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
It is said that if a sick person asks for a pigeon's pie, or the flesh
of a pigeon, it is a sign that his death is near. There is also a
superstition that people cannot die in ease if there are pigeon's
feathers in their pillows. A writer in "Bye-Gones" refers to the
case of a woman who died in 1803 at a farm-house called Southern
Pills in the Parish of Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire, and states that on
her death-bed the nurse snatched the pillow from under her head.
THE BEES.
The bees understand Welsh; for a woman on the borders of Cardiganshire
and Carmarthenshire informed me that they have a Queen, who leads,
and that they follow, when she bids them to come in these words:--
"Dewch, Dewch, Dewch."
(Come, come, come.)
There are many superstitions about bees. There was a custom once of
telling the bees of a death in the family, and they were even put in
mourning. It was once considered by some very lucky to find that a
strange swarm of bees had arrived in the garden or tree; if, however,
they alighted on a dead tree it was an ill omen.
THE BEES AND ST. DAVID.
"Modomnoc, a disciple of St. David, went to Ireland, and a large
swarm of bees followed him, and settled on the prow of the ship
where he sat. They supplied him with meat during his Irish Mission;
but he, not wishing to enjoy their company by fraud, brought them
back to Wales, when they fled to their usual place, and David blessed
Modomnoc for his humility. Three times the bees went and returned,
and the third time holy David dismissed Modomnoc with the bees, and
blessed them, saying that henceforth bees should prosper in Ireland,
and should no longer increase in Glyn Rosyn. 'This,' adds Rhyddmarch,
'is found to be the fact: swarms forthwith decreased at David's;
but Ireland, in which, until that time, bees could never live, is
now enriched with plenty of honey. It is manifested that they could
not live there before; for if you throw Irish earth or stone into
the midst of the bees, they disperse, and, flying, they will shun
it.'--"Pilgrimage to St. David's."
THE COCK.
It is very curious that some people think that it is very lucky to
possess a white cock and a black cat, whilst others look upon them
with extreme disfavour.
"Na chadw byth yng ynghylch dy dy,
Na cheiliog gwyn na chath ddu."
(Never keep about thy house,
A white cock, nor a black cat.)
A cock crowing in the day-time before the door announces the visit
of a friend; but should he crow at night before or about midnight,
it is considered a sign of death.
Cock-fighting was once common in Wales, and spots have been pointed
out to me here and there, in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire where
such fights took place.
THE CAT.
In some parts of the country a black cat is looked upon with extreme
disfavour; in other parts again people say that a black cat keeps
trouble out of the house. "Cath ddu yn cadw gofid ma's o'r ty."
It was thought that cats born in May bring snakes into the house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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