Various - "The American Missionary Volume 50, No. 4, April 1896"

Sallust - "Conspiracy of Catiline and The Jurgurthine War"

Hans Christian Andersen - "O. T., A Danish Romance"

Ferdinand Raimund - "Die gefesselte Phantasie"

Editorial
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Welsh Folk Lore

E >> Elias Owen >> Welsh Folk Lore




In the _Myths of the Middle Ages_, p. 426, an account is given of "The
Piper of Hamelin," and there we have a description of this spirit song:--

Sweet angels are calling to me from yon shore,
Come over, come over, and wander no more.

Miners believe that some of their friends have the gift of seeing fatal
accidents before they occur. A miner in the East of Denbighshire told me
of instances of this belief and he gave circumstantial proof of the truth
of his assertion. Akin to this faith is the belief that people have seen
coffins or spectral beings enter houses, both of which augur a coming
death.

In _The Lives of the Cambro-British Saints_, p. 444, it is stated that
previously to the death of St. David "the whole city was filled with the
music of angels."

The preceding death omens do not, perhaps, exhaust the number, but they
are quite enough to show how prevalent they were, and how prone the
people were to believe in such portents. Some of them can be accounted
for on natural grounds, but the majority are the creation of the
imagination, strengthened possibly in certain instances by remarkable
coincidences which were remembered, whilst if no death occurred after any
of the omens, the failure was forgotten.




BIRDS AND BEASTS.


Folk-lore respecting animals is common in Wales. It has been supposed
that mountainous countries are the cradles of superstitions. But this
is, at least, open to a doubt; for most places perpetuate these strange
fancies, and many of them have reached our days from times of old, and
the exact country whence they came is uncertain. Still, it cannot be
denied that rugged, rocky, sparsely inhabited uplands, moorlands, and
fens, are congenial abodes for wild fancies, that have their foundation
in ignorance, and are perpetuated by the credulity of an imaginative
people that lead isolated and solitary lives.

The bleating of the sheep, as they wander over a large expanse of barren
mountain land, is dismal indeed, and well might become ominous of storms
and disasters. The big fat sheep, which are penned in the lowlands of
England, with a tinkling bell strapped to the neck of the king of the
flock, convey a notion of peace and plenty to the mind of the spectator,
that the shy active mountain sheep, with their angry grunt and stamping
of their feet never convey. Still, these latter are endowed with an
instinct which the English mutton-producer does not exercise. Welsh
sheep become infallible prognosticators of a change of weather; for, by a
never failing instinct, they leave the high and bare mountain ridges for
sheltered nooks, and crowd together when they detect the approach of a
storm. Man does not observe atmospheric changes as quickly as sheep do,
and as sheep evidently possess one instinct which is strongly developed
and exercised, it is not unreasonable to suppose that man in a low state
of civilisation might credit animals with possessing powers which, if
observed, indicate or foretell other events beside storms.

Thus the lowly piping of the solitary curlew, the saucy burr of the
grouse, the screech of the owl, the croaking of the raven, the flight of
the magpie, the slowly flying heron, the noisy cock, the hungry seagull,
the shrill note of the woodpecker, the sportive duck, all become omens.

Bird omens have descended to us from remote antiquity. Rome is credited
with having received its pseudo-science of omens from Etruria, but whence
came it there? This semi-religious faith, like a river that has its
source in a far distant, unexplored mountain region, and meanders through
many countries, and does not exclusively belong to any one of the lands
through which it wanders; so neither does it seem that these credulities
belong to any one people or age; and it is difficult, if not impossible,
to trace to their origin, omens, divination, magic, witchcraft, and other
such cognate matters, which seem to belong to man's nature.

Readers of Livy remember how Romulus and Remus had recourse to bird omens
to determine which of the brothers should build Rome. Remus saw six
vultures, and Romulus twelve; therefore, as his number was the greater,
to him fell the honour of building the famous city.

But this was not the only bird test known to the Romans. Before a battle
those people consulted their game fowl to ascertain whether or not
victory was about to attend their arms. If the birds picked up briskly
the food thrown to them victory was theirs, if they did so sluggishly the
omen was unpropitious, and consequently the battle was delayed.

Plutarch, in his "Life of Alexander," gives us many proofs of that great
general's credulity. The historian says:--"Upon his (Alexander's)
approach to the walls (of Babylon) he saw a great number of crows
fighting, some of which fell down dead at his feet." This was a bad
sign. But I will not pursue the subject. Enough has been said to prove
how common omens were. I will now confine my remarks to Wales.



_Birds singing before February_.


Should the feathered songsters sing before February it is a sign of hard,
ungenial weather. This applies particularly to the blackbird and
throstle. The following lines embody this faith:--

Os can yr adar cyn Chwefror, hwy griant cyn Mai.

If birds sing before February, they will cry before May.

Thus their early singing prognosticates a prolonged winter.--_Bye-Gones_,
vol. i., p. 88.



_Birds flocking in early Autumn_.


When birds gather themselves together and form flocks in the early days
of autumn, it is thought to foretell an early and severe winter.

On the other hand, should they separate in early spring, and again
congregate in flocks, this shews that hard weather is to be expected, and
that winter will rest on the lap of May.



_Birds' Feathers_.


Feather beds should be made of domestic birds' feathers, such as geese,
ducks, and fowls. Wild fowl feathers should not be mixed with these
feathers; for, otherwise, the sick will die hard, and thus the agony of
their last moments will be prolonged.



_The Cock_.


Caesar, Bk. v., c.12, tells us that the Celtic nation did not regard it
lawful to eat the cock.

It was thought that the devil assumed occasionally the form of a cock.
It is said that at Llanfor, near Bala, the evil spirit was driven out of
the church in the form of a cock, and laid in the river Dee.

Formerly the cock was offered to the water god. And at certain Holy
Wells in Wales, such as that in the parish of Llandegla, it was customary
to offer to St. Tecla a cock for a male patient, and a hen for a female.
A like custom prevailed at St. Deifer's Well, Bodfari. Classical readers
may remember that Socrates, before his death, desired his friend Crito to
offer a cock to AEsculapius. "Crito," said he, and these were his last
words, "we owe a cock to AEsculapius, discharge that debt for me, and
pray do not forget it;" soon after which he breathed his last.

In our days, the above-mentioned superstitions do not prevail, but the
cock has not been resigned entirely to the cook. By some means or other,
it still retains the power of announcing the visit of a friend; at least,
so says the mountain farmer's wife.

The good-wife in North Wales, when the cock comes to the door-sill and
there crows many times in succession, tells her children that "Some one
is coming to visit us, I wonder who it is." Before nightfall a friend
drops in, and he is informed that he was expected, that the cock had
crowed time after time by the door, and that it was no good sending him
away, for he would come back and crow and crow, "and now," adds she, "you
have come." "Is it not strange," says the good woman, "that he never
makes a mistake," and then follows a word of praise for chanticleer,
which the stranger endorses.

However much the hospitable liked to hear their cock crow in the day
time, he was not to crow at night. But it was formerly believed that at
the crowing of the cock, fairies, spirits, ghosts, and goblins rushed to
their dread abodes. Puck was to meet the Fairy King, "ere the first cock
crow."



_Cock-fighting_.


Cock-fighting was once common in Wales, and it was said that the most
successful cock-fighters fought the bird that resembled the colour of the
day when the conflict took place; thus, the blue game-cock was brought
out on cloudy days, black when the atmosphere was inky in colour,
black-red on sunny days, and so on.

Charms for cocks have already been mentioned (p. 267). These differed in
different places. In Llansantffraid, Montgomeryshire, a crumb from the
communion table, taken therefrom at midnight following the administration
of the Holy Communion, was an infallible charm. This was placed in the
socket of the steel spur, which was then adjusted to the natural
spur.--_Bye-Gones_, vol. i., p. 88.



_The Goose_.


Should a goose lay a soft egg, a small egg, or two eggs in a day, it is a
sign of misfortune to the owner of that goose.

An old woman in Llandrinio parish, Montgomeryshire, who lived in a
cottage by the side of the Severn, and who possessed a breed of geese
that laid eggs and hatched twice a year, when I asked her the time that
geese should begin to lay, said:--

Before St. Valentine's Day
Every good goose will lay.

and she added:--

By St. Chad,
Every good goose, and bad.

St. Chad's Day is March the 2nd.

Mr. Samuel Williams, Fron, Selattyn, gave me the following version of the
above ditty:--

On Candlemas Day,
Every good goose begins to lay.

Another rendering is:--

Every good goose ought to lay
On Candlemas Day.

Candlemas Day is February 2nd.

Geese should sit so as to hatch their young when the moon waxes and not
when it wanes, for, otherwise, the goslings would not thrive. The lucky
one in the family should place the eggs for hatching under the goose or
hen.

For the following paragraph I am indebted to "Ffraid," a writer in
_Bye-Gones_, vol. i., p. 88:--

"The goose is thought to be a silly bird, and hence the expression, 'You
silly goose,' or 'You stupid goose,' as applied to a person. The falling
snow is believed to be the effect of celestial goose-feathering, and the
patron of geese--St. Michael--is supposed to be then feathering his
proteges. The first goose brought to table is called a Michaelmas goose;
a large annual fair at Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant is called 'Ffair y cwarter
Gwydd,' the quarter goose fair. Seven geese on grass land are supposed
to eat as much grass as will keep a cow. Permanent grass land is called
'Tir Gwydd,' goose land. A bed of goose feathers is required to complete
a well-furnished house. The fat of geese, called 'goose-oil,' is a
recipe for many ailments. A small bone in the head of a goose, called
the 'goose's tooth,' is carried in the pocket for luck, and is a sure
preventative against toothache."

Much of the above paragraph is common to most parts of Wales, but the
writer used to be told, when he was a lad, that the snow was caused by
"the old woman feathering her geese," and a Michaelmas goose was called a
green goose, as well as a "Michaelmas goose."



_The Crow_.


The crow figures much in Welsh folk-lore. In many ways he is made to
resemble the magpie; thus, when one crow or one magpie was seen, it was
thought to foretell misfortune, as implied by the saying:--

Un fran ddu,
Lwc ddrwg i mi.

But should the spectator shout out in a defiant way:--

Hen fran ddu,
Gras Duw i mi,

no harm would follow. The former lines in English would be:--

One crow I see,
Bad luck to me.

But this foretold evil, brought about by the old black crow, could be
counteracted by repeating the following words, (a translation of the
second couplet), with a pause between each line, and thus the last line
would assume the form of a prayer:--

Old Black Crow!
God, grace bestow;

or the evil could be hurled back upon the Old Black Crow by the
repetition of these words:--

Hen fran ddu,
Gras Duw i mi,
Lwc ddrwg i ti.

Freely translated, these lines would be:--

Old Black Crow!
God's grace to me,
Bad luck to thee.

In the English-speaking parts of Wales, such as along the borders of
Montgomeryshire, adjoining Shropshire, I have heard the following
doggerel lines substituted for the Welsh:--

Crow, crow, get out of my sight,
Before I kill thee to-morrow night.

The bad luck implied by the appearance of one crow could also be
overcome, as in the case of the magpie, by making a cross on the ground,
with finger or stick.

Although one crow implied bad luck, two crows meant good luck; thus we
have these lines:--

Dwy fran ddu,
Lwc dda i mi.

Two black crows,
Good luck to me.

Many prognostications were drawn from the appearance of crows. A crow
seen on the highest branch of a tree implied that the person seeing it
should shortly see his or her sweetheart. The manner in which they flew
foretold a wedding or a burying. When they fly in a long line there is
to be a wedding, if crowded together a funeral.

There is a common expression in Montgomeryshire--"Dwy fran dyddyn"--"The
two crows of the farm"--just as if each farm had its two crows, either as
guardians of the farm--for two crows implied good luck--or as if they
were located by couples in various places, which places became their
feeding ground and homes. This, however, is not true of rooks, which
feed in flocks and roost in flocks.



_Crows' Feathers_.


In Montgomeryshire it was, at one time, supposed that if a person picked
up a crow's feather he was sure to meet a mad dog before the day was
over.

But in other parts it was considered lucky to find a crow's feather, if,
when found, it were stuck on end into the ground. This superstition
lingered long in Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, a remote, hilly parish in
Denbighshire.

Some years ago, crows' wing or tail feathers could be seen stuck upright
in the ground in many parts of Wales, but at present such a thing cannot
be seen. The practice and the superstition have come to an end.



_A Rookery deserted was a sign of bad luck_, _but when they nested near a
house it was a sign of good luck_.


The writer visited, in the year 1887, a gentleman's park, where for
generations the rooks had made a lodgment, and by several persons his
attention was called to the ominous fact that the rooks had left the
ancestral trees which ornamented the spacious and well-wooded park, and
had even carried their nests away with them. He was informed that the
desertion boded no good to the highly respected family that occupied that
ancient seat.

The writer also visited a friend, who lives in an ancient abode, a mile
or two from the rook-rejected park, and, with a smile, he was informed by
the lady of the house that a colony of rooks had taken possession of the
trees that surrounded her house. He gladly wished her luck, to which she
responded--"It has been a long time coming."

Both these places are in East Denbighshire.

The writer remembers a case in which a rookery was deserted just before
misfortune fell upon the gentleman who occupied the house around which
grew the trees occupied by the rooks. This gentleman one morning noticed
the rooks carrying away their nests to a new home. Se called his servant
man to him, and desired him to go after the rooks and destroy their nests
in their new abode, in the fond hope that they would thus be induced to
return to their old home. This was done more than once, but the rooks
would not take the hint; they persisted in gathering up the scattered
sticks that strewed the ground, but these they replaced in the trees
above, which now had become their new home. When it was found that they
would not return, the man desisted, and his master, as he had feared, met
with dire misfortune shortly afterwards (see p. 304).



_The Cuckoo_. _Y Gog_.


The cuckoo is a sacred bird. It is safe from the gamekeeper's gun. Its
advent is welcomed with pleasure. "Have you heard the cuckoo?" is a
question put by the fortunate person who first hears its notes to every
person he meets. When it is ascertained that the cuckoo has arrived,
parents give their children pence for luck, and they themselves take care
not to leave their houses with empty pockets, for should they do so,
those pockets, if the cuckoo is heard, will be empty all the year. Those
who hear the cuckoo for the first time thrust immediately their hand in
their pockets, and turn their money, or toss a piece into the air, and
all this is for luck for the coming year ushered in by the cheering sound
of the cuckoo's notes.

It is believed that the cuckoo is in our country for several days before
its welcome two notes are heard, and that the cause of its huskiness is,
that it is tired, and has not cleared its voice by sucking birds' eggs.

Generally the cuckoo is heard for the first time yearly about the same
place, and the hill tops not far from the abodes of man are its favourite
resort. Thus we have the ditty:--

Cynta' lle y can y cogydd,
Yw y fawnog ar y mynydd.

The place where first the cuckoo sings,
Is by the peat pits on the hills.

The cuckoo is supposed to be accompanied by the wry-neck, hence its name,
"Gwas-y-gog," the cuckoo's servant. The wryneck was thought to build the
nest, and hatch and feed the young of the cuckoo.

Many superstitions cluster round the cuckoo; thus, should a person be in
doubt as to the way to take, when going from home, to secure success in
life, he, or she, waits for the cuckoo's return, and then should the bird
be heard for the first time, singing towards the east, as it flies, that
is the direction to take, or any other direction as the case may be; and
it is, or was, even thought that the flight of the cuckoo, singing as it
flies before a person, for the first time in the year, indicated a change
of abode for that person, and the new home lay in the direction in which
the cuckoo flew.

Should the cuckoo make its appearance before the leaves appear on the
hawthorn bush, it is a sign of a dry, barren year.

Os can y gog ar ddrain-llwyn llwm,
Gwerth dy geffyl a phryn dy bwn.

If the cuckoo sings on a hawthorn bare,
Sell thy horse, and thy pack prepare.

The Welsh words I heard at Llanuwchllyn, a good many years ago, just as
the cuckoo's voice was heard for the first time in those parts, and there
were then no leaves out on the hedgerows. I do not recollect whether the
prophecy became true, but it was an aged Welshman that made use of the
words. Another version of the same is heard in Llanwddyn parish:--

Os can y gog ar bincyn llwm,
Gwerth dy geffyl a phryn dy bwn.

If the cuckoo sings on a sprig that's bare,
Sell thy horse, and thy pack prepare.

The latter ditty suits a hilly country, and the former applies to the low
lands where there are hedgerows.

The early singing of the cuckoo implies a plentiful crop of hay, and this
belief is embodied in the following ditty:--

Mis cyn Clamme can y coge,
Mis cyn Awst y cana' inne.

That is:--

If the cuckoo sings a month before May-day,
I will sing a month before August.

_Calan Mai_, May-day, abbreviated to _Clamme_, according to the Old
Style, corresponds with our 12th of May, and the above saying means, that
there would be such an abundant hay harvest if the cuckoo sang a month
before May-day, that the farmer would himself sing for joy on the 12th of
July. It was the custom in the uplands of Wales to begin the hay harvest
on the 1st of July.

The above I heard in Montgomeryshire, and also the following:--

Mis cyn Clamme can y coge,
Mis cyn hynny tyf mriallu.

That is:--

If the cuckoo sings a month before May-day,

Primroses will grow a month before that time.

I do not know what this means, unless it implies that early primroses
foretell an early summer.

But, speaking of the song of the cuckoo, we have the following lines:--

Amser i ganu ydi Ebrill a Mai,
A hanner Mehefin, chwi wyddoch bob rhai.

This corresponds somewhat with the English:--

The cuckoo sings in April,
The cuckoo sings in May,
The cuckoo sings to the middle of June,
And then she flies away.

In Mochdre parish, Montgomeryshire, I was told the following:--

In May she sings all day,
In June she's out of tune.

The following Welsh lines show that the cuckoo will not sing when the hay
harvest begins:--

Pan welith hi gocyn,
Ni chanith hi gwcw.

When she sees a heap,
Silence she will keep.

In certain parts of Wales, such as Montgomeryshire, bordering on
Shropshire, it is thought that the cuckoo never sings after
Midsummer-day. This faith finds corroborative support in the following
lines:--

The cuckoo sings in April,
The cuckoo sings in May,
The cuckoo sings in Midsummer,
But never on that day.

In Flintshire, in Hawarden parish, it is believed that she mates in June,
as shown by these words:--

The cuckoo comes in April,
The cuckoo sings in May,
The cuckoo mates in June,
And in July she flies away.

In Montgomeryshire I have often heard these lines:--

The cuckoo is a fine bird,
She sings as she flies,
She brings us good tidings,
And never tells us lies;
She sucks young birds' eggs,
To make her voice clear,
And the more she sings "Cuckoo,"
The summer is quite near.

The last two lines are varied thus:--

And then she sings, "Cuckoo"
Three months in every year.

Or:--

And when she sings "Cuckoo"
The summer is near.

The cuckoo was credited with sucking birds' eggs, to make room for her
own, as well as to acquire a clear voice. Perhaps the rustic belief is
at fault here. The writer has seen a cuckoo rise from the ground with an
egg in her mouth, but he has seen it stated that the cuckoo always lays
her eggs on the ground, and carries them in her mouth until she discovers
a nest wherein to deposit them, and when she has done this her mother's
care is over.



_A White Cock_.


A white cock was looked upon as an unlucky bird, thus:--

Na chadw byth yn nghylch dy dy,
Na cheiliog gwyn, na chath ddu.

Never keep about thy house,
A white cock, nor black cat.



_Crane_.


The crane is often mistaken for the heron. When the crane flies against
the stream, she asks for rain, when with the stream she asks for fair
weather.

This bird is said to be thin when the moon wanes, and fat at the waxing
of the moon.



_Ducks_.


When ducks sportively chase each other through the water, and flap their
wings and dive about, in evident enjoyment of their pastime, it is a sign
that rain is not far off.



_Eagle_.


Persons who had eaten eagle's flesh had power to cure erysipelas, and
this virtue was said by some to be transmitted to their descendants for
ever, whilst others affirmed it only lasted for nine generations. See
page 263, where this subject is fully treated.



_The Goat Sucker_.


A curious notion prevailed respecting this bird, arrived at, presumably,
in consequence of its peculiar name--the _goat sucker_--viz., that it
lives on the milk of the goat, which it obtains by sucking the teats of
that animal.



_Putting Hens to Sit_.


Placing the eggs in the nest for hens, geese, and ducks to sit on was
considered an important undertaking. This was always done by the lucky
member of the family. It was usual to put fowl to sit so as to get the
chick out of the egg at the waxing, and not at the waning, of the moon.
It was thought that the young birds were strong or weak according to the
age of the moon when they were hatched.

March chickens were always considered the best. A game bird hatched in
March was thought to be stronger and more plucky than those that broke
their shells in any other month, and, further, to obtain all extraneous
advantages, that bird which was hatched at full moon began life with very
good prospects.

A singular custom prevailed at Llansantffraid, Montgomeryshire, when
putting hens, and other fowl, to sit. I obtained the information from
the late Vicar, the Rev. R. H. M. Hughes, M.A., an observant gentleman,
who took a lively interest in all matters connected with his parish. I
was staying with him, and he made the remark that in his parish it was
considered lucky to place the hen, when she first began to sit, with her
head towards the church. This the cottagers in the village could easily
do, for the parish church was in their midst. I do not know whether this
kind of proceeding prevailed in other places.

The number of eggs placed under a hen varied with her size, but one
general rule was followed, viz., an odd number of eggs was always placed
under her; eleven or thirteen was the usual number, but never ten or
twelve.



_The Heron_.


The heron as it flies slowly towards the source of a river is said to be
going up the river to bring the water down, in other words, this flight
is a sign of coming rain. The same thing is said of the crane.



_Fable of why the Heron frequents the banks of rivers and lakes_.

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