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
An old man named James, living at Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire,
gave me an account of how he himself and his father and others had
seen a Corpse Candle in the parish of Conwil Elvet.
When James was a boy, he was sent one day by a farmer's wife on a
message to Llanpumpsaint, about three miles off, to fetch a pair of
clogs from the blacksmith, and a few small things from a shop in the
village. When he arrived there he went first to the blacksmith, but
he had to wait there as the clogs were not ready. Then he went to the
village shop, but, unfortunately, the woman who kept the shop was not
at home, and he had to wait several hours; so that when he returned
to the farm with his message it was quite dark. But the farmer's
wife gave him plenty to eat and a present of a waistcoat. Then he
went home to Nantglas, where his father and mother lived. It was
now getting late in the evening, and he was only a boy going along a
lonely road. When he was between Yetyffin, and Cwmgweren, he noticed
some light coming after him nearer and nearer, and it even passed him
at last. It hovered within about two feet from the ground as it went
slowly along. The boy, who was a little bit frightened, now knocked
at the door of a house he was passing and called the attention of
the inmates to the strange light on the road.
On he went again, and he even passed the light on the road; but when
he reached home and told his parents about it, his father would not
believe that he had seen a light. But the boy opened the door just
as the light was passing and he called his father to come out and
see it. The whole family now came out, and both his father and the
other children saw the light, but his mother and one of the children
did not see it--not possessing second sight.
Soon after this, a child died at a house called Yet-y-ffin; and my
informant's father and his neighbours were convinced that the light
which they had seen was his corpse candle.
Sometimes a corpse candle was seen coming into the chamber of the
person about to die.
A woman, who was a native of Gwynfi in Carmarthenshire, told me about
five years ago that when her child was dying, she took particular
notice of a pale bluish light coming in through the window and standing
right over the bed. I have also heard several other persons saying
things of this kind.
A PEMBROKESHIRE TALE OF A CORPSE CANDLE.
The following story was contributed to the "Pembrokeshire County
Guardian," May 11th., 1901, by Mr. Joseph Davies, Glynderwen:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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