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
Harries, Cwrtycadno, had a magic glass, so it is said, into which
a person looked when he wished to know or see the woman he was to
marry. A young man named Phillips, once had gone from the parish of
Llanllawddog, to Cwrtycadno, to show Dr. Harries some of his father's
urine, which he took with him in a small bottle, as the old man was
very ill. Harries examined it, and told the young man that his father
would never get well again. The young man now decided to return home as
soon as he could through Abergorlech, and Brechfa, where he intended
staying for the night, as the journey was a long one. Just before
he departed, however, Harries asked him, "By the way young man,
would you like me to tell your fortune? I'll do it for 2s. 6d.";
and so it was agreed. The conjurer had a large looking glass, the
Magician's Glass, which was covered with a large board. He took off
this covering, and told the young man to look into the glass. so as
to see his future wife. He did look stedfastly as he was directed,
and saw in the glass the form of a young woman passing by. Meanwhile,
the wizard himself had entered alone into a little side room, where
he was speaking loudly to a familiar Spirit, or something; but he
soon returned to the young man and asked him, "Did you see anything
in the glass?" "Yes, I saw a young woman." "Did you know her?" "No. I
had never seen her before: she was a perfect stranger to me." "Well,"
said the conjurer, "whether you have met her or not, that young woman
you saw in the glass is to be your future wife."
Sometime after this, the young man and his brother, both being
carpenters, were one day working on the roof of a house which had
been damaged by a storm, and it so happened that some woman and
her daughter, who were passing by, came to speak to them. When the
women had gone away out of hearing, the young man, who had been to
Cwrtycadno, said to his brother in surprise: "That young girl was
the very one I saw in the Wizard's Magic Glass." This was their first
acquaintance, and by and by they were married. My informant was their
own son who is a carpenter, and lives about a mile from Bronwydd Arms
Station, in Carmarthenshire. His name is Benjamin Phillips.
ANOTHER SIMILAR TALE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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