witches.

the popular belief in witchcraft, is often alluded to by shakespeare. in times gone by witches held dreaded sway over the affairs of men, perhaps more or less in almost every country; for they were suspected to have entered into a league with satan, in order to obtain power to do evil, and it was thought that they possessed some uncanny knowledge which was used by them to injure people, especially those whom they hated. it was also believed that they could cause thunder and lightning, could travel on broomsticks through the air, and even transform themselves and others into animals, especially into hares. a good many other imaginary things were also placed to the credit of witches.

in the beginning of last century, and even up to the middle of it, witchcraft was very strongly believed in in many parts of pembrokeshire, cardiganshire, carmarthenshire, radnorshire, and montgomeryshire. even at the present time, there are some who believe that there is in it something more than a mere deception. i have met several who still believe in it. many well-known characters were proud of being looked upon as witches and conjurors; because they were feared as such and could influence people to be charitable to them. many an old woman supposed to be a witch, took advantage of the credulity of the people, went about the farm houses to request charity in the way of oat-meal, butter, milk, etc., and could get almost anything, especially from the women, from fear of being witched; for it was believed that these witches could bring misfortune on families, cause sickness, and bring a curse on both men and animals; so that many used to imagine that they were bewitched whenever anything went wrong, even a slight mischance. unfaithful young men would soon fulfil their promise when they found out that the girl they had slighted was consulting a witch, so that there was some good even in such a foolish superstition as witchcraft. [231]

witches selling themselves to the devil.

in order to become witches it was believed in cardiganshire that some old women sold themselves to the father of lies by giving to his satanic majesty the bread of the communion. the following story i heard about three years ago, and my informant was mr. john davies, gogoyan farm, a, farmer who had heard it from old people:—

sometime in the beginning of the last century, two old dames attended the morning service at llanddewi brefi church, and partook of the holy communion; but instead of eating the sacred bread like other communicants, they kept it in their mouths and went out. then they walked round the church outside nine times, and at the ninth time the evil one came out from the church wall in the form of a frog, to whom they gave the bread from their mouths, and by doing this wicked thing they were supposed to be selling themselves to satan and become witches. it was also added that after this they were sometimes seen swimming in the river teivi in form of hares!

according to cadrawd, there was an old man in north pembrokeshire, who used to say that he obtained the power of bewitching in the following manner:—the bread of his first communion he pocketed. he made pretence at eating it first of all, and then put it in his pocket. when he went out from the service there was a dog meeting him by the gate, to which he gave the bread, thus selling his soul to the devil. ever after, he possessed the power to bewitch.

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a servant maid witched in a chapel.

an old woman of about eighty years of age, named mrs. mary thomas, bengal, near fishguard, pembrokeshire, informed me about four years ago, that when she was a young girl, the gwaun valley in that county was full of witches, more especially of the descendants of one particularly malicious old woman who in her time had proved a terror to the neighbourhood. on one occasion, a well-known family who practised the black art and were guilty of witchcraft, wanted to become members of the baptist chapel at caersalem, and at last they were admitted; but after being received as members of the chapel, they were ten times worse than before. one witch during divine service, even on the very day she became a communicant, witched a young woman who was a fellow servant of my informant at a farm called gellifor, near cilgwyn. the witch was sitting behind, and in the very next pew to the young woman she witched, which caused the unfortunate [232]girl to rush out from the chapel, and was seen running about the road almost wild and mad. after she had been wild and ill for some time, and every remedy having failed to recover her, her father at last went to cwrt-y-cadno, over forty miles away in carmarthenshire, to consult dr. harries, a well-known wizard and a medical man. the conjurer informed the man that his daughter had been witched in chapel by an old woman who was a witch, and he showed him the whole scene in a magic mirror! in order to unwitch the girl, and to prevent further witchcraft, the wizard gave the father some paper with mystic words written on it, which the young woman was to wear on her breast.

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a girl who was bewitched by the gypsies, near carmarthen.

about fifty years ago there was a young woman very ill in the parish of llanllawddog, carmarthenshire, but no one could tell what was the matter with her, and the doctor had failed to cure her. at last, her mother went to consult the local wizard, who at that time kept a school in the neighbouring parish of llanpumpsaint, and lived at a place called fos-y-broga. at the woman’s request the conjurer accompanied her home to see her daughter. after seeing the girl he entered into a private room alone for a few minutes, and wrote something on a sheet of paper which he folded up and tied it with a thread. this he gave to the woman and directed her to put the thread round her daughter’s neck, with the folded paper suspending on her breast. he also told the mother to remember to be at the girl’s bedside at twelve o’clock that night. the young woman was put in bed, and the wizard’s folded paper on her breast. the mother sat down by the fireside till midnight; and when the clock struck twelve she heard her daughter groaning. she ran at once to the poor girl’s bedside, and found her almost dying with pain; but very soon she suddenly recovered and felt as well in health as ever. the conjurer had told the girl’s mother that she had been bewitched by the gypsies, which caused her illness, and warned the young woman to keep away from such vagrants in the future. the conjurer’s paper, which had charmed away her illness was put away safely in a cupboard amongst other papers and books; and many years after this when a cousin of the mother was searching for some will or some other important document, he accidentally opened the wizard’s paper and to his surprise found on it written:

“abracadabra,

sickness depart from me.”

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my informant, whose name is jones, an old farmer in the parish of llanpumpsaint, vouches for the truth of the above story, and that the young woman was a relation of his.

another old man, named benjamin phillips, who lives in the same neighbourhood gave me a similar tale of another girl bewitched by the gypsies, and recovered by obtaining some wild herbs from a conjurer. such stories are common all over the country. certain plants, especially meipen fair, were supposed to possess the power of destroying charms.

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a cardiganshire girl who had been witched.

i obtained the following story from david pugh, erwlwyd, carmarthenshire, an old farmer who is over 90 years of age:—

a woman from cardiganshire whose daughter was very ill and thought to have been bewitched, came to the wizard of cwrt-y-cadno, in carmarthenshire to consult him. the wise man wrote some mystic words on a bit of paper, which he gave to the woman, telling her that if her daughter was not better when she arrived home to come to him again. the woman went home with the paper, and to her great joy found the girl fully recovered from her illness. my informant knew the woman, as she had called at his house.

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another cardiganshire woman witched.

an old man living in the parish of llangwyryfon, seven miles from aberystwyth, named jenkin williams, told me the following story six years ago when he was 89 years of age, and vouched for the truth of the account:—a certain woman who lived in that parish was supposed to be a witch, and it was said she had a brother a wizard: her husband was a shoemaker. another woman who used to go back and fore to the town of aberystwyth, with a donkey-cart, refused on one occasion to bring some leather to the supposed witch and her husband. soon after this, the woman was taken ill, and the shoemaker’s wife was suspected of having witched her. the son of the sick woman went to cwrt-y-cadno in carmarthenshire to consult the “dyn hysbys.” the conjurer told the young man to go home as soon as possible, and that he should see the person who caused his mother’s indisposition coming to the house on his return home. when the son reached home who should enter the house but the supposed witch, and as soon as she came in she spoke in welsh to his mother something as follows:—“mae’n ddrwg genyf eich bod mor wael, ond chwi wellwch eto, betti fach.” (i am sorry you are so unwell, but [234]you will get well again, betty dear). the sick woman recovered immediately!

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a farmer’s daughter at walton east, in pembrokeshire bewitched for fifteen years for refusing alms to an old hag.

mrs. mary williams, dwrbach, a very old woman, informed me, that about 55 years ago, there was a well-known witch in the neighbourhood of walton east, and that on one occasion two young women, daughters of a farm in that part of the country, were taken ill quite suddenly, and were supposed to have been witched by this old woman. the mother of the two young women went to the witch and rebuked the old hag, saying: “old woman, why did you witch my daughters? come and undo thy wickedness.” the old woman replied that she did not do anything to them. but the mother still believing that she was guilty, compelled her to come along with her to the farmhouse and undo her mischief. at last, she came, and when they reached the door of the farmhouse, the witch pronounced these words in welsh: “duw ai bendithio hi.” (god bless her). any such expression pronounced by a witch freed the bewitched person or an animal from the spell. one of the two sisters (both of whom were in bed in another room), overheard these words of the old woman, but her sister did not hear or at least did not catch the words. the young woman who heard the supposed witch saying “duw a’i bendithio hi,” got well at once, but her poor sister who missed hearing, instead of recovering went worse, if anything, than before, and continued to keep to her bed for fifteen years. and during all these years she was so strange, that even when her own mother entered her room, she would hide under the bed clothes like a rat, and her food had to be left on her bed for her, for she would not eat in the presence of anybody. at last, the old woman who was thought to have witched the young woman, died, and as the the mortal remains of the witch were decaying in the grave, the girl began to get better, and she soon fully recovered and became quite herself again after fifteen years’ illness. my informant added that after recovering, the young woman got married and received ￡1,500 from her parents on her wedding-day, and that she is still alive (or was very lately) and a wife of a well-to-do farmer. my informant also said that she was well acquainted with the family.

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men witched by an old lledrod hag.

about sixty years ago thomas lewis, garthfawr, between llanilar and lledrod, was for some time suffering from almost [235]unbearable bodily pain, and did not know what to do. the general belief was that he had been bewitched by an old woman who was a terror to the neighbourhood; and at last a man went to llangurig, in montgomeryshire, to consult a wise man about it. it was found out soon afterwards that as soon as the conjurer was consulted, the sick man fully recovered from his illness, got up from bed, dressed himself, and came down from his bedroom and felt as well as ever, to the very great surprise and joy of all his family and friends. my informant, thomas jones, of pontrhydfendigaid, who knew the man well, vouches for the truth of this story.

mr. jones also gave me an account of another man who was witched by the same old hag. the wife of rhys rhys, pwllclawdd and her sister were churning all day, but the milk would not turn to butter. rhys, at last, went to the old witch and asked her to come and undo her mischief, as she had witched the milk. she was very unwilling to come, but rhys compelled her. when mrs. rhys and her sister saw the old witch coming, they ran to hide themselves in a bedroom. the hag took hold of the churn’s handle for a few seconds, and the milk turned to excellent butter at once; but poor rhys who had always been a strong man till then, never enjoyed a day of good health after; for the old hag witched the farmer himself in revenge for compelling her to unwitch the milk.

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a horse witched.

thomas jones, an old man who is 85 years of age and lives at pontrhydfendigaid, informed me that about sixty years ago, the old witch was greatly feared by the people of the neighbourhood, as it was generally believed that the hag cursed or witched those whom she disliked. on one occasion, when her neighbour’s horse broke through the hedge into her field, she witched the animal for trespassing. the horse was shivering all over and everything was done in vain to cure the poor animal; but the very moment john morgan, the llangurig conjurer was consulted, the horse fully recovered, and looked as well as ever. my informant vouches for the truth of this, and says he had seen the horse, and that the man who consulted the conjurer was a friend of his, and, that he even knew the conjurer himself.

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cattle witched.

at mathry in pembrokeshire, there was a celebrated witch, and people believed that she was often guilty of witching the cattle. on one occasion when a servant maid of a farm-house in the [236]neighbourhood had gone out one morning to milk the cows, she found them in a sitting posture like cats before a fire, and in vain did she try to get them to move. the farmer suspected the witch of having caused this. he went to her at once, and compelled the hag to come and undo her evil trick. she came and told him that there was nothing wrong with the cows, and she simply put her hand on the back of each animal, and they immediately got up, and there was no further trouble.

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horses killed by witchcraft in radnorshire.

mr. theophilus, a blacksmith, at cilcwm, in carmarthenshire, 80 years of age, informed me that he well remembered a radnorshire farmer who had lost two horses, one after the other, and as he had suspected that the animals were “killed by witchcraft” he decided to go all the way to cwrt-y-cadno to consult the wise man about it. the man travelled all the way from radnorshire, and in passing the small village of cilcwm, where my informant lived, begged the blacksmith to accompany him to the conjurer who lived in another parish some distance off. the wizard told him that it was such a pity he had not come sooner, “for,” said he, “if you had come to me yesterday, i could have saved your third horse, but now it is too late, as the animal is dying. but for the future take this paper and keep it safely and you will have your animals protected.”

i was also informed that farmers came all the way from herefordshire to consult the wise man of cwrt-y-cadno.

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sheep killed by an old witch.

mrs. edwards, an old woman who lives at yspytty ystwyth, in cardiganshire, informed me that she knew an old witch who lived in the neighbourhood of ystrad meurig. one day, this hag saw two shepherds passing her cottage on their way to the mountain with some sheep. the old woman espied one particular lamb and begged one of the shepherds to give the animal to her as a present, but the young man refused her request. “very well,” said the witch, “thou wilt soon loose both the lamb and its mother, and thou shalt repent for thus refusing me.” before reaching the end of the journey to the mountain, the sheep and her lamb died, and it was all put down to the hag’s account, for it was believed that she had witched them to death in revenge.

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a ship witched.

on a particular occasion nearly sixty years ago, a large number of the leading gentry and others from all parts of pembrokeshire [237]went to witness the launch of h. m. ship “c?sar,” at pembroke dock. among the crowd there was an old woman named “betty foggy” who was believed to possess the power of witching. when betty noticed a lot of gentry going up the steps to the grand stand, she followed suit with an independent air; but she was stopped by the police. she struggled hard to have her way, but was forced back. she felt very angry that she had to yield, and shouted out loudly: “all right, the ship will not go off,” but the old hag’s threat was only laughed at. the usual formalities were gone through, and weights dropped, and amidst cheering the ship began to glide away—but not for long, for the “c?sar” soon became to stand and remained so till the next tide when she got off by the assistance of some ships afloat, and other means. the old witch was delighted, and people believed that she was the cause of the failure to launch the ship.

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milk that would not churn and the witch.

many believe, and some still believe, especially in cardiganshire, that when milk would not churn that witches had cursed it. an old woman at ystrad meurig, who was supposed to be a witch, called one day at a farm house and begged for butter, but being refused she went away in a very bad temper. the next time they churned the milk would not turn to butter, and they had to throw it out as they were afraid of giving it to the pigs. when they were churning the second time again the milk would not turn to butter as usual. but instead of throwing out the milk as before, they went to the old woman and forced her to come to the farmhouse and undo her spell. she came and put her hand on the churn, and the milk successfully turned to butter. my informant was mrs. edwards, ysbytty ystwyth.

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another cardiganshire story of milk that would not turn to butter.

the following account was given me by mr. jenkin williams, llangwyryfon:—

there was a man and his family living at a cottage called penlon, a small place just enough to keep one cow. the name of the man was john jones; and on one occasion when he and his wife were trying to churn they failed to do so, or in other words the milk would not turn into butter. at last j. jones went to cwrt-y-cadno, in carmarthenshire to consult the “dyn hysbys.” the wizard as he often did, gave the man a bit of paper with some mystic words on it, and told him not to show it to anybody, as the [238]charm could not work after showing the paper to others. as he was passing on his way home through a place called cwm twrch, he met with a woman who accosted him and asked him where he had been to. the man was rather shy, but at last he admitted that he had been to cwrt-y-cadno to consult the conjurer, and he told the woman everything. “i well knew,” said the woman, “you had been to cwrt-y-cadno, for only those who go to the conjurer pass this way; show me the paper which he gave to you, for i am a cousin of the conjurer.” and the man showed it to her. “the paper is alright,” said she, “take it home with you as soon as you can.” he went home with great joy, but unfortunately the churning still proved a failure. instead of undertaking another journey himself again, j. jones went to his neighbour jenkin williams, and begged him to go to the conjurer to obtain another paper for him, and at last j. williams went. the conjurer, however, was not willing to give another paper without ￡1 cash for it; but he gave it at last for a more moderate price, when my informant pleaded the poverty of his friend. when williams asked the wise man what was the reason that the milk would not churn, the reply was that an enemy had cursed it by wishing evil to his neighbour. when this second paper was taken home (which was not shown to anybody on the road), the milk was churned most successfully, and splendid butter was obtained.

in some places a hot smoothing iron thrown into the churn was effective against the witch’s doings.

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burying the charm.

in some of the stories i have already given a paper obtained from a conjurer in the way of charm was considered very effective to undo the witch’s evil doings; but from the following story, which i obtained from david pugh, erwlwyd, it seems that it was necessary in some cases to bury this bit of paper in the ground. it was also thought a few generations ago, that a letter hidden under a stone was a good thing to keep away both witches and evil spirits and to secure good luck to a house.

many years ago in the neighbourhood of llandilo, carmarthenshire, a young farmer was engaged to be married to a daughter of another farmer; but a few days before the wedding-day the bride and bridegroom and their families quarrelled, so that the wedding did not take place. after this, ill-luck attended the young farmer day after day; many of his cattle died till he became quite a poor man very depressed in spirit. the young woman who had been [239]engaged to him was a supposed witch so she was suspected of having caused all his misfortunes. his friends advised him to consult a wizard, and he did so, as there was a “dyn hysbys” close by at llandilo, in those days, so it was said. the wizard informed the farmer that he and his friends were right in their suspicions about the young woman, and that his losses had been brought about by her who had once been engaged to be married to him. then the wizard wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed it to the young farmer directing him to bury this paper down in the ground underneath the gate-post at the entrance to his farmyard. the young man went home and buried the paper as directed by the wizard, and from that time forth nothing went wrong.

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protectives against witchcraft.

mrs. mary thomas, bengal, near fishguard, informed me that it was customary when she was young to counteract the machinations of witches by killing a mare and take out the heart and open and burn it, having first filled it up with pins and nails. this compelled the witch to undo her work. mrs. thomas also added that when the heart was burning on such occasions the smoke would go right in the direction of the witch’s house.

another old woman near fishguard, informed the rev. j. w. evans, a son of the rector of jordanston, that she remembered an old woman who was thought to be guilty of witching poor farmers’ cattle. at last she was forced to leave the district by the people who believed her to be a witch. but soon after she left a cow died, and even her calves were ill. people took out the cow’s heart and burnt it, which forced the hag to return to heal the calves.

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a fishguard witch discomfited.

another way of protecting oneself from witchcraft was to keep a nail on the floor under the foot when a witch came to the door. mr. david rees, baker at fishguard, told me a few years ago that there was once a particular witch in that town who was very troublesome, as she was always begging, and that people always gave to her, as they were afraid of offending her. she often came to beg from his mother, who at last, as advised by her friends, procured a big nail from a blacksmith’s shop. she put the nail under her foot on the floor, the next time the old witch came to the door begging. the old hag came again as usual to beg and to threaten; but my informant’s mother sent her away empty [240]handed, saying, “go away from my door old woman, i am not afraid of you now, for i have my foot on a nail.” she kept her foot on the nail till the witch went out of sight, and by doing so felt herself safe from the old hag’s spells.

nails or a horseshoe or an old iron were considered preservatives against witchcraft.

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a cilcwm story.

mr. theophilus, the old blacksmith, at cilcwm, in carmarthenshire, told me that when he was a boy the cattle had been witched by an enemy. they would not touch the grass in the field of their own farm; but whenever put in any field of another farm they would graze splendidly. my informant’s mother could not understand this, and she felt very much distressed about it. at last she took the advice of friends and went to consult the wizard of cwrt-y-cadno, who informed her that an enemy with whom she was well acquainted, had witched her cattle. then he advised her to go home and buy a new knife, (one that had never been used before), and go directly to a particular spot in the field where a solitary “pren cerdinen” (mountain ash) grew, and cut it with this new knife. this mountain ash, and some of the cows’ hair, as well as some “witch’s butter” she was to tie together and burn in the fire; and that by performing this ceremony or charm, she should see the person who was guilty of witching her cows, coming to the door or the window of her house. my informant told me that his mother carried out these directions, and that everything happened as the wizard had foretold her. after this, there was nothing wrong with the cows.

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witches and the mountain ash.

of all things to frustrate the evil designs of witches the best was a piece of mountain ash, or as it is called in welsh “pren cerdinen.” the belief in mountain ash is very old in wales, and the tree was held sacred in ancient times, and some believe that the cross of our lord was made of it. witches had a particular dread of this wood, so that a person who carried with him a branch of “pren cerdinen” was safe from their spells; and it is believed in wales, as well as in parts of england, that the witch who was touched with a branch of it was the victim carried off by the devil when he came next to claim his tribute—once every seven years.

i was told a few years ago at talybont, that many in that part of cardiganshire grew mountain ash in their gardens, and [241]that a man carrying home a little pig was seen with a branch of this wood to protect the animal from witchcraft. in south pembrokeshire many carry in their pockets a twig of the mountain ash when going on a journey late at night; and a woman at llanddewi brefi, in cardiganshire, miss anne edwards, penbontgoian, informed me about seven years ago that when she was a child the neighbourhood was full of witches, but nothing was so effective against them as the mountain ash; no witch would come near it. a man travelling on horseback, especially at night, was very much exposed to the old hags, and the horse was more so than even the man riding the animal; but a branch or even a twig of the mountain ash carried in hand and held over the horse’s head, protected both the animal and the rider against all the spells of witches. the same woman informed me that on one occasion, the servant man and the servant girl of llanio isaf, in that parish, were going to the mill one night, but all of a sudden they found both themselves and their horse and cart right on the top of a hedge. this was the work of the witches. after this, they carried a mountain ash, so as to be safe.

another old woman in pembrokeshire, named mrs. mary williams, dwrbach, informed me that a notorious old hag who was supposed to be a witch, was coming home on one occasion from haverfordwest fair, in a cart with a farmer who had kindly taken her up. as they were driving along the road between haverfordwest and walton east, they happened to notice three teams harrowing in a field, and the farmer who was driving the cart asked the witch whether she could by her spells stop the teams? “i could stop two of them,” said she, “but the third teamster has a piece of mountain ash fast to his whip, so i cannot do anything to him.”

mrs. mary williams also informed me that when she was a little girl her mother always used to say to her and the other children on the last day of december: “now children, go out and fetch a good supply of mountain ash to keep the witches away on new year’s day,” and branches of it were stuck into the wall about the door, windows and other places outside. then witches coming to beg on new year’s day could do no harm to the inmates of the house.

in carmarthenshire, cardiganshire, and north pembrokeshire, the mountain ash is called “pren cerdinen,” but it was once known in the south of pembrokeshire, where the people are not of welsh origin, as “rontree”; and the name “rowan” is still retained in some parts of england, which is derived according to [242]dr. jameson, from the old norse “runa,” a secret, or charm, on account of its being supposed to have the power to avert the evil eye, etc.

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drawing blood from a witch.

drawing blood from a witch by anyone incapacitated the old hag, from working out her evil designs upon the person who spilt her blood. many years ago a farmer from the neighbourhood of swyddffynon, in cardiganshire, was coming home late one night from tregaron, on horseback. as he was crossing a bridge called pont einon (once noted for its witches), a witch somehow or other managed to get up behind him on the horse’s back; but he took out his pocket-knife with which he drew blood from the witch’s arm, and he got rid of the old hag. after this, she was unable to witch people. my informant was mr. john jones, of pontrhydfendigaid.

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the transformation of witches.

witches were supposed to transform themselves into animals, especially that of an hare. and this belief is a very old one, for giraldus cambrensis seven hundred years ago in his “topography of ireland,” (bonn’s edition) says: “it has also been a frequent complaint, from old times as well as in the present, that certain hags in wales, as well as in ireland and scotland, changed themselves into the shape of hares, that, sucking teats under this counterfeit form, they might stealthily rob other people’s milk.” tales illustrative of this very old belief are still extant in wales, and john griffiths, maenclochog, in pembrokeshire, related to me the story of:

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a witch who appeared in the form of an hare every morning to a servant maid at milking time.

griffiths informed me that when his mother was young, she was engaged as a servant maid at a small gentleman’s seat, called pontfaen, in the vale of gwaun. but whenever she went out early in the morning to milk the cows, an old witch who lived in the neighbourhood always made her appearance in the form of an hare, annoying the girl very much. at last she informed her master of it, and at once the gentleman took his gun and shot the hare; but somehow, the animal escaped, though he succeeded in wounding and drawing blood from her. after this, the young woman went to see the old hag who was supposed to be a witch, maggie by name, and found her in bed with a sore leg. [243]

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a witch in the form of an hare shot by a farm servant.

the following tale was told me by a mrs. edwards, ysbytty ystwyth, in cardiganshire:—

an old witch who lived at tregaron, went to trecefel, a large farm in the neighbourhood, to beg for the use of a small corner of a field to grow some potatoes for herself. the farmer himself was away from home at the time, but his wife was willing, as she was afraid of offending the witch. the head servant, however, refused her request, and sent her away, which naturally made her very angry, and in departing she used threatening words. one day, soon after this, the same servant was out in the field, and he noticed a hare in the hedge continually looking at him, and watching all his movements. it occurred to him at last that this creature was the old witch he had offended, appearing in the form of a hare, and somehow or other he had not the least doubt in his mind about it, so he procured a gun and fired, but the shot did not inflict any injury on the hare. in the evening, when he met some of his friends at a house in the village, the man servant told them everything about the hare and of his suspicion that she was the witch. one of his friends told him that ordinary shots or bullets were no good to shoot a witch with, but that it was necessary for him to load his gun with a bent four-penny silver coin. he tried this, and the next time he fired the hare rolled over screaming terribly. soon after this, people called to see the old woman in her cottage, and found that she had such a wound in her leg that she could hardly move. dr. rowland was sent for, and when he came and examined her leg he found a fourpenny silver coin in two pieces in it. “you old witch,” said he, “i am not going to take any trouble with you again: death is good enough for your sort,” and die she did.

the possibility of injuring or marking the witch in her assumed form so deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her natural form was a common belief.

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a witch in the form of a hare hunted by a pembrokeshire squire’s hounds.

the following tale was told me by mrs. mary thomas, bengal, near fishguard:—

the squire of llanstinan, was a great huntsman, but whenever he went out with his hounds, a certain hare always baffled and escaped from the dogs. he followed her for miles and miles, day after day, but always failed to catch the animal. at last the [244]people began to suspect that this hare must have been a witch in the shape of a hare, and the gentleman was advised to get “a horse and a dog of the same colour,” and he did so. so the next time he was hunting he had a horse and a dog of the same colour, and they were soon gaining ground on the hare; but when the dog was on the very point of catching the animal, the hare suddenly disappeared through a hole in the door of a cottage. the squire hurried to the spot and instantly opened the door, but to his great surprise the hare had assumed the form of an old woman, and he shouted out: “oh! ti mari sydd yna.” (it is you mary!)

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a witch in the form of a hare hunted in cardiganshire.

mr. rees, maesymeillion, llandyssul, told me the following tale which he had heard from an old woman in the neighbourhood:—

once there was a major brooks living in the parish of llanarth, who kept hounds and was fond of hunting. one day, he was hunting a hare that a little boy of nine years old had started; but the hare not only managed to elude her pursuers, but even to turn back and attack the hounds. the hunting of this hare was attempted day after day, but with the same results; and the general opinion in the neighbourhood was, that this hare was nothing but an old witch who lived in that part, with whom the huntsman had quarrelled.

an old man in carmarthenshire informed me that an old woman known as peggy abercamles, and her brother will, in the neighbourhood of cilcwm, in that county were seen running about at night in the form of hares.

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the familiar spirit of a witch shot in the form of a hare.

from the following story which i heard at talybont, in north cardiganshire, it seems that witches did not always transform themselves. in some cases it was thought that the hare was not the witch herself, but the old hag’s familiar spirit assuming the shape of a hare in her stead; but the life of the witch was so closely connected with the familiar, that when the familiar was shot, the witch suffered.

the tale is as follows:—

there was an old woman at llanfihangel genau’r glyn, who was supposed to be a witch. one day a man in the neighbourhood shot a hare with a piece of silver coin. at the very time when [245]the hare was shot, the old woman who was a witch was at home washing, but fell into the tub, wounded and bleeding. it was supposed by the people of the neighbourhood that the hare which was shot was the old hag’s familiar spirit.

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men changed into animals.

it is said that an old witch near ystrad meurig, in cardiganshire, turned a servant man of a farm called dolfawr, into a hare on one occasion; and into a horse on another occasion and rode him herself.

in the mabinogion we have the boar trwyth, who was once a king, but god had transformed into a swine for his sins. nynniaw and peibaw also had been turned into oxen. and in the topography of ireland, by giraldus cambrensis, mention is made of a man and a woman, natives of ossory, who through the curse of one natalis, had been compelled to assume the form of wolves. and while speaking of witches changing themselves into hares the same writer adds: “we agree, then, with augustine, that neither demons nor wicked men can either create or really change their nature, but those whom god has created can, to outward appearance, by his permission, become transformed, so that they appear to be what they are not.”

if learned men, like augustine and giraldus cambrensis and others, believed such stories, it is no wonder that ignorant people did so. i am inclined to believe, like the late rev. elias owen, that the transformation fables that have descended to us would seem to be fossils of a pagan faith once common to the celtic and other cognate races.

the belief in transformation and transmigration has lingered among some people almost to the present day. mr. thomas evans, gwaralltyryn, in the parish of llandyssul, informed me that he was well-acquainted with an old ballad singer, who was known as daniel y baledwr. daniel lived near castle howel, and sang at llandyssul fairs, songs composed by rees jones, of pwllffein. this ballad-singer told my informant that he was sure to return after death in the form of a pig, or of some other animal; and that an animal had a soul or spirit as well as a man had.

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wizards.

there were many conjurers in wales in former times, and even at the present day there are a few who have the reputation of practising the black art; for we still hear occasionally of persons taking long journeys to consult them, especially in cases of [246]supposed bewitched cattle, horses, pigs, etc. i have already given stories of conjurers counteracting the machinations of witches, and delivering both people and animals from their spell. but they were accredited with the power to do many other things beside. they could, it was thought, compel a thief to restore what he had stolen; could also reveal the future and raise and command spirits.

the possibility of raising spirits, or to cause them to appear, was once believed in in wales, even in recent times; and shakespeare in his henry the fourth, act iii., s. 1., makes the welshman, glendower say:—

“i can call spirits from the vasty deep.”

wizards and others who practised magical arts were supposed to be able to summon spirits at will; but it seems that some could not control the demons after summoning them. an old man at llandovery, named mr. price, who was once a butler at blaennos, informed me that an old witch at cilcwm, named peggy, found it most difficult to control the spirits in the house, and sometimes she had to go out into a field, and stand within a circle of protection with a whip in her hand.

conjurers possessed books dealing with the black art, which they had to study most carefully, for it was thought that according to the directions of magical books the spirits were controlled. it was considered dangerous for one ignorant of the occult science to open such books, as demons or familiar spirits came out of them, and it was not always easy to get rid of such unearthly beings. an old woman at caio, in carmarthenshire, informed me that the great modern wizard dr. harries, of cwrtycadno, who lived in that parish, had one particular book kept chained and padlocked. the old woman also added that people were much afraid of this book, and that even the wizard himself was afraid of it, for he only ventured to open it once in twelve months, and that in the presence and with the assistance of another conjurer, a schoolmaster from pencader, who occasionally visited him. on a certain day once every twelve months, dr. harries and his friend went out into a certain wooded spot not far from the house, and after drawing a circle round them, they opened the chained book. whenever this ceremony was performed it caused thunder and lightning throughout the vale of cothi. my informant vouched for the truth of this, and stated that her husband had been a servant to harries.

a wizard in pembrokeshire, named william gwyn, of olmws, castell newydd bach, with his magic book invoked a familiar spirit. [247]the spirit came and demanded something to do; william commanded him to bring some water from the river in a riddle!

in the 18th century a well-known wizard in the same county was one john jenkins, a schoolmaster. but the greatest wizard in the beginning of 19th century was aby biddle, of millindingle, who was in league with the evil one or at least many of the people in south pembrokeshire believed so. aby biddle’s real name was harries; but, of course, he was not the same person as harries of cwrtycadno, in carmarthenshire. there are still many most curious stories concerning him in south pembrokeshire, and as typical of other tales, i give the following story which appeared a few years ago in “the welsh tit bits” column of the “cardiff times:”—

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the priests and the hornets.

in the winter of 1803 there was an evening gathering at the —— vicarage, which consisted chiefly of clerics, and aby biddle was of the number of the guests, having been invited as a source of pastime to help beguile some of the long hours of that forsaken spot. seldom did he go beyond the solemn dingle, but he had been prevailed upon on this occasion. much merriment was expected, nor was the expectation misleading, save that it was entirely at the expense of the clerics. the hours glided along gently on the wings of fairy tales. the party remained until the small hours of the morning, singing, merry-making, and tale-telling in turn. the conversation now furtively drifted in the direction of occult science. aby biddle sat near the window. every now and again as he listened to the words magic and witchcraft and various opinions respecting them, he pulled back a corner of the blind and the pale light of the moon flickered on his countenance, revealing the lines of a retreating smile.

a loquacious young cleric interposed a caustic remark at this point and fanned the fire into flame, and the discussion was like to have taken a somewhat lively turn had not a broad-browed divine on whose head rested the snow of full three score winters and ten, sternly rebuked the young priest. this divine denounced sorcery and conjuration in unmeasured language. another aged divine of puritanic air nodded his assent.

aby biddle said nothing, though some of the company invited him to speak, but played carefully with the fringe of the curtain. during a momentary lull in the conversation, he rose suddenly, paced the room for a minute or two, and disappeared into the lawn. he was not gone many seconds before he returned with three [248]small rings in his hands. he held these up and remarked, “gentlemen, we’ll see whether conjuring is possible or not.” he placed the rings on the floor, at a distance of about a yard apart, and hurriedly left the room, taking care to turn the key in the lock on the smooth side of the door. the priests turned their gaze intently in the direction of the rings. suddenly there appeared in one of the rings a fly flitting and buzzing. the fly grew. in half a minute or less it had grown into a monster hornet. no sooner had this metamorphosis taken place than it frisked into one of the other rings, and another fly appeared in its place. this one also developed into a hornet, giving way, when fully formed, to a third fly. each ring was now occupied, and the clerics wondered what next would happen. little time had they for musing, for the third fly quickly accomplished its transformation, when the first one left the ring and flew through the room. new hornets appeared in quick and quicker succession. the guests became now thoroughly alarmed. priestly amusement gave way to pallid amazement. more and more came the dreaded hornets, louder and louder their droning hum. they filled the room, they darkened the whitened ceiling, and insinuated themselves into the hoary locks of the puritanic divine so that he yelled hoarsely. it was utter confusion, and all were rushing wildly here and there for refuge or escape, when the conjuror reappeared with a merry laugh, and a loud “ho! is conjuring possible now, gentlemen?” the cloth was soon pacified, the hornets dismissed to their sylvan home, and the reputation of the aby biddle established as a mighty magician in the minds of some noted parsons of pembrokeshire.

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sir dafydd llwyd, yspytty ystwyth.

about two hundred years ago there lived in the neighbourhood of ysbytty ystwyth, in cardiganshire, a wizard and a medical man, known as sir dafydd llwyd, who had been a clergyman before he was turned out by the bishop for dealing in the black art. according to “a relation of apparitions,” by the rev. edmund jones, it was thought that he had learnt the magic art privately at oxford in the profane time of charles ii. like other wizards sir dafydd also had a magic book, for the rev. edmund jones tells us that on one occasion when he had “gone on a visit towards the town of rhaiadr gwy, in radnorshire, and being gone from one house to another, but having forgotten his magic book in the first house, sent his boy to fetch it, charging him not to open the book on the way; but the boy being very curious opened the book, and the evil spirit immediately called for work; the boy, [249]though surprised and in some perplexity, said, “tafl gerrig o’r afon,—(throw stones out of the river) he did so; and after a while having thrown up many stones out of the river wye, which ran that way, he again after the manner of confined spirits, asking for something to do; the boy had his senses about him to bid it to throw the stones back into the river, and he did so. sir david seeing the boy long in coming, doubted how it was; came back and chided him for opening the book, and commanded the familiar spirit back into the book.”

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sir dafydd defeating a rival wizard.

according to the stories still extant in north cardiganshire, this sir dafydd llwyd had a most wonderful control over the demons.

the following tale was told me by mr. d. jones, bryntirion, llanilar:

a rival wizard who lived in the neighbourhood of lampeter, on one occasion challenged sir dafydd to a contest in the black art, in order to prove to the world which of the two wizards was the cleverest in controlling the demons. on the morning of the appointed day for the contest between the two experts in the black art, sir dafydd sent his boy to an elevated spot to have a look round if he could see a bull coming from the direction of lampeter. the boy went, but ran back immediately to inform his master that a most savage bull was approaching. off went sir dafydd to craig ysguboriau, and stood on the spot with his open magic book in his hand. the bull, or rather a demon in the form of a bull, fiercely attempted to rush at him, but sir dafydd compelled him to return whence he came. the animal returned to lampeter and rushed at once at the lampeter wizard, and killed him. so sir dafydd defeated and got rid of his rival.

another story i heard at ysbytty ystwyth was that one sunday morning when sir dafydd went to church, he sent his boy to keep away the crows from the wheat field; but when he came home he found that the boy had collected all the crows into the barn. sir dafydd at once discovered that the boy had learnt the black art.

there is a tradition in the neighbourhood that the body of sir dafydd lays buried under the wall of yspytty ystwyth churchyard, and not inside in the churchyard itself, and people still believe that this is a fact. the story goes that the wizard had sold himself to the devil. the agreement was that the arch-fiend was to have possession of sir dafydd if his corpse were taken over the [250]side of the bed, or through a door, or if buried in a churchyard. in order to escape from becoming a prey to the evil one, the wizard on his death-bed had begged his friends to take away his body by the foot, and not by the side of the bed, and through a hole in the wall of the house, and not through the door, and to bury him, not in the churchyard nor outside, but right under the churchyard wall. so that his satanic majesty, who had been looking forward for the body of sir dafydd, was disappointed after all.

that it was formerly believed that the devil could be out-witted or deceived is evident from the fact that in the middle ages it was often customary to bury an ungodly rich man in the garb of a monk. this could be done by paying the monks a certain sum of money.

there is a story very much like the one i have just given, to be found in the south-western part of montgomeryshire. in the montgomeryshire version, however, the wizard is not sir dafydd llwyd, but dafydd hiraddug, who had charged his friends, that on his death, the liver and lights were to be taken out of his body and thrown on the dunghill. they were then to take notice whether a raven or a dove got possession of them; if a dove got possession of them, he was to be buried like any other man in the churchyard; but if a raven, then he was to be buried under the wall, and under the wall he was buried, as a raven got possession of the liver and lights.

the devil in disappointment cried out:—

“dafydd hiraddug ei ryw,

ffals yn farw, ffals yn fyw.”

(dafydd hiraddug, ill-bred

false when living, false when dead.)

the dove and the raven play their part in many of the wizards tales. an old man from llandilo, named david evans, informed me that the wizard of cwrtycadno asked his friends to throw his heart on the dunghill. if a dove came for it first, he had been a good man; but a raven, a sign that he had been a bad man.

the appearance of a dove at the time of a death or a funeral was regarded as a sure sign that the deceased had been a good man. the rev. edmund jones in his “apparitions,” referring to the death of a certain godly man, says that “before the body was brought forth, a white dove came and alighted upon the bier.”

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wizards riding demons through the air.

in the present day we hear a great deal about airships; but if we are to believe some of the old folk-stories, magicians travelled [251]through the air in days long before anyone had ever dreamt of a balloon. in former times it was believed by the ignorant that a wizard with his magic book could, and did, summon a demon in the shape of a horse, and travelled on the back of the fiend through the air. it is said that sir dafydd llwyd of ysbytty ystwyth, employed a demon for that purpose; and one night when he was riding home from montgomeryshire on a demon in the shape of a horse, a boy who rode behind him on the same horse lost one of his garters on the journey. after this the boy went to search for his garter, and to his great surprise saw it on the very top of a tree near the church, which convinced him that the wizard and himself had been riding home through the air!

there was also at llanbadarn fawr, in the same county, about seven hundred years ago, a knight named sir dafydd sion evan, who was supposed to be taking journeys through the air on a demon-horse. this sir dafydd was at times absent for weeks; and when he returned he was often wet with foam and covered with seaweed, or his head and shoulders sprinkled with snow, during the heat of summer. at other times he was blackened with smoke and smelling strong of sulphureous fire. on one occasion when sir dafydd had mounted this “devil-born” horse, and had gone up a considerable height into the air, the horse turned his head and said, “how i have forgotten sir davy sion evan; i asked not of the course of thy travel; art thou for steering above wind, or below wind”? “on devil-born!” said sir davy, “and stint prate.”

such tales of wizards riding through the air on demons are to be found in scotland as well as wales, and sir walter scott in his notes to the lay of the last minstrel, gives the following story concerning sir michael scott, who was chosen, it is said, to go upon an embassy to obtain from the king of france satisfaction for certain piracies committed by his subjects upon those of scotland. instead of preparing a new equipage and splendid retinue, the ambassador retreated to his study, opened his book, and evoked a fiend in the shape of a huge black horse, mounted upon his back, and forced him to fly through the air towards france. as they crossed the sea, the devil insidiously asked his rider what it was that the old women in scotland muttered at bedtime? a less experienced wizard might have answered that it was the pater noster, which would have licensed the devil to precipitate him from his back. but michael sternly replied, “what is that to thee? mount diabolus, and fly!” when he arrived at paris, he tied his horse to the gate of the palace, entered, and boldly delivered his [252]message. an ambassador with so little of the pomp and circumstances of diplomacy was not received with much respect; and the king was about to return a contemptuous refusal to his demand, when michael besought him to suspend his resolution till he had seen his horse stamp three times. the first stamp shook every steeple in paris, and caused all the bells to ring; the second threw down three of the towers of the palace; and the infernal steed had lifted his hoof to give the third stamp, when the king rather chose to dismiss michael with the most ample concessions than to stand to the probable consequences.

it seems that in eastern countries also, there are traditions of magicians riding through the air, for in the “arabian nights,” we have the story of the enchanted horse.

an old carpenter, named benjamin phillips, bronwydd arms, carmarthen, informed me the wizard of fos-y-broga, often caused a demon to appear at night in the form of a white bull, on the road near llanpumpsaint.

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the harrieses of cwrtycadno, the popular modern wizards.

the most popular and greatest wizards of modern days were undoubtedly the harrieses of cwrtycadno, in carmarthenshire.

john harries lived at pantcoy, cwrtycadno, in the parish of caio, and died in the year 1839. his sons were also popular conjurers, one of whom only died about 45 years ago.

harries was a medical man, an astrologer, and a wizard, and people came to enquire of his oracle from all parts of wales, and from the english borders, especially herefordshire, and his name was familiar through the length and breadth of the land. it is said that he had a wonderful power over lunatics; could cure diseases; charm away pain; protect people from witches, and foretell future events, etc. good many stories are told of him by old people, and i have already introduced his name in my account of witches.

i was told by an old man, mr. david evans, a millwright from llandilo, that the popularity of harries as a wizard originated as follows:—a young woman somewhere in that part of the country was lost, and could not be found after searching for her everywhere; at last her relations and friends went to cwrtycadno to consult dr. harries. the wizard informed them that the girl had been murdered by her sweetheart, and that he had hid her body in the earth, under the shades of a tree, in the hollow of which they would find a bee’s nest. the tree stood alone near a brook. the [253]searching party at last came across the spot indicated by the conjurer, and here they found the young woman’s body buried, as the wise man had told them. the young man who had murdered the girl was found, and confessed the crime. when the authorities of the law became aware of these facts, the wizard was brought before the magistrates, at llandovery, where he was charged with knowing and abetting of murder, otherwise he could not have known she was murdered, and where she was buried. he was, however, discharged. according to the “history of caio,” by f. s. price, an interesting book presented to me by lady hills-johnes, the wizard told the magistrates (lloyd, glansevin, and gwyn, glanbran), that if they would tell him the hour they were born, he would tell them the hour they would die!

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cwrtycadno conjurer and spirit raising.

i did not hear any stories of dr. harries riding demons through the air like sir dafydd sion evan and others; but it was believed, and it is still believed by many, that he could and did summon spirits to appear. a few years ago when i was allowed to search what is left of the library of harries, which is still to be seen at pantcoy, where he lived, i found a large number of medical books, and greek and latin works, i also found several books dealing with astrology, magic art, charms, etc.; but the much talked of padlocked volume full of demons was last i was told though amongst other curious things i found the following “invocation”:—

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how to obtain the familiar of the genius or good spirit and cause him to appear.

“after the manner prescribed by magicians, the exorcist must inform himself of the name of his good genius, which he may find in the rules of the travins and philermus; as also, what chonactes and pentacle, or larim, belongs to every genius. after this is done, let him compose an earnest prayer unto the said genius, which he must repeat thrice every morning for seven days before the invocation.... when the day is come wherein the magician would invocate his prayer to genius he must enter into a private closet, having a little table and silk carpet, and two waxen candles lighted; as also a chrystal stone shaped triangularly about the quantity of an apple which stone must be fixed upon a frame in the centre of the table; and then proceeding with great devotion to invocation, he must thrice repeat the former prayer, concluding the same with pater noster, etc., and a missale de spiritu sancto. then he must begin to consecrate the candles, [254]carpet, table and chrystal, sprinkling the same with his own blood, and saying: i do by the power of the holy names aglaon, eloi, eloi sabbathon, anepheraton, jah, agian, jah, jehovah; immanuel, archon, archonton, sadai, sadai, jeovaschah, etc., sanctifie and consecrate these holy utensils to the performance of this holy work, in the name of the father, son, and holy ghost. amen. which done, the exorcist must say the following prayer with his face towards the east, and kneeling with his back to the consecrated table:—o thou blessed phanael my angel guardian, vouchsafe to descend with thy holy influence and presence into this spotless chrystal, that i may behold thy glory, etc. this prayer being first repeated towards the east, must be afterwards said towards all the four winds thrice. and next the 70th psalm repeated out of a bible that hath been consecrated in like manner as the rest of the utensils, which ceremonies being seriously performed, the magician must arise from his knees and sit before the chrystal bareheaded with the consecrated bible in his hand and the waxen candle newly lighted waiting patiently and internally for the coming and appearance of the genius.... now about a quarter of an hour before the spirit come, there will appear great variety of apparitions within the glass; as first a beaten road or tract, and travellers, men, and women marching silently along. next there will be rivers, wells, mountains, and seas appear, after that, a shepherd upon a pleasant hill feeding a goodly flock of sheep, and the sun shining brightly at his going down; and lastly, innumerable flows of birds and beasts, monsters and strange appearance, and which will all vanish at the appearance of the genius.

“the genius will be familiar in the stone at the performance of the wizard.”

the following story of this welsh wizard’s spirit summoning was related to me a short time ago by a clergyman who is a native of carmarthenshire, the rev. j. phillips, vicar of llancynfelyn:

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the farmer who consulted the conjuror; or the familiar spirits and the lost cows.

a farmer who lived in the southern part of carmarthenshire, lost three cows. having searched in vain for them everywhere, he at last went to cwrt-y-cadno, though he had a very long journey to go. when he arrived there and consulted dr. harries, the worthy wizard told him that he could not give him any information concerning his lost cows till next day, as he wanted time to consult his magic books. the farmer was a little disappointed, as he wanted to go home that evening; but under the [255]circumstances there was nothing to be done but try and get a bed for the night at some farm in the neighbourhood. so he left the wizard for the night with the intention of returning to him again in the morning, when he hoped to hear something of his lost cows. but after going out of the house, he noticed a barn close by, which he entered, and found in a corner a heap of straw where he thought he could lie down and sleep comfortably till next morning. this he did unknown to the wizard, who took for granted that the farmer had gone to stay for the night at some house in the neighbourhood. he slept comfortably in the barn for a while, but about one o’clock in the morning, he was awakened by the sound of the wizard’s footsteps entering the place at that untimely hour, with a lantern in his hand. the disturbed farmer could not imagine what he wanted in the barn at this time of the night, and he was afraid of being discovered. presently, however, he noticed the conjurer drawing a circle around himself in the middle of the room; that is the well-known wizard’s circle. then he stood right in the middle of this circle, and having opened a book, he summoned seven demons or familiar spirits to appear, and in an instant they came one after another and stood outside the circle. then he addressed or called out to the first spirit something as follows:—“tell me where are the farmer’s lost cows”? but the demon answered not. he repeated the question two or three times, but the familiar was quite dumb. at last, however, it shouted out, ‘a pig in the straw’ but this was no reply to the wizard’s question.

having failed with the first spirit, the wizard addressed the second one, and then the third, and so on till he had given the question to each one of the familiars except one, without any result; the spirits seemed very stupid on this occasion, and would not give the information required. fortunately, however, when the question was given to the seventh and last of the demons, it shouted out, ‘the farmer’s cows will be on carmarthen bridge at 12 o’clock to-morrow.’ then the wizard left the barn and went to bed well pleased.

the farmer who was hiding in the straw heard everything, and made up his mind to travel to carmarthen at once, so as to be there in time to find his cows on the bridge. so off he went to carmarthen, and reached the bridge just at 12 o’clock, and to his great joy the cows were there. then he drove them home, but when he had gone about half-a-mile from the bridge, the cows fell down as if half dead on the roadside, and in vain did he try to get them to move forward any further. so he had to go all the [256]way to cwrt-y-cadno again, so as to consult what to do. when he arrived there “serve thee right,” said the wizard to him, “i have cast a spell on thy cattle for running away secretly last night from the barn without paying me for the information obtained from the spirits.”

then the farmer gave the wizard a certain sum of money and returned to his three cows which he had left on the road half-a-mile from carmarthen bridge; and to his great joy the cows went home without any further trouble.

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a familiar spirit in the shape of a dog and the lonely night traveller.

on one occasion a certain man from cilcwm, was on a visit in the neighbourhood of cwrtycadno. when he started to return home it was getting rather late, and he had a long journey to go through a lonely mountainous country. the wizard, dr. harries, asked him if he was afraid of such a journey over the mountain in the depth of night. the man confessed that he did not like such a journey at that late hour without a single soul to accompany him, but that he was obliged to go home that night without fail; and so he proceeded on his way. as he journeyed along, the darkness of night overtook him on his way over the mountain, but to his great surprise, when he looked around him, he noticed a black dog following him, or rather walking by his side. the dog was very friendly, and the lonely traveller felt glad of the animal’s company. so on they went together; but when they were nearing his home the dog vanished suddenly into nothing. the man was quite convinced that the dog was nothing but a familiar spirit, in the shape of a dog, sent by the wizard to bear him company in his lonely night journey.

the above story was related to me by the rev. j. phillips, vicar of llancynfelyn.

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conjurers and lunatics.

about one hundred years ago there lived in the neighbourhood of pencader, a wizard, named phillips, who was very successful in curing lunatics. on one occasion, an old woman from tregroes, near llandyssul, took her son to him who had been insane from his birth. the wise man blew into the young man’s face, and informed his mother that he would be sane for twenty years, and so it happened; but after twenty years he became insane again as the wizard had predicted. [257]

my informant was mr. rees, maesymeillion, in the parish of llandyssul, whose father’s uncle remembered the lunatic.

the wizard of cwrt-y-cadno was also very successful in curing lunatics. he would take the insane to the brink of the river and fire an old flint revolver which would frighten his patient to such a degree that he fell into the pool.

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wizards revealing the future.

it was believed that conjurers could tell fortunes, or reveal the hidden future, and a good many, especially young people, consulted them.

the following is a copy of a card which harries of cwrt-y-cadno distributed:—

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“nativity calculated.”

in which are given the general transactions of the native through life, viz:—description (without seeing the person), temper, disposition, fortunate, or unfortunate in their general pursuits; honour, riches, journeys, and voyages (success therein, and what places best to travel to, or reside in); friends, and enemies, trade, or profession best to follow; whether fortunate in speculation, viz: lottery, dealing in foreign markets, etc., etc., etc. of marriage, if to marry.—the description, temper, and disposition of the person, from whence, rich or poor, happy or unhappy in marriage, etc., etc. of children, whether fortunate or not, etc., etc., deduced from the influence of the sun and moon, with the planetary orbs at the time of birth. also, judgment and general issue in sickness and diseases, etc.

by henry harries.

“all letters addressed to him or his father, mr. john harries, cwrtycadno, must be post paid, or will not be received.”

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a conjurer showing a young man his future wife.

harries, cwrtycadno, had a magic glass, so it is said, into which a person looked when he wished to know or see the woman he was to marry. a young man named phillips, once had gone from the parish of llanllawddog, to cwrtycadno, to show dr. harries some of his father’s urine, which he took with him in a small bottle, as the old man was very ill. harries examined it, and told the young man that his father would never get well again. the young man now decided to return home as soon as he could through abergorlech, and brechfa, where he intended staying [258]for the night, as the journey was a long one. just before he departed, however, harries asked him, “by the way young man, would you like me to tell your fortune? i’ll do it for 2s. 6d.”; and so it was agreed. the conjurer had a large looking glass, the magician’s glass, which was covered with a large board. he took off this covering, and told the young man to look into the glass. so as to see his future wife. he did look stedfastly as he was directed, and saw in the glass the form of a young woman passing by. meanwhile, the wizard himself had entered alone into a little side room, where he was speaking loudly to a familiar spirit, or something; but he soon returned to the young man and asked him, “did you see anything in the glass?” “yes, i saw a young woman.” “did you know her?” “no. i had never seen her before: she was a perfect stranger to me.” “well,” said the conjurer, “whether you have met her or not, that young woman you saw in the glass is to be your future wife.”

sometime after this, the young man and his brother, both being carpenters, were one day working on the roof of a house which had been damaged by a storm, and it so happened that some woman and her daughter, who were passing by, came to speak to them. when the women had gone away out of hearing, the young man, who had been to cwrtycadno, said to his brother in surprise: “that young girl was the very one i saw in the wizard’s magic glass.” this was their first acquaintance, and by and by they were married. my informant was their own son who is a carpenter, and lives about a mile from bronwydd arms station, in carmarthenshire. his name is benjamin phillips.

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another similar tale.

about sixty years ago, isaac isaac, tyllain, llanarth, in cardiganshire, went to harries, cwrtycadno, to consult him about something. the wise man was at the time busy with his harvest, and he asked isaac to be as kind as to help him a little for telling his fortune, and he did so. as they were working together on the field. harries asked the young man if he intended going to london? isaac said, no, but that he had a letter in his pocket he wanted to forward to london. then harries took the young man to the house and showed him his future wife in a magic glass. he recognised her at once as the young woman to whom he was already engaged, and whom he finally married, though much against the wishes of the young lady’s parents. my informant was mr. watkin evans, blaenpark, an old man who lives in the parish of llanarth. [259]

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the wizard of cwrtycadno foretelling the future destiny of a new born child.

owen evans, maesydderwen, near llansawel, carmarthenshire, an old man of 90 years of age, informed me about four years ago that on one occasion, long ago, when a baby, a girl, was born to him and his wife, he went to dr. harries, cwrtycadno, to consult him about the future destiny of the child. the conjurer spoke to him something as follows:—“i hope you will not be distressed when you hear what is going to happen to your dear child; but the truth of it is, she will have a very narrow escape from drowning at the age of four, and death awaits her at the age of twenty!” my informant then went on to tell me with tears in his eyes, that everything took place exactly as harries told him. his dear girl at the age of four one day, whilst playing and running along the river side (river cothy), fell over the banks into the water and nearly got drowned. after this, she never enjoyed good health, and at the age of twenty she died!

owen evans informed me that when he went to cwrtycadno, several other men accompanied him there, and one of them was named john lloyd, who was a perfect stranger to dr. harries. but the wise man through his knowledge of the occult science, was able to tell this stranger that he had a mole on his head, and had met with an accident on his leg, which was true. my informant also added that the wizard “set great importance on the planet under which a man was born.”

mr. thomas davies, penybont, llanddewi brefi, over 90 years of age, vouched for the truth of the following account:—many years ago, wiliam davies, pistill gwyn bach, llanddewi brefi, in cardiganshire, had lost some money, and could not find it, so he went to cwrtycadno, to consult dr. harries about it. the conjurer told him where to find the money, and warned him to keep away from fairs, lest some accident should befall him. wiliam was very careful for a time, but at last a son of his got married, and persuaded him to accompany him to a fair at lampeter. he went, and was thrown down by a horse, and died in a few days.

it is said in the neighbourhood of caio that dr. harries had foretold the death of the late lamented judge johnes, of dolaucothy, about thirty years before it took place. mr. johnes, who was highly respected, was cowardly murdered by a native of ireland in 1876.

mr. d. owen (brutus), in his book “brutusiana” which was published in 1840, condemns the wizard for his fortune telling: [260]

“the first day of winter.

severe is the weather,

unlike the first summer,

none but god can foresee what is to come.”

druidical “warrior song.”

[contents]

prediction concerning the death of his late majesty king edward.

according to mr. arthur mee, cardiff, in the “western mail,” may, 1910, astrologers who make a study of national forecasts, had predicted the death of the late king.

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sir rhys ap thomas consulting a wizard concerning king henry vii.

when the earl of richmond (afterwards henry vii.) was about to land in wales from france on his way to bosworth, sir rhys ap thomas, consulted a well-known wizard and prophet, who dwelt at dale, as to whether the earl would be successful to dethrone richard iii. after much hesitation, and at the urgent demand of sir rhys, the conjurer on the next day prophesied in rhyme as follows:—

“full well i wend, that in the end

richmond, sprung from british race.

from out this land the boare shall chase.”

the “boare” meant richard iii. see “life of sir rhys ap thomas,” by m. e. james, page 49.

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the conjurer and the lost ox.

mr. thomas jones, brunant arms, caio, gave me the following account of what took place about 55 years ago, when his father lived at penlifau, in the parish of cilcwm, on the mountain side, and near the road which leads over the mountain from cilcwm to cwmcothi. a young farmer who lived at a place called foshwyaid, cwm du, near talley, has taken some cattle to caio fair, in the month of august. somehow or other, one of his oxen went astray from the fair, and could not be seen anywhere in the neighbourhood. the young farmer and others went in every direction in search of the animal, but returned disappointed. at last, the man went to cwrtycadno, to consult the “dyn hysbys.” the wise man informed him that his ox had wandered away from the fair, at first in a northernly, and afterwards in an easterly direction, “and” said he, “if you take the road leading from here over the mountain to cilcwm, you will meet a man (the conjurer gave a description of the man) who is likely to know something, or at least give you some clue to your lost animal.” [261]

the young farmer then went on his way, and after proceeding for some distance, he did meet a man as the conjurer had told him, and he told him all his troubles. now this very man happened to be my informant’s father who lived close by. mr. jones sympathised very much with the young farmer, and though a stranger, invited him home with him to get something to eat, and he accordingly went, and at the house, they talked together for some time. at last, the young farmer had to proceed again on his journey, rather disappointed, as his new friend who had showed every kindness, could give him no information about his lost ox. jones went with him for a short distance, just to show him a path (a short cut) leading from the house to the road; and after bidding each other farewell, they parted. but before the young farmer had gone far, jones called him back, and informed him that he had just recollected hearing some men, when coming home from cilcwm church last sunday, talking together about some new ox which they had not noticed before in the field or yard of tim. davies, gweungreuddyn (a path from the church went close by t. d.’s farm). when he heard this bit of news from jones, off he went at once as fast as he could go to mr. timothy davies; and to his great joy, when he arrived there, found his stray animal quite safe in the “ffald.” the local authorities had discovered the ox wandering about the country; but before the young farmer was allowed to take his animal home with him, the sum of seven shillings was to be paid for faldage. the young man went back to jones, obtained the loan of seven shillings which he repaid honestly after arriving home with his ox.

my informant also added that the conjurer had addressed the same young farmer as follows:—“my poor fellow, you are in great sorrow,” “no” said the farmer, “yes” said the conjurer again, “you have buried your mother a few weeks ago.” the man then confessed that this was quite true. the wise man added, “a more melancholy event still awaits you at the end of twelve months.” and at the end of twelve months the young farmer himself died!

watkin evans, blaenpark, informed me that a farmer in the parish of dihewyd, cardiganshire, found a harrow which he had lost by consulting a conjurer.

one john evans, of llanddarog, in carmarthenshire, 85 years ago, lost a bull, but he found the animal at morfa, kidwelly, by consulting a conjurer. [262]

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the conjurer and the lost horse.

an old farmer, mr. david pugh, erwlwyd, near caio, carmarthenshire, told me the following story a few years ago, and vouched for the truth of it:—

a friend of mr. pugh had lost a horse, and after searching in vain for the animal for a whole fortnight, he was at last advised to go to consult the “dyn hysbys.” he rather hesitated at first, but he, however, went. the man was a farmer in the neighbourhood of llandovery, but my informant did not wish to mention his name. the wizard, harries, of cwrtycadno, consulted his oracles, but did not know what reply to give to the farmer at first about his animal. “do tell me” said the farmer most earnestly, “what has become of my horse, or who has taken away the animal? it is such a loss to me to lose such a fine steed.” presently, the wizard informed him that a certain man (whom he described) had found the horse on the road, and caught the animal and tied him to a tree which was close by. after a while, this stranger took him home quietly and closed him in his own stable, fully making up his mind to sell the horse at the first opportunity. “and i am almost certain he’ll succeed in doing so,” added the conjurer, “i am afraid you’ll never see your horse again.” “can you do something to prevent the thief selling my horse”? asked the farmer. “yes,” replied the wizard. the wise man then took some paper or parchment on which he inscribed some magic word, or words, and gave it to the farmer, telling him that so long as the parchment was kept safely in his pocket, the thief could not succeed in selling the horse at the fair. “but what can i do to find my stolen horse”? “watch on the road next friday, near glanbran, and i feel almost certain that you will and your horse before the day is over, grazing on the roadside somewhere in that neighbourhood.”

the farmer then departed with the magic paper safely in his pocket, and when friday came, he watched on the road, and to his great joy and surprise, he found the horse near glanbran. just as he mounted the animal to go home, a young man who passed by, told him that a few days ago, he had seen this very horse offered on sale at rhayader fair, but that the man who was trying to sell him failed to do so!

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a llanfair clydogau wizard.

mr. walter evans (pentre-richard), in the parish of llanddewi brefi, informed me a few years ago, before he died, that some years ago, when he lost some sheep, a conjurer who lived on llanfair mountain, directed or pointed out to him where to find them, [263]and that they were found two days afterwards in some water nearly drowning as the wise man had said. this llanfair clydogau conjurer only died about nine years ago, and until he died people consulted him from the surrounding districts of cardiganshire and carmarthenshire.

the best service rendered by conjurers to society was to help people to discover thieves, and the superstitious often restored what they had stolen through fear.

on one occasion a man who was often losing potatoes from the field went to harries, cwrtycadno, who was a terror to thieves. the conjurer showed him the thief in a magic glass, which enabled the man to discover who the culprit was. in another potato tale, the wise man, by means of his magic art forced the thief to appear at his house and confess his guilt.

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the wizard of llanpumpsaint and the ducks of alltyferin.

mr. griffiths, of ‘rhenallt, an old farmer near carmarthen, informed me about six years ago that long ago when he was a young man, he was once a servant at alltyferin. ducks were continually lost at the farm, and his master who suspected a neighbour as the thief, sent griffiths with a letter to a conjurer who lived at fosybroga. the wise man sent a note in reply giving a full description of the thief, and he was caught.

a woman in pembrokeshire, who had lost a most valuable picture, consulted a well-known wizard, who showed her a picture of the thief in a magic glass. she recognised the culprit at once as one of her intimate friends. the wizard then wrote the name of the thief on a piece of paper, and pierced it with a needle, and informed his client that if the picture was not restored to her within half an hour the thief would be eaten up of a strange disease.

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wizard marking the culprits.

it was believed in cardiganshire and carmarthenshire, that harries, cwrtycadno, could mark out thieves, and also persons who had an “evil eye,” by causing a horn to grow out of their foreheads. a man in tregaron had witched a woman, but the conjurer marked the mischievous person by putting a horn on his head.

a farmer from the parish of llangwyryfon, in cardiganshire, whose cattle had been witched by a neighbour who had an evil eye, went to llangurig in montgomeryshire, to consult, a well-known conjurer who only died a few years ago. the wizard [264]for the payment of 10s. showed a picture of the offender in a magic mirror, and offered to cause him to die of a strange disease. the farmer begged the conjurer not to do that; that he did not desire to kill his enemy, only to punish him, and he was punished. my informant was a farmer who lives near talybont, cardiganshire.

this llangurig wizard was continually consulted by clients from montgomeryshire, cardiganshire, radnorshire, and other counties. not long ago, there was also a conjurer at llanidloes, in the same county (montgomeryshire), who was consulted on all cases of cursed fields, bewitched cattle, horses, pigs, churns, backward lovers, bewitched women, etc.

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a wizard and the young man who had been cursed.

an old man named evan morris, who lives at goginan, near aberystwyth, informed me that about 60 years ago, a young man in that neighbourhood was struck dumb all of a sudden, that he could not utter a word. as he had neither been ill nor met with an accident it was suspected that he had been witched by some neighbour. so his father at last went over the mountain to llangurig, about twenty miles off, to consult a well-known wizard named “savage.” the wizard opened his magic book, from which out came a big fly, buzzing or making a humming noise, boom, boom, boom, near the conjurer’s face, who exclaimed, “what is the matter with this old fly?” the wise man then struck the insect with his hand and commanded it back into the book, and closed the volume; but he opened it again at another page, and out came another fly of a different colour. this fly again was buzzing till the wizard commanded it back into the book, which he now closed altogether; and addressing the man who had come to consult him, said to him: “you have suspected a certain man in your neighbourhood of having witched your son; but you are wrong; another man whom you do not suspect is the guilty. but your son has not been witched at all; he is under a curse.”

welsh conjurers made a distinction between witchcraft and a curse. thomas jones, of pontrhydfendigaid, informed me that a conjurer at llangurig, named morgans, told him once, that some men who were born under certain planets, possessed an inherent power of cursing, “and their curse,” said he, “is worse than witchcraft itself.”

when the man returned home from the conjurer, to his great joy and surprise, he found his son able to speak. my informant vouches for the truth of the story, and added that this conjurer was so deep in the black art that he could do almost anything. [265]

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merlin.

i have in the preceding pages given some instances of modern and medi?val magicians or wizards; but divination astrology and magic in this country are of very ancient date. the names of idris gawr, gwyddion, the diviner by trees, and gwyn, the son of nud, have come down to us from prehistoric times. so great was these three’s knowledge of the stars, that they could foretell whatever might be desired to know until the day of doom. in welsh mythology, several even of the kingly families are represented as playing the role of magicians, especially rhiannon, the daughter of heveydd hen. math ap mathonwy, king of gwynedd, could form a maiden out of flowers, and transform men into deers and wolves, etc. but, perhaps, the greatest of all the wizards was myrddin, or merlin as he is known among english readers, who lived about the beginning of the sixth century. myrddin was born in the neighbourhood of carmarthen, or at least so it is believed; and it is also believed that the meaning of carmarthen is myrddin’s town, and the people of carmarthen to this day feel proud of such a famous prophet who was born in their town. merlin (or myrddin)’s fame spread throughout all the western parts of europe, if not to other parts of the world, and his mighty magic adorned the tales of romance, and in the tenth century one eminent scholar on the continent, went as far as to write, a commentary on his prophecies or prognostications. but to confine ourselves to welsh writers, we have some account of merlin by nennius in the eighth century, and by geoffrey of monmouth in the twelfth.

geoffrey says:—“vortigern, after the infamous treachery of the long knives, retreated to mount erir—which is eryri, or snowden—and here he ordered the building of a great tower of defence, whose foundations, however, were swallowed up by the earth as fast as they were filled in.” the magicians, on hearing this, said he must procure the blood of “a youth that never had a father,” and sprinkle it on the stones and mortar. vortigern, accordingly, sent messengers to different parts of the country in search of such a youth; and “in their travels they came to a city, called, afterwards, caermerdin, where they saw some young men playing before the gate, and went up to them; but being weary with their journey, they sat them down there.... towards evening, there happened on a sudden a quarrel between two of the young men, whose names were merlin and dalbutius. in the dispute, dalbutius said to merlin, ‘as for you, nobody knows what you are, for you never had a father.’ at that word the messengers looked [266]earnestly upon merlin, and asked who he was. they learnt it was not known who was his father, but that his mother was daughter to the king of dimetia, and that she lived in st. peter’s church, among the nuns of the city.”

merlin and his mother at the request of the messengers accompanied them from carmarthen to snowdon to the presence of king vortigern; and when the boy was asked who was his father, his mother in reply gave a very peculiar account of the birth of her son, whose father she declared was a supernatural being, and so had no human father. then the king said to merlin, “i must have thy blood.” and when the youth asked the king what good could his blood be more than the blood of any other man, he was informed in reply that the twelve wise men or bards had suggested the blood of a youth in order to make the building stand. then merlin asked the bards or magicians what was the real cause that the building of the tower was not a success? but they could give no answer. young merlin now upraided them for their ignorance and the cruelty of their suggestion. he then gave orders to dig the ground, and when this was done a lake was discovered. merlin drained this lake, and at the bottom, as he had predicted, a stone chest was discovered in which there were two sleeping dragons. these, whenever they awoke, fought with each other, and their violence shook the ground, thus causing “the work to fall.” when the king commanded the stone chest to be opened the two dragons came out and began a fierce battle. one of these dragons was white and the other red. at first the white dragon drove the red one to the middle of the pool, then the red one, provoked to rage, drove the white one thither in turn. when the king asked what this should signify, merlin exclaimed as follows:—“woe to the red dragon for her calamity draws nigh, and the white dragon shall seize on her cells. by the white dragon the saxons are signified, and the britons by the red one, which the white shall overcome. then shall the mountains be made plains, and the glens and rivers flow with blood. the saxons shall possess almost all the island from sea to sea, and afterwards our nation shall arise, and bravely drive the saxons beyond the sea.” nennius, chap. 43.

the old king vortigern then left the neighbourhood of snowdon, and removed to south wales, and built a fort or a castle on a spot known to this day as craig gwrtheyrn, or vortigern’s rock, near llandyssul and pencader.

the white and the red dragons respectively symbolised the celtic and saxon races, and merlin’s prophecy concerning the final overthrow of the saxons by the britons made a deep and lasting [267]impression on the minds of the welsh people for ages, and even nearly nine hundred years after merlin’s time. owen glyndwr found these prophecies highly instrumental in his favour when fighting against the english. according to a little book which i have in my possession entitled, “prophwydoliaeth myrddin wyllt,” (merlin’s prophecy), one owen lawgoch, who is tarrying in a foreign land, is to drive out the saxons, and become king under the title of henry the ninth. welshmen of the present day, however, believe that merlin’s prophecy was fulfilled in the year 1485, when henry vii., a welshman leading a welsh army to bosworth field, became king of england.

there are also many prophecies here and there attributed to merlin; some of which have been fulfilled, and others to be fulfilled in the future. he had foretold even of the railway train running along the vale of towy, which prediction has proved true:

“fe ddaw y gath a’r wenci ar hyd glan towi i lawr;

fe ddaw y milgi a’r llwynog i aberhonddu fawr.”

“the cat and the weasel shall come down along the banks of towy;

the greyhound and the fox shall come into the town of aber honddu,” (brecon).

it is believed that the train has fulfilled these sayings.

in the vale of towy, near abergwili, there is a large stone in a field belonging to tyllwyd farm. i went to see it myself, and several people in the neighbourhood informed me that a young man was killed when digging under this stone in search of hidden treasure, and that merlin had prophesied about this.

according to another prophecy of merlin a fearful catastrophe awaits the town of carmarthen:—

“llanllwch a fu,

caerfyrddin a sudd,

abergwili a saif.”

(llanllwch has been,

carmarthen shall sink,

abergwili shall stand).

“caerfyrddin, cei oer fore,

daear a’th lwnc, dwr i’th le.”

(carmarthen, thou shalt have a cold morning,

earth shall swallow thee, water into thy place).

the people of the neighbourhood even to this very day, more than half believe that carmarthen is to sink. at the end of a long street in that town there is an old tree known as merlin’s tree, in a very withered condition. every care is taken to protect [268]it from falling, as merlin had prophesied that when this tree shall tumble down, the town of carmarthen shall sink.

“when merlin’s tree shall tumble down.

then shall fall carmarthen town!”

(a prophecy of merlin).

according to another prophecy attributed to the same ancient wizard, carmarthen is to sink when llyn eiddwen, a lake in cardiganshire, dries up.

it is said that merlin had predicted that a bull would go right to the top of the tower of st. peter’s church, carmarthen, and that a calf fulfilled this prophecy.

my cousin, the rev. joseph evans, the rector of jordanston, in pembrokeshire, informed me a few years ago that one mile from the town of fishguard, there is a farm called tregroes, respecting which merlin prophesied that it would be in the middle of the town some day. there are now signs that this ancient [269]prophecy is likely to be fulfilled. september 4th, 1909, the royal mail ship, mauretania, the finest and fastest liner afloat, inaugurated the new transatlantic service from new york to fishguard, so that there is a great future before the place as indicated by merlin of old. it is also interesting to note that the captain of the mauretania was a welshman (pritchard), and the first passenger to land was also a welshman, named mr. jenkin evans, brother to the rector of jordanston.

i have been informed that a relation of the chancellor of the exchequer, lives at this very house respecting which merlin had prophesied.

general gwynne, a fine old gentleman i met a short time ago at the house of my genial friend, col. gwynne-hughes, of glancothy, wrote to me as follows respecting another remarkable prophecy of merlin and its fulfilment:—

“glancothy, carmarthenshire, oct. 12, 1909.

dear mr. davies,—

i have heard you are writing a book on the folk-lore of wales. perhaps the following may be of use to you.

some time in the forties, when i was at the college at llandovery, my sister, madam —— speaking of our old property glanbran, at that time mortgaged, said, there is an old welsh saying attributed to merlin to the effect that the gwynnes should be at glanbran until a man standing at dover could speak to another at calais. years after, when i was in india, about the year when the telephone or telegraph was perfected between france and england, a document was sent out to me for my signature, which was my final release to the glanbran estate as the youngest son of the late col. sackville gwynne of glanbran park.

yours sincerely,

nadolig gwynne.

according to giraldus cambrensis, merlin had prophesied that a king of england and conqueror of ireland, should die in crossing “llechllafar,” a stone of great size which was placed across the stream dividing the cemetery of st. david’s from the north side of the church to form a bridge. when henry ii. passed over it on his return from ireland a frantic woman called upon llechllafar to kill him according to merlin’s prophecy.

“the king, who had heard the prophecy, approaching tie stone, stopped for a short time at the foot of it, and, looking earnestly at it, boldly passed over; then, turning round, and looking towards the stone, thus indignantly inveighed against the [270]prophet: ‘who will hereafter give credit to the lying merlin?’ a person standing by, and observing what had passed, in order to vindicate the injury done to the prophet, replied, with a loud voice, ‘thou art not that king of whom ireland is to be conquered, or of whom merlin prophesied!’”

according to an ancient tradition, this stone spoke or groaned once when a corpse was carried over it.

i was informed by many persons who live in the neighbourhood of abergwili, near carmarthen, that merlin was such a giant that he could jump over the vale of towy.

merlin’s fate.

the end or final fate of merlin is surrounded by mysteries. a few years ago when i was staying in the neighbourhood of carmarthen, merlin’s hill (bryn myrddin) was pointed out to me where the great magician still lives (so they say) in a cave in that hill, and held there in imprisonment by an artful woman who contrived his disappearance from among human beings. moreover, it is added, that if you listen in the twilight, you will hear his groans, and also the clanking of the iron chains which hold him bound. others say he is heard working in this underground prison.

it seems from spenser’s “faerie queen,” however, that according to another ancient tradition, merlin’s place of confinement is, or was, a cave near dynevor, in the neighbourhood of llandilo:

“and if you ever happen that same way to traveill, go to see that dreadful place. it is an hideous hollow cave (they say) under a rock that lyes a little apace emongst the woody hilles of dynevowre (dynevor), etc.”

some stories describe merlin as being held spellbound in a bush of white thorns in the woods of bresilien in brittany. others [271]say that he died, and was buried at bardsey island. but according to the triads he went to sea and sailed in a house of glass, and was never heard of any more. in this voyage, merlin took with him the thirteen curiosities of britain, which were:—

1. llen arthur (the veil of arthur), which made the person who put it on invisible.

2. dyrnwyn.

3. corn brangaled (the horn of brangaled), which furnished any liquor desired.

4. cadair, neu car morgan mwynfawr (the chair or car of morgan mwynfawr), which would carry a person seated in it wherever he wished to go.

5. mwys gwyddno (the hamper of gwyddno), meat for one being put into it, would become meat for a hundred.

6. hogalen tudno (the whetstone of tudno), which would sharpen none but the weapon of a brave man.

7. pais padarn (the cloak of padarn).

8. pair drynog (the caldron of drynog), none but the meat of a brave man would boil in it.

9. dysgyl a gren rhydderch (the dish and platter of rhydderch), any meat desired would appear on it.

10. tawlbwrdd (a chess board, or, rather backgammon board), the ground gold, and the men silver, and the men would play themselves.

11. mantell (a robe).

12. modrwy eluned (the ring of eluned), whoever put it on his finger could make himself invisible.

13. cyllell llawfrodedd,—which was a kind of knife with which the druids killed their victims for sacrifices.

“the story of merlin and vivian as told in brittany,” translated from the french-breton magazine “l’hermine,” edited by m. tiercelin, is given in part x. of the transactions of the carmarthenshire antiquarian society, from which i give the following short extract—viviane, the love-making temptress, had enchanted the enchanter (merlin). he sleeps, says the legend, in the forest of broceliande, vaulted by an impenetrable hedge, on the bank of the fountain of love, his head resting on the knees of viviane; the enchanter enchanted; and nobody has yet awakened the celtic orpheus from his eternal slumber. “ne onques puis merlin ne issit de ceste tour, où sa mie, viviane l’avait mis.” [272]

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pembrokeshire woman’s prophecy fulfilled.

the following appeared in the “pembrokeshire county guardian”:—

“about one hundred and sixty years ago, there lived on a farm near spittal in pembrokeshire, a man of the name of david evans. he had a family of five children: thomas, the eldest, was born on november 3, 1756, and married sarah bevan, of martel mill, on sunday, november 14, 17—, and they lived on a small farm near trefgarn rocks, called penyfeidr. this sarah bevan, or mrs. evans was, like her husband, noted for her piety, and among her neighbours was possibly more noted for her visions and her ability to foresee and foretell coming events, of which there are many reliable records still existing and talked of in the district to this day. entering the house one day, she told those present that she had just seen a most remarkable sight below the house in trefgarn valley, and described it as a large number of heavily laden carts or waggons going very fast one after the other, and no bullock or horses drawing them, but the first one appeared from the smoke she saw, to be on fire. george stephenson was the first to introduce steam locomotive power into practical use in the year 1825. so we may state with certainty that the rustics of pembrokeshire had no idea or knowledge whatever of the railway train at the time that mrs. evans saw the vision. about 54 years ago the railway was brought into pembrokeshire, and the scheme of the great engineer, brunel, was to extend it to the sea shore near fishguard. with this in view, much work was accomplished in cuttings and embankments in trefgarn valley, which are now to be seen there. the country people were jubilant, expecting soon to realise the prophetic vision. but strong influence was brought to bear on brunel, and finally he abandoned that route and took the line to new milford instead. and the vision and prophecy came to nought. afterwards the old people looked forward to the joining of fishguard and goodwick with the main line, and believed the truth of the story. but, alas! when the branch line was made, it was many miles to the north of trefgarn, and the old lady and her vision were once more ridiculed, and apparently, there were no further grounds for hoping that the prophecy would be fulfilled.

“when the project of the g. w. ry. co. got matured, it was found that the old loop line via letterston was not suitable for a fast and direct service from goodwick to london. so it was decided to make a new line from goodwick through trefgarn valley,—thus re-adopting brunel’s original scheme. and last [273]week i actually saw ‘a large number of heavily laden carts or waggons going very fast, one after the other, and no bullocks or horses pulling them, but the first one appeared from the smoke i saw, to be on fire.’ just as described, and in the very spot indicated by mrs. evans about 100 years ago.

“h.w.e.

“solva, december 26th, 1905.”

the people of pembrokeshire have been remarkable for their insight into the future; navvies were heard making railway cuttings many years before the introduction of steam locomotive power into practical use.

i have been informed that the sound of a railway engine, whistling, was heard at llanilar, in cardiganshire, fifty years before a railway was constructed through the neighbourhood; and it is also said that the sound of blasting was heard at tyngraig, between ystrad meurig and llanafan, where afterwards a tunnel was made. my informants were mrs. lloyd, the vicarage, llanilar, and mr. jones, tyncoed.

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the crimean war seen in the skies.

about six months before the outbreak of the crimean war, in 1853, john meyler, cilciffeth, saw a strange mirage in the sky. he was returning home late from morville, and when nearing penterwin he saw the image of armies in the skies. there were several battalions at first, and they increased in number till they spanned the heavens. there were two opposing forces, and he could distinctly see the image of men falling and of horses galloping across the firmament, and the clashing of great masses of men. he was so terrified that he called at penbank and called the attention of mr. james morris, who lived at that place at that time, and he saw the same thing. this strange phenomenon appeared for about two hours.

the above account of this strange vision in the skies appeared in the “cardiff times,” a few years ago, sent to that paper by cadrawd. pembrokeshire has always been known as the land of phantasm.

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a remarkable fulfilment of a condemned man’s prediction.

in the churchyard of montgomery is a grave where the grass refuses to grow, though it is in the midst of luxurious vegetation. the unfortunate man named john newton, who was buried there in the year 1821, had predicted this as a proof that he was innocent [274]of the charge brought against him at the assizes, when he was condemned to die on the evidence of two men named thomas pearce, and robert parker, who charged him with highway robbery. on being asked at the trial why judgment should not be passed upon him, he said before the judge: “i venture to assert that as i am innocent of the crime for which i suffer, the grass, for one generation at least, will not cover my grave.” the poor man’s prediction proved true, for the grave to this day remains a bare spot.

(sketched by miss e. m. howes, north walsham, norfolk, and now of llanilar vicarage, cardiganshire).

one of the condemned man’s accusers became a drunkard, and the other “wasted away from the earth,” and a curse seems to follow every one who attempts to get anything to grow on the spot. at the head of the grave is the stem of a rose tree, and it is said that the man who put it there soon fell sick and died. i had heard of this grave even when i was a boy, and some account of the story respecting it has appeared in the papers from time to time. [275]

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shoulder-blade divination.

giraldus cambrensis, seven hundred years ago, speaking of the flemings of south pembrokeshire, in his “itinerary through wales,” says:—“it is worthy of remark, that these people, from the inspection of the right shoulder of rams which have been stripped of their flesh, and not roasted, but boiled, can discover future events, or those which have passed and remained long unknown. they know, also, what is transpiring at a distant place, by a wonderful art, and a prophetic kind of spirit. they declare also undoubted symptoms of approaching peace and war, murders and fires, domestic adulteries, the state of the king, his life and death. it happened in our time, that a man of those parts, whose name was william mangunel, a person of high rank, and excelling all others in the aforesaid art, had a wife big with child by her own husband’s grandson. well aware of the fact, he ordered a ram from his own flock to be sent to his wife as a present from her neighbour; which was carried to the cook and dressed. at dinner the husband purposely gave the shoulder bone of the ram, properly cleaned, to his wife, who was also well skilled in this art, for her examination; when, having for a short time examined the secret marks, she smiled, and threw the oracle down on the table. her husband dissembling, earnestly demanded the cause of her smiling and the explanation of the matter; overcome by his entreaties, she answered, ‘the man to whose flock this ram belongs has an adulterous wife, at this time pregnant by the commission of incest with his own grandson.’ the husband, with a sorrowful and dejected countenance, replied, ‘you deliver indeed an oracle supported by too much truth, which i have so much more reason to lament, as the ignominy you have published redounds to my own injury.’ the woman thus detected, was unable to dissemble her confusion, betrayed the inward feelings of her mind by external signs; shame and sorrow urging her by turns, and manifesting themselves, now by blushes, now by paleness, and lastly (according to the custom of women), by tears.

the shoulder of a goat was also once brought to a certain person instead of a ram’s, both being alike when cleaned, who, observing for a short time the lines and marks, exclaimed ‘unhappy cattle that never was multiplied! unhappy likewise the owner of the cattle, who never had more than three or four in one flock!’

many persons, a year and a half before the event, foresaw by the means of the shoulder bones the destruction of their country after the decease of king henry the first, and selling all their [276]possessions, left their homes, and escaped the impending ruin. in our time, a soothsayer, on the inspection of a bone, discovered not only a theft, and the manner of it, but the thief himself, and all the attendant circumstances; he heard also the striking of a bell, and the sound of a trumpet, as if those things which were past were still performing. it is wonderful, therefore, that these bones, like all unlawful conjurations, should represent by a counterfeit similitude to the eyes and ears, things which are past as well as those which are now going on.”

it is evident that the celts, as well as the flemings, knew something of shoulder-bone reading, for j. g. campbell, in his “superstitions of the scottish highlands,” an interesting book presented to me by countess amherst, states that this mode of divination was practised, like the augury of the ancients, as a profession or trade; and pennant, in his “tours in scotland,” 150 years ago, says that when lord loudon was obliged to retreat before the rebels to the isle of skye, a common soldier, on the very moment the battle of culloden was decided, proclaimed the victory at a distance, pretending to have discovered the event by looking through the bone; and sir s. r. meyrick, in his “history of cardiganshire,” writing one hundred years ago, says that the remains of this custom still existed in cardiganshire in his time; “but the principal use made of the bone is in the case of pregnant women. the shoulder bone of a ram being scraped quite clean, a hole is burnt in it, and it is then placed over the door of the apartment in which the pregnant woman is, and she is told that the sex of her offspring will be precisely the same as that of the first person who shall enter the room.”

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dreams.

a dream was a common way of making known the will of god to the prophets of old. we know from the bible that important dreams took place in the early ages of the world, and welsh people, like other nations, believe in the importance of these mysterious night visions, and of their power of forecasting the future, and there are both men and women all over the country who can give instances of dreams which came true. there are, undoubtedly, some persons whose dreams, as a rule, are reliable; whilst the dreams of others are not to be depended on. it is also said that morning twilight dreams are more reliable than other dreams; and it is believed that a dream which is repeated is more to be relied on than that which occurs only once. i have had most striking dreams myself; indeed almost everything that [277]happens to me has been presaged by a dream. about nine years ago i dreamed that i was delivering a lecture to a large audience, and speaking most fluently. on awaking, i had a distinct recollection of every word i had uttered; and i am now very sorry that i did not write down next morning the lecture which i had delivered in my dream. the most remarkable fact is this: previous to my dream i had no knowledge whatever of the subject on which i lectured, as i had never studied the subject in my life, and as a psychological curiosity i may mention that by means of my dream i had become possessed of knowledge on a particular subject which would have taken me at least a whole month’s hard study to acquire. (i am, of course, used to public speaking).

i have taken notes of few of my latest dreams, and perhaps it would not be out of place to record here a remarkable dream which i dreamt just before this book was going to press:

one night in january, 1910, i dreamed that i was walking near st. bride’s, the country seat of lord kensington, in pembrokeshire, and i met lord kensington himself, who spoke to me thus: “go into the house, lady kensington is home, and i’ll be with you in a few minutes.” then i went to the door and rang the bell, and the butler took me into the drawing-room. after waiting in the room alone for some time without seeing anyone, all the household servants came to me in a group, dressed in their holiday attire, and informed me that lady kensington was not home after all, but that her ladyship had gone away and had got lost somewhere in going about, and that lord kensington was seeking in vain for her everywhere, but failing to find her anywhere. when i awoke from my dream i felt certain that something had happened to one of the kensingtons. a day or two after my dream i was surprised to read in the papers that a cable-gram was received in london from calcutta, announcing the death of dowager lady kensington in india. i discovered that her death took place on the very date of my dream, and that a few days previously lord kensington had hurriedly left for india, having received news of the dowager’s serious condition.

in order to add to the interest of the dream, i may state that the very day before i dreamt, i expected every moment to hear of the dowager’s return to england, as her ladyship knew one or two interesting “traditions of bridget of ireland, known as st. bride,” which she intended to write down for me in order to record them in this book, to which she was looking forward, as she was greatly interested in welsh traditions, especially those of pembrokeshire. [278]

one night, about seventeen years ago, when i was spending a few days at penmachno, in north wales, where i had delivered a lecture, i dreamt that i was receiving a letter; and when i looked at the envelope, i recognised the handwriting at once as that of lady hills-johnes, of dolaucothy. i then opened the letter and read it all through, and found it was from her ladyship; and when i awoke up from my sleep i remembered every word of its contents. in the morning as soon as i went down for breakfast, the landlady of the house delivered me a letter which had come by post. i looked at the envelope as i had done in my dream; it was from lady hills-johnes; and when i read it, i discovered that i knew every word of its contents beforehand from my dream.

when i was in australia ten years ago, i had another remarkable dream about dolaucothy, just when sir james hills-johnes was leaving home for south africa, to see his friend lord roberts, during the war; but i have been asked by lady hill-johnes not to publish the dream.

a remarkable fulfilment of a dream was reported in the “aberystwyth observer” in the year 1888, in relation to the sudden death of the late colonel pryse, an uncle of viscountess parker, and great-uncle of sir edward webley-parry-pryse, bart., of the ancient family of gogerddan:—“it was not considered safe to break to viscountess parker the news of her uncle’s death for some days, and mr. fryer went up to london to convey to her the information. on his arrival at her residence, in montague square, a maid announced to her ladyship his arrival. ‘mr. fryer!’ she said, ‘i know what it is. my uncle is dead. he died on a lane leading from rhiwarthen to penwern. i have dreamt four times in four years that this would happen, and the last time was the night before baby was born. i have tried many times to keep him from going that way. ask mr. fryer to come up.’ she afterwards said that she meant the road leading to penuwch which is in the same direction, and that she would know the spot.”

the editor of “blackwood” gives authenticity to the following dream:—a young man, engaged in a china manufactory at swansea, about the beginning of the last century, dreamed that he saw a man drowning in one of their pools; he dreamed the same a second time, and a third time, and then could not resist making an effort to rise and satisfy himself that it was not so. he did rise, went to the spot, and found the man drowned. a man in the neighbourhood of newcastle emlyn, dreamed a similar dream in the 18th century. [279]

the late rev. j. e. jenkins, rector of vaynor, in breconshire, in his interesting book on that parish gives the following account of a girl saved by a dream:—

“the rev. williams jones, afterwards canon jones, was curate in sole charge here in 1822, and for many years afterwards. the old rectory house and the glebe land was at that time occupied by a man named enos davies and his family. the rev. w. jones also had rooms at the rectory.

“one morning at the end of may in that year, about two o’clock enos had a remarkable dream. he dreamt the church was on fire. he suddenly awoke, and in great excitement jumped out of bed and knocked at the bedroom door of mr. jones, and cried:—‘master! master! come down at once, i have dreamt the church is on fire.’ the worthy divine laughed at him, and told him to go back to bed, and not to give heed to foolish dreams and nightly visions. enos obeyed, but could not sleep. during the day mr. jones walked down to the church, and found everything in the usual order, safe and uninjured. the following morning, at the same hour, strange to say, enos had the same dream, and again disturbed the peaceful slumbers of his good master. ‘come down to church, master,’ said he, ‘there must be something wrong, i have again dreamt the church is on fire.’ ‘all right enos,’ said mr. jones; ‘i will come with you, it is a fine morning.’ by the time they reached the church it was half-past three. coming-down the lych gate, which was close by the little brook—the old entrance—they were struck with a great awe and a terrified feeling came over them, for they heard a peculiar sound coming, as it were, from the direction of the church. they stood, listened, and looked at each other in mute astonishment, and enos’s hair stood on end. the sound became plainer: it was like the sound of a sexton digging or opening a grave inside the church, as was often the custom in those days. enos trembled, and became as pale as death; whilst the clergyman, who was a tall strongly built man, entered the churchyard, and stealthily went to listen at the west door. he could distinctly hear a man digging a grave. mr. jones soon found that an entrance had been made into the church through one of the north side windows. re-tracing his steps to enos, who was still standing on the road by the brook, his attention was directed to a young girl coming down the steep pathway over cae burdudd—‘the field of carnage’—the field where the mound is. she came running down merrily, and in a pleasant manner, said—‘good morning, mr. jones, you are here before me.’ ‘yes, my girl,’ said the curate, ‘where are you going so early?’ [280]‘coming to be married, to be sure;’ was her joyous reply. the curate took in the situation in a moment and told her:—‘you have made a mistake as to the time. you must wait till eight o’clock; i cannot marry you before eight. go up to the rectory to mrs. davies and get some breakfast; we shall come after you in a short time. we will wait here until john comes, and will bring him up.’ the innocent girl departed as requested, but had not gone far when the south door of the church was opened from within by her treacherous lover. he was at once apprehended by the courageous curate and enos, and was made to stand over the grave he had prepared for the girl he had shamefully deceived and ruined, and whom he had intended murdering. he pleaded hard for mercy, and, ultimately, in order to avoid public scandal, on his promising to leave the neighbourhood immediately, and never again to return to vaynor, he was allowed to depart. he was a native of herefordshire, and was at this time in a service at a well-known farm in the parish. he left at once, and was never heard of afterwards by anyone from this parish. the curate, in a calm, gentle way, partly detailed to the maid the evil intentions of her base lover, and stated how god, in his good providence by the means of a dream, had preserved her from an untimely death.

“the young girl was terribly shocked, and fell unconscious into the arms of the curate. she lost her health, and after a time was taken home to the neighbourhood of knighton, and in a few months later news reached vaynor that the poor girl had died of a broken heart, and the curate was asked to go up to bury her, but failed to go. the above account was given me by my predecessor, the rev. rees williams, and was confirmed by the testimony of the late mrs. thomas, formerly of cwm and others. mrs. evans, late of pengellifach, however, added that the would-be murderer was handed over by mr. jones to the charge of the parish constable, and was afterwards released. it should be remembered that there were but few, if any, fixed pews in the old church, only movable benches. neither was the floor paved or boarded.”

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conversing with the departed in a dream.

the following appeared in the “weekly mail,” cardiff, for june 18, 1910:—“the rev. hugh roberts, rhydymain, dolgelly, discoursed on “the intermediate state” on a recent sunday, and in the course of the sermon related the substance of a conversation which he had had with departed friends. “recently in a dream,” he said, “i conversed with an old deacon friend who has been in the intermediate state for some time, and was assured by him that [281]he was not in a state of inertia by any means. it is a ‘country’ where everybody has something to do—where one and all contribute to make each other happy. however, they pine even in the intermediate state—some are longing for the circles which they left on earth, others pining for their bodies. but all longing will cease when the spirit has completed the heavenly bodies.”

welshpeople believe that if a young girl dreams that she has a long hair, that she will marry a very wise man.

to dream of being well-dressed is a sign of wealth and prosperity, especially if you are dressed in silks.

if a person dreams that he is going to get married, it foretells sickness.

if a man dreams that he is surrounded by pigs, some one will come to him to ask him for some money.

to dream of a horseshoe is a sign of good news.

welshpeople generally believe that it is not good for any one to dream that he is losing his teeth, and that it means either a death or the loss of friends.

to dream of bacon is also considered bad.

if a young man dreams of a full barn, it means that he will marry a wealthy young woman.

those who are interested in the interpretation of dreams must consult dream-books, as i am not expected to enter fully into such subject here.