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
The complaint which is called in West Wales "llechau" means rickets,
a complaint to which children are subject. It was thought that it could
be cured by cutting a slit in the lobe of one of the child's ears. The
practice was once common in Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire and other
parts; and Mr. H. W. Williams, of Solva, mentions in "Cambrian Notes
and Queries," for January 11th., 1902, of a man in the Rhondda Valley
who had recently cut the rickets. He was a Cardiganshire man.
HOW TO CURE A DOG THAT HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A MAD DOG.
Write down on a bit of paper the words "Arare, cnarare, phragnare,"
in three lines as follows:
Arare Charare Phragnare.
Phragnare Cnarare arare
Arare cnarare phragnare.
Also write down in addition the name of the dog.
Having done this, put the paper in a piece of bread and give to the
dog to eat. About the middle of the last century, when mad dogs were
common, this "prescription" was considered "a sure and certain cure";
or at least, so says my informant, an old farmer in the neighbourhood
of Ystrad Meurig, who also added that the mountain farmers obtained
this charm from Dr. Harries, the wizard of Cwrtycadno.
HEALING STONES.
There is at the present day preserved at Gilfachwen, Llandyssul,
by D. J. Lloyd, Esq., a small white stone, not quite the size of an
egg. The stone is comparatively soft, and was supposed to possess
healing power to cure people bitten by mad dogs. A little substance of
the stone was scraped off, and mixed with milk and given as a dose to
the patients. In years gone by--though not now--people believed so much
in this stone that some travelled long distances to Gilfachwen; but how
many of them were cured I have not been able to discover. The stone is
called Llaethfaen, and when I visited Gilfachwen about five years ago,
Mr. Lloyd showed me the interesting relic, and a few weeks afterwards I
received from the same gentleman, the following communication by post,
with an enclosed copy of his late brother's MS. concerning the stone:--
Gilfachwen,
Llandyssul,
Cardiganshire,
Feb. 20th, 1905.
Sir,--
I send you, as promised, a copy of all my late brother knew about
the Llaethfaen. He died in 1889, but the paper was written many
years before his death. There is no record of where the stone
was found, or how it came to the Rev. D. Bowen's hands.
I remain,
Yours truly,
D. J. LLOYD.
The following is a copy of the paper written by the late Mr. John
Lloyd:--
LLAETHFAEN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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