Welsh Folk Lore

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V. LLANFIHANGEL GENEU'R GLYN.

The traveller who has gone to Aberystwyth by the Cambrian Line has, most
probably, noticed on the left hand side, shortly after he has left Borth,
a small church, with a churchyard that enters a wood to the west of the
church, the grave stones being seen among the trees. There is in
connection with this church a legend much like those already given. I am
indebted to the Rev. J. Felix, vicar of Cilcen, near Mold, for the
following account of the transaction.

"It was intended to build Llanfihangel Church at a place called
Glanfread, or Glanfread-fawr, which at present is a respectable farm
house, and the work was actually commenced on that spot, but the portion
built during the day was pulled down each night, till at last a Spirit
spoke in these words:--

Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn,
Glanfread-fawr gaiff fod fan hyn.
Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn,
Glanfread-fawr shall stand herein,"

intimating that the church was to be built at Geneu'r Glyn, and that
Glanfreadfawr farm house was to occupy the place where they were then
endeavouring to build the church. The prophecy, or warning, was attended
to, and the church erection abandoned, but the work was carried out at
Geneu'r Glyn, in accordance with the Spirit's direction, and the church
was built in its present position.

VI. WREXHAM CHURCH.

The following extract is from Mr. A. Neobard Palmer's excellent _History
of the Parish Church of Wrexham_, p. 6:--"There is a curious local
tradition, which, _as I understand it_, points distinctly to a
re-erection of one of the earlier churches on a site different from that
on which the church preceding it had stood."

"According to the tradition just mentioned, which was collected and first
published by the late Mr. Hugh Davies, the attempt to build the church on
another spot (at Bryn-y-ffynnon as 't is said), was constantly
frustrated, that which was set up during the day being plucked down in
the night. At last, one night when the work wrought on the day before
was being watched, the wardens saw it thrown suddenly down, and heard a
voice proceeding from a Spirit hovering above them which cried ever
'Bryn-y-grog!' 'Bryn-y-grog!' Now the site of the present church was at
that time called 'Bryn-y-grog' (Hill of the Cross), and it was at once
concluded that this was the spot on which the church should be built.
The occupier of this spot, however, was exceedingly unwilling to part
with the inheritance of his forefathers, and could only be induced to do
so when the story which has just been related was told to him, and other
land given him instead. The church was then founded at 'Bryn-y-grog,'
where the progress of the work suffered no interruption, and where the
Church of Wrexham still stands."

Mr. Palmer, having remarked that there is a striking resemblance between
all the traditions of churches removed mysteriously, proceeds to solve
the difficulty, in these words:--

"The conclusions which occurred to me were, that these stories contain a
record, imaginative and exaggerated, of real incidents connected with the
history of the churches to which each of them belongs, and that they are
_in most cases_ reminiscences _of an older church which once actually
stood on another site_. The destroying powers of which they all speak
were probably human agents, working in the interest of those who were
concerned in the transference of the site of the church about to be
re-built; while the stories, as a whole, were apparently concocted and
circulated with the intention of overbearing the opposition which the
proposed transference raised--an opposition due to the inconvenience of
the site proposed, to sacred associations connected with the older site,
or to the unwillingness of the occupier to surrender the spot selected."

This is, as everything Mr. Palmer writes, pertinent, and it is a
reasonable solution, but whether it can be made to apply to all cases is
somewhat doubtful. Perhaps we have not sufficient data to arrive at a
correct explanation of this kind of myth. The objection was to the
_place_ selected and not to the _building_ about to be erected on that
spot; and the _agents_ engaged in the destruction of the proposed edifice
differ in different places; and in many instances, where these traditions
exist, the land around, as regards agricultural uses, was equally useful,
or equally useless, and often the distance between the two sites is not
great, and the land in our days, at least, and presumably in former,
belonged to the same proprietor--if indeed it had a proprietor at all.
We must, therefore, I think, look outside the occupier of the land for
objections to the surrender of the spot first selected as the site of the
new church.

Mr. Gomme, in an able article in the _Antiquary_, vol. iii., p. 8-13, on
"Some traditions and superstitions connected with buildings," gives many
typical examples of buildings removed by unseen agencies, and, from the
fact that these stories are found in England, Scotland, and other parts,
he rightly infers that they had a common origin, and that they take us
back to primitive times of British history. The cause of the removal of
the stones in those early times, or first stage of their history, is
simply described as _invisible agency_, _witches_, _fairies_; in the
second stage of these myths, the supernatural agency becomes more clearly
defined, thus:--_doves_, _a pig_, _a cat_, _a fish_, _a bull_, do the
work of demolishing the buildings, and Mr. Gomme remarks with reference
to these animals:--"Now here we have some glimmer of light thrown upon
the subject--the introduction of animal life leads to the subject of
animal sacrifice." I will not follow Mr. Gomme in this part of his
dissertation, but I will remark that the agencies he mentions as
belonging to the first stage are identical in Wales, England, and
Scotland, and we have an example of the second stage in Wales, in the
traditions of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, and of Llangar Church, near Corwen.

VII. LLANGAR CHURCH.

"The tradition is that Llangar Church was to have been built near the
spot where the Cynwyd Bridge crosses the Dee. Indeed, we are told that
the masons set to work, but all the stones they laid in the day were gone
during the night none knew whither. The builders were warned,
supernaturally, that they must seek a spot where on hunting a 'Carw Gwyn'
(white stag) would be started. They did so, and Llangar Church is the
result. From this circumstance the church was called Llan-garw-gwyn, and
from this name the transition to Llangar is easy."--_Gossiping Guide to
Wales_, p. 128.

I find in a document written by the Rural Dean for the guidance of the
Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1729, that the stag was started in a thicket
where the Church of Llangar now stands. "And (as the tradition is) the
boundaries of the parish on all sides were settled for 'em by this poor
deer, where he was forc'd to run for his life, there lye their bounds.
He at last fell, and the place where he was killed is to this day called
_Moel y Lladdfa_, or the _Hill of Slaughter_."

VIII. ST. DAVID'S CHURCH, DENBIGH.

There is a tradition connected with Old St. David's Church, Denbigh,
recorded in Gee's _Guide to Denbigh_, that the building could not be
completed, because whatever portion was finished in the day time was
pulled down and carried to another place at night by some invisible hand,
or supernatural power.

The party who malignantly frustrates the builders' designs is in several
instances said to have been the Devil. "We find," says Mr. William
Crossing, in the _Antiquary_, vol. iv., p. 34, "that the Church of
Plymton St. Mary, has connected with it the legend so frequently attached
to ecclesiastical buildings, of the removal by the _Enemy of Mankind_ of
the building materials by night, from the spot chosen for its erection to
another at some distance."

And again, Mr A. N. Palmer, quoting in the _Antiquary_, vol. iv., p. 34,
what was said at the meeting of the British Association, in 1878, by Mr.
Peckover, respecting the detached Tower of the Church of West Walton,
near Wisbech, Norfolk, writes:--"During the early days of that Church the
Fenmen were very wicked, and the _Evil Spirit_ hired a number of people
to carry the tower away."

Mr. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, in the _Antiquary_, vol. iii., p. 188,
writes:--"Legends of _the Enemy of Mankind_ and some old buildings are
numerous enough--e.g., it is said that as the masons built up the towers
of Towednack Church, near St. Ives, the _Devil_ knocked the stones down;
hence its dwarfed dimensions."

The preceding stories justify me in relegating this kind of myth to the
same class as those in which spirits are driven from churches and _laid_
in a neighbouring pool; and perhaps in these latter, as in the former, is
dimly seen traces of the antagonism, in remote times, between peoples
holding different religious beliefs, and the steps taken by one party to
seize and appropriate the sacred spots of the other.

_Apparitions of the Devil_.

To accomplish his nefarious designs the Evil Spirit assumed forms
calculated to attain his object. The following lines from Allan
Cunningham's _Traditional Tales_, p. 9, aptly describe his
transformations:--

Soon he shed
His hellish slough, and many a subtle wile
Was his to seem a heavenly spirit to man,
First, he a hermit, sore subdued in flesh,
O'er a cold cruse of water and a crust,
Poured out meet prayers abundant. Then he changed
Into a maid when she first dreams of man,
And from beneath two silken eyelids sent,
The sidelong light of two such wondrous eyes,
That all the saints grew sinners . . .
Then a professor of God's word he seemed,
And o'er a multitude of upturned eyes
Showered blessed dews, and made the pitchy path,
Down which howl damned Spirits, seem the bright
Thrice hallowed way to Heaven; yet grimly through
The glorious veil of those seducing shapes,
Frowned out the fearful Spirit.

S. Anthony, in the wilderness, as related in his life by S. Athanasius,
had many conflicts in the night with the powers of darkness, Satan
appearing personally to him, to batter him from the strongholds of his
faith. S. Dunstan, in his cell, was tempted by the Devil in the form of
a lovely woman, but a grip of his nose with a heated tongs made him
bellow out, and cease his nightly visits to that holy man. Ezra Peden,
as related by Allan Cunningham, was also tempted by one who "was indeed
passing fair," and the longer he looked on her she became the
lovelier--"_owre lovely for mere flesh and blood_," and poor Peden
succumbed to her wiles.

From the book of Tobit it would appear that an Evil Spirit slew the first
seven husbands of Sara from jealousy and lust, in the vain hope of
securing her for himself. In Giraldus Cambrensis's _Itinerary through
Wales_, Bohn's ed., p. 411 demons are shown to possess those qualities
which are ascribed to them in the Apocryphal book of Tobit.

There is nothing new, as far as I am aware, respecting the doings of the
Great Enemy of mankind in Welsh Folk-Lore. His tactics in the
Principality evince no originality. They are the usual weapons used by
him everywhere, and these he found to be sufficient for his purposes even
in Wales.

Gladly would I here put down my pen and leave the uncongenial task of
treating further about the spirits of darkness to others, but were I to
do so, I should be guilty of a grave omission, for, as I have already
said, ghosts, goblins, spirits, and other beings allied to Satan, occupy
a prominent place in Welsh Folk-Lore.

Of a winter's evening, by the faint light of a peat fire and rush
candles, our forefathers recounted the weird stories of olden times, of
devils, fairies, ghosts, witches, apparitions, giants, hidden treasures,
and other cognate subjects, and they delighted in implanting terrors in
the minds of the listeners that no philosophy, nor religion of after
years, could entirely eradicate. These tales made a strong impression
upon the imagination, and possibly upon the conduct of the people, and
hence the necessity laid upon me to make a further selection of the many
tales that I have collected on this subject.

I will begin with a couple of stories extracted from the work of the Rev.
Edmund Jones, by a writer in the _Cambro-Briton_, vol. ii., p. 276.

_Satan appearing to a Man who was fetching a Load of Bibles_, _etc._

"A Mr. Henry Llewelyn, having been sent to Samuel Davies, of Ystrad
Defodoc Parish, in Glamorganshire, to fetch a load of books, viz.,
Bibles, Testaments, Watts's Psalms, Hymns, and Songs for Children,
said--Coming home by night towards Mynyddustwyn, having just passed by
Clwyd yr Helygen ale-house, and being in a dry part of the lane--the
mare, which he rode, stood still, and, like the ass of the ungodly
Balaam, would go no farther, but kept drawing back. Presently he could
see a living thing, round like a bowl, rolling from the right hand to the
left, and crossing the lane, moving sometimes slow and sometimes very
swift--yea, swifter than a bird could fly, though it had neither wings
nor feet,--altering also its size. It appeared three times, less one
time than another, seemed least when near him, and appeared to roll
towards the mare's belly. The mare would then want to go forward, but he
stopped her, to see more carefully what manner of thing it was. He
staid, as he thought, about three minutes, to look at it; but, fearing to
see a worse sight, he thought it high time to speak to it, and
said--'What seekest thou, thou foul thing? In the name of the Lord
Jesus, go away!' And by speaking this it vanished, and sank into the
ground near the mare's feet. It appeared to be of a _reddish oak
colour_."

In a footnote to this tale we are told that formerly near Clwyd yr
Helygen, the Lord's Day was greatly profaned, and "it may be that the
Adversary was wroth at the good books and the bringer of them; for he
well knew what burden the mare carried."

The editor of the _Cambro-Briton_ remarks that the superstitions
recorded, if authentic, "are not very creditable to the intelligence of
our lower classes in Wales; but it is some satisfaction to think that
none of them are of recent date." The latter remark was, I am sorry to
say, rather premature.

One other quotation from the same book I will here make.

_The Devil appearing to a Dissenting Minister at Denbigh_.

"The Rev. Mr. Thomas Baddy, who lived in Denbigh Town, and was a
Dissenting Minister in that place, went into his study one night, and
while he was reading or writing, he heard some one behind him laughing
and grinning at him, which made him stop a little--as well indeed it
might. It came again, and then he wrote on a piece of paper, that
devil-wounding scripture, 1st John, 3rd,--'For this was the Son of God
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil,'--and held it
backwards from him, when the laughing ceased for ever; for it was a
melancholy word to a scoffing Devil, and enough to damp him. It would
have damped him yet more, if he had shewn him James, ii. 19--'The devils
believe and tremble.' But he had enough for one time."

The following objectless tale, still extant, I believe, in the
mountainous parts of Denbighshire, is another instance of the credulity
in former days of the people.

_Satan seen Lying right across a Road_.

The story related to me was as follows:--Near Pentrevoelas lived a man
called John Ty'nllidiart, who was in the habit of taking, yearly, cattle
from the uplands in his neighbourhood, to be wintered in the Vale of
Clwyd. Once, whilst thus engaged, he saw lying across the road right in
front of him and the cattle, and completely blocking up the way, Satan
with his head on one wall and his tail on the other, moaning horribly.
John, as might be expected, hurried homewards, leaving his charge to take
their chance with the Evil One, but long before he came to his house, the
odour of brimstone had preceded him, and his wife was only too glad to
find that it was her husband that came through the door, for she thought
that it was someone else that was approaching.

_The Devil's Tree by Eglwys Rhos_, _near Llandudno_.

At the corner of the first turning after passing the village of Llanrhos,
on the left hand side, is a withered oak tree, called by the natives of
those parts the Devil's Tree, and it was thought to be haunted, and
therefore the young and timid were afraid to pass it of a dark night.

The Rev. W. Arthur Jones, late Curate of the parish, told me that his
horse was in the habit of shying whenever it came opposite this blighted
tree, and his servant accounted for this by saying that the horse saw
something there which was invisible to the sight of man. Be this as it
may, the tree has an uncanny appearance and a bad reputation, which some
years ago was greatly increased by an occurrence that happened there to
Cadwaladr Williams, a shoemaker, who lived at Llansantffraid Glan Conway.

Cadwaladr was in the habit of carrying his work home to Llandudno to his
customers every Saturday night in a wallet, and with the money which they
paid him he bought eatables for the coming week, and carried shoes to be
patched in one end of the wallet, and groceries, etc., in the other end,
and, by adjusting the wallet he balanced it, and carried it, over his
shoulders, home again.

This shoemaker sometimes refreshed himself too freely before starting
homewards from Llandudno, and he was in the habit of turning into the
public house at Llanrhos to gain courage to pass the Devil's Tree.

One Saturday night, instead of quietly passing this tree on the other
side, he walked fearlessly up to it, and defied the Evil One to appear if
he were there. No sooner had he uttered the defiant words than something
fell from the tree, and lit upon his shoulders, and grasped poor
Cadwaladr's neck with a grip of iron. He fought with the incubus
savagely to get rid of it, but all his exertions were in vain, and so he
was obliged to proceed on his journey with this fearful thing clinging to
him, which became heavier and heavier every step he took. At last,
thoroughly exhausted, he came to Towyn, and, more dead than alive, he
reached a friend's door and knocked, and oh, what pleasure, before the
door was opened the weight on his back had gone, but his friend knew who
it was that Cadwaladr had carried from the Devil's Tree.

_Satan appearing as a Lovely Maiden_.

The following story I received from the Rev. Owen Jones, Pentrevoelas.
As regards details it is a fragment.

A young man who was walking from Dyserth to Rhyl was overtaken by a
lovely young lady dressed in white. She invited conversation, and they
walked together awhile talking kindly, but, when they came opposite a
pool on the road side she disappeared, in the form of a ball of fire,
into the water.

All that has reached our days, in corroboration of this tale, is the
small pool.

The next tale was told me by the Rev. R. Jones, Rector of Llanycil. Mr.
Jones gave names and localities, which I have indicated by initials.

_A Man carried away by the Evil One_.

W. E., of Ll--- M---, was a very bad man; he was a brawler, a fighter, a
drunkard. He is said to have spat in the parson's face, and to have
struck him, and beaten the parish clerk who interfered. It was believed
that he had sold himself to work evil, and many foul deeds he committed,
and, what was worse, he gloried in them.

People thought that his end would be a shocking one, and they were not
disappointed. One night this reprobate and stubborn character did not
return home. The next day search was made for him, and his dead body was
found on the brink of the river. Upon inspecting the ground, it became
evident that the deceased had had a desperate struggle with an unknown
antagonist, and the battle commenced some distance above the _ceunant_,
or _dingle_, where the body was discovered. It was there seen that the
man had planted his heels deep into the ground, as if to resist a
superior force, intent upon dragging him down to the river. There were
indications that he had lost his footing; but a few yards lower down it
was observed that his feet had ploughed the ground, and every step taken
from this spot was traceable all down the declivity to the bottom of the
ravine, and every yard gave proof that a desperate and prolonged struggle
had taken place along the whole course. In one place an oak tree
intercepted the way, and it was seen that a bough had its bark peeled
off, and evidently the wretched man had taken hold of this bough and did
not let go until the bark came off in his hands, for in death he still
clutched the bark. The last and most severe struggle took place close to
the river, and here the body was dragged underneath the roots of a tree,
through a hole not big enough for a child to creep through, and this
ended the fight.

Mr. Jones stated that what was most remarkable and ominous in connection
with this foul work was the fact that, although footprints were seen in
the ground, they were all those of the miserable man, for there were no
other marks visible. From this fact and the previous evil life of this
wretched creature, the people in those parts believed that the fearful
struggle had taken place between W. E. and the Evil One, and that he had
not been murdered by any man, but that he was taken away by Satan.

The next tale is a type of many once common in Wales, and as in one
respect it connects these tales, or at least this particular one, with
Fairy stories, I will relate it.

_Satan appearing to a Young Man_.

A young man, who had left Pentrevoelas to live in a farm house called
Hafod Elwy, had to go over the hills to Denbigh on business. He started
very early, before the cock crew, and as it was winter, his journey over
the bleak moorlands was dismal and dreary. When he had proceeded several
miles on his journey an unaccountable dread crept over him. He tried to
dispel his fear by whistling and by knocking the ground with his walking
stick, but all in vain. He stopped, and thought of returning home, but
this he could not do, for he was more afraid of the ridicule of his
friends than of his own fear, and therefore he proceeded on his journey
and reached Pont Brenig, where he stopped awhile, and listened, thinking
he might see or hear someone approaching. To his horror, he observed,
through the glimmering light of the coming day, a tall gentleman
approaching, and by a great exertion he mastered his feelings so far as
to enable him to walk towards the stranger, but when within a few yards
of him he stood still, for from fright he could not move. He noticed
that the gentleman wore grey clothes, and breeches fastened with yellow
buckles, on his coat were two rows of buttons like gold, his shoes were
low, with bright clasps to them. Strange to say, this gentleman did not
pass the terrified man, but stepped into the bog and disappeared from
view.

Ever afterwards, when this man passed the spot where he had met the Evil
One, he found there money or other valuables. This latter incident
connects this tale with Fairy Folk-Lore, as the Fair People were credited
with bestowing gifts on mortals.

_Satan appearing to a Collier_.

John Roberts of Colliers' Row, Cyfartha, Merthyr, was once going to
Aberdare over the mountain. On the top of the hill he was met by a
handsome gentleman, who wore a three-cocked hat, a red waistcoat, and a
blue coat. The appearance of this well dressed man took John Roberts's
fancy; but he could not understand why he should be alone on Aberdare
mountain, and, furthermore, why he did not know the way to Aberdare, for
he had asked Roberts to direct him to the town. John stared at the
gentleman, and saw clearly a cloven foot and a long tail protruding
underneath the blue coat, and there and then the gentleman changed
himself into a _pig_, which stood before John, gave a big grunt, and then
ran away.

I received the story from a lady to whom Roberts related it.

All these tales belong to modern times, and some of them appear to be
objectless as well as ridiculous.

There are a few places in Wales which take their names from Satan. The
_Devil's Bridge_ is so called from the tradition that it was erected by
him upon the condition that the first thing that passed over it should be
his. In his design he was balked, for his intended victim, who was
accompanied by his faithful dog, threw a piece of bread across the bridge
after which the dog ran, and thus became the Devil's property, but this
victim Satan would not take.

_The Devil's Kitchen_ is a chasm in the rock on the west side of Llyn
Idwal, Carnarvonshire. The view through this opening, looking downwards
towards Ogwen Lake, is sublime, and, notwithstanding its uncanny name,
the Kitchen is well worthy of a visit from lovers of nature.

From the following quotation, taken from _Y Gordofigion_, p. 110, it
would appear that there is a rock on the side of Cader Idris called after
the Evil One. The words are:--

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