were employed at work, and just as she came opposite the horse it fell
down, as if it were dead. The workmen ran to the horse to ascertain what
was the matter with it, but Pedws went along, not heeding what had
occurred. This unfeeling conduct on her part roused the suspicion of the
men, and they came to the conclusion that the old woman had witched the
horse, and that she was the cause of its illness. They, therefore,
determined to run after the woman and bring her back to undo her own evil
work. Off they rushed after her, and forced her back to the field, where
the horse was still lying on the ground. They there compelled the old
creature to say, standing over the horse, these words--"_Duw arno fo_"
(God be with him). This she did, and then she was allowed to go on her
way. By and by the horse revived, and got upon his feet, and looked as
well as ever, but this, it was thought, would not have been the case had
not the witch undone her own curse.
In Anglesey, as I was informed by my brother, the late Rev. Elijah Owen,
Vicar of Llangoed, it was believed that witches made void their own
curses of animals by saying over them "_Rhad Duw ar y da_" (The Blessing
of God be on the cattle).
_Cows and Horses Witched_.
The writer was told the name of the farm where the following events were
said to have taken place, but he is not quite sure that his memory has
not deceived him, so he will only relate the facts without giving them a
locality.
A farmer had a good mare that went mad, she foamed at the mouth, rushed
about the stall, and died in great agony. But this was not all, his cows
kept back their milk, and what they could extract from them stank, nor
could they churn the milk, for it turned into froth.
A conjuror was consulted, and the farmer was told that all this evil had
been brought about by a witch who had been refused milk at his door, and
her mischief was counteracted by the conjuror thus consulted.
Occasionally we hear of injured persons retaliating upon the witches who
had brought about their losses. This, however, was not often attempted,
for people feared the consequences of a failure, but it was,
nevertheless, supposed to be attainable.
I will relate a few instances of this punishment of witches for their
evil doings.
_Witches Punished_.
A neighbour, who does not wish to have his name recorded, states that he
can vouch for the incidents in the following tale. A farmer who lost
much stock by death, and suspected it was the work of an old hag who
lived in his neighbourhood, consulted a conjuror about the matter, and he
was told that his suspicions were correct, that his losses were brought
about by this old woman, and, added the conjuror, if you wish it, I can
wreak vengeance on the wretch for what she has done to your cattle. The
injured farmer was not averse to punishing the woman, but he did not wish
her punishment to be over severe, and this he told the conjuror, but said
he, "I should like her to be deprived of the power to injure anyone in
future." This was accomplished, my informant told me, for the
witch-woman took to her bed, and became unable to move about from that
very day to the end of her life. My informant stated that he had himself
visited this old woman on her sick bed, and that she did not look ill,
but was disinclined to get up, and the cause of it all was a matter of
general gossip in the neighbourhood, that she had been cursed for her
evil doings.
Another tale I have heard is that a conjuror obliged a witch to jump from
a certain rock into the river that ran at its foot, and thus put an end
to her life.
Rough punishment was often inflicted upon these simple old women by silly
people.
The tales already given are sufficiently typical of the faith of the
credulous regarding witches, and their ability to work out their evil
desires on their victims. I will now proceed briefly to relate other
matters connected with witchcraft as believed in, in all parts of Wales.
_How to break_, _or protect people from_, _a Witch's Spell_.
There were various ways of counteracting the evils brought upon people by
witches.
1. The intervention of a priest or minister of religion made curses of
none effect.
The following tale was told me by my friend the Rector of Rhydycroesau.
When Mr. Jones was curate of Llanyblodwel a parishioner sent to ask the
"parson" to come to see her. He went, but he could not make out what he
had been sent for, as the woman was, to all appearance, in her usual
health. Perceiving a strong-looking woman before him he said, "I presume
I have missed the house, a sick person wished to see me." The answer
was, "You are quite right, Sir, I sent for you, I am not well; I am
troubled." In the course of conversation Mr. Jones ascertained that the
woman had sent for him to counteract the evil machinations of her enemy.
"I am witched," she said, "and a parson can break the spell." The
clergyman argued with her, but all to no purpose. She affirmed that she
was witched, and that a clergyman could withdraw the curse. Finding that
the woman was obdurate he read a chapter and offered up a prayer, and
wishing the woman good day with a hearty "God bless you," he departed.
Upon a subsequent visit he found the woman quite well, and he was
informed by her, to his astonishment, that he had broken the spell.
2. Forcing the supposed witch to say over the cursed animals, "_Rhad Duw
ar y da_" ("God's blessing be on the cattle"), or some such expressions,
freed them from spells.
An instance of this kind is related on page 242, under the heading, "A
Horse Witched."
3. Reading the Bible over, or to, the bewitched freed them from evil.
This was an antidote that could be exercised by anyone who could procure
a Bible. In an essay written in Welsh, relating to the parishes of
Garthbeibio, Llangadfan, and Llanerfyl, in 1863, I find the following:--
"Gwr arall, ffarmwr mawr, a chanddo fuwch yn sal ar y Sabbath, ar ol
rhoddi _physic_ iddi, tybiwyd ei bod yn marw, rhedodd yntau i'r ty i nol
y Bibl, _a darllenodd bennod iddi_;" which rendered into English, is:--
Another man, a large farmer, having a cow sick on the Sabbath day, after
giving her physic, supposing she was dying, ran into the house to fetch
the Bible, and _read a chapter to her_.
4. A Bible kept in a house was a protection from all evil.
This was a talisman, formerly only within the reach of the opulent.
Quoting again from the essay above referred to, I find these words:--
"Byddai ambell Bibl mewn _ty mawr_ yn cael ei gadw mewn cist neu goffr a
chlo arno, tuag at gadw y ty rhag niwaid." That is:--
A Bible was occasionally kept in the bettermost farms in a chest which
was locked, to protect the house from harm.
5. A ring made of the mountain ash acted as a talisman.
Rings made of this wood were generally placed under the doorposts to
frustrate the evil designs of witches, and the inmates dwelt securely
when thus protected. This tree was supposed to be a famous charm against
witchcraft.
Mrs. Susan Williams, Garth, a farm on the confines of Efenechtyd parish,
Denbighshire, told the writer that E. Edwards, Llwynybrain, Gwyddelwern,
was famous for breaking spells, and consequently his aid was often
required. Susan stated that they could not churn at Foel Fawn, Derwen.
They sent for Edwards, who came, and offered up a kind of prayer, and
then placed a ring made of the bark or of the wood of the mountain ash
(she could not recollect which) underneath the churn, or the lid of the
churn, and thus the spell was broken.
6. A horse-shoe found on a road or field, and nailed either on or above
the door of a house or stable, was considered a protection from spells.
I have seen horse-shoes hanging by a string above a door, and likewise
nailed with the open part upwards, on the door lintel, but quite as often
I have observed that the open part is downwards; but however hung, on
enquiry, the object is the same, viz., to secure luck and prevent evil.
7. Drawing blood from a witch or conjuror by anyone incapacitated these
evil doers from working out their designs upon the person who spilt their
blood.
I was told of a tailor's apprentice, who on the termination of his time,
having heard, and believing, that his master was a conjuror, when saying
good-bye doubled up his fingers and struck the old man on the nose,
making his blood spurt in all directions. "There, master," said he,
"there is no ill will between us, but you can now do me no harm, for I
have drawn your blood, and you cannot witch me."
8. Drawing blood from a bewitched animal breaks the spell.
In the days of my youth, at Llanidloes, a couple of valuable horses were
said to be bewitched, and they were bled to break the spell. If blood
could not be got from horses and cattle, it was considered to be a
positive proof that they were bewitched, and unless the spell could be
broken, nothing, it was said, could save them from death.
9. It was generally thought that if a witch said the word "God" to a
child or person, whom she had bewitched, it would "undo her work."
My friend Mr. Edward Hamer, in his "Parochial Account of Llanidloes,"
published in _The Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol. x., p. 242, records
an instance of this belief. His words are:--
"About fifty years ago the narrator was walking up Long Bridge
Street, when he saw a large crowd in one of the yards leading from
the street to a factory. Upon making his way to the centre of this
crowd, he saw an old woman in a 'fit,' real or feigned, he could not
say, but he believed the latter, and over her stood an angry,
middle-aged man, gesticulating violently, and threatening the old
dame, that he would hang her from an adjacent beam if she would not
pronounce the word 'God' to a child which was held in its mother's
arms before her. It was in vain that the old woman protested her
innocence; in vain that she said that by complying with his request
she would stand before them a confessed witch; in vain that she fell
into one fit after another, and prayed to be allowed to depart; not a
sympathising face could she for some time see in the crowd, until the
wife of a manufacturer, who lived close by, appeared on the scene,
who also pleaded in vain on her behalf. Terrified beyond all
measure, and scarcely knowing what she did, the old woman mumbled
something to the child. It smiled. The angry parents were satisfied
the spell was broken, the crowd dispersed, and the old woman was
allowed to depart quietly."
10. The earth from a churchyard sprinkled over any place preserved it
from spells.
Mr. Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair D. Clwyd, a very aged farmer, told me
that when a certain main or cock fighting had been arranged, his father's
servant man, suspecting unfair play, and believing that his master's
birds had been bewitched, went to the churchyard and carried therefrom a
quantity of consecrated earth, with which he slyly sprinkled the cock
pit, and thus he averted the evil, and broke the spell, and all the birds
fought, and won, according to their deserts.
11. Anything taken into a church belonging to a farm supposed to be
cursed broke the spell or curse laid upon the place from which that thing
was taken.
About twenty years ago, when the writer was curate of Llanwnog,
Montgomeryshire, a Mrs. Hughes, a farmer's wife, who was a firm believer
in omens, charms, and spells, told me that she knew nothing would come of
the spell against so and so, and when asked to explain the matter, she
said that she had seen straw taken from that farm to kindle the fire in
the church, and thus, she said, the spell was broken.
12. A pin thrust into "Witch's Butter" would cause the witch to undo her
work.
"Witch's Butter" is the name given to a kind of fungus that grows on
decayed wood. The fungus resembles little lumps of butter, and hence its
name. Should anyone think himself witched, all that he has got to do is
to procure "witch's butter," and then thrust a pin into it. It was
thought that this pin penetrated the wicked witch, and every pin thrust
into the fungus went into her body, and thus she was forced to appear,
and undo her mischief, and be herself relieved from bodily pain by
relieving others.
13. A conjuror's charm could master a witch's spell.
It was thought that when a person was under a witch's spell he could get
relief and punish the witch by procuring a charm from a conjuror. This
charm was a bit of paper, often covered with illegible writing, but
whatever was on it made no great difference, for the persons who procured
the charms were usually illiterate. The process was as follows:--The
party cursed took the charm, and thrust a pin through it, and having
waited awhile to see whether the witch would appear or not, proceeded to
thrust another pin through the paper, and if the witch were tardy in
appearing, pin after pin was thrust into the paper, and every pin, it was
thought, went into the body of the spiteful hag, and brought her
ultimately to the house where her curse was being broken, in shocking
pain, and when there it was believed she would say--
"Duw gatto bobpeth ag a feddwch chwi."
God preserve everything which you possess.
14. Certain plants were supposed to possess the power of destroying
charms.
The Rev. D. James, Rector of Garthbeibio, was asked by Evan Williams, the
Voel, a parishioner, whether he feared witches, and when answered in the
negative, his interrogator appeared surprised; however, awhile
afterwards, Williams went to the Rectory, and told the rector that he
knew why he did not fear witches, and proceeded to tell him that he had
seen a plant in the front of the rectory that protected the house from
charms. This was what he called, _Meipen Fair_. In some parts of
England the snapdragon is supposed to possess a like virtue, and also the
elder tree.
Mr. Davies, schoolmaster, Llangedwyn, informed the writer that at one
time hyssop was hung on the inside of the house door to protect the
inmates from charms.
15. The seventh daughter could destroy charms. The seventh son was
thought to possess supernatural power, and so also was the seventh
daughter, but her influence seems to have been exerted against
witchcraft.
16. The sign of the cross on the door made the inmates invulnerable, and
when made with the finger on the breast it was a protection from evil.
The sign of the cross made on the person was once common in Wales, and
the advice given by the aged when a person was in any difficulty was
"_ymgroesa_," cross yourself. The custom of crossing the door on leaving
the house lingered long in many places, and, I think, it is not
altogether given up in our days.
17. Invoking the aid of the Holy Trinity. This was resorted to, as seen
in the charm given on page 270, when animals were witched.
_The way to find out whether a Hag is a Witch or not_.
It was generally supposed that a witch could not pray, and one way of
testing her guilty connection with the evil one was to ascertain whether
she could repeat the Lord's Prayer correctly. If she failed to do so,
she was pronounced to be a witch. This test, as everyone knows, must
have been a fallacious one, for there are good living illiterate people
who are incapable of saying their _Pader_; but such was the test, and
failure meant death.
Some fifty years ago, when the writer was a lad in school, he noticed a
crowd in Short Bridge Street, Llanidloes, around an aged decrepit woman,
apparently a stranger from the hill country, and on inquiring what was
going on, he was told that the woman was a suspected witch, and that they
were putting her to the test. I believe she was forced to go on her
knees, and use the name of God, and say the Lord's Prayer. However, the
poor frightened thing got successfully through the ordeal, and I saw her
walk away from her judges.
Another manner for discovering a witch was to weigh her against the
Church Bible; if the Bible went up, she was set at liberty, if, on the
other hand, she were lighter than the Bible, she was a witch, and
forfeited her life.
Swimming a witch was another method, and this was the one generally
resorted to. The suspected person was taken to a river or pool of water,
her feet and hands were tied, and she was thrown in; if she sank she was
innocent, if she floated she was a witch, and never reached the bank
alive.
Such as the preceding were some of the ridiculous trials to which poor,
badly clad, aged, toothless, and wrinkled women were put by their
superstitious neighbours to ascertain whether these miserable women were
in league with the devil.
CONJURORS.
1. It was formerly believed that men could sell themselves to the devil,
and thus become the possessors of supernatural power. These men were
looked upon as malicious conjurors.
2. Another species of conjurors practised magical arts, having obtained
their knowledge from the study of books. These were accounted able to
thwart the designs of evil workers of every description.
3. There was another class of men supposed to have obtained strange
power from their ancestors. They were looked upon as charmers and
conjurors by descent.
1. Those who belonged to the first-mentioned class were not in communion
with the Church, and the first step taken by them to obtain their object
was to unbaptize themselves. The process was as follows:--The person who
wished to sell himself to the devil went to a Holy Well, took water
therefrom three times into his mouth, and spurted it out in a derisive
manner, and thus having relieved himself, as it was thought, of his
baptismal vow, he was ready and fit to make a contract with the evil one.
2. The second kind of conjurors obtained their knowledge of the occult
science from the study of books. Generally learned men were by the
ignorant supposed to possess uncanny power. When the writer lived in
Carnarvonshire he was informed that Owen Williams, Waenfawr, had magical
books kept in a box under lock and key, and that he never permitted
anyone to see them. Poor Owen Williams, I wonder whether he knew of the
popular rumour!
The following tale of Huw Llwyd's books I obtained from the Rev. R.
Jones, rector of Llanycil.
_Huw Llwyd and his Magical Books_.
The story, as it has reached our days, is as follows:--It is said that
Huw Llwyd had two daughters; one of an inquisitive turn of mind, like
himself, while the other resembled her mother, and cared not for books.
On his death bed he called his learned daughter to his side, and directed
her to take his books on the dark science, and throw them into a pool,
which he named, from the bridge that spanned the river. The girl went to
Llyn Pont Rhyd-ddu with the books, and stood on the bridge, watching the
whirlpool beneath, but she could not persuade herself to throw them over,
and thus destroy her father's precious treasures. So she determined to
tell him a falsehood, and say that she had cast them into the river. On
her return home her father asked her whether she had thrown the books
into the pool, and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, he,
inquiring whether she had seen anything strange when the books reached
the river, was informed that she had seen nothing. "Then," said he, "you
have not complied with my request. I cannot die until the books are
thrown into the pool." She took the books a second time to the river,
and now, very reluctantly, she hurled them into the pool, and watched
their descent. They had not reached the water before two hands appeared,
stretched upward, out of the pool, and these hands caught the books
before they touched the water and, clutching them carefully, both the
books and the hands disappeared beneath the waters. She went home
immediately, and again appeared before her father, and in answer to his
question, she related what had occurred. "Now," said he, "I know you
have thrown them in, and I can now die in peace," which he forthwith did.
3. Hereditary conjurors, or charmers, were thought to be beneficial to
society. They were charmers rather than conjurors. In this category is
to be reckoned:--
(a) The seventh son of a family of sons, born the one after the other.
(b) The seventh daughter in a family of daughters, born in succession,
without a brother between. This person could undo spells and curses, but
she could not herself curse others.
(c) The descendants of a person, who had eaten eagles' flesh could, for
nine generations, charm for the shingles, or, as it is called in Welsh,
_Swyno'r 'Ryri_.
Conjurors were formerly quite common in Wales; when I say common, I mean
that there was no difficulty in obtaining their aid when required, and
they were within easy reach of those who wished to consult them. Some
became more celebrated than others, and consequently their services were
in greater requisition; but it may be said, that each district had its
wise man.
The office of the conjuror was to counteract the machinations of witches,
and to deliver people from their spells. They were looked upon as the
natural enemies of witches. Instances have already been given of this
antagonism.
But conjurors could act on their own account, and if they did not show
the same spiteful nature as witches, they, nevertheless, were credited
with possessing great and dangerous power. They dealt freely in charms
and spells, and obtained large sums of money for their talismanic papers.
They could, it was believed, by their incantations reveal the future, and
oblige light-fingered people to restore the things they had stolen.
Even a fishing rod made by a conjuror was sure to bring luck to the
fisherman. Lovers and haters alike resorted to the wise man to attain
through his aid their object.
There were but few, if any, matters beyond their comprehension, and hence
the almost unbounded confidence placed in these impostors by the
superstitious and credulous.
Strange as it may seem, even in this century there are many who still
consult these deceivers, but more of this by and by.
I will now relate a few tales of the doings of these conjurors, and from
them the reader can infer how baneful their influence was upon the rustic
population of Wales.
_The Magician's Glass_.
This glass, into which a person looked when he wished to solve the
future, or to ascertain whom he or she was to marry, was used by Welsh,
as well as other magicians. The glass gave back the features of the
person sought after, and reflected the future career of the seeker after
the hidden future. It was required that the spectator should concentrate
all his attention on the glass, and, on the principle that they who gazed
long should not gaze in vain, he obtained the desired glimpse. _Cwrt
Cadno_, already referred to, professed to have such a glass.
But, the magician's glass is an instrument so often mentioned in
connection with necromancy in all parts of the world, that more need not
be said of it.
I will now give a few stories illustrative of the conjuror's power.
_A Conjuror's Punishment of an Innkeeper for his exorbitant charges_.
A famous conjuror, Dick Spot, was on his way to Llanrwst, and he turned
into a public house at Henllan for refreshments. He called for a glass
of beer and bread and cheese, and was charged tenpence for the same,
fourpence for the beer, and sixpence for the bread and cheese. This
charge he considered outrageous, but he paid the demand, and before
departing he took a scrap of paper and wrote on it a spell, and hid it
under the table, and then went on his way. That evening, soon after the
landlord and landlady had retired for the night, leaving the servant girl
to clear up, they were surprised to hear in the kitchen an unaccountable
noise; shouting and jumping was the order of the day, or rather night, in
that room. The good people heard the girl shout at the top of her
voice--
"Six and four are ten,
Count it o'er again,"
and then she danced like mad round and round the kitchen. They sternly
requested the girl to cease yelling, and to come to bed, but the only
answer they received was--
"Six and four are ten,
Count it o'er again,"
and with accelerated speed she danced round and round the kitchen.
The thought now struck the landlord that the girl had gone out of her
mind, and so he got up, and went to see what was the matter with her,
with the intention of trying to get her away from the kitchen. But the
moment he placed his foot in the kitchen, he gave a jump, and joined the
girl in her mad dance, and with her he shrieked out--
"Six and four are ten,
Count it o'er again."
So now the noise was doubled, and the good wife, finding that her husband
did not return to her, became very angry, if not jealous. She shouted to
them to cease their row, but all to no purpose, for the dancing and the
shouting continued. Then she left her bed and went to the kitchen door,
and greatly disgusted she was to see her husband and maid dancing
together in that shameless manner. She stood at the door a moment or two
observing their frantic behaviour, and then she determined forcibly to
put a stop to the proceedings, so into the room she bounded, but with a
hop and a jump she joined in the dance, and sang out in chorus with the
other two--
"Six and four are ten,
Count it o'er again."
The uproar now was great indeed, and roused the neighbours from their
sleep. They from outside heard the mad dance and the words, and guessed
that Dick Spot had been the cause of all this. One of those present
hurried after the conjuror, who, fortunately, was close at hand, and
desired him to return to the inn to release the people from his spell.
"Oh," said Dick, "take the piece of paper that is under the table and
burn it, and they will then stop their row." The man returned to the
inn, pushed open the door, rushed to the table, and cast the paper into
the fire, and then the trio became quiet. But they had nearly exhausted
themselves by their severe exertions ere they were released from the
power of the spell.
_A Conjuror and Robbers_.
A conjuror, or _Gwr Cyfarwydd_, was travelling over the Denbighshire
hills to Carnarvonshire; being weary, he entered a house that he saw on
his way, and he requested refreshments, which were given him by a young
woman. "But," said she, "you must make haste and depart, for my brothers
will soon be here, and they are desperate men, and they will kill you."
But no, the stranger was in no hurry to move on, and though repeatedly
besought to depart, he would not do so. To the great dread and fear of
the young woman, her brothers came in, and, in anger at finding a
stranger there, bade him prepare for death. He requested a few minutes'
respite, and took out a book and commenced reading it. When he was thus
engaged a horn began growing in the centre of the table, and on this the
robbers were obliged to gaze, and they were unable even to move. The
stranger went to bed, and found the robbers in the morning still gazing
at the horn, as he knew they would be, and he departed leaving them thus
engaged, and the tale goes, that they were arrested in that position,
being unable to offer any resistance to their captors.
There are several versions of the Horn Tale afloat; instead of being made
to grow out of a table, it was made to grow out of a person's head or
forehead. There is a tradition that Huw Llwyd was able to do this
wonderful thing, and that he actually did it.
_The Conjuror and the Cattle_.
R. H., a farmer in Llansilin parish, who lost several head of cattle,
sent or went to Shon Gyfarwydd, who lived in Llanbrynmair, a well-known
conjuror, for information concerning their death, and for a charm against
further loss. Both were obtained, and the charm worked so well that the
grateful farmer sent a letter to Shon acknowledging the benefit he had
derived from him.
This Shon was a great terror to thieves, for he was able to spot them and
mark them in such a way that they were known to be culprits. I am
indebted to Mr. Jones, Rector of Bylchau, near Denbigh, for the three
following stories, in which the very dread of being marked by Shon was
sufficient to make the thieves restore the stolen property.
_Stolen property discovered through fear of applying to the Llanbrynmair
Conjuror_.
Richard Thomas, Post Office, Llangadfan, lost a coat and waistcoat, and
he suspected a certain man of having stolen them. One day this man came
to the shop, and Thomas saw him there, and, speaking to his wife from the
kitchen in a loud voice, so as to be heard by his customer in the shop,
he said that he wanted the loan of a horse to go to Llanbrynmair.
Llanbrynmair was, as we know, the conjuror's place of abode. Thomas,
however, did not leave his house, nor did he intend doing so, but that
very night the stolen property was returned, and it was found the next
morning on the door sill.
_Reclaiming stolen property through fear of the Conjuror_.
A mason engaged in the restoration of Garthbeibio Church placed a trowel
for safety underneath a stone, but by morning it was gone. Casually in
the evening he informed his fellow workmen that he had lost his trowel,
and that someone must have stolen it, but that he was determined to find
out the thief by taking a journey to Llanbrynmair. He never went, but
the ruse was successful, for the next morning he found, as he suspected
would be the case, the trowel underneath the very stone where he had
himself placed it.
_Another similar Tale_.
Thirty pounds were stolen from Glan-yr-afon, Garthbeibio. The owner made
known to his household that he intended going to Shon the conjuror, to
ascertain who had taken his money, but the next day the money was
discovered, being restored, as was believed, by the thief the night
before.
These stories show that the ignorant and superstitious were influenced
through fear, to restore what they had wrongfully appropriated, and their
faith in the conjuror's power thus resulted, in some degree, in good to
the community. The _Dyn Hyspys_ was feared where no one else was feared,
and in this way the supposed conjuror was not altogether an unimportant
nor unnecessary member of society. At a time, particularly when people
are in a low state of civilization, or when they still cling to the pagan
faith of their forefathers, transmitted to them from remote ages, then
something can be procured for the good of a benighted people even through
the medium of the _Gwr Cyfarwydd_.
Events occurred occasionally by a strange coincidence through which the
fame of the _Dyn Hyspys_ became greatly increased. An event of this kind
is related by Mr. Edward Hamer. He states that:--
"Two respectable farmers, living in the upper Vale of the Severn (Cwm
Glyn Hafren), and standing in relationship to each other of uncle and
nephew, a few years ago purchased each a pig of the same litter, from
another farmer. When bought, both animals were, to all appearance,
in excellent health and condition, and for a short time after their
removal to their new homes both continued to improve daily. It was
not long, however, before both were taken ill very suddenly. As
there appeared something very strange in the behaviour of his animal,
the nephew firmly believed that he was 'witched,' and acting upon
this belief, set out for the neighbouring conjuror. Having received
certain injunctions from the 'wise man,' he returned home, carried
them out, and had the satisfaction of witnessing the gradual recovery
of his pig. The uncle paid no attention to the persuasions and even
entreaties of his nephew; he would not believe that his pig was
'witched,' and refused to consult the conjuror. The pig died after
an illness of three weeks; _and many thought the owner deserved
little sympathy for manifesting so much obstinacy and scepticism_.
These events occurred in the spring of the year 1870, and were much
talked of at the time."--_Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol. x., p.
240.
Conjurors retained their repute by much knavery and collusion with
others.
Tales are not wanted that expose their impostures. The Rev. Meredith
Hamer, late of Berse, told me of the following exposure of a conjuror. I
know not where the event occurred, but it is a typical case.
_A Conjuror's Collusion exposed_.
This man's house consisted of but few rooms. Between the kitchen and his
study, or consulting room, was a slight partition. He had a servant
girl, whom he admitted as a partner in his trade. This girl, when she
saw a patient approach the house, which she was able to do, because there
was only one approach to it, and only one entrance, informed her master
of the fact that someone was coming, and he immediately disappeared, and
he placed himself in a position to hear the conversation of the girl with
the person who had come to consult him. The servant by questioning the
party adroitly obtained that information respecting the case which her
master required, and when she had obtained the necessary information, he
would appear, and forthwith tell the stranger that he knew hours before,
or days ago, that he was to have the visit now paid him, and then he
would relate all the particulars which he had himself heard through the
partition, to the amazement of the stranger, who was ignorant of this
means of communication.
At other times, if a person who wished to consult him came to the house
when the conjuror was in the kitchen, he would disappear as before,
stating that he was going to consult his books, and then his faithful
helper would proceed to extort the necessary information from the
visitor. On this, he would re-appear and exhibit his wonderful knowledge
to the amazed dupe.
On one occasion, though, a knowing one came to the conjuror with his arm
in a sling, and forthwith the wise man disappeared, leaving the maid to
conduct the necessary preliminary examination, and her visitor minutely
described how the accident had occurred, and how he had broken his arm in
two places, etc.
All this the conjuror heard, and he came into the room and rehearsed all
that he had heard; but the biter was bitten, for the stranger, taking his
broken arm out of the sling, in no very polite language accused the
conjuror of being an impostor, and pointed out the way in which the
collusion had been carried out between him and his maid.
This was an exposure the conjuror had not foreseen!
_The Conjuror's Dress_.
Conjurors, when engaged in their uncanny work, usually wore a grotesque
dress and stood within a circle of protection. I find so graphic a
description of a doctor who dealt in divination in Mr. Hancock's "History
of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant" that I will transcribe it:--"He" (the raiser
of the devils) "was much resorted to by the friends of parties mentally
deranged, many of whom he cured. Whenever he assumed to practise the
'black art,' he put on a most grotesque dress, a cap of sheepskin with a
high crown, bearing a plume of pigeons' feathers, and a coat of unusual
pattern, with broad hems, and covered with talismanic characters. In his
hand he had a whip, the thong of which was made of the skin of an eel,
and the handle of bone. With this he drew a circle around him, outside
of which, at a proper distance, he kept those persons who came to him,
whilst he went through his mystic sentences and
performances."--_Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol. vi, pp. 329-30.
CHARMS.
The cure of diseases by charms is generally supposed to be a kind of
superstition antagonistic to common sense, and yet there are undoubted
cases of complete cures through the instrumentality of charms. Warts
are, undoubtedly, removed by the faith of those persons who suffer from
them in the power of the charmer and his charms. The writer has had
innumerable instances of the efficacy of wart charms, but it is not his
intention to endeavour to trace the effect of charms on highly sensitive
people, but only to record those charms that he has seen or heard of as
having been used.
_Swyno'r 'Ryri_ (_Charming the Shingles_).
The shingles is a skin disease, which encircles the body like a girdle,
and the belief was that if it did so the patient died. However, there
was a charm for procuring its removal, which was generally resorted to
with success; but the last person who could charm this disease in
Montgomeryshire lies buried on the west side of the church at
Penybontfawr, and consequently there is no one now in those parts able to
charm the shingles. The inscription on his tombstone informs us that
Robert Davies, Glanhafon Fawr, died March 13th, 1864, aged 29, so that
faith in this charm has reached our days.
It was believed that the descendants of a person who had eaten eagle's
flesh _to the ninth generation_ could charm for shingles.
The manner of proceeding can be seen from the following quotation taken
from "The History of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant," by Mr. T. W. Hancock,
which appears in vol. vi., pp. 327-8 of the _Montgomeryshire
Collections_.
_A Charm for the Shingles_.
"This custom (charming for the shingles) was more prevalent in this
parish than in any other in Montgomeryshire. A certain amount of penance
was to be done by the sufferer, who was to go to the charmer in the
morning fasting, and he was also to be fasting. The mode of cure was
simple--the charmer breathed gently on the inflamed part, and then
followed a series of little spittings upon and around it. A few visits
to the charmer, or sometimes a single one, was sufficient to effect a
cure.
"The power of charming for the ''Ryri' is now lost, or in any event has
not been practised in this parish, for several years past. The
possession of this remarkable healing power by the charmer was said to
have been derived from the circumstance _of either the charmer himself_,
_or one of his ancestors within the ninth degree_, _having eaten of the
flesh of the eagle_, the virtue being, it was alleged, transmitted from
the person who had so partaken to his descendants for nine generations.
The tradition is that the disorder was introduced into the country by a
malevolent eagle.
"Some charmers before the operation of spitting, muttered to themselves
the following incantation:--
Yr Eryr Eryres
Mi a'th ddanfonais
Dros naw mor a thros naw mynydd,
A thros naw erw o dir anghelfydd;
Lle na chyfartho ci, ac na frefo fuwch,
Ac na ddelo yr eryr byth yn uwch."
Male eagle, female eagle,
I send you (by the operation of blowing, we presume)
Over nine seas, and over nine mountains,
And over nine acres of unprofitable land,
Where no dog shall bark, and no cow shall low,
And where no eagle shall higher rise."
The charmer spat first on the rash and rubbed it with his finger over the
affected parts, and then breathed nine times on it.
Jane Davies, an aged woman, a native of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant, with
whom I had many long conversations on several occasions, told the
narrator that she had cut a cat's ear to get blood, wherewith to rub the
patient's breast who was suffering from the shingles, to stop its
progress, until the sufferer could be visited by the charmer, and she
said that the cat's blood always stopped it spreading.
There were several charms for many of the ailments to which man is
subject, which were thought to possess equal curative virtues.
_Toothache charms_.
By repeating the following doggerel lines the worst case of toothache
could be cured--
Peter sat on a marble stone,
Jesus came to him all alone.
What's up, Peter? The toothache, my lord;
Rise up Peter, and be cured of this pain,
And all those _who carry these few lines_ for my sake.
This charm appeared in the _Wrexham Advertiser_ as one that was used in
_Coedpoeth_ and _Bwlch Gwyn_. But the words appear in "_Y Gwyliedydd_"
for May, 1826, page 151. The Welsh heading to the charm informs us that
it was obtained from an Irish priest in County Cork, Ireland. The words
are:--
Fel yr oedd Pedr yn eistedd ar faen Mynor,
Crist a ddaeth atto, ac efe yn unig.
Pedr, beth a ddarfu i ti? Y Ddanodd, fy Arglwydd Dduw.
Cyfod, Pedr, a rhydd fyddi;
A bydd pob dyn a dynes iach oddiwrth y ddanodd
Y rhai a gredant i'r geiriau hyn,
Yr wyf fi yn gwneuthur yn enw Duw.
The first two lines of the English and Welsh are the same but the third
and succeeding lines in Welsh are as follows:--
Peter, what is the matter?
The toothache, my Lord God.
Rise Peter, and thou shalt be cured;
And every man and woman who believes these words
Shall be cured of the toothache,
Which I perform in the name of God.
Another version of this charm was given me by Mrs. Reynolds, Pembroke
House, Oswestry--
As Jesus walked through the gates of Jerusalem,
He saw Peter weeping. Jesus said unto him, why weepest thou?
I have got the toothache. Jesus touched his tooth,
And Jesus said, have faith and believe,
Thy tooth shall ache no more.
I return you humble and hearty thanks
For the blessing which you have bestowed on me.
A young man told me that his brother once suffered greatly from
toothache, and a woman gave him a charm like the above, written on paper.
He rubbed the charm along the tooth, and he kept it in his pocket until
it crumbled away, and as long as he preserved it he never was troubled
with the toothache.
_Rosemary Charm for Toothache_.
"Llosg ei bren (Rhosmari) hyd oni bo yn lo du, ac yna dyro ef mewn cadach
lliain cry, ac ira dy ddanedd ag ef; ac fo ladd y pryfed, ac a'u ceidw
rhag pob clefyd."--_Y Brython_, p. 339.
"Burn a Rosemary bough until it becomes black, and then place it in a
strong linen cloth, and anoint thy teeth with it, and it will kill the
worm, and preserve thee from every kind of fever."
It was thought at one time that toothache was caused by a worm in the
tooth, as intimated above.
_Whooping Cough Charm_.
Children suffering from whooping cough were taken to a seventh son, or
lacking a seventh son of sons only, to a fifth son of sons only, who made
a cake, and gave it to the sufferers to be eaten by them, and they would
recover. The visit was to be thrice repeated. Bread and butter were
sometimes substituted for the cake.
The writer has been told of instances of the success of this charm.
Another charm was--buy a penny roll, wrap it in calico, bury it in the
garden, take it up next day. The sufferer from whooping-cough is then to
eat the roll until it is consumed.
_Charm for Fits_.
A ring made out of the offertory money was a cure for fits. About the
year 1882 the wife of a respectable farmer in the parish of Efenechtyd
called at the rectory and asked the rector's wife if she would procure a
shilling for her from the offering made at Holy Communion, out of which
she was going to have a ring made to cure her fits. This coin was to be
given unsolicited and received without thanks.
The Rev. J. D. Edwards, late vicar of Rhosymedre, informed the writer
that his parishioners often obtained silver coins from the offertory for
the purpose now named. So as to comply with the conditions, the
sufferers went to Mrs. Edwards some time during the week before
"Sacrament Sunday," and asked her to request Mr. Edwards to give him or
her a shilling out of the offertory, and on the following Monday the
afflicted person would be at the Vicarage, and the Vicar, having already
been instructed by Mrs. Edwards, gave the shilling without uttering a
word, and it was received in the same manner.
Another charm for fits was to procure a human being's skull, grind it
into powder, and take it as medicine.
_Charm for Cocks about to fight_.
The charm consisted of a verse taken from the Bible, written on a slip of
paper, wrapped round the bird's leg, as the steel spurs were being placed
on him. The verse so employed was, Eph. vi., 16:--"Taking the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked."
William Jones, Pentre Llyffrith, Llanfyllin, was a celebrated cock
charmer. There was also a well-known charmer who lived at Llandegla,
Denbighshire, who refused a charm to a certain man. When asked why he
had not complied with his request, he said--"He will not need charms for
his birds, for he will be a dead man before the main comes off." This
became true, for the man died, as foretold.
_Charm for Asthma_.
Place the Bible for three successive nights under the bolster of the
sufferer, and it will cure him.
_Charms for Warts_.
1. Drop a pin into a holy well and your warts will disappear, but should
anyone take the pin out of the well, the warts you have lost will grow on
his fingers.
2. Rub the warts with the inside of a bean pod, and then throw the pod
away.
3. Take wheat on the stalk, rub the warts with the wheat's beard or
bristles at the end of the ear, take these to four crosses or roads that
cross each other, bury the straw, and the warts will decay with the decay
of the straw.
4. Rub the warts with elderberry leaves plucked by night, and then burn
them, and the warts will disappear.
5. Rub the warts with a bit of flesh meat, wrap the flesh up in paper,
throw it behind your back, and do not look behind you to see what becomes
of it, and whoever picks it up gets your warts.
6. Take a snail and pierce it through with a thorn, and leave it to die
on the bush; as it disappears so will your warts.
_Charm for removing a Stye from the eye_.
Take an ordinary knitting needle, and pass it back and fore over the
stye, but without touching it, and at the same time counting its age,
thus--One stye, two styes, three styes, up to nine, and then reversing
the order, as nine styes, eight styes, down to one stye, and _no_ stye.
This counting was to be done in one breath. If the charmer drew his
breath the charm was broken, but three attempts were allowed. The stye,
it was alleged, would die from that hour, and disappear in twenty-four
hours.
_Charms for Quinsy_.
Apply to the throat hair cut at midnight from the black shoulder stripe
of the colt of an ass.
_Charming the Wild Wart_.
Take a branch of elder tree, strip off the bark, split off a piece, hold
this skewer near the wart, and rub the wart three or nine times with the
skewer, muttering the while an incantation of your own composing, then
pierce the wart with a thorn. Bury the skewer transfixed with the thorn
in a dunghill. The wart will rot away just as the buried things decay.
_Charm for Rheumatism_.
Carry a potato in your pocket, and when one is finished, supply its place
with another.
_Charm for removing the Ringworm_.
1. Spit on the ground the first thing in the morning, mix the spittle
with the mould, and then anoint the ringworm with this mixture.
2. Hold an axe over the fire until it perspires, and then anoint the
ringworm with the sweat.
_Cattle Charms_.
Mr. Hamer in his "Parochial Account of Llanidloes" published in _The
Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol x., p. 249, states that he has in his
possession two charms that were actually used for the protection of live
stock of two small farms. One of them opens thus:--
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen . . . and in the name of Lord Jesus Christ my redeemer, that I
will give relief to --- creatures his cows, and his calves, and his
horses, and his sheep, and his pigs, and all creatures that alive be
in his possession, from all witchcraft and from all other assaults of
Satan. Amen."
Mr. Hamer further states that:--
"At the bottom of the sheet, on the left, is the magical word,
_Abracadabra_, written in the usual triangular form; in the centre, a
number of planetary symbols, and on the right, a circular figure
filled in with lines and symbols, and beneath them the words, 'By
Jah, Joh, Jab.' It was the custom to rub these charms over the
cattle, etc. a number of times, while some incantation was being
mumbled. The paper was then carefully folded up, and put in some
safe place where the animals were housed, as a guard against future
visitations."
In other cases the charm was worn by the cattle, as is shown by the
following tale:--
_Charm against Foot and Mouth Disease_.
The cattle on a certain farm in Llansilin parish suffered from the above
complaint, and old Mr. H--- consulted a conjuror, who gave him a written
charm which he was directed to place on the horns of the cattle, and he
was told this would act both as a preventive and a cure. This farmer's
cattle might be seen with the bit of paper, thus procured, tied to their
horns. My informant does not wish to be named, nor does she desire the
farmer's name to be given, but she vouches for the accuracy of her
information, and for my own use, she gave me all particulars respecting
the above. This took place only a few years ago, when the Foot and Mouth
Disease first visited Wales.
I obtained, through the kindness of the Rev. John Davies, vicar of
Bryneglwys, the following charm procured from Mr. R. Jones, Tynywern,
Bryneglwys, Denbighshire, who had it from his uncle, by whom it was used
at one time.
_Yn enw y Tad_, _a'r Mab_, _a'r Ysbryd_.
Bod I grist Iesu y gysegredig a oddefe ar y groes,
Pan godaist Sant Lasarys o'i fedd wedi farw,
Pan faddeuaist Bechodau I fair fagdalen, a thrygra
wrthyf fel bo gadwedig bob peth a henwyf fi ag a
croeswyf fi ++++ trwy nerth a rhinwedd dy eiriau
Bendigedig di fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
Iesu Crist ain harglwydd ni gwared ni rhag pop
rhiwogaeth o Brofedigaeth ar yabrydol o uwch deiar
nag o Is deiar, rhag y gythraelig o ddun nei ddynes
a chalon ddrwg a reibia dda ei berchenog ei
ddrwg rhinwedd ei ddrwg galon ysgymynedig
a wahanwyd or ffydd gatholig ++++ trwy nerth a
rhinwedd dy eiriau Bendigedig di fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
Iesu Crist ain harglwydd ni Gwared ni rhag y glwy
ar bar, ar Llid, ar genfigain ar adwyth . . .
ar Pleined Wibrenon ar gwenwyn
deiarol, trwy nerth a rhinwedd dy eiriau
Bedigedig di Fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
It was somewhat difficult to decipher the charms and four words towards
the end are quite illegible, and consequently they are omitted. The
following translation will show the nature of the charm:--
_In the Name of the Father_, _the Son_, _and the Spirit_.
May Christ Jesus the sanctified one, who suffered death on the cross,
When thou didst raise Lazarus from his tomb after his death,
When Thou forgavest sins to Mary Magdalen, have
mercy on me, so that everything named by me and
crossed by me ++++ may be saved by the power and
virtue of thy blessed words my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus Christ our Lord save us from every kind of
temptation whether spiritual above the earth or
under the earth, from the devilish man or woman
with evil heart who bewitcheth the goods of their
owner; his evil virtue, his evil excommunicated heart
cut off from the Catholic Faith ++++ by the power
and virtue of thy blessed words my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus Christ our Lord save us from the disease and the
affliction, and the wrath, and the envy, and the
mischief, and the . . . and the planet of the sky
and the earthly poison, by the power and virtue
of Thy blessed words, my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The mark ++++ indicates that crosses were here made by the person who
used the charm, and probably the words of the charm were audibly uttered.
_Another Cattle Charm Spell_.
Mr. Hughes, Plasnewydd, Llansilin, lost several head of cattle. He was
told to bleed one of the herd, boil the blood, and take it to the
cowhouse at midnight. He did so, and lost no more after applying this
charm.
_A Charm for Calves_.
If calves were scoured over much, and in danger of dying, a hazel twig
the length of the calf was twisted round the neck like a collar, and it
was supposed to cure them.
_A Charm for Stopping Bleeding_.
Mrs. Reynolds, whom I have already mentioned in connection with a charm
for toothache, gave me the following charm. It bears date April 5,
1842:--
Our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem,
By the Virgin Mary,
Baptized in the River Jordan,
By St. John the Baptist.
He commanded the water to stop, and it obeyed Him.
And I desire in the name of Jesus Christ,
That the blood of this vein (or veins) might stop,
As the water did when Jesus Christ was baptized.
Amen.
_Charm to make a Servant reliable_.
"Y neb a fyno gael ei weinidog yn gywir, doded beth o'r lludw hwn yn
nillad ei weinidog ac efe a fydd cywir tra parhao'r lludw."--_Y Brython_,
vol. iii., p. 137.
Which is:--Whosoever wishes to make his servant faithful let him place
the ashes (of a snake) in the clothes of his servant, and as long as they
remain there he will be faithful.
There are many other wonderful things to be accomplished with the skin of
an adder, or snake, besides the preceding. The following are recorded in
_Y Brython_, vol. iii., p. 137.
_Charms performed with Snake's Skin_.
1. Burn the skin and preserve the ashes. A little salve made out of the
ashes will heal a wound.
2. A little of the ashes placed between the shoulders will make a man
invulnerable.
3. Whoso places a little of the ashes in the water with which he washes
himself, should his enemies meet him, they will flee because of the
beauty of his face.
4. Cast a little of the ashes into thy neighbour's house, and he will
leave it.
5. Place the ashes under the sole of thy foot, and everybody will agree
with thee.
6. Should a man wrestle, let him place some of the ashes under his
tongue, and no one can conquer him.
7. Should a man wish to know what is about to occur to him, let him
place a pinch of the ashes on his head, and then go to sleep, and his
dreams will reveal the future.
8. Should a person wish to ascertain the mind of another, let him throw
a little of the ashes on that person's clothes, and then let him ask what
he likes, the answer will be true.
9. Has already been given above. (See page 272).
10. If a person is afraid of being poisoned in his food, let him place
the ashes on the table with his food, and poison cannot stay there with
the ashes.
11. If a person wishes to succeed in love, let him wash his hands and
keep some of the ashes in them, and then everybody will love him.
12. The skin of the adder is a remedy against fevers.
_The Charms performed with Rosemary_.
Rosemary dried in the sun and made into powder, tied in a cloth around
the right arm, will make the sick well.
The smoke of rosemary bark, sniffed, will, even if you are in gaol,
release you.
The leaves made into salve, placed on a wound, where the flesh is dead,
will cure the wound.
A spoon made out of its wood will make whatever you eat therewith
nutritious.
Place it under the door post, and no snake nor adder can ever enter thy
house.
The leaves placed in beer or wine will keep these liquids from becoming
sour, and give them such a flavour that you will dispose of them quickly.
Place a branch of rosemary on the barrel, and it will keep thee from
fever, even though thou drink of it for a whole day.
Such were some of the wonderful virtues of this plant, as given in the
_Brython_, vol. iii., p. 339.
_Charm for Clefyd y Galon_, _or Heart Disease_.
The Rev. J. Felix, vicar of Cilcen, near Mold, when a young man lodged in
Eglwysfach, near Glandovey. His landlady, noticing that he looked pale
and thin, suggested that he was suffering from Clefyd y galon, which may
be translated as above, or love sickness, a complaint common enough among
young people, and she suggested that he should call in David Jenkins, a
respectable farmer and a local preacher with the Wesleyans, to cure him.
Jenkins came, and asked the supposed sufferer whether he believed in
charms, and was answered in the negative. However, he proceeded with his
patient as if he had answered in the affirmative. Mr Felix was told to
take his coat off, he did so, and then he was bidden to tuck up his shirt
above his elbow. Mr. Jenkins then took a yarn thread and placing one
end on the elbow measured to the tip of Felix's middle finger, then he
told his patient to take hold of the yarn at one end, the other end
resting the while on the elbow, and he was to take fast hold of it, and
stretch it. This he did, and the yarn lengthened, and this was a sign
that he was actually sick of heart disease. Then the charmer tied this
yarn around the patient's left arm above the elbow, and there it was
left, and on the next visit measured again, and he was pronounced cured.
The above information I received from Mr. Felix, who is still alive and
well.
There were various ways of proceeding in this charm. Yarn was always
used and the measurement as above made, and sometimes the person was
named and his age, and the Trinity was invoked, then the thread was put
around the neck of the sick person, and left there for three nights, and
afterwards buried in the name of the Trinity under ashes. If the thread
shortened above the second joint of the middle finger there was little
hope of recovery; should it lengthen that was a sign of recovery.
_Clefyd yr Ede Wlan or Yarn Sickness_.
About twenty years ago, when the writer was curate of Llanwnog,
Montgomeryshire, a young Welsh married woman came to reside in the parish
suffering from what appeared to be that fell disease, consumption. He
visited her in her illness, and one day she appeared much elated as she
had been told that she was improving in health. She told the narrator
that she was suffering from _Clwyf yr ede wlan_ or the woollen thread
sickness, and she said that the yarn had _lengthened_, which was a sign
that she was recovering. The charm was the same as that mentioned above,
supplemented with a drink made of a quart of old beer, into which a piece
of heated steel had been dipped, with an ounce of meadow saffron tied up
in muslin soaked in it, taken in doses daily of a certain prescribed
quantity, and the thread was measured daily, thrice I believe, to see if
she was being cured or the reverse. Should the yarn shorten it was a
sign of death, if it lengthened it indicated a recovery. However,
although the yarn in this case lengthened, the young woman died. The
charm failed.
Sufficient has been said about charms to show how prevalent faith in
their efficiency was. Ailments of all descriptions had their
accompanying antidotes; but it is singularly strange that people
professing the Christian religion should cling so tenaciously to paganism
and its forms, so that even in our own days, such absurdities as charms
find a resting-place in the minds of our rustic population, and often,
even the better-educated classes resort to charms for obtaining cures for
themselves and their animals.
But from ancient times, omens, charms, and auguries have held
considerable sway over the destinies of men. That charming book,
_Plutarch's Lives_, abounds with instances of this kind. Indeed, an
excellent collection of ancient Folk-lore could easily be compiled from
extant classical authors. Most things die hard, and ideas that have once
made a lodgment in the mind of man, particularly when they are connected
in any way with his faith, die the very hardest of all. Thus it is that
such beliefs as are treated of in this chapter still exist, and they have
reached our days from distant periods, filtered somewhat in their
transit, but still retaining their primitive qualities.
We have not as yet gathered together the fragments of the ancient
religion of the Celts, and formed of them a consistent whole, but
evidently we are to look for them in the sayings and doings of the people
quite as much as in the writings of the ancients. If we could only
ascertain what views were held respecting any particular matter in
ancient times, we might undoubtedly find traces of them even in modern
days. Let us take for instance only one subject, and see whether traces
of it still exist. Caesar in his _Commentaries_ states of the Druids
that, "One of their principal maxims is that the soul never dies, but
that after death it passes into the body of another being. This maxim
they consider to be of the greatest utility to encourage virtue and to
make them regardless of life."
Now, is there anything that can be associated with such teaching still to
be found? The various tales previously given of hags turning themselves
and others into various kinds of animals prove that people believed that
such transitions were in life possible, and they had only to go a step
further and apply the same faith to the soul, and we arrive at the
transmigration of souls.
It is not my intention to make too much of the following tale, for it may
be only a shred, but still as such it is worthy of record. A few years
ago I was staying at the Rectory, Erbistock, near Ruabon, and the rector,
the Rev. P. W. Sparling, in course of conversation, said that a
parishioner, one Betsy Roberts, told him that she knew before anyone told
her, that a certain person died at such and such a time. The rector
asked her how she came to know of the death if no one had informed her,
and if she had not been to the house to ascertain the fact. Her answer
was, "I knew because I saw a hare come from towards his house and cross
over the road before me." This was about all that the rector could
elicit, but evidently the woman connected the appearance of the hare with
the death of the man. The association of the live hare with the dead man
was here a fact, and possibly in the birthplace of that woman such a
connection of ideas was common. Furthermore, it has often been told me
by people who have professed to have heard what they related, that being
present in the death chamber of a friend they have heard a bird singing
beautifully outside in the darkness, and that it stopped immediately on
the death of their friend. Here again we have a strange connection
between two forms of life, and can this be a lingering Druidic or other
ancient faith?
In the _Dictionary of the Welsh Language_ by the Rev. Canon Silvan Evans,
part i., p. 8, under the word _Abred_, we have an exhaustive statement on
the subject of transmigration, which I will take the liberty to
transcribe, for it certainly throws light on the matter now treated of.
"_Abred_ . . . 1. The state or condition through which, by a regular
upward gradation, all animated beings pass from the lowest point of
existence in which they originate, towards humanity and the highest state
of happiness and perfection. All the states of animation below that of
humanity are necessarily evil; in the state of humanity, good and evil
are equally balanced; and in all the states above humanity, good
preponderates and evil becomes impossible. If man, as a free agent,
attaches himself to evil, he falls in death into such an animal state of
existence as corresponds with the turpitude of his soul, which may be so
great as to cast him down into the lowest point of existence, from which
he shall again return through such a succession of animal existences as
is most proper to divest him of his evil propensities. After traversing
such a course, he will again rise to the probationary state of humanity,
where according to contingencies he may rise or fall; yet, should he
fall, he shall rise again, and should this happen for millions of ages,
the path of happiness is still open to him, and will so remain to all
eternity, for sooner or later he will infallibly arrive at his destined
station or happiness, from which he can never fall. This doctrine of
metamorphosis or evolution, attributed to the Druids and the Welsh bards,
is succinctly but fully stated by its hierophant, Iolo Morganwg, in his
'Poems' (1794), ii., 195-256, and elucidated by documents which had not
previously been made public, but of which none are of an early date."
Thus writes the Welsh lexicographer on this matter. The word _abred_ is
archaic, as is the idea for which it stands; but as already said, very
little has been lost of ideas which were once the property of kindred
races; so here we have no exception to the general rule, though the word
_abred_ and the theory it represented come down to modern times
strengthless, resembling the lifeless mummy of an Egyptian king that once
represented a living people and principle. Still, the word and the idea
it stands for have descended, in form, to our days, and tell us something
about the faith of our forefathers regarding the immortality of the soul.
RHAMANTA, OR OMEN SEEKING.
_Rhamanta_ was a kind of divination that could be resorted to without the
intervention of any outside party, by anyone wishful to ascertain the
future with reference to herself or himself. It differed, therefore,
from the preceding tales of conjurors or witches, insomuch that the
services of neither of these parties were required by the anxious seekers
of coming events. They could themselves uplift the veil, using, however,
for this purpose certain means, which were credited with possessing the
power of opening to their view events which were about to happen.
As there was something uncanny in this seeking for hidden information,
young women generally in companies of three sought for the information
their inquisitiveness required. This was usually done in the dead of
night, and twelve o'clock was the hour when they resorted to their
incantations. Some of the expedients adopted were harmless, though
silly; others were cruel. To the effective carrying out of the matter it
was generally necessary that at least one of the party should have slept
within the year on an oat-straw bed, or a bed made of the leaves of
mountain ash, mixed with the seeds of a spring fern, and a pillow of
Maiden Hair.
The nights generally resorted to for the purpose mentioned above were All
Hallow Eve, S. John's Eve, and Mayday Eve, but there were other times
also when the lovesick could get a glimpse of their life partners.
I have said that some of the means employed were innocent and others
cruel. Before proceeding I will record instances of both kinds. It was
thought that if a young woman placed a snail under a basin on _Nos Wyl
Ifan_, S. John's Eve, it would by its movements trace the name of her
coming husband underneath, or at least his initials. One can very well
imagine a young woman not over particular as to form, being able to
decipher the snail's wanderings, and making them represent her lover's
name. Should the snail have remained immovable during the night, this
indicated her own or her lover's death; or at the least, no offer of
marriage in the coming year.
It was usual for young women to hunt for _Llysiau Ifan_ (S. John's Wort)
on _Nos Wyl Ifan_, at midnight, and it was thought that the silvery light
of a glow-worm would assist them in discovering the plant. The first
thing, therefore, was to search for their living lanthorn. This found,
they carried the glow-worm in the palm of the hand, and proceeding in
their search they sought underneath or among the fern for St. John's
Wort. When found, a bunch was carried away, and hung in the young
woman's bedroom. If in the morning the leaves appeared fresh, it was a
sign that she should be married within the year; if, however, the leaves
were found hanging down or dead, this indicated her death, or that she
was not to get a husband within that year. We can well understand that a
sharp young person would resort to means to keep the plant alive, and
thus avert what she most feared.
The following instance of _Rhamanta_ I received from a young woman who
witnessed the work done. She gave me the name of the party, but for
special reasons I do not supply names.
A young woman was madly in love with a young man, and she gave the
servant man a jug of beer for procuring a frog for her. This he did; and
she took the poor creature to the garden, and thrust several pins into
its back. The tortured creature writhed under the pain, but the cruel
girl did not cease until the required number had been inserted. Then she
placed the frog under a vessel to prevent its escape, and turning to my
informant, she said, "There, he will now come to our house this evening."
The man certainly came, and when he entered she smiled at my informant,
and then both went together to the lacerated frog, and the pins were
extracted one by one from its back, and the wounded animal was set at
liberty. My informant said that the hard-hearted girl mumbled something
both when inserting and extracting the pins.
It was believed that the spirit of a person could be invoked and that it
would appear, after the performance of certain ceremonies, to the person
who was engaged in the weird undertaking. Thus a young woman who had
gone round the church seven times on All Hallow Eve came home to her
mistress, who was in the secret that she was going to _rhamanta_, and
said, "Why did you send master to frighten me?" But the master had not
left the house. His wife perceived that it was the spirit of her husband
that had appeared to the girl, and she requested the girl to be kind to
her children, "for," said she, "you will soon be mistress here." In a
short time afterwards the wife died, and the girl became her successor.
I obtained the preceding tale from the Rev. P. Edwards, son of the Rector
of Llanwyddelan, Montgomeryshire, and the lady who related the tale of
herself to Mr. Edwards said the occurrence took place when she was
servant girl.
There are several versions of the above tale to be met with in many
places in Wales.
I will give one, omitting names, from my work on "_Old Stone Crosses_,"
p. 203:--"An aged woman in Gyffylliog parish, who is still alive (1886),
saw her husband by _rhamanta_; and so did her fellow-servant. I am
indebted to Mr. Jones, Woodland Farm, to whom the woman related it, for
the story I am about to give. When young women, she and her
fellow-servant, in accordance with the practice of the country,
determined to obtain a sight of the men whom they were to marry. The
mistress was let into the secret that that night one of the two was going
to raise the veil of the future, and the other the following night. As
the clock began striking twelve the fellow-servant began striking the
floor with a strap, repeating the doggerel lines
"Am gyd-fydio i gyd-ffatio,"
and almost immediately she saw her master come down stairs. The girl
innocently the next day asked her mistress why she had sent her master
down stairs to frighten her. The answer of her mistress was, 'Take care
of my children.' This girl ultimately married her master. The next
night it was the other girl's turn, and she saw a dark man, whom she had
never seen before; but in the course of a week or so, a stranger came
into the farmyard, and she at once perceived that it was the person whom
she had seen when divining. Upon inquiry, she ascertained that he was a
married man, but in time his wife died, and the girl became his wife."
There were several ways of proceeding by young girls who were anxious to
ascertain whom they were to marry. One of these was by means of yarn.
This divination was usually performed by two young girls after the family
had retired for the night. It has been called _Coel ede wlan_, or the
yarn test, and under this name I will describe the process.
_Coel Ede Wlan_, _or the Yarn Test_.
Two young women took a ball of yarn and doubled the threads, and then
tied tiny pieces of wood along these threads so as to form a miniature
ladder. Then they went upstairs together, and opening the window threw
this artificial ladder to the ground, and then the one who was performing
the incantation commenced winding the yarn back, saying the while:--
"Y fi sy'n dirwyn
Pwy sy'n dal?"
I am winding,
Who is holding?
This was done three times, and if no lover made his appearance, then for
that year her chances of marriage were gone. The next evening the other
girl in the same manner tried her fortune, and possibly better luck would
attend her trial. It was believed that the spirit of the coming husband
would mount this ladder and present himself to his future wife.
The Rev. R. Jones, rector of Llanycil, told me the following tale. Two
young men from Festiniog went to court two young girls in the parish of
Maentwrog, servants at a farm called Gellidywyll. As they were going
towards the farm one of them said, "Let me rest awhile." He at once
seated himself on the ground, and apparently he fell asleep immediately.
This surprised his friend, but he was thoroughly frightened when he saw
_a blue light emanate_ from his mouth, and he attempted to awaken the
man, but he failed to arouse him, he seemed as if dead. However, after
awhile, the blue light was seen returning, and it entered the mouth of
the sleeper, and he instantly awoke, and they proceeded together towards
Gellidywyll. At the very time that the man felt an irresistible
inclination to sleep, his love had used the yarn incantation, and the
unconscious man during his short sleep dreamt that he had seen his
sweetheart in the window, and the girl said that he had appeared to her
at the window. In a few months after this proof of true love they were
married.
Another form of incantation was to walk around the church seven or nine
times on certain nights. This I will call the _Twca Test_ or _Knife
Test_. This was a very common form of incantation.
_Divination with the Twca or Knife_.
The proceeding was as follows:--The party who wished to know whom he, or
she, was to marry, went to the church secretly and walked around it seven
times, repeating the while these words:--
"Dyma'r Twca,
Lle mae'r wain?"
Here's the knife,
Where's the sheath?
And it was thought that the spirit of his or her life partner would
appear to the person who held the knife, with the sheath in his or her
hand, and that it would be found that the one fitted the other exactly.
I have been told by a person who resorted to this test that if the person
was to become a wife, her lover would certainly appear to her; if she was
to die an old maid then a coffin would meet her. The superstition is
mentioned in _Bardd Cwsg_--
"Fe glywai rai yn son am fyned i droi o gwmpas yr Eglwys i weled eu
cariadau, a pheth a wnaeth y catffwl ond ymddangos i'r ynfydion yn ei lun
ei hun." That is in English:--
"He heard some persons talking of going round the church to see their
sweethearts, but what did the stupid one (the devil) do, but appear to
the foolish things in his own person."
_The Washing Test_.
Another well-known and often practised form of divination was for a young
woman to take an article to wash, such as a stocking, to the water-spout
or _pistyll_, and with her she carried two pieces of wood wherewith to
strike the article which was being washed. She went on her knees and
commenced striking the stocking, saying the while:--
"Am gyd-fydio i gyd-ffatio."
We'll live together to strike together.
It was thought that her future husband would then appear, take hold of
the other piece of wood, and join her in her work; should the wraith
appear, a marriage within six months followed.
_Troi Crysau or Clothes Drying Test_.
Young maidens washed linen after the household had retired, and placed
the articles by the fire to dry, and then watched to see who should come
at midnight to turn the clothes. In this case, again, the evil one is
said to have entered the kitchen to perform this work for the young
woman, and also it is affirmed that a coffin has, ere this, moved along
through the room, a sure prognostication that she was doomed to die
single. _Bardd Cwsg_ mentions this practice.
He writes in the third part of his book, where a devil is accused in the
Parliament of Hell, thus:--"Aeth nos _Ystwyll_ ddiweddaf i ymweled a dwy
ferch ieuanc yng Nghymru _oedd yn troi crysau_, ac yn lle denu'r genethod
i faswedd, yn rhith llanc glandeg, myned ag elor i sobreiddio un; a myned
a thrwst rhyfel at y llall mewn corwynt uffernol."
"He went on the night of _Epiphany_ to visit two young girls in Wales,
who were turning shirts, and, instead of enticing them to folly, in the
form of a handsome young man, he took to the one a coffin to sober her,
and to the other he appeared in a hellish whirlwind, with a horrible
noise."
Happy, however, is the young woman should the man she loves appear, for
he is to be her husband.
_Hemp Seed Sowing_.
A young married woman, a native of Denbighshire, told me that if a young
woman sowed hemp seed, the figure of her lover would appear and follow
her. This was to be done by night on Hallow Eve. I find from _English
Folk-Lore_, p. 15, that this divination is practised in Devonshire on St.
Valentine's Eve, and that the young woman runs round the church
repeating, without stopping, the following lines:--
"I sow hempseed, hempseed I sow,
He that loves me best
Come, and after me now."
_Sage Gathering_.
A young person who went of a night to the garden, and stripped the leaves
of the sage tree, would, as the clock struck twelve, be joined by her
lover. This was to be done on All Hallow Eve.
_Pullet's Egg Divination_.
Mr. J. Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, told me the
following:--When he was a young man, he, his sister, and the servant man,
formed a company to find out by divination their future life partners.
They procured a pullet's egg, it was emptied into a cup, to this was
added flour and salt, in equal proportions, these ingredients were mixed
together, made into three small cakes, and baked. They all ate one half
of their cake, and the other half was placed in their respective
stockings, to be placed under their bolsters. They went upstairs
backward, and thus to bed, preserving the while, absolute silence. It
was believed, he said, that they should that night, in their dreams, if
everything were carried out properly, see their partners, who would come
to their bedsides to offer them a drink of water.
_The Candle and Pin Divination_.
The process is as follows:--A couple of young women meet, and stick pins
in a candle, and if the divination acts properly the last pin drops out
of the candle at 12 o'clock at night, and then the future husband of the
girl to whom that pin belongs appears.
I must not name the lady whom I am indebted to for the following
information, but she told me that when she was a young woman, she, and
her friend, took part in this prying into the future, and exactly at 12
o'clock her companion's pin fell out of the candle, and at that very
instant there was a knocking at the door, and in great fright both ran
upstairs, but the knocking continued, and her friend put her head out of
the window to enquire who was there, and my informant told me that the
man at the door became her friend's husband, though at the time they were
consulting the future she was desperately in love with another man.
There were other ways in which people could _Rhamant_. Enough has been
said on this subject, but there are other practices resorted to, having
much the same object in view, which I will now relate.
_To ascertain the condition of the Person whom you are to Marry_.
_Water in Basin Divination_.
Should young persons wish to know whether their husbands were to be
bachelors, or their wives spinsters, the following test was to be
resorted to:--
Three persons were necessary to carry out the test. These three young
ladies were to join in the undertaking and they were to proceed as
follows:--On _Nos Calan Gauaf_, All Hallow Eve, at night, three basins
were to be placed on a table, _one filled with clear spring water_, _one
with muddy water_, _and the other empty_. The young ladies in turn were
led blindfolded into the room, and to the table, and they were told to
place their hands on the basins. She who placed her hand on the clear
spring water was to marry a bachelor, whilst the one who touched the
basin with muddy water was to wed a widower, and should the empty basin
be touched it foretold that for that person a life of single blessedness
was in store.
_Hairs of a Lover found under a Holly Tree_.
This test is to be carried out on All Hallow Eve. The young person walks
backwards to a holly tree, takes a handful of grass from underneath it,
and then carries the leaves to the light, and she then sees among the
grass several hairs of her true lover.
_The Bible and Key Divination_.
A key is taken, and placed on the 16th verse of the 1st chapter of
Ruth:--"And Ruth said, intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou
lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."
The Bible is then closed with that part of the key that enters the lock
on this verse. The person who wishes to look into the future takes the
garter off his left leg, and then ties the Bible round with his garter,
which also passes through the loop of the key. He has with him a friend
who joins in carrying out the test. Both men place one of their big or
central fingers on the key underneath the loop, and press the key, so as
to keep the Bible steady and the key from falling. Then the man, who
does not consult the future, reads the verse above written, and should
the Bible turn towards the other man, it is an affirmative answer that
the young lady he loves will accept him.
The writer received this account from a man who had himself consulted the
future by the Bible and Key.
_Testing a Lover's Love by Cracking of Nuts_.
This divination is common to many countries, but the writer knows that it
is resorted to on _All Hallows Eve_ in Denbighshire by young ladies,
partly, it may be in fun, and partly in earnest. The plan of proceeding
is as follows:--Nuts are placed on the bars of the fire grate, equal in
number to the young lady's lovers, and the nut that cracks first, and
jumps off the bar, represents her true love. She has, of course fixed in
her mind the lover each nut stands for. So common is this test that in
the North of England _All Hallows Eve_ is called "_Nutcrack night_."
_Gay_ describes the ceremony:--
Two hazel nuts I throw into the flame
And to each nut I give a sweetheart's name;
This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed,
That in a flame of brightest-colour blazed;
As blazed the nut, so may thy passions grow,
For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow.
_Burns_, in his poem of _Hallowe'en_ also mentions the nut divination.
The auld guidwife's weel-hoordet nits
Are round an' round divided,
An' monie lads' and lasses' fates
Are there that night decided;
Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
An' burn thegither trimly;
Some start awa' wi' saucy pride,
And jump out-owre the chimlie
Fu' high that night.
Jean slips in twa' wi' tentie e'e;
Wha 'twas, she wadna tell;
But this is Jock, an' this is me,
She says in to hersel':
He bleez'd owre her, and she owre him,
As they wad never mair part;
'Till, fuff! he started up the lum,
An' Jean had e'en a sair heart
To see't that night.
_The Apple Pip Trial of Lovers_.
The fair lady takes as many pips as she has lovers, and these she places
on the point of a knife, which she inserts between the bars of the fire
grate. Each pip represents a lover, and the pip that swells out and
jumps into the fire indicates that he is the best lover for whom the pip
stands.
SPIRITUALISM.
The next subject I shall treat of is curious, and partakes of the nature
of spiritualism. I hardly know by what other word to describe it,
therefore I will give particulars, so as to make the matter intelligible
to the reader, and call it "Spiritualism."
It was believed that it was possible for the spirit to leave the body,
and then, after an absence of some time, to return again and re-enter it.
The form the spirit assumed when it quitted the body was a bluish light
like that of a candle, but somewhat longer. This light left the body
through the mouth, and re-entered the same way.
The writer was informed by a certain female friend at Llandegla that she
had seen a bluish light leave the mouth of a person who was sick, light
which she thought was the life, or spirit of that person, but the person
did not immediately die.
For another tale of this kind I am indebted to Mr. R. Roberts, who lives
in the village of Clocaenog, near Ruthin. He was not himself a witness
of the occurrence, but vouches for the accuracy of the report. It is as
follows:--
_A Spirit leaving and re-entering the body_.
A man was in love with two young girls, and they were both in love with
him, and they knew that he flirted with them both. It is but natural to
suppose that these young ladies did not, being rivals, love each other.
It can well be believed that they heartily disliked each other. One
evening, according to custom, this young man spent the night with one of
his sweethearts, and to all appearance she fell asleep, or was in a
trance, for she looked very pale. He noticed her face, and was
frightened by its death-like pallor, but he was greatly surprised to see
_a bluish flame proceed out of her mouth_, and go towards the door. He
followed this light, and saw it take the direction of the house in which
his other love lived, and he observed that from that house, too, a like
light was travelling, as if to meet the light that he was following. Ere
long these lights met each other, and they apparently fought, for they
dashed into each other, and flitted up and down, as if engaged in mortal
combat. The strife continued for some time, and then the lights
separated and departed in the direction of the respective houses where
the two young women lived. The man returned to the house of the young
woman with whom he was spending the night, following close on the light,
which he saw going before him, and which re-entered her body through her
mouth; and then she immediately awoke.
Here, presumedly, these two troubled young ladies met in a disembodied
form to contend for the possession of this young man.
A tale much like the preceding occurs on page 283.
There is something akin to this spectral appearance believed in in
Scotland, where the apparition is called _Wraith_, which word is defined
in _Jameson's Etymological Dictionary_, published by Gardner, 1882,
thus:--
"_Wraith_, _etc_.: Properly an apparition in the exact likeness of a
person, supposed by the vulgar to be seen before, or soon after, death."
This definition does not correspond exactly to what has been said of the
Welsh spirit appearance, but it teaches the possibility, or shows the
people's faith in the possibility, of the soul's existence apart from the
body. It would seem that in Scotland this spectre is seen before, or
after, death; but the writer has read of a case in which the _wraith_ of
a person appeared to himself and was the means of saving his life, and
that he long survived after his other self had rescued him from extreme
danger.
Lately a legend of Lake Ogwen went the round of the papers, but the
writer, who lived many years in the neighbourhood of that lake, never
heard of it until he saw it in the papers in 1887. As it bears on the
subject under consideration, I will in part transcribe the story:--
"On one of these occasions a friend who had known something of the Welsh
gipsies repeated to Rossetti an anecdote which had been told him as a
'quite true fack' by a Romani girl--an anecdote touching another Romani
girl _whose wraith had been spirited away in the night from the_
'_camping place_' by the incantations of a wicked lover, had been seen
rushing towards Ogwen Lake in the moonlight, 'While all the while that
'ere same chavi wur asleep an' a-sobbin' in her daddy's livin'
waggin.'"--_Bye-Gones_, Ap. 13, 1887.
This tale resembles in many respects the one given on page 291, for there
is in both a lover and a sleeping girl, and the girl does not die, but
there are minor differences in the tales, as might be expected.
In Germany like tales are current. Baring-Gould, in his _Myths of the
Middle Ages_, pp. 423-4, says:--
"The soul in German mythology is supposed to bear some analogy to a
mouse. In Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a servant girl fell asleep whilst
her companions were shelling nuts. They observed _a little red mouse
creep out of her mouth_ and run out of the window. One of the
fellows present shook the sleeper but could not wake her, so he moved
her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back to the former
place and dashed about seeking the girl; not finding her, it
vanished; at the same moment the girl died."
One other tale on this subject I will give, which appeared in the _North
Wales Chronicle_ for April 22, 1883, where it is headed--
_A Spiritualistic Story from Wales_.
"In an article relating to spiritualism in the February number of the
_Fortnightly Review_, a story was told which is here shortened. The
anecdote is given on the authority of a Welsh gentleman named Roberts,
who resided at Cheetham, near Manchester, and the scene of the adventure
is Beaumaris, the date 184--. The narrator was then an apprentice in a
draper's shop. His master was strict, and allowed his apprentice but
half an hour for dinner, which he had to take at his lodgings, some
distance away from the shop. At whatever time he left the shop he had to
be back there punctually at half past twelve. One day he was late, and
while hastily swallowing his meat, his aunt being at the table, he looked
up and saw that the clock pointed to _half past_ twelve! He was
thunderstruck, and, with the fear of his master before him, all but lost
consciousness, and was indeed in a dazed state for a few minutes, as was
noticed by those at the table. Shaking this off by an effort, he again
looked at the clock, and, to his relief and astonishment, saw that the
hands only pointed to a _quarter past_ twelve. Then he quickly finished
his dinner and returned to the shop at the appointed time. There he was
told that at a _quarter past_ twelve he had returned to the shop, put up
his hat, moved about in an absent manner, had been scolded, and had
thereupon put on his hat again and walked out. Several persons on the
one hand corroborated this story, whilst on the other his aunt was
positive that, although at that moment he had fallen into a strange fit
of abstraction, he had never left the table. This is the narrative,
attested by a gentleman now living. The year 184-- is not so far back;
perhaps there are still those residing on the upper side of the turf at
Beaumaris who remember the circumstance."
This tale in its nature is not unlike the others herein given. It
belongs to the supernatural side of life.
However improbable these stories may appear, they point to the notion
that spirits can exist independently of the body. The Irish _fetch_, the
Scotch _wraith_, and the Welsh _Canwyll Corph_, are alike in their
teaching, but of this latter I shall speak more particularly when
treating of death portents.
_A Doctor called from his bed by a Voice_.
Mr. Hugh Lloyd, Llanfihangel-Glyn-Myfyr, who received the story from Dr.
Davies, the gentleman who figures in the tale, informed me of the
following curious incidents:--
Doctor Davies, of Cerrig-y-drudion, had gone to bed and slept, but in the
night he heard someone under his bedroom window shout that he was wanted
in a farmhouse called Craigeirchan, which was three miles from the
doctor's abode, and the way thereto was at all times beset with
difficulties, such as opening and shutting the many gates; but of a night
the journey to this mountain farm was one that few would think of taking,
unless called to do so by urgent business. The doctor did not pay much
attention to the first request, but he lay quietly on the bed listening,
and almost immediately he heard the same voice requesting him to go at
once to Craigeirchan, as he was wanted there. He now got up to the
window, but could not see anyone; he therefore re-entered his bed, but
for the third time he heard the voice telling him to go to the farm
named, and now he opened the window and said that he would follow the
messenger forthwith. The doctor got up, went to the stable, saddled the
horse, and off he started for a long dismal ride over a wild tract of
mountain country; such a journey he had often taken. He was not
surprised that he could not see, nor hear, anyone in advance, for he knew
that Welsh lads are nimble of foot, and could, by cutting across fields,
etc., outstrip a rider. At last he neared the house where he was wanted,
and in the distance he saw a light, and by this sign he was convinced
that there was sickness in the house. He drove up to the door and
entered the abode, to the surprise but great joy of the inmates. To his
inquiry after the person who had been sent for him, he was told that no
one had left the house, nor had anyone been requested by the family to go
to the doctor. But he was told his services were greatly wanted, for the
wife was about to become a mother, and the doctor was instrumental in
saving both the life of the child and mother.
What makes this tale all the more curious is the fact, that the doctor
was an unbeliever in such things as ghosts, etc., and he had often
enjoyed a quiet laugh over the tales he heard of a supernatural kind.
Mr. Lloyd asked the doctor whether he had heard of the woman's condition,
but he affirmed he was ignorant of everything connected with the place
and family.
_Another Tale of a Doctor_.
I received the following tale from the Rev. Philip Edwards, formerly
curate at Selattyn, near Oswestry:--
There was, or perhaps is--for my informant says he believes the lady is
still alive--in a place called Swyddffynnon, Cardiganshire, a Mrs. Evans,
who had a strange vision. Mr. Edwards's father called one evening upon
Mrs. Evans, and found her sitting by the fire in company with a few
female friends, greatly depressed. On enquiring as to the cause of her
distress, she stated that she had had a strange sight that very evening.
She saw, she said, in the unoccupied chamber at the further end of the
house, a light, and, whilst she was wondering what light it was, she
observed a tall, dark, stranger gentleman, who had a long, full beard,
enter the house and go straight to the room where the light was, but
before going in he took off his hat and placed it on the table; then he
took off his gloves and threw them into the hat, and then he placed his
riding whip across the hat, and without uttering a single word he entered
the lit-up room. Shortly afterwards she saw the stranger emerge from the
room and leave the house, and on looking again towards the room she saw
that the light had disappeared. It was, she said, this apparition that
had disconcerted her. Some time after this vision Mrs. Evans was in a
critical state, and as she lived far away from a doctor my informant's
father was requested to ride to Aberystwyth for one. He found, however,
that the two doctors who then resided in that town were from home. But
he was informed at the inn that there was a London doctor staying at
Hafod. He determined, whether he could or could not, induce this
gentleman to accompany him to Swyddffynnon, to go there. The gentleman,
on hearing the urgency of the case, consented to visit the sick woman.
Mr. Edwards and the doctor rode rapidly to their destination, and Mr.
Edwards was surprised to find that the doctor did everything exactly as
had been stated by Mrs. Evans. There was also a light in the chamber,
for there the neighbours had placed the still-born child, and it was the
providential help of the London doctor that saved Mrs. Evans's life. I
may add that the personal appearance of this gentleman corresponded with
the description given of him by Mrs. Evans.
DEATH PORTENTS.
These are common, in one form or other, to all nations. I will give a
list of those which were formerly in high repute in Wales.
_The Corpse Bird_, _or Deryn Corph_.
This was a bird that came flapping its wings against the window of the
room in which lay a sick person, and this visit was considered a certain
omen of that person's death. The bird not only fluttered about the
lighted window, but also made a screeching noise whilst there, and also
as it flew away. The bird, singled out for the dismal honour of being a
death prognosticator, was the tawny, or screech owl. Many are the
instances, which have been told me by persons who heard the bird's noise,
of its having been the precursor of death. This superstition is common
to all parts of Wales.
_A Crowing Hen_.
This bird, too, is supposed to indicate the death of an inmate of the
house which is its home; or, if not the death, some sore disaster to one
or other of the members of that family. The poor hen, though, as soon as
it is heard crowing, certainly foretells its own death, for no one will
keep such an uncanny bird on the premises, and consequently the crowing
hen loses its life.
It is a common saying that--
A whistling woman, and a _crowing hen_,
Are neither good for God nor men.
Should a hen lay a small egg it was to be thrown over the head, and over
the roof of the house, or a death would follow.
_A Cock Crowing in the Night_.
This, too, was thought to foretell a death, but whose death, depended on
the direction of the bird's head whilst crowing. As soon as the crowing
was heard someone went to ascertain the position of the cock's head, and
when it was seen that his head was turned from their own house towards
someone else's abode, the dwellers in that house slept in peace,
believing that a neighbour, and not one of themselves, was about to die.
It was supposed, that to make the prognostication sure, the cock would
have to crow three times in succession before or about midnight, and in
the same direction.
_The Corpse Candle--Canwyll Corph_.
The corpse candle, or _canwyll corph_, was a light like that of a candle,
which was said to issue from the house where a death was about to occur,
and take the course of the funeral procession to the burial place. This
was the usual way of proceeding, but this mysterious light was also
thought to wend its way to the abode of a person about to die. Instances
could be given of both kinds of appearances.
I have met with persons in various parts of Wales who told me that they
had seen a corpse candle. They described it as a pale bluish light
moving slowly along a short distance above the ground. Strange tales are
told of the course the light has taken. Once it was seen to go over
hedges and to make straight for the churchyard wall. This was not then
understood, but when the funeral actually took place the ground was
covered with snow, and the drift caused the procession to proceed along
the fields and over the hedges and churchyard wall, as indicated by the
corpse candle.
It was ill jesting with the corpse candle. The Rev. J. Jenkins, Vicar of
Hirnant, told me that a drunken sailor at Borth said he went up to a
corpse candle and attempted to light his pipe at it, but he was whisked
away, and when he came to himself he discovered that he was far off the
road in the bog.
The Rev. Edmund Jones, in his book entitled _A Relation of Ghosts and
Apparitions_, _etc_., states:--
"Some have seen the resemblance of a skull carrying the candle;
others the shape of the person that is to die carrying the candle
between his fore-fingers, holding the light before his face. Some
have said that they saw the shape of those who were to be at the
burying."
Those who have followed the light state that it proceeded to the church,
lit up the building, emerged therefrom, and then hovered awhile over a
certain spot in the churchyard, and then sank into the earth at the place
where the deceased was to be buried.
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 that
originally it was confined to his diocese. This tradition finds no place
in the Life of the Saint, as given in the _Cambro-British Saints_, and
there are there many wonderful things recorded of that saint.
It was thought possible for a man to meet his own Candle. There is a
tale of a person who met a Candle and struck it with his walking-stick,
when it became sparks, which, however, re-united. The man was greatly
frightened, became sick, and died. At the spot where he had struck the
candle the bier broke and the coffin fell to the ground, thus
corroborating the man's tale.
I will now record one tale not of the usual kind, which was told me by a
person who is alive.
_Tale of a Corpse Candle_.
My informant told me that one John Roberts, Felin-y-Wig, was in the habit
of sitting up a short time after his family had retired to rest to smoke
a quiet pipe, and the last thing he usually did before retiring for the
night was to take a peep into the night. One evening, whilst peering
around, he saw in the distance a light, where he knew there was no house,
and on further notice he observed that it was slowly going along the road
from Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch towards Felin-y-Wig. Where the road dipped the
light disappeared, only, however, to appear again in such parts of the
road as were visible from John Roberts's house. At first Roberts thought
that the light proceeded from a lantern, but this was so unusual an
occurrence in those parts that he gave up this idea, and intently
followed the motions of the light. It approached Roberts's house, and
evidently this was its destination. He endeavoured to ascertain whether
the light was carried by a man or woman, but he could see nothing save
the light. When, therefore, it turned into the lane approaching
Roberts's house, in considerable fear he entered the house and closed the
door, awaiting, with fear, the approach of the light. To his horror, he
perceived the light passing through the shut door, and it played in a
quivering way underneath the roof, and then vanished. That very night
the servant man died, and his bed was right above the spot where the
light had disappeared.
_Spectral Funerals_, _or Drychiolaeth_.
This was a kind of shadowy funeral which foretold the real one. In South
Wales it goes by the name _toilu_, _toili_, or _y teulu_ (the family)
_anghladd_, unburied; in Montgomeryshire it is called _Drychiolaeth_,
spectre.
I cannot do better than quote from Mr. Hamer's _Parochial Account of
Llanidloes (Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol. x., p. 256), a description
of one of these phantom funerals. All were much alike. He writes:--
"It is only a few years ago that some excitement was caused amongst
the superstitious portion of the inhabitants by the statement of a
certain miner, who at the time was working at the Brynpostig mine.
On his way to the mine one dark night, he said that he was thoroughly
frightened in China Street on seeing a spectral funeral leaving the
house of one Hoskiss, who was then very ill in bed. In his fright
the miner turned his back on the house, with the intention of going
home, but almost fainting he could scarcely move out of the way of
the advancing procession, which gradually approached, at last
surrounded him, and then passed on down Longbridge Street, in the
direction of the church. The frightened man managed with difficulty
to drag himself home, but he was so ill that he was unable to go to
work for several days."
The following weird tale I received from the Rev. Philip Edwards, whom I
have already mentioned (p. 282). I may state that I have heard variants
of the story from other sources.
While the Manchester and Milford Railway was in course of construction
there was a large influx of navvies into Wales, and many a frugal farmer
added to his incomings by lodging and boarding workmen engaged on the
line. Several of these men were lodged at a farm called Penderlwyngoch,
occupied by a man named Hughes.
One evening when the men were seated round the fire, which burned
brightly, they heard the farm dogs bark, as they always did at the
approach of strangers. This aroused the attention of the men, and they
perceived from the furious barking of the dogs that someone was coming
towards the house. By-and-by they heard the tramp of feet, mingled with
the howling of the frightened dogs, and then the dogs ceased barking,
just as if they had slunk away in terror. Before many minutes had
elapsed the inmates heard the back door opened, and a number of people
entered the house, carrying a heavy load resembling a dead man, which
they deposited in the parlour, and all at once the noise ceased. The men
in great dread struck a light, and proceeded to the parlour to ascertain
what had taken place. But they could discover nothing there, neither
were there any marks of feet in the room, nor could they find any
footprints outside the house, but they saw the cowering dogs in the yard
looking the picture of fright. After this fruitless investigation of the
cause of this dread sound, the Welsh people present only too well knew
the cause of this visit. On the very next day one of the men who sat by
the fire was killed, and his body was carried by his fellow-workmen to
the farm house, in fact everything occurred as rehearsed the previous
night. Most of the people who witnessed the vision are, my informant
says, still alive.
_Cyhyraeth--Death Sound_.
This was thought to be a sound made by a crying spirit. It was
plaintive, yet loud and terrible. It made the hair stand on end and the
blood become cold; and a whole neighbourhood became depressed whenever
the awful sound was heard. It was unlike all other voices, and it could
not be mistaken. It took in its course the way the funeral procession
was to go, starting from the house of the dead, and ending in the
churchyard where the deceased was to be buried. It was supposed to
announce a death the morning before it occurred, or, at most, a few days
before. It was at one time thought to belong to persons born in the
Diocese of Llandaff, but it must have travelled further north, for it is
said to have been heard on the Kerry Hills in Montgomeryshire. The
function of the _Cyhyraeth_ was much the same as that of the Corpse
Candle, but it appealed to the sense of sound instead of to the sense of
sight. Dogs, when they heard the distressing sound of the _Cyhyraeth_,
showed signs of fear and ran away to hide.
_Lledrith--Spectre of a Person_.
This apparition of a friend has in the Scotch wraith, or Irish fetch its
counterpart. It has been said that people have seen friends walking to
meet them, and that, when about to shake hands with the approaching
person, it has vanished into air. This optical illusion was considered
to be a sign of the death of the person thus seen.
_Tolaeth--Death Rapping or Knocking_.
The death rappings are said to be heard in carpenters' workshops, and
that they resembled the noise made by a carpenter when engaged in
coffin-making. A respectable miner's wife told me that a female friend
told her, she had often heard this noise in a carpenter's shop close by
her abode, and that one Sunday evening this friend came and told her that
the _Tolaeth_ was at work then, and if she would come with her she should
hear it. She complied, and there she heard this peculiar sound, and was
thoroughly frightened. There was no one in the shop at the time, the
carpenter and his wife being in chapel. Sometimes this noise was heard
by the person who was to die, but generally by his neighbours. The
sounds were heard in houses even, and when this was the case the noise
resembled the noise made as the shroud is being nailed to the coffin.
_A Raven's Croaking_.
A raven croaking hoarsely as it flew through the air became the angel of
death to some person over whose house it flew. It was a bird of ill
omen.
_The Owl_.
This bird's dismal and persistent screeching near an abode also foretold
the death of an inmate of that house.
_A Solitary Crow_.
The cawing of a solitary crow on a tree near a house indicates a death in
that house.
_The Dog's Howl_.
A dog howling on the doorsteps or at the entrance of a house also
foretold death. The noise was that peculiar howling noise which dogs
sometimes make. It was in Welsh called _yn udo_, or crying.
_Missing a Butt_.
Should a farmer in sowing wheat, or other kind of corn, or potatoes, or
turnips, miss a row or butt, it was a token of death.
_Stopping of a Clock_.
The unaccountable stopping of the kitchen clock generally created a
consternation in a family, for it was supposed to foretell the death of
one of the family.
_A Goose Flying over a House_.
This unusual occurrence prognosticated a death in that house.
_Goose or Hen Laying a Small Egg_.
This event also was thought to be a very bad omen, if not a sign of
death.
_Hen laying Two Eggs in the same day_.
Should a hen lay two eggs in the same day, it was considered a sign of
death. I have been told that a hen belonging to a person who lived in
Henllan, near Denbigh, laid an egg early in the morning, and another
about seven o'clock p.m. in the same day, and the master died.
_Thirteen at a Table_.
Should thirteen sit at a table it was believed that the first to leave
would be buried within the year.
_Heather_.
Should any person bring heather into a house, he brought death to one or
other of the family by so doing.
_Death Watch_.
This is a sound, like the ticking of a watch, made by a small insect. It
is considered a sign of death, and hence its name, _Death Watch_.
A working man's wife, whose uncle was ill in bed, told the writer, that
she had no hopes of his recovery, because death ticks were heard night
and day in his room. The man, who was upwards of eighty years old, died.
_Music and Bird Singing heard before Death_.
The writer, both in Denbighshire and Carnarvonshire, was told that the
dying have stated that they heard sweet voices singing in the air, and
they called the attention of the watchers to the angelic sounds, and
requested perfect stillness, so as not to lose a single note of the
heavenly music.