Welsh Folk Lore

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_The Ejectment of the Evil Spirit from Llanfor Church_.

Mr. Roberts states that his grandmother, born in 1744, had only
traditions of this spirit. He was said to have worn a three-cocked hat,
and appeared as a gentleman, and whilst divine service was performed he
stood up in the church. But at night the church was lit up by his
presence, and the staves between the railings of the gallery were set in
motion, by him, like so many spindles, although they were fast in their
sockets. He is not reported to have harmed any one, neither did he
commit any damage in the church. It is said, he had been seen taking a
walk to the top of _Moel-y-llan_, and although harmless he was a great
terror to the neighbourhood, and but few would venture to enter the
church alone. Mr. Roberts was told that on a certain occasion a vestry
was held in a public house, that stood on the north side of the church,
not a vestige of which now remains, but no one would go to the church for
the parish books. The landlady had the courage to go but no sooner had
she crossed the threshold than the Evil Spirit blew the light out; she
got a light again, but this also was blown out. Instead of returning for
another light, she went straight to the coffer in the dark, and brought
the books to the house, and that without any molestation.

Mr. Roberts states that as the Spirit of darkness became more and more
troublesome, it was determined to have him removed, and two gentlemen
skilled in divination were called _to offer him to Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_.
These men were procured and they entered the church in the afternoon and
held a conversation with the Spirit, and in the end told him that they
would call at such an hour of the night to remove him to his rest. But
they were not punctual and when they entered they found him intractable,
however, he was compelled to submit, and was driven out of the church in
the form of a cock, and carried behind his vanquisher on horseback, and
thrown into _Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_.

According to tradition the horse made the journey from the church to the
pool by two leaps. The distance was two fields' breadth.

On their arrival at the river side, a terrible struggle ensued, the Fiend
would not submit to be imprisoned, and he made a most determined attempt
to drag his captors into the water. He, however, by and by, agreed to
enter his prison on the condition that they would lie on their faces
towards the ground when he entered the river, this they did, and the
Spirit with a splash jumped into the water.

Mr. Roberts further states, that there was a tradition in those parts,
that the horse which carried the Devil to the river left the impression
of his hoof in a stone by the river side, but Mr. Roberts assures me that
he could never discover this stone, nor did he know of any one who had
seen it.

The case of the imprisoned Spirit was not hopeless--tradition says he was
to remain in the pool only until he counted all the sand in it. It would
almost appear that he had accomplished his task, for Mr. Roberts says
that he had heard that his father's eldest brother whilst driving his
team in the dead of night through Llanfor village saw two pigs walking
behind the waggon. He thought nothing of this, and began to apply his
whip to them, but to no purpose, for they followed him to
_Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_, and then disappeared.

There was in these latter times some dispute as to the Spirit being still
in the pool. This, however, has been settled in the affirmative. A wise
man, in company with others, proceeded to the river, and threw a stone
with writing on it into the pool, but nothing came of it, and he then
affirmed there was no spirit there. This the people would not believe,
so he threw another stone into the water, and now the river boiled up and
foamed. "Yes," said the sceptic, "he is there, and there he will remain
for a long time."

Such is Mr. Roberts's account.

_Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_ is a pool in the river Dee, about a quarter of a
mile from Llanfor village.

For the purpose of shewing how variously tales are narrated, I will give
another version of this haunted church, which was taken down by me from
the mouth of an aged woman, a native of the village, whose life had been
spent among her own people, and who at present lives in a little cottage
on the road side between Llanfor Rectory and Bala. Her name is Ann
Hughes, she firmly believes the story, but she could not tell how long
ago the spirit was driven out of the church, though she thought it was in
her grandfather's days. Her tale was as follows:--

The Evil Spirit was heard but not seen by the people, and he was in the
habit of coming down the pathway leading from Rhiwlas to the church,
making a great noise, as if dragging after him chains, or wheeling a
wheelbarrow, and he went straight into the church, and there he stayed
all night lighting up the church and making a great noise, as though
engaged in manual labour. There was then a pathway leading to a row of
houses situated in the church yard on the north side, and the people who
occupied those cottages dared not leave them the live-long night, in fact
the whole village avoided that, and every other path in the neighbourhood
of the church, whilst the Spirit was in the church, and every one could
see when he was there. At last the disturbance was so great that the
parson and another man determined to lay the Spirit, and therefore one
night they walked three times round the church, and then went into it,
and by and by three men were seen emerging from the church and they
walked into the public house through the door that opened into the church
yard and they went together into the little parlour. The parson had
already given instructions that no one was to come to them on any
account, nor even to try to get a glimpse of them; but there was a man in
the house who went to the keyhole of the parlour and, looking into the
room, saw distinctly three men sitting round the table. No sooner,
however, had he done so than the parson came out and said if anyone
looked through the keyhole again their plans would be frustrated. This
put a stop to all further inquisitiveness, and their deliberations were
not again interrupted.

Ann Hughes could not tell me what plan was adopted to get rid of the Evil
Spirit, but she knew this much, that he was laid in _Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_,
and that he was to remain there until a lighted candle, which was hidden
somewhere in the church, when the Spirit was overcome, should go out.
Often and again had she searched for this taper, but failed to discover
it, but she supposes it is still burning somewhere, for the Evil One has
not yet escaped from the pool.

There is a version of the ejectment of Llanfor Spirit given in _Y
Gordofigion_, p. 106, which is somewhat as follows:--

Llanfor Spirit troubled the neighbourhood of Bala, but he was
particularly objectionable and annoying to the inhabitants of Llanfor,
for he had taken possession of their Church. At last, the people were
determined to get rid of him altogether, but they must procure a mare for
this purpose, which they did. A man riding on the mare entered the
Church with a friend, to exorcise the Spirit. Ere long this man emerged
from the Church with the Devil seated behind him on the pillion. An old
woman who saw them cried out, "Duw anwyl! Mochyn yn yr Eglwys"--"Good
God! A pig in the Church." On hearing these words the pig became
exceedingly fierce, because the silence had been broken, and because
God's name had been used, and in his anger he snatched up both the man
and the mare, and threw them right over the Church to the other side, and
there is a mark to this day on a grave stone of the horse's hoof on the
spot where she lit. But the Spirit's anger was all in vain, for he was
carried by the mare to the river, and laid in _Llyn-y-Geulan-Goch_, but
so much did the poor animal perspire whilst carrying him, that, although
the distance was only a quarter of a mile, she lost all her hair.

Tales very much like the preceding are related of many churches in Wales.
The details differ, but in general outlines they are alike. I will give
one other story of this kind.

_An Evil Spirit in Llandysilio Church, Montgomeryshire_.

The history of this Spirit's proceedings is given in _Bye-Gones_, Vol.
ii, p. 179, and the writer's fictitious name is _Gypt_.

"This church," says _Gypt_, "was terribly troubled by a Spirit in times
gone by, so I was informed by a person who took me over the church, and,
being curious to hear the story, my guide related the following:--

"To such extremes had things come that it was resolved to send for a well
known and expert person to lay the Spirit. But the Spirit nearly
overcame the expert, and the fight continued hard and fast for a long
time. The ghost layer came out often for fresh air and beer, and then
was plainly seen, from his bared arms and the perspiration running down
his face, that there was a terrible conflict going on within the church.
At last success crowned the effort, and the Spirit, not unlike a large
fly, was put into a bottle and thrown into a deep pool in the River
Verniew, where it remains to this day, and the church was troubled no
more."

_Gypt_ adds:--"As a proof of the truth of the story, my informant showed
me the beams which were cracked at the time the Spirit troubled the
church."

In these tales we have a few facts common to them all. An Evil Spirit
troubles the people, and makes his home nightly in the church, which he
illuminates. His presence there becomes obnoxious, and ultimately,
either by force or trickery, he is ejected, and loses his life, or at
least he is deposited by his captors in a lake, or pool of water, and
then peace and quietness ensue.

There is a good deal that is human about these stories when stripped of
the marvellous, which surrounds them, and it is not unreasonable to ask
whether they had, or had not, a foundation in fact, or whether they were
solely the creations of an imaginative people. It is not, at least,
improbable that these ghostly stories had, in long distant pre-historic
times, their origin in fact, and that they have reached our days with
glosses received from the intervening ages.

They seem to imply that, in ancient times, there was deadly antagonism
between one form of Pagan worship and another, and, although it is but
dimly hinted, it would appear that fire was the emblem or the god of one
party, and water the god of the other; and that the water worshippers
prevailed and destroyed the image, or _laid_ the priest, of the
vanquished deity in a pool, and took possession of his sacred enclosures.

It was commonly believed, within the last hundred years or so, that Evil
Spirits at certain times of the year, such as St. John's Eve, and May Day
Eve, and All Hallows' Eve, were let loose, and that on these nights they
held high revelry in churches. This is but another and more modern phase
of the preceding stories. This superstitious belief was common to
Scotland, and everyone who has read Burns has heard of Alloway Kirk, and
of the "unco sight" which met _Tam o' Shanter's_ eye there, who, looking
into the haunted kirk, saw witches, Evil Spirits, and Old Nick himself.
Thus sings the poet:--

There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gi'e them music was his charge.

But in Wales it was believed that a Spirit--an evil one--certainly not an
Angel of Light, revealed, to the inquisitive, coming events, provided
they went to the church porch on _Nos G'lan Geua_', or All-Hallows' Eve,
and waited there until midnight, when they would hear the Spirit announce
the death roll for the coming year. Should, however, no voice be heard,
it was a sign that no death would occur within the twelve succeeding
months. A couple of tales shall suffice as illustrative of this
superstition.

_A Spirit in Aberhafesp Church announcing the death of a person on Nos
G'lan Geua'_.

Mr. Breeze, late governor of the Union House at Caersws, told me that he
had heard of a person going to Aberhafesp Church porch, on All-Hallows'
Eve, to ascertain whether there would be a death in that parish in the
coming year.

A couple of men, one of whom, I believe, Mr. Breeze said was his
relative, went to the church porch before twelve o'clock at night, and
sat there a length of time without hearing any sound in the church; but
about the midnight hour, one of the men distinctly heard the name of his
companion uttered by a voice within the church. He was greatly
terrified, and, addressing his friend, he found that he had fallen
asleep, and that, therefore, fortunately he had not heard the ominous
voice. Awaking his companion, he said--"Let's go away, it's no use
waiting here any longer."

In the course of a few weeks, there was a funeral from the opposite
parish of Penstrowed, and the departed was to be buried in Aberhafesp
Church yard. The River Severn runs between these two parishes, and there
is no bridge nearer than that which spans the river at Caersws, and to
take the funeral that way would mean a journey of more than five miles.
It was determined, therefore, to ford the river opposite Aberhafesp
Church. The person who had fallen asleep in the porch volunteered to
carry the coffin over the river, and it was placed on the saddle in front
of this person, who, to save it from falling, was obliged to grasp it
with both arms; and, as the deceased had died of an infectious fever, the
coffin bearer was stricken, and within a week he too was a dead man, and
he was the first parishioner, as foretold by the Spirit, who died in the
parish of Aberhafesp that year.

According to Croker, in _Fairy Legends of Ireland_, vol. II., p. 288, the
Irish at Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, after decorating the graves
of their ancestors:--"Also listen at the church door in the dark, when
they sometimes fancy they hear the names called over in church of those
who are destined shortly to join their lost relatives in the tomb."

It is not difficult to multiply instances of Spirits speaking in
churches, for legendary stories of this kind were attached to, or were
related of, many churches in Wales. One further tale therefore, shall
suffice.

_A Spirit in Llangerniew Church_, _Denbighshire_.

There was a tradition in this parish that on All-Hallows' Eve a Spirit
announced from the altar the names of those who were doomed to die in the
coming year. The Spirit was locally called _Angelystor_. Those who were
anxious to know whether they or their neighbours had a longer time to
live stood underneath the east window on that eve, and anxiously listened
for the dreaded revelation. It is related of a tailor, who was reckoned
a wit, and affected disbelief in the Spirit story, that he announced his
intention to prove the thing a myth, and so, one _Nos G'lan Geua'_, Shon
Robert, as he was called, proceeded to the church just before midnight,
and, to his horror, he heard his own name--"Shon ap Robert," uttered by
the Spirit. "Hold, hold!" said the tailor, "I am not quite ready!" But,
ready or not ready, it made no difference to the messenger of death, for
that year the tailor died.

According to rustic opinion, demons were, from sinister motives, much
given to frequenting churches; still it was thought that as the Priest
entered the sacred building by the south door these Spirits were obliged
to make their exit through the north door, which was called in
consequence the Devil's Door; and this door was opened, and left open
awhile, to enable these Evil Spirits to escape from the church, before
divine service commenced. In agreement with this notion, the north side
of church yards was designated the Domain of Demons, and, by association
of ideas, no one formerly was buried in this side, but in our days the
north part of the church yard--where the space in the other parts has
already been occupied--is used for interments, and the north doors in
most old churches have been built up.

Formerly, at baptisms, the north church door was, in Wales, left open,
and that too for the same reason that it was opened before the hours of
prayer. But these superstitions have departed, as intimated by the
blocking up of north church doors.

_Satan and Bell Ringing_.

Durand, according to Bourne, in his _Antiquities of the Common People_,
ed. 1725, p. 17, was of opinion that Devils were much afraid of bells,
and fled away at the sound of them. Formerly, in all parts of Wales, the
passing bell was tolled for the dying. This is a very ancient custom
being alluded to by the Venerable Bede--

When the bell begins to toll,
Lord, have mercy on the soul.

A small hand bell was also rung by the parish clerk as he preceded the
funeral procession, and the church bell was tolled before, at, and after
the burial. I do not know whether this was done because the people,
entertaining Durand's opinion, wished to save the souls and bodies of
their departed friends from Satan. Reference is often made to small
handbells in parish terriers, and they are enumerated in those documents
with other church property. Thus, in Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd terrier,
1729, among the articles mentioned as belonging to the church is a small
bell:--

"A little bell to be rung before the corps."

In Rhuddlan terrier, 1791, we find:--

"One small bell, and another small corps bell."

I may say that there is hardly a terrier belonging to a Church in North
Wales which does not mention this portable handbell. Although the modern
reason given for their use at funerals was, that all impediments might be
removed from the roads before the funeral procession arrived, still it is
probable that the custom at one time meant something more than this. The
custom does not at present exist.

_Giraldus Cambrensis_ thus alludes to these handbells:--

"I must not omit that the portable bells . . . were held in great
reverence by the people and clergy both in Ireland, Scotland, and
Wales; insomuch that they had greater regard for oaths sworn on these
than on the gospels."--Bohn's Edition, p. 146.

As it was thought that the Passing Bell was originally intended to drive
away the Evil Spirit hovering about in readiness to seize the soul of the
deceased, so it might have been thought that the tolling of these
handbells at funerals kept the Great Enemy away from the body about to be
consigned to consecrated ground. But from a couple of lines quoted by
Bourne, p. 14, from Spelman, in which all the ancient offices of bells
seem to be included, it does not appear that this opinion was then
current. The lines are:--

Laudo Deum verum, Plebem voco, congrego Clerum,
Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, Festa decoro.

I praise the true God, call the people, convene the Clergy,
Lament the dead, dispel pestilence, grace Festivals.

There is nothing in these lines corroborative of Durand's opinion, but as
I do not know the age of the lines I cannot controvert his opinion, but
if it was believed that the tolling of a bell could drive away
pestilence, well can it be understood that its sound could be credited
with being inimical to Evil Spirits, and that it sent them away to other
places to seek for rest.

It certainly was an opinion, according to Croker, entertained in Ireland
and elsewhere, that the dwarfs or fairies, were driven away from places
by the ringing of the bells of churches, and Croker in his _Fairy Legends
of Ireland_, vol. ii., p. 106, states that Thiele collected traditions
according to which the Troldes leave the country on the ringing of bells,
and remain away. Thus these mythic beings are confounded with Satan;
indeed Croker remarks (vol. i., p. 46) "The notion of fairies, dwarfs,
brownies, etc., being excluded from salvation, and of their having formed
part of the crew that fell with Satan, seems to be pretty general all
over Europe." He instances Ireland, Denmark, and Spain.

Bells certainly were objects of great superstition. In Dyer's _English
Folk-Lore_, p. 264, it is stated that--Wynkin de Worde tells us that
bells are rung during thunder storms, to the end that fiends and wicked
Spirits should be abashed and flee and cease the moving of the tempest.

Croker also remarks in vol. ii., p. 140, of the above-named work:--"The
belief in fairies and Spirits prevailed over all Europe long before the
introduction of Christianity. The teachers of the new faith endeavoured
to abolish the deeply-rooted heathenish ideas and customs of the people,
by representing them as sinful and connected with the Devil." In this
way the Devil inherited many attributes that once belonged to the
Fairies, and these beings were spoken of as Evil Spirits, Fiends, or
Devils.

I now come to another kind of Welsh Folk-Lore associated with fairies,
Evil Spirits, or some mysterious power, that is the removal of churches
from one site to another. The agency employed varies, but the work of
the day disappeared in the night, and the materials were found, it is
said, the next morning, on the spot where the church was to be erected.

_Mysterious Removal of Churches_.

I. LLANLLECHID CHURCH.

There was a tradition extant in the parish of Llanllechid, near Bangor,
Carnarvonshire, that it was intended to build a church in a field called
Cae'r Capel, not far from Plasuchaf Farm, but it was found the next
morning that the labours of the previous day had been destroyed, and that
the materials had been transported in the night to the site of the
present church. The workmen, however, carried them all back again, and
resumed their labours at Cae'r Capel, but in vain, for the next day they
found their work undone, and the wood, stones, etc., in the place where
they had found them when their work was first tampered with. Seeing that
it was useless fighting against a superior power, they desisted, and
erected the building on the spot indicated by the destroyers of their
labours.

I asked the aged, what or who it was that had carried away the materials:
some said it was done by Spirits, others by Fairies, but I could obtain
no definite information on the point. However, they all agreed that the
present site was more convenient for the parishioners than the old one.

Many legends of this kind are current in Wales. They are all much alike
in general outline. A few only therefore shall be mentioned.

II. CORWEN CHURCH.

In Thomas's _History of the Diocese of St. Asaph_, p. 687, the legend
connected with the erection of the present church is given as
follows:--"The legend of its (Corwen Church) original foundation states
that all attempts to build the church in any other spot than where stood
the 'Carreg y Big yn y fach rewlyd,' i.e., 'The pointed stone in the icy
nook,' were frustrated by the influence of certain adverse powers."

No agency is mentioned in this narrative. When questioned on such a
matter, the aged, of forty years ago, would shake their heads in an
ominous kind of manner, and remain silent, as if it were wrong on their
part to allude to the affair. Others, more bold, would surmise that it
was the work of a Spirit, or of the Fairies. By and by I shall give Mr.
A. N. Palmer's solution of the mystery.

III. CAPEL GARMON CHURCH.

A legend much like the preceding is current respecting Capel Garmon
Church. I will give the story in the words of my friend, the Rev. Owen
Jones, Pentrevoelas, who writes to me thus:--

"The tradition is that Capel Garmon Church was to have been built on the
side of the mountain just above the present village, near the Well now
called Ffynnon Armon, but the materials carried there in the daytime were
in a mysterious manner conveyed by night to the present site of the
church."

IV. LLANFAIR DYFFRYN CLWYD.

For the following legend, I am indebted to Mr. R. Prys Jones, who resided
for several years in the parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd. In answer to
a letter from me respecting mysterious removal of churches, Mr. Jones
writes as follows:--

"We have the same tradition in connection with a place not very far from
Llanfair village. It was first intended to erect Llanfair Church on the
spot where Jesus Chapel now stands, or very near to it. Tradition
ascribes the failure of erecting the structure to a phantom in the shape
of _a sow's head_, destroying in the night what had been built during the
day. The farm house erected on the land is still called
_Llanbenwch_"--Llan-pen-hwch, i.e., the _Llan_, _or church_, _of the
Sow's Head_.

In this tale the agent is a sow, and Mr. Gomme in the _Antiquary_, vol.
iii. p. 9, records a like story of Winwick Parish Church, Lancashire. He
states that the founder had destined a different site for this church,
"but after progress had been made at the original foundation, at night
time, 'a pig' was seen running hastily to the site of the new church,
crying or screaming aloud We-ee-wick, we-ee-wick, we-ee-wick.' Then
taking up a stone in his mouth he carried it to the spot sanctified by
the death of St. Oswald, and thus succeeded in removing all the stones
which had been laid by the builders."

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