Folk-Lore of West and Mid-WalesDavies, Jonathan Ceredig
History
Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales
Davies, Jonathan Ceredig
Folklore -- Wales; Wales -- Social life and customs
The Crusades had been proclaimed, and this Elidir Ddu was preparing
to depart, and accompanied by his youngest son Rhys; but the eldest
son Griffith and Nest, the only daughter, remained at home in Kidwely
Castle, as well as another fair young lady whose name was Gwladys,
a niece of Sir Elidir, and cousin to Nest. Nest was in love with a
handsome young Norman named Sir Walter Mansel, her cousin Gwladys also
was in love with him, but the young man was true to Nest. Griffith
loved Gwladys, but she did not like him as she wanted Sir Walter
Mansel. This complicated matters very much. Nest's father before he
had left to the Holy Land, had forbidden the young Norman the house,
and now the young lady's brother, Griffith, guarded the place against
him; but the sanguine lover (Sir W. M.) found means of meeting the fair
Nest in the country round, and many stolen interviews were held. But
the jealous Gwladys watched Nest, and found out her place of meeting
with her lover, which was Pont-y-Gwendraeth, and she informed Griffith
of it. Griffith was in love with Gwladys, but she had snubbed him
hopelessly. Now, however, in order to use him as an accomplice in her
revenge, she flattered his hopes with feigned kindness, and wrought
him up to such a pitch of fury against the Norman, that he agreed to
join her to destroy the young lover by fixing upon a bad fellow called
Merig Maneg to carry out the evil deed. The next trysting place of the
lovers was, by some means ascertained to be a bridge over the tidal
portion of the Gwendraeth, and as Sir W. came forward to greet his
lady-love an arrow whistled from a reed bed and pierced his side. The
villain Merig, then rushed from his hiding place, and before the very
eyes of Nest, hurled Walter's body into the rushing tide. The young
lady overcome with horror, gave a wild shriek of despair and plunged
in after the hapless knight. After this, the villain Merig was haunted
by Nest's spirit, and on one occasion, she told him that her spirit
was doomed to walk the earth as a punishment for her suicide unless a
marriage should take place between one of her father's descendants and
a member of the Mansel family, and that until that did occur she would
appear on Pont-y-Gwendraeth to give warning of the approaching death
of every member of the family. From that day the Bridge became known
as Pont-yr-yspryd-gwyn, and for generations a white lady occasionally
appeared, giving utterance to a wild unearthly shriek and vanish.
Mr. Charles Wilkins in his "Tales and Sketches of Wales," gives the
following sequel to the story:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account