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
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 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.
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.
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.
A SHIP WITCHED.
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