we are pleased to term it). But these zealots for liberty\nmaintained their independency long, and under this happy government\nthey continue (and they never end) their innocent customs, manners\nand recreations. A favourite dance (Bumpers Squire Jones) I saw\nthem perform with the greatest spirits, order and exactness ... the\nchurchyard, which, though large, was filled with people of almost all\nages and qualities. Near this, was a little house, where we put off our\nriding coats, etc. The church is a strong building, and pretty large,\nagainst the tiles of which were a dozen lusty young fellows playing\nat tennis, and as many against the steeple at fives. They played very\nwell, but spoke (as almost every one else did) in the Welsh tongue. On\none side of the church were about six couples dancing to one violin,\nand just below three or four couples to three violins, whose seat was a\ntombstone. We saw common games of ball played against the sacred pile,\nand there also music playing over the bones of the deceased. We were in\nthe middle of a merry, noisy throng, without knowing their language,\nor indeed almost anything they said.\"--Church Plate of Radnorshire,\nby J. T. Evans, quoted from \"Pryse's Handbook.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] King George and Caroline.\n\n[2] A pot for cooking.\n\n[3] \"British Goblins,\" page 67.","title":"Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":143565}