DEATH PORTENTS.
Among the most important of the superstitions of Wales are the
death portents and omens; and this is perhaps more or less true of
every country. About a generation or two ago, there were to be found
almost in every parish some old people who could tell before hand
when a death was going to lake place; and even in the present day
we hear of an old man or an old woman, here and there, possessing,
or supposed to possess, an insight of this kind into the future.
Mrs. Lloyd, Ffynnonddagrau, Llangynog, Carmarthenshire, told me five
years ago that there lived at Ffynnonddagrau, an old man named Thomas
Harries, who always foretold every death in the parish as he possessed
second sight. John Thomas, Pentre, who worked about the farms, called
with my informant one day on his way home; he was in good health then,
but on the very next day he was very ill and soon died. Harries had
foretold the death of the poor man some days before he was taken
ill. He had also foretold the death of one Howells, who was buried at
Ebenezer Chapel, and of an old woman known as Rassie of Moelfre Fach,
as well as the death of one Thomas Thomas about 35 years ago. People
were almost frightened to see Harries as he so often foretold the
death of someone or other, and his predictions were always correct. My
informant also added that Harries only died about 20 years ago.
THE "TOILI" OR PHANTOM FUNERAL.
With the exception of Corpse Candle, the most prominent death
portent in West and Mid-Wales is the "Toili" or spirit funeral;
a kind of shadowy funeral which foretold the real one. In the
very north of Cardiganshire, such apparition is known as "teulu"
(family); but throughout all other parts of the county it is called
"toili." Toili, or Toeli is also rather general in Carmarthenshire;
in North Pembrokeshire, however, it is called "Crefishgyn."
There are tales of phantom funerals all over the Diocese of
St. David's, and the following account of a Twentieth Century Phantom
Funeral in Pembrokeshire is interesting, as my informant himself was
the man who witnessed the strange apparition, or a foreshadowing of
a funeral which actually took place soon afterwards.
A PRESENT DAY PHANTOM FUNERAL.
A young man who lives in the Gwaun Valley, between Pontfaen and
Fishguard informed me in the beginning of November, 1905, that he had
just seen a phantom or a spirit funeral only a few weeks previously.
A friend of his, a young porter at a Railway Station in the
neighbourhood of Cardiff, had come home ill to his native place in
Pembrokeshire, and his friend, my informant, one night sat up by his
bedside all night. About three o'clock in the morning the patient
was so seriously ill that my informant in alarm hurried to call
the father of the poor sufferer to come to see him, as the old man
lived in a small cottage close by. As soon as he went out through
the door into the open air, to his great astonishment he found
himself in a large crowd of people, and there was a coffin resting
on some chairs, ready to be placed on the bier; and the whole scene,
as it were, presented a funeral procession, ready to convey the dead
to the grave. When the young man attempted to proceed on his way,
the procession also proceeded, or moved on in the same direction,
so that he found himself still in the crowd. After going on in this
manner for about a hundred yards, he managed to draw one side from
the crowd and soon reached the house of his sick friend's father,
and nearly fainted. Three days after this vision the seer's friend
died; and on the day of the funeral the young man noticed that the
crowd stood in front of the house and the coffin resting on chairs
exactly as he had seen in the apparition. I may add that my informant
who had seen the phantom funeral was so terrified even at the time
when I saw him, that he was too much afraid to go out at night. It so
happened that I was staying in that part of Pembrokeshire at the time,
so I went to see the man myself, and a clergyman accompanied me.
I obtained the following account of a phantom funeral from the
Rev. John Phillips, Vicar of Llancynfelyn, North Cardiganshire. The
scene of the story was Cilcwm, Carmarthenshire:--
A PHANTOM FUNERAL.
Though more than thirty years have run their course since the incident
which is to be described here occurred, still the impression which
it left on the writer's mind was so vivid and lasting that he finds
not the slightest difficulty in recalling its minutest details at
the present moment. Some experiences are so impressive that time
itself seems powerless to efface them from the memory, and of such
the following appears to be an instance:--
It happened in the early Spring, just when the days were perceptibly
lengthening, and a balmy feeling was creeping into the air, and a
glad sense of hope was throbbing throughout the whole of nature. A
boy of ten, or may be a couple of years younger, tired out after a
hard day of play and pleasure, sat resting on a log near a lonely
house, in a sparsely populated district. As he sat, he gazed down a
long stretch of white and dusty road leading away past the house. As
a rule, few and far between would be the travellers who used that
unfrequented road. The sole exception would be on a Sunday, when
perhaps a dozen or more of the neighbours might be seen wending their
way, to or from the nearest place of worship. Intense, therefore,
was the boy's surprise, when on this week-day, his eyes discerned a
goodly company turning the corner in the distance, and proceeding
in an orderly procession along the stretch of straight road which
his vantage ground commanded. He watched it keenly, and wondered
greatly. Never had he before seen such a crowd on that particular
road. As the people drew nearer and nearer, something of solemnity in
their orderly and silent manner struck on the watcher's imagination,
but no sense of anything akin to the supernatural obsessed his mind
for a second, still he failed not to mark, that for so large an
assemblage, it was remarkably noiseless. Twenty yards, more or less,
from where the youthful watcher sat, a footpath leading over a piece
of wet and barren land joined the road. This path, which could be
traversed only in dry weather, terminated half a mile away, at the
door of a solitary cottage inhabited by a farm hand named Williams,
who dwelt there with his wife and several young children. When the
crowd arrived at the spot where the path ran on to the road, there
seemed to be a momentary hesitation, and then the procession left the
road and took to the footpath. The watcher strained every nerve, in an
effort to recognise some one or other in the crowd, but though there
was something strangely familiar about it all, there was also something
so dim and shadowy, as to preclude the possibility of knowing anyone
with certainty; but as the tail end of the procession curved round
to gain the path, something he did observe, which caused a thrill,
for the last four men carried high on their shoulders a bier,--but it
was an empty bier. Soon as the multitude was out of sight, the boy
rushed to the house, and related his curious experience. No thought
of anything weird and uncanny had so far crossed his mind, and his one
desire at the time was to gain some information as to where the people
were bound for. Neither could he just then understand the manifest
consternation, and the hushed awe, which fell upon his hearers as he
unfolded his tale. Amongst these there happened to be a visitor, an
old dame of a class well known in many parts of rural Wales in those
days. It was her habit to stroll from farm to farm along the country
side, regaling the housewives with the latest gossip. In return she
would be sure of a meal, and also something to carry home in her
wallet. Naturally, such a character would be shrewd and keen, knowing
well not only what tales would suit her company, but also the truth,
or otherwise, of any tales which she herself might be a listener
to. In addition, the old dame in question was generally supposed to
be immune from all fear, and cared not how far from home she might
be when the shades of night overtook her. On the present occasion,
although a few minutes before, she had been on the point of starting,
and was indeed only waiting to be handed her usual dole of charity, no
sooner had she heard the lad's strange tale, than she flatly declared
that no power on earth could move her to travel an inch further that
evening, and so at the expense of much inconvenience to the household
a bed had to be prepared for her. However, she started early on the
following morning, and long before noon, owing mainly to her assiduous
diligence, the news had travelled far and near, that a phantom funeral
had been seen on the previous evening. Her tale made a deep impression
throughout the country-side. Those prone to superstition,--and it
must be confessed, they were many,--lent a ready ear. A few,--and
these prided themselves on their commonsense,--doubted. The latter
class were not slow to point out, what they considered to be, a
fatal flaw in the evidence. The supposed funeral was travelling
in a direction, which led away from the churchyard. Had it been
going down the road instead of up, they argued, that there might
be something in it. Then again, it took the footpath, and it was
pointed out, not only that funerals kept to the high roads, but that
this particular path, could not by any stretch of imagination be said
to lead to any burial ground. This seemed a reasonable view to take,
and as one day succeeded another, without anything unusual happening,
the excitement cooled down. However, within a few weeks Williams,
who lived in the cottage across the marsh was taken ill. At first,
it was thought that he had contracted a chill, and it was hoped that
he would soon be well again. The nearest medical man lived six miles
away, and that caused further delay. On the fifth day the doctor came,
but he came to find that it was too late for his skill to be of any
avail. A glance at the patient had satisfied him that it was a case
of double pneumonia, and that the end was rapidly approaching. A few
hours later and Williams had drawn his last breath. Three days more
and the funeral took place. As is the custom in country places, the
neighbours from far and near attended, and on their way a group of
men called at the burial place for the bier. This group was joined
by others so that long before the house of mourning was reached
the procession was a large one. It travelled up the long stretch
of road where the lad had watched that mysterious crowd, in the
twilight six weeks before. The same lad watched again, and when
the procession reached the point, where the footpath branched away
across the fields, the man who acted as leader stopped, and raised
his hand, while the procession hesitated for a moment, then looking
at his watch, the leader spoke in low clear tones, "men," said he,
"it is already getting late if we go round by the road, it will get
very late; we will take the path." He led the way and as his followers
swept round the curve, the lad saw that the last four men carried on
their shoulders an empty bier. It was being taken to fetch the body.
THE NEUADDLWYD "TOILI."
John Jones, Coed-y-Brenin, near Neuaddlwyd, was going home one evening
from Derwen-gam; and as he walked along he found himself suddenly
in a phantom funeral, and was so pressed by the crowd of spirits
that he nearly fainted. At last he managed to escape by turning
into a field. He then noticed that the phantom funeral proceeded
towards Neuaddlwyd, and soon there was a light to be seen in that
chapel through the windows. A few weeks after this a real funeral
took place. The above J. Jones, who had seen the apparition only
died about twelve years ago. My informant was Mr. Thomas Stephen,
near Mydroilyn, in the parish of Llanarth.
A HORSE SEEING A "TOILI" OR PHANTOM FUNERAL.
The following tale was related to me by Mr. Jones, Bristol House,
Talybont:--
A farmer's wife, who lived in the northern part of Cardiganshire,
had gone to Machynlleth Market one day riding a pony. On her journey
home that evening she met a "toili" on the road. The pony was the
first to notice the spirit-funeral, and the animal refused to go
forward, but turned back and stood trembling under the shelter of a
big tree till the "toili" had passed. The woman was quite terrified,
and as soon as she reached home she rushed into the house and asked
her husband to go out and put the pony in the stable, and stated that
she felt unwell that night. Soon after this, one of the family died.
Some persons have such clear vision of a phantom funeral, that they
are able even to recognise and give the names of the persons that
appear in the spectral procession.
Owen Shon Morris, of Pant'stoifan, Llanarth, who died 85 years ago,
saw a "toili" passing his own house in the direction of Llanarth,
at 1 o'clock in the morning. He even discovered that among the crowd
was his own friend, Evan Pugh, the tailor, and a woman wearing a red
petticoat. When the "toili" had gone as far as a certain green spot on
the road, after passing the house, the tailor and the woman with the
red petticoat left the procession, and returned to their homes. Twelve
months after this a funeral took place, and in the procession were
the tailor and the woman with a red petticoat, both of whom returned
home after accompanying the crowd as far as the green spot.
My informant was an old farmer, named Thomas Stephens, near Mydroilyn.
SPIRIT FUNERALS CARRYING PEOPLE TO CHURCHYARDS.
I obtained the following account from an old man in North
Pembrokeshire:--
About seven o'clock one winter evening, David Thomas, Henllan,
Eglwyswrw, went to the village shop to get some medicine for a sick
animal. When he was returning home, it was a fine moonlight night. All
of a sudden, however, he found himself in utter darkness, being
carried back to Eglwyswrw almost unknown to himself by a "Crefishgyn"
as such an apparition is called in North Pembrokeshire; and when he
got his feet on the ground once more, he discovered himself taking
hold of the iron bars of the Churchyard Gate. In his adventure with
the apparition he had passed a blacksmith's shop, where several men
were working, without seeing or noticing anything.
A farm servant, named David Evans in the parish of Llandyssul,
Cardiganshire, had visited his brother who was ill one night, but
whilst going home at two o'clock in the morning, a "toili" carried
him all the way to Llandyssul Churchyard. My informant was Rees,
Maesymeillion.
I have also heard of an old woman at Cilcennin, near Aberaeron, who
was also carried by force to the churchyard by a "toili," and there
are such tales all over the country.
AN OLD WOMAN WHO SAW THE APPARITION OF HER OWN FUNERAL.
Miss Martha Davies, a housemaid, at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire,
informed me that her family possessed the peculiar gift of second
sight, and that her mother had seen the phantom of her own funeral
before she died.
When she was out walking one night, the old woman was terrified by
seeing a funeral procession meeting her on the road and which passed on
towards Caersalem, a Nonconformist Chapel close by. The Rev. Jenkin
Evans, Vicar of Pontfaen, was walking behind the procession, and
she even took notice of his dress and what kind of hat he had on his
head. She was taken ill the very next day, and in a very short time
died, and every one in the neighbourhood believed that she had seen an
apparition of her own funeral. The deceased was buried at Caersalem;
and as her daughter, Martha, was at the time a maid-servant at Pontfaen
Vicarage, the Vicar accompanied the girl to her mother's funeral in
his carriage. When he arrived in the neighbourhood where the funeral
was to take place, he left his horse and trap at a public house,
and proceeded to the house of mourning on foot, as the distance the
funeral procession had to go from Melin Cilgwm to Caersalem burial
place was very short. Strange to say, when the funeral did proceed, it
so happened that the Vicar of Pontfaen walked behind the procession,
and his clothes, and even his very hat were in exact accordance with
the description which had been given by the dead woman of the vision.
A PHANTOM TRAIN.
A few years ago an old man named James, 75 years of age, living at
Nantgaredig, in Carmarthenshire, told me that he had seen a phantom
train on one occasion.
Some years ago when he happened to be out about midnight once, he
saw a train passing, which came from the direction of Carmarthen,
and went towards Llandilo, and as no train was to pass through the
station of Nantgaredig at that hour he enquired of the Stationmaster
next morning what was the special train that passed at mid-night. In
reply, he was told he had been either dreaming or had seen the spirit
of a train, as no train had passed at that time of the night.
A few days after this a special train passed through the station
conveying a large funeral from Carmarthen to Llandilo; and James and
his friend were convinced that the train he had seen in the night
was nothing but an apparition of the real train with the funeral!
A "TOILI" SEEN IN THE DAY-TIME.
Like every other apparition a "toili" is supposed to be seen in the
night time only; but according to the late Mr. Lledrod Davies, people
working at the harvest near Llangeitho many years ago, saw a "toili"
at mid-day in the churchyard of Llanbadarn Odwyn; and a funeral took
place soon afterwards.
The following story of a phantom funeral in the day-time was related
to me by an old woman in Pembrokeshire, a farmer's wife in the Parish
of Llanycefn:--
An old man named John Salmon saw an apparition of a funeral in the
day-time, and he even recognised most of those who were in the
procession, but was surprised to find that the minister was not
amongst them.
A few days after this the funeral took place, and the minister was
prevented from being present as he had been called away from home at
the time.
Sometimes a "Toili" is heard without being seen.
An old woman who lived in a little cottage at Dihewid, in
Cardiganshire, forty-five years ago, heard every phantom funeral
that passed her house; she could tell even the number of horses in
the apparition.
An old woman who only a few years ago lived close to Llanafan
Churchyard, in the same County, heard from her bed one night the
Vicar's voice, the Rev. W. J. Williams, reading the burial service
quite distinctly, and soon after a funeral took place.
The Vicar was informed of this by the old woman herself.
SINGING HEARD TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE DEATH.
About sixty years ago, the mother of one David Hughes, Cwmllechwedd,
was one day standing outside the house, when all of a sudden, she
heard the sound of singing. She recognised the voice of the singer
as the voice of the Curate of Lledrod, but when she looked round
she could see no one anywhere. The maid servants also heard the same
sound of singing.
Twelve months after this her son, David Hughes, a young man of 22 years
of age died, and on the day of the funeral, the Curate of Lledrod,
standing near the door, gave out a hymn, and conducted the singing
himself, just as the funeral was leaving the house.
My informant was Thomas Jones, Pontrhydfendigaid.
A woman at Aberporth, informed me that she had heard a "Toili" singing:
"Gwyn fyd v rhai trwy ffydd,
Sy'n myn'd o blith y byw."
Three weeks before the death of her aunt.
Mr. John Llewelyn, Rhos-y-Gwydr, somewhere on the borders of
Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, when he went to the door of
Rhydwilym Chapel one evening, he was surprised when he listened,
to hear his own voice preaching a funeral sermon.
A DAY-DREAM.
Another remarkable instance of second-sight seeing appeared in "Notes
and Queries" for July, 1858. The contributor, Mr. John Pavin Phillips,
gives the following account of what occurred to him himself in the
year 1818, upon his return home to Pembrokeshire, after many years'
absence:--
"A few days after my arrival, I took a walk one morning in the yard
of one of our parish churches, through which there is a right of
way for pedestrians. My object was a twofold one: Firstly, to enjoy
the magnificent prospect visible from that portion; and secondly, to
see whether any of my friends or acquaintances who had died during my
absence were buried in the locality. After gazing around me for a short
time, I sauntered on, looking at one tombstone and then at another,
when my attention was arrested by an altar-tomb enclosed within an iron
railing. I walked up to it and read an inscription which informed me
that it was in memory of Colonel ----. This gentleman had been the
assistant Poor Law Commissioner for South Wales, and while on one
of his periodical tours of inspection, he was seized with apoplexy
in the Workhouse of my native town, and died in a few hours. This
was suggested to my mind as I read the inscription on the tomb,
as the melancholy event occurred during the period of my absence,
and I was only made cognisant of the fact through the medium of the
local press. Not being acquainted with the late Colonel ----, and
never having seen him, the circumstances of his sudden demise had long
passed from my memory, and were only revived by my thus viewing his
tomb. I then passed on, and shortly afterwards returned home. On my
arrival my father asked me in what direction I had been walking, and
I replied, in ---- Churchyard, looking at the tombs, and among others
I have seen the tomb of Col. ----, who died in the Workhouse. 'That'
replied my father 'is impossible, as there is no tomb erected over
Colonel ----'s grave.' At this remark I laughed. 'My dear father,'
said I, 'You want to persuade me that I cannot read. I was not aware
that Colonel ---- was buried in the Churchyard, and was only informed
of the fact by reading the inscription on the tomb.' 'Whatever you may
say to the contrary' said my father, 'What I tell you is true; there
is no tomb over Colonel ----'s grave.' Astounded by the reiteration of
this statement, as soon as I had dined I returned to the Churchyard
and again inspected all the tombs having railings around them, and
found that my father was right.
There was not only no tomb bearing the name of Colonel ----, but
there was no tomb at all corresponding in appearance with the one I
had seen. Unwilling to credit the evidence of my own senses, I went
to the cottage of an old acquaintance of my boyhood, who lived outside
of the Churchyard gate, and asked her to show the place where Colonel
---- lay buried. She took me to the spot, which was a green mound,
undistinguished in appearance from the surrounding graves.
Nearly two years subsequent to this occurrence, surviving relatives
erected an Altar-tomb, with a railing round it, over the last resting
place of Colonel ----, and it was, as nearly as I could remember, an
exact reproducing of the memorial of my day-dream. Verily, 'there are
more things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'
THE CORPSE CANDLE.
The "Canwyll Corph" or Corpse Candle, was another death portent often
seen in West and Mid-Wales, about a generation or two ago. Indeed there
are several persons still alive who have told me that they had seen
this mysterious light themselves. It was a pale light moving slowly
and hovering a short distance from the ground. Some could tell whether
a man, woman, or child was to die. The death of a man was indicated
by a red light, that of a woman by a white light, and a faint light
before the death of a child. If two lights were seen together, two
deaths were to take place in the same house at the same time. If the
light was seen early in the evening a death was to take place soon,
but if late it was not to take place for some time.
Like the "toili" or phantom funeral, the Corpse Candle also was seen
going along from the house--where death was to take place--to the
churchyard along the same route which a funeral was to take, whether
road or path.
Sometimes the light was seen carried by a spectral representation of
the dying person, and it was even thought possible to recognise that
person by standing near the water watching the apparition crossing
over it. Another way of recognising the dying person was to stand
at the church porch watching the candle entering the building. There
are some instances of people seeing their own corpse candle.
There was an old woman living at Llanddarog, in Carmarthenshire, named
Margaret Thomas, who always saw every light or Corpse Candle going to
the churchyard before every funeral. She only died about 27 years ago.
Another old woman who also saw the same death portents was Mary Thomas,
Dafy, who lived close to Llandyssul churchyard in Cardiganshire. She
was buried sixty years ago.
There is a tradition that St. David, by prayer, obtained the Corpse
Candle as a sign to the living of the reality of another world, and
according to some people it was confined to the Diocese of St. David's,
but the fact of it is there are tales of corpse candles all over Wales.
A CORPSE CANDLE SEEN AT SILIAN.
Owen Evans, Maesydderwen, near Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, who is
over 90 years of age, gave me the following account of a Corpse Candle
which had been seen at Silian, near Lampeter.
When Evans was a boy, his father lived in an old house close to the
churchyard walls, and kept the key of the church door. At that time
singing practice was often conducted in the church, especially during
the long winter evenings. One evening a certain young man entered
the churchyard with the intention of going to the church to attend
this singing-class, though it was a little too early; but he could
see light in the church through one of the windows. So on he went
to the church door thinking that the singing had commenced, or at
least that some one was in the church. But to his great surprise he
found the door closed and locked, and when he looked in through the
key-hole there was not a soul to be seen inside the church. The young
man then went to the house of Owen Evans's father and informed the
old man that there was light in the church, but that he did not see
anyone inside. "You must be making a mistake," said my informant's
father to the young man, "there cannot possibly be any light in the
church; no one could have entered the building to light it, for the
door is locked, and I have the key here in the house." "But I am
positively certain," said the young man again, "that there is light
in the church, for I took particular notice of it." Both of the two
men now went to the church together, and as they approached, they
noticed a light coming out from the church. This light moved slowly
towards a certain part of the churchyard, and the two men followed it
and watched it until it suddenly disappeared into the ground. That it
was a corpse candle they had no doubt in their minds. The young man
had a walking stick in his hand with which he made a mark or a hole
in the ground on the spot where the light had sunk. Soon after this
a death took place in the neighbourhood, and the dead was buried in
the very spot where the corpse candle had sunk into the ground.
My informant told me also that he had seen a corpse candle himself
before the death of an adopted son of one Mr. John Evans, who lived
at Glandenis, in the same neighbourhood.
A CORPSE CANDLE SEEN TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO.
There is a tradition at Llanilar that a young woman got drowned
long ago in attempting to cross the river Ystwyth during a flood;
and that a short time before the melancholy event took place, people
in the neighbourhood had seen a corpse candle hovering up and down
the river. According to the Rev. Edmund Jones, the young woman had
come from Montgomeryshire to see her friends at Llanilar.
There is also a tradition in Carmarthenshire of a three-flamed corpse
candle which had been seen on the surface of the water near Golden
Grove a short time before three persons were drowned near the spot.
A CORPSE CANDLE SEEN NEAR CONWIL.
An old man named James, living at Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire,
gave me an account of how he himself and his father and others had
seen a Corpse Candle in the parish of Conwil Elvet.
When James was a boy, he was sent one day by a farmer's wife on a
message to Llanpumpsaint, about three miles off, to fetch a pair of
clogs from the blacksmith, and a few small things from a shop in the
village. When he arrived there he went first to the blacksmith, but
he had to wait there as the clogs were not ready. Then he went to the
village shop, but, unfortunately, the woman who kept the shop was not
at home, and he had to wait several hours; so that when he returned
to the farm with his message it was quite dark. But the farmer's
wife gave him plenty to eat and a present of a waistcoat. Then he
went home to Nantglas, where his father and mother lived. It was
now getting late in the evening, and he was only a boy going along a
lonely road. When he was between Yetyffin, and Cwmgweren, he noticed
some light coming after him nearer and nearer, and it even passed him
at last. It hovered within about two feet from the ground as it went
slowly along. The boy, who was a little bit frightened, now knocked
at the door of a house he was passing and called the attention of
the inmates to the strange light on the road.
On he went again, and he even passed the light on the road; but when
he reached home and told his parents about it, his father would not
believe that he had seen a light. But the boy opened the door just
as the light was passing and he called his father to come out and
see it. The whole family now came out, and both his father and the
other children saw the light, but his mother and one of the children
did not see it--not possessing second sight.
Soon after this, a child died at a house called Yet-y-ffin; and my
informant's father and his neighbours were convinced that the light
which they had seen was his corpse candle.
Sometimes a corpse candle was seen coming into the chamber of the
person about to die.
A woman, who was a native of Gwynfi in Carmarthenshire, told me about
five years ago that when her child was dying, she took particular
notice of a pale bluish light coming in through the window and standing
right over the bed. I have also heard several other persons saying
things of this kind.
A PEMBROKESHIRE TALE OF A CORPSE CANDLE.
The following story was contributed to the "Pembrokeshire County
Guardian," May 11th., 1901, by Mr. Joseph Davies, Glynderwen:
"It happened not many miles from Tenby where a certain young school
mistress lodged at a farm house where she was very happy in every
respect. One night after retiring to rest, the light having been put
out, and she was lying awake, she suddenly noticed a peculiar greyish
light like a little star moving towards the foot of her bed from
the doorway. The light came to a stand-still by her bed and gently
lowered to her feet. Almost paralysed with fear, she called with all
her strength for help, and in a few minutes the whole of the household
were together in the room listening in amazement to the frightened
girl's story, and all sorts of means were used to pacify her and
to induce her to go to sleep, but without avail. She would not stay
in that room for the world, and her bed had to be removed and fixed
on a temporary bedstead in the room where the mistress slept. Time
passed, and the story spread abroad; some made light of it, and some
looked serious, and all tried to get the young lady to shake off all
thoughts of it. But to no purpose--let them laugh or chaff, she bore
the same sad expression, and said something would certainly follow
to clear up the mystery. About six weeks or so had passed, and one
night the mistress, who was a strong healthy woman, suddenly took
ill, and quite unexpectedly died. The young schoolmistress happened
at the time to be away on her holidays, and on hearing of the sad
news she hurried back to attend the funeral. When she arrived at the
house she was taken upstairs to see the body, she again became almost
paralysed on finding that the corpse had been laid out on the spare
bedstead on the very spot where she had six weeks previously pointed
out where the light had lowered and disappeared. No one had thought of
the incident until reminded of it. The body had been laid out there
for convenience at the time; no one ever thought of the young lady's
fright until she now pointed it out herself.
"So after that it can be easily imagined the whole neighbourhood
became convinced that there was something in it after all, and the
old superstition got strengthened in the minds of the young people
that it remains to a great extent to the present time."
A LLANGATHEN TALE.
The following appeared in "Apparitions in Wales" by Rev. Edmund Jones,
and it is a story of long ago:
"Some years ago one Jane Wyat, my wife's sister, being nurse to Baronet
Rudd's three children, and his Lady being dead, his house-keeper
going late into a chamber where the maid servants lay, saw five of
these lights together: while after that chamber being newly plastered,
a great grate of coal fire was kindled therein to hasten the drying
of it. At night five of the maid servants went there to bed as these
were wont, and in the morning were all found dead, and suffocated
with the steam of the new tempered lime and coal."
This was at Llangathen, in Carmarthenshire.
THE CORPSE BIRD.
The most common death prognosticator throughout Wales in the present
day is a peculiar bird known as "Deryn Corph" (Corpse Bird)--a bird
flapping its wings against the window of the room in which there is
a sick person. This was considered an omen of death. Even in the
present day most people dread to see or hear a bird flapping its
wings against the window when there is a sick person in the house;
but every bird is not a corpse bird.
An old woman in Pembrokeshire, Miss Griffiths, Henllan, near Eglwyswrw,
told me this bird is a little grey one and that it came flapping
against her own window before the death of her father, and also before
the death of each of her three uncles.
I have met with people in almost every district throughout the country
who have heard the flappings of this mysterious bird before a death.
A BIRD COMING INTO A HOUSE BEFORE A DEATH.
Mr. Rees, Maesymeillion, Llandyssul, informed me that many years ago
there lived in that part of the country an old woman known as Nell
Gwarnant. The old woman at one time had an only son, a young lad who
was very dear to her. One day a certain bird came into the house quite
suddenly, and descended on the rim of the Spinning Wheel, flapping its
wings. The old woman feared that the bird was a precursor of death,
and to her great sorrow her only son soon died. A bird coming into
the house is also a sign of a storm.
Birds as precursors of death seem to follow Welsh people to all
parts of the world. A few years ago a Corpse Bird appeared in Perth,
Western Australia, before the death of a Welsh lady in that city; and
this reminds me of a strange incident which happened in Patagonia,
30 years ago, when I was there. Two Welsh gentlemen, Mr. Powell,
who was known as "Helaeg," and Mr. Lewis Jones, a friend of the late
Sir Love Jones Parry, M.P., were returning to the Welsh Colony, from
Buenos Ayres, in a sailing vessel. When the ship came within a few
miles of the mouth of the river Chubut, the captain found it necessary
to remain in the open sea that day, as the tide was too low to enter
the river over the bar just then. Mr. Jones and Mr. Powell, however,
left in a small boat manned by Italian sailors; but when they were
within a certain distance of the land the sea was very rough, and a
certain bird appeared suddenly on the scene. Mr. Powell pointed out
the bird to his friend and said, "Do you see that bird, that's the
Bird of Biam! We shall be drowned this very moment." Just as he spoke,
the boat suddenly turned over, and the unfortunate speaker got drowned
on the spot. The other men were saved. Mr. Powell, who, unfortunately,
got drowned, was a gifted Welsh Roman Catholic gentleman, who knew
about twelve languages, and was a friend of the President of the
Argentine Republic.
It was reported in the "Aberystwyth Observer" twenty-two years ago,
that before the death of Mrs. Fryer, Lady Pryse (now Dowager), noticed
a bird hovering around Gogerddan, and at times flapping his wings at
the windows.
BIRD SINGING HEARD BEFORE DEATH.
In the excellent Welsh Magazine "Y Brython" for January, 1860, page
40, the following remarkable incident is given in connection with the
death of the famous poet and clergyman, Tegid, which, being translated
is as follows:--
"In his absence from Church, when lying on his death-bed, in the
morning of the Lord's Day, whilst a neighbouring clergyman was taking
the service for him in Llanhyfer Church, the voice of the reader was
suddenly drowned by the beautiful song of a thrust, that filled the
whole church.... It was ascertained on leaving the church that at that
very moment the soul of Tegid left his body for the world of spirits."
MUSIC OF ANGELS HEARD BEFORE DEATH.
It is stated in the "Cambro-British Saints," page 444, that previous
to the death of St. David "the whole city was filled with the music
of angels."
The Rev. Edmund Jones in his "Apparitions in Wales," says that at
the death of one Rees David in Carmarthenshire, "a man of more than
common piety," several persons who were in the room heard "the singing
of angels drawing nearer and nearer; and after his death they heard
the pleasant incomparable singing gradually depart until it was out
of hearing."
CYHYRAETH: OR DEATH SOUND.
The Cyhyraeth was another death portent. It has been described as
a wailing or moaning sound heard before a death, and it was thought
to be a sound made by a groaning spirit. This spirit was never seen,
only its sound was heard.
According to "British Goblins" by Sikes, one David Prosser,
of Llanybyther, heard the Cyhyraeth pronouncing the words
"Woolach! Woolach!" before a funeral.
According to the same book "this crying spirit, especially affected
the twelve parishes in the hundred of Inis Cenin, which lie on
the south-east side of the river Towy, 'where some time past it
groaned before the death of every person who lived that side of the
country! It also sounded before the death of persons 'who were born
in these parishes, but died elsewhere.'
"Sometimes, the voice was heard long before death, but not longer than
a quarter of a year. So common was it in the district named, that among
the people there is a familiar form of reproach to any one making a
disagreeable noise, or children crying or groaning unreasonably was
to ejaculate 'Oh'r Cyhyraeth!' A reason why Cyhyraeth was more often
heard in the hundred of Inis Cenin, was thought to be that Non, the
mother of St. David lived in those parts where a village is called
after her name Llanon."
THE TOLAETH.
The Tolaeth is also a sound heard before death or a funeral.
It is represented as superstitious rappings, or knockings, strange
noises, or sounds of footsteps or of carriages, etc.
This superstition is common in all parts of the country at the present
day; and I have met and heard of many carpenters who always know
when they are to have an order for a coffin, as they hear strange
knockings in their workshops resembling the noise or knockings made
by a carpenter when engaged in coffin-making. An old lady who lives
at Pontshan, Llandyssul, told me three years ago, that when she was
a young woman, she and two other young women were on one occasion
sitting near the fire all night watching and nursing a sick old
woman of 80 years of age. About four o'clock in the morning, to their
great surprise, they heard the door open, and the sound of someone or
something entering the house and going about the room, but nothing
was visible, nor did the door open as a matter of fact. The aged
patient also heard the sound and enquired who had come in. At four
o'clock next morning the old woman died. The same woman also told me
that before the death of a prominent Esquire in Carmarthenshire, she
remembered hearing the sound of a carriage before the front entrance
of the mansion, when no carriage was near.
Sound of carriages before the death of one of the gentry is a thing
that we often hear of even at the present day everywhere in West
and Mid-Wales.
Sir Edward W. P. Pryse, Gogerddan, informed me that he was told
that people had heard the sound of carriages before the death of
his grandfather, who died in 1855, and was a member of Parliament
for Cardigan. Nanteos, another ancient family in the same county,
has, or had, not only a phantom coach, but even a tutelary guardian;
but whether this Welsh "Banshi" was a woman under enchantment, or a
fairy, is not known.
It was formerly believed that the church bell was tolled by a spirit or
some other supernatural agency, before a death in certain families. I
wonder if the word "Tolaeth" is derived from toll?
THE TOLLING OF BLAENPORTH CHURCH BELL BEFORE A DEATH.
Several old persons living in the parish of Blaenporth, South
Cardiganshire, informed me that it is a fact that in former times
a death in certain families in that parish was always foretold by
the church-bell in the steeple tolling three times at the hour of
midnight unrung by human hands. One old woman gave me the following
tradition concerning the origin of this tolling:--
Once upon a time a spirit came at midnight and knocked at the door
of a farmhouse known as Tan-yr-Eglwys, which is close to Blaenporth
Church. "Who is there?" enquired the farmer from his bed. "Mair Wen
(white Mary) of Blaenporth," was the reply; "the silver communion
cup has been stolen from the church." Then the spirit begged the
farmer to get up from bed and proceed at once on a journey to the
town of Cardigan, as the man who had committed such sacrilegious
act was resting that night on a sofa in a certain public house in
that town with the silver cup under his waistcoat. The farmer went
to Cardigan, and when he arrived at the public house named by the
spirit, and entered a certain room, a strange man who was lying on
the sofa got up, and the stolen cup from under his waistcoat fell
to the floor. The farmer took it up in an instant, and returned with
all speed to Blaenporth, and placed the sacred vessel in the church
once more. For his kindness and trouble in thus restoring the sacred
cup, the good spirit or guardian angel of Blaenporth Church told
the farmer that the bell would toll three times before his death,
and before the death of his descendants till the ninth generation.
A REMARKABLE ACCOUNT OF KNOCKING AND WAILING BEFORE DEATH.
A few miles from Newcastle Emlyn there is a farmhouse called
Pen'rallt-hebog, which is situated in the parish of Bettws-Evan,
in Cardiganshire.
Besides Pen'rallt-hebog there is also--or there was--another house
on the same farm known as Pen'rallt-Fach. And there lived at this
Penrallt-fach about 25 years ago a tailor named Samuel Thomas, and
his wife.
About that time a very strange incident occurred, and the following
account of it was given me by Mr. S. Thomas himself an intelligent
middle-aged man who is still alive I believe.
One morning, very early, Thomas beard a knocking at the door of his
bedroom, and he enquired from his bed "who is there?" but there was
no reply, and everything was quiet again.
The next morning again he heard knocking at the door, though not the
bedroom door this time, but the front door of the house. My informant
exclaimed from his bed, "Alright, I am getting up now." But when
he did get up, and opened the door, not a single soul could be seen
anywhere. Thomas was quite surprised, and perplexed as to who could
have come to disturb him at five o'clock in the morning, two mornings
one after the other, and disappear so mysteriously. No voice had been
heard, nor the sound of footsteps, only a knocking at the door. After
this there was no further knocking for some time.
Twelve months to the very day after this a brother of Thomas who lived
in some other part of the country came on a visit, and to spend a day
with him, and this was in the first week of January, 1883. Some day
during this week the two brothers went out with their guns to shoot
some game, but soon returned to the house again, and in the evening
Thomas went to his workshop to do some "job"; but as he was busily
engaged in making a suit of clothes, he heard a knocking at the window
quite suddenly--two knocks. He thought that some friend outside wanted
to call his attention to something; but when he looked at the window
there was no one to be seen After a while the knocking went on again,
and continued for about ten minutes.
The second night the knocking at the window continued as the previous
evening between ten and eight o'clock, but nothing was to be seen.
On the third night there was a knocking at the window several times,
and it was much louder or more violent than it had been on the two
previous evenings. The tailor and the young man who was his assistant
decided now to keep their eyes on the window, and as soon as they did
so there was no more knocking; but the moment they ceased looking
and resumed their work, the knocking was heard again. There were
several young men present in the room this evening, and they heard
the knocking, and even the wife heard it from another apartment of
the house.
These "spirit knockings" had been now noised abroad everywhere,
and amongst others who went there in order to hear them was the
farmer on whose land the tailor lived. The farmer did not believe in
superstition, but when he heard the knocking he was convinced that
there was something supernatural about it.
On the fifth night a very loud knock at the door was heard as if
some one attempted to break through; and on the sixth evening when
my informant went out for a short walk he heard such noise as if two
hundred horses were rushing by him.
On the seventh and eighth evenings the knocking still continued; and
on the ninth evening, Thomas went out with a gun in his hand, and
found that there was no one to be seen anywhere, but he heard some
groaning voice in the air, and doleful wailing. The man returned to
the house quite frightened.
There was no more knocking after this evening.
In the beginning of January, 1883, at the very time when these strange
knockings, sound, and wailing were heard at Pen'rallt Fach cottage,
a woman whose old home had been this very house before she had left
her native land was dying in America; and her crying on her death-bed
in that far-off land was heart-rending, when she found that she was
too ill to return to Wales, to die at her old home in Cardiganshire,
and to be buried with her husband, who had died before she had left
for America. One Mr. Lloyd, from Newcastle Emlyn, happened to be at
her death-bed in America, when she was longing in vain to die in her
old home in Wales. This solves the mystery of the "spirit knockings,"
and it also confirms the truth of the old belief that Death makes his
presence known by knocking at the door of the relatives of friends
of those he is about to strike.
LLEDRITH--WRAITH.
Lledrith is an apparition or the spectre of a person seen soon before
his death or about the time he is dying.
A most remarkable tale of an apparition of this kind is given in "Ysten
Sioned," an interesting Welsh book written by the late Rev. Chancellor
D. Silvan Evans, and Mr. John Jones (Ivon).
About seventy years ago a young French sailor at Aberystwyth in
Cardiganshire, had fallen in love with a servant maid in that town,
and she with him. One evening, when this young woman was preparing
to go to bed she heard her lover calling to her by her name. It
was a bright moonlight night, and when she went to the door there
she saw the young man approaching and offering his hand to her;
but to her great surprise he disappeared again without speaking a
single word. Soon after this, news came to the town that a ship from
Aberystwyth got lost on the coast of Spain, and that amongst others
of the crew, who were drowned, was the young Frenchman. The young
woman discovered that her lover was drowned on the Spanish Coast in
the very same hour that she saw his apparition at Aberystwyth!
The young Earl of Lisburne ten years ago saw a wraith at Havod, on the
night his father was dying at Crosswood Park. Of this I was informed
by Mr. Inglis-Jones, Derry Ormond, and by his Lordship himself.
It is well-known that the great Lord Brougham saw an apparition of
this kind when a friend of his was dying in India, about one hundred
years ago.
TANWEDD.
Another death portent was the "tanwedd," so called because it
appeared as a fiery light. The Rev. Edmund Jones says in his
"Apparitions".--"When it falls to the ground it sparkleth and
lightens. The freeholders and landlords upon whose ground it falls,
will certainly die in a short time after."
GWRACH Y RHIBYN.
Gwrach y Rhibyn was an ugly old hag with long flowing hair, glaring
eyes and face as gloomy as death itself. The shriek of the old hag
was supposed to foretell a death or some misfortune. She appeared,
as a rule, only before the death of a person who had lived a wicked
life; at least this is the saying in West Wales, especially in
Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire.
CWN ANNWN--HELL HOUNDS.
Cwn Annwn were supposed to have been supernatural hounds whose yelling
or howling on dark nights foreboded a death. If the howling was faint,
it meant that the pack was close at hand, if loud, the hounds were
only hunting at a distance. These hounds were supposed to watch for
the souls of notoriously wicked men about to die.
An old farmer, named Mr. Thomas Stephens, Llwyncelyn, Llanarth,
Cardiganshire, informed me that his brother once heard the bark of
these hounds on the road near Bronwen.
OTHER DEATH OMENS.
The Cock.--It was once thought in all parts of Wales that the crowing
of a cock before or about midnight was a sign of death; but whether
one of the family or one of a neighbour's family was going to die,
it depended on the direction of the cock's head whilst crowing.
The Hen.--A hen crowing like a cock is also supposed to indicate
a death in the family or some very near relation; or if not death,
some very bad luck.
A hen laying two eggs in the same day was also a sign of death. A
hen laying a small egg was also a bad sign.
An Owl persistently screeching near a house or a raven croaking
hoarsely also indicated a death.
The Dog.--A dog howling, which is called in Welsh Ci-yn-udo, is a
sign of a death.
The Death Watch.--A sound made by a small insect like the ticking of
a watch was once considered a sign of death. A few years ago a sound
of this kind was for a long time heard at a house in the parish of
Llanddewi Brefi; but as no one died in the house, the family was
cured of the superstition.
The sound in the ear as of a bell, is a token of death in the family.
Clothes Burning.--A farmer's wife near Aberystwyth, informed me that
a few years ago she placed a servant boy's wet trousers on a chair
to dry before the fire. Then she went out to milk the cows, but when
she returned to the house she found that the trousers was burnt. A
few days after this her mother died.
The untimely blossoming of a tree is another sign of a death.
Yarrow and Heather.--Bringing either yarrow or heather into a house
is a presage of death; white heather, however, is a sign of good luck.
Death-pinch.--This is a mark that cannot be accounted for, appearing
suddenly on any part of the body, and is a sign of the death of one
of the family or a relative.
A Funeral Procession moving too fast is a sign that another funeral
will soon follow.
MISSING A BUTT.
A writer in "Bye Gones" for 1892 says:--
"The other day in going through Mid-Cardiganshire on election business,
I observed one row of turnips growing in the middle of a field of
potatoes on a farm occupied by a Nonconformist minister. When asked
how it happened that that solitary row of turnips came to be there,
the minister explained that by accident the planters missed putting
down potatoes, and the idea prevailed in the district if the vacant
row was not filled in by sowing something in it, some one would die
in consequence in the neighbourhood."
This superstition is also found in Carmarthenshire as well as in
Cardiganshire.
I have met with many ministers of the Gospel, Professors of
Universities, and other enlightened and educated men who are convinced
that there are death portents.