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 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. 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. 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.