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 Llanio Isaf, in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi are the remains
of Loventium, which was a large Roman city. About half a mile from
Gogoyan, in the same parish, was once a holy well called Ffynon Ddewi,
or St. David's Well, the water of which, according to tradition,
flowed up miraculously when St. David restored to life the son of a
widow. The well has now been closed up, and a house stands on the
spot. There is another "Ffynon Ddewi," on the road-side between
Aberaeron and Cardigan.
CAIO (CARMARTHENSHIRE).
In the parish of Caio, there is a gold mine which in ancient times
was worked by the Romans. It is on the estate of Dolaucothy, and the
spot is known as the "Ogofau," or caves, and part of it is a height,
hardly a mountain, that has been scooped out like a volcanic crater by
the Romans during their occupation. In this hollow or basin it is said
that the five saints named Ceitho, Gwyn, Gwynno, Gwynnoro, and Celynin,
who flourished in the sixth century, had retired in a thunderstorm
for shelter. They had penetrated into the mine and had lost their
way, and taking a stone for a bolster had laid their heads on it and
fallen asleep. And there they would remain in peaceful slumber till the
return of King Arthur, or till a more godly bishop than has hitherto
been should occupy the throne of St. David. When that happens, Merlin
himself is to be disenchanted and restore to liberty the dormant
saints. An inquisitive woman named Gweno, who, led by the devil,
sought to spy on the saintly brotherhood in their long sleep, was
punished by losing her way in the passage of the mine. She, likewise,
remained in an undying condition, but was suffered to emerge in storm
and rain, and in the night, when her vaporous form might be seen about
the old Ogofau, and her sobs and moans were heard and frightened many.
Mr. F. S. Price, in his interesting "History of Caio," says that
another legend is that one of these saints appears to have a special
commemoration, but under a female appelative in "Ffynon" and "Clochdy
Gwenno," the latter an isolated rock standing up in the midst of the
great gold excavations, and marking their depth in that particular
place. The well had, in good old times, a high reputation for healing
virtues, and that "on an unfortunate day, Gweno was induced to
explore the recesses of the cavern beyond a frowning rock, which had
always been the prescribed limit to the progress of the bathers. She
passed beneath it and was no more seen. She had been seized by some
superhuman power, as a warning to others not to invade those mysterious
'penetralia,' and still on stormy nights, when the moon is full, the
spirit of Gweno is seen to hover over the crag like a wreath of mist."
ST. GOVAN'S.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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