Welsh Folk Lore

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"There is a tale somewhat like the preceding one told in connection with
a place called Llyn-y-Ffynonau. There was there racing and dancing, and
harping and furious fiddling, and the servant man of Gelli Ffrydau with
his two dogs in their midst jumping and dancing like mad. There they
were for three days and three nights without a break dancing as if for
very life, and were it not that there lived near by a conjuror, who knew
how things were going on, without a doubt the poor creature would have
danced himself to death. But he was spared this time."

The next tale I received from Mr. David Lloyd, schoolmaster,
Llanfihangel-Glyn-Myfyr, and he heard it in that parish.

4. _A Harper and the Fairies_.

There once lived in a remote part of Denbighshire, called Hafod Elwy, an
old harper, named Shon Robert, who used to be invited to parties to play
for the dancers, or to accompany the singers. One evening he went to
Llechwedd Llyfn, in the neighbourhood of Cefn Brith, to hold a merry
meeting, and it was late before the lads and lasses separated. At last
the harper wended his way homeward. His path was over the bare mountain.
As he came near a lake called Llyndau-ychain, he saw on its verge a grand
palace, vividly illuminated. He was greatly surprised at the sight, for
he had never seen such a building there before. He, however, proceeded
on his way, and when he came in front of this beautiful palace he was
hailed by a footman, and invited to enter. He accepted the invitation,
and was ushered into a magnificent room, where a grand ball was being
held. The guests surrounded the harper and became very friendly, and, to
his wonder, addressed him by name. This hall was magnificently
furnished. The furniture was of the most costly materials, many things
were made of solid gold. A waiter handed him a golden cup filled with
sparkling wine, which the harper gladly quaffed. He was then asked to
play for the company, and this he did to the manifest satisfaction of the
guests. By and by one of the company took Shon Robert's hat round and
collected money for the harper's benefit, and brought it back to him
filled with silver and gold. The feast was carried on with great pomp
and merriment until near the dawn of day, when, one by one, the guests
disappeared, and at last Shon was left alone. Perceiving a magnificent
couch near, he laid himself thereon, and was soon fast asleep. He did
not awake until mid-day, and then, to his surprise, he found himself
lying on a heap of heather, the grand palace had vanished away, and the
gold and silver, which he had transferred from his hat the night before
into his bag, was changed to withered leaves.

The following tale told me by the Rev. R. Jones shows that those who
witness a Fairy dance know not how time passes.

5. _A Three Hours Fairy Dance seeming as a Few Minutes_.

The Rev. R. Jones's mother, when a young unmarried woman, started one
evening from a house called Tyddyn Heilyn, Penrhyndeudraeth, to her home,
Penrhyn isaf, accompanied by their servant man, David Williams, called on
account of his great strength and stature, Dafydd Fawr, Big David. David
was carrying home on his back a flitch of bacon. The night was dark, but
calm. Williams walked somewhat in the rear of his young mistress, and
she, thinking he was following, went straight home. But three hours
passed before David appeared with the pork on his back.

He was interrogated as to the cause of his delay, and in answer said he
had only been about three minutes after his young mistress. He was told
that she had arrived three hours before him, but this David would not
believe. At length, however, he was convinced that he was wrong in his
time, and then he proceeded to account for his lagging behind as
follows:--

He observed, he said, a brilliant meteor passing through the air, which
was followed by a ring or hoop of fire, and within this hoop stood a man
and woman of small size, handsomely dressed. With one arm they embraced
each other, and with the other they took hold of the hoop, and their feet
rested on the concave surface of the ring. When the hoop reached the
earth these two beings jumped out of it, and immediately proceeded to
make a circle on the ground. As soon as this was done, a large number of
men and women instantly appeared, and to the sweetest music that ear ever
heard commenced dancing round and round the circle. The sight was so
entrancing that the man stayed, as he thought, a few minutes to witness
the scene. The ground all around was lit up by a kind of subdued light,
and he observed every movement of these beings. By and by the meteor
which had at first attracted his attention appeared again, and then the
fiery hoop came to view, and when it reached the spot where the dancing
was, the lady and gentleman who had arrived in it jumped into the hoop,
and disappeared in the same manner in which they had reached the place.
Immediately after their departure the Fairies vanished from sight, and
the man found himself alone and in darkness, and then he proceeded
homewards. In this way he accounted for his delay on the way.

In Mr. Sikes's _British Goblins_, pp. 79-81, is a graphic account of a
mad dance which Tudur ap Einion Gloff had with the Fairies, or Goblins,
at a place called Nant-yr-Ellyllon, a hollow half way up the hill to
Castell Dinas Bran, in the neighbourhood of Llangollen. All night, and
into the next day, Tudur danced frantically in the Nant, but he was
rescued by his master, who understood how to break the spell, and release
his servant from the hold the Goblins had over him! This he did by
pronouncing certain pious words, and Tudur returned home with his master.

Mr. Evan Davies, carpenter, Brynllan, Efenechtyd, who is between seventy
and eighty years old, informed the writer that his friend John Morris
told him that he had seen a company of Fairies dancing, and that they
were the handsomest men and women that he had ever seen. It was night
and dark, but the place on which the dance took place was strangely
illuminated, so that every movement of the singular beings could be
observed, but when the Fairies disappeared it became suddenly quite dark.

Although from the tales already given it would appear that the Fairies
held revelry irrespective of set times of meeting, still it was thought
that they had special days for their great banquets, and the eve of the
first of May, old style, was one of these days, and another was _Nos Wyl
Ifan_, St. John's Eve, or the evening of June 23rd.

Thus sings _Glasynys_, in _Y Brython_, vol. iii. p. 270:--

_Nos Wyl Ifan_.

_Tylwyth Teg_ yn lluoedd llawen,
O dan nodded tawel Dwynwen,
Welir yn y cel encilion,
Yn perori mwyn alawon,
Ac yn taenu hyd y twyni,
Ac ar leiniau'r deiliog lwyni,
_Hud a Lledrith_ ar y glesni,
Ac yn sibrwd dwyfol desni!

I am indebted to my friend Mr Richard Williams, F.R.H.S., Newtown,
Montgomeryshire, for the following translation of the preceding Welsh
lines:--

The Fairy Tribe in merry crowds,
Under Dwynwen's calm protection,
Are seen in shady retreats
Chanting sweet melodies,
And spreading over the bushes
And the leafy groves
Illusion and phantasy on all that is green,
And whispering their mystic lore.

May-day dances and revelling have reached our days, and probably they
have, like the Midsummer Eve's festivities, their origin in the far off
times when the Fairy Tribe inhabited Britain and other countries, and to
us have they bequeathed these Festivals, as well as that which ushers in
winter, and is called in Wales, _Nos glan gaua_, or All Hallow Eve. If
so, they have left us a legacy for which we thank them, and they have
also given us a proof of their intelligence and love of nature.

But I will now briefly refer to Fairy doings on _Nos Wyl Ifan_ as
recorded by England's greatest poet, and, further on, I shall have more
to say of this night.

Shakespeare introduces into his _Midsummer Night's Dream_ the prevailing
opinions respecting Fairies in England, but they are almost identical
with those entertained by the people of Wales; so much so are they
British in character, that it is no great stretch of the imagination to
suppose that he must have derived much of his information from an
inhabitant of Wales. However, in one particular, the poet's description
of the Fairies differs from the more early opinion of them in Wales.
Shakespeare's Fairies are, to a degree, diminutive; they are not so small
in Wales. But as to their habits in both countries they had much in
common. I will briefly allude to similarities between English and Welsh
Fairies, confining my remarks to Fairy music and dancing.

To begin, both danced in rings. A Fairy says to Puck:--

And I serve the Fairy Queen
To dew her orbs upon the green.

_Midsummer Night's Dream_, Act II., S I.

And allusion is made in the same play to these circles in these words:--

If you will patiently dance in our round
And see our moonlight revels, go with us.

Act II., S. I.

Then again Welsh and English Fairies frequented like spots to hold their
revels on. I quote from the same play:--

And now they never meet in grove or green,
By fountain clear, or spangled starlight sheen.

Act II., S. I.

And again:--

And never since the middle summer's spring
Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead
By paved fountain or by rushy brook
Or by the beached margent of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind.

Act II., S. I

And further the Fairies in both countries meet at night, and hold their
Balls throughout the hours of darkness, and separate in early morn. Thus
Puck addressing Oberon:--

Fairy King, attend and hark;
I do hear the morning lark.

Act IV., S. I.

Now until the break of day
Through this house each Fairy stray
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
Trip away, make no stay,
Meet we all at break of day.

Act V., S. I.

In the Welsh tales given of Fairy dances the music is always spoken of as
most entrancing, and Shakespeare in felicitous terms gives utterance to
the same thought--

Music, lo! music, such as charmeth sleep.

I am indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. R. O. Williams, M.A., Vicar of
Holywell, for the following singular testimony to Fairy dancing. The
writer was the Rev. Dr. Edward Williams, at one time of Oswestry, and
afterwards Principal of the Independent Academy at Rotherham in
Yorkshire, who was born at Glan Clwyd, Bodfari, Nov. 14th, 1750, and died
March 9, 1813. The extract is to be seen in the autobiography of Dr.
Williams, which has been published, but the quotation now given is copied
from the doctor's own handwriting, which now lies before me.

It may be stated that Mr. Wirt Sikes, in his _British Goblins_, refers to
the Dwarfs of Cae Caled, Bodfari, as Knockers, but he was not justified,
as will be seen from the extract, in thus describing them. For the sake
of reference the incident shall be called--The Elf Dancers of Cae Caled.

_The Elf Dancers of Cae Caled_.

Dr. Edward Williams, under the year 1757, writes as follows:--

"I am now going to relate a circumstance in this young period of my life
which probably will excite an alternate smile and thoughtful reflection,
as it has often done in myself, however singular the fact and strong the
evidence of its authenticity, and, though I have often in mature age
called to my mind the principles of religion and philosophy to account
for it, I am forced to class it among my _unknowables_. And yet I may
say that not only the fact itself, but also the consideration of its
being to my own mind inexplicable, has afforded some useful reflections,
with which this relation need not be accompanied.

"On a fine summer day (about midsummer) between the hours of 12 at noon
and one, my eldest sister and myself, our next neighbour's children
Barbara and Ann Evans, both older than myself, were in a field called Cae
Caled near their house, all innocently engaged at play by a hedge under a
tree, and not far from the stile next to that house, when one of us
observed on the middle of the field a company of--what shall I call
them?--_Beings_, neither men, women, nor children, dancing with great
briskness. They were full in view less than a hundred yards from us,
consisting of about seven or eight couples: we could not well reckon
them, owing to the briskness of their motions and the consternation with
which we were struck at a sight so unusual. They were all clothed in
red, a dress not unlike a military uniform, without hats, but their heads
tied with handkerchiefs of a reddish colour, sprigged or spotted with
yellow, all uniform in this as in habit, all tied behind with the corners
hanging down their backs, and white handkerchiefs in their hands held
loose by the corners. They appeared of a size somewhat less than our
own, but more like dwarfs than children. On the first discovery we
began, with no small dread, to question one another as to what they could
be, as there were no soldiers in the country, nor was it the time for May
dancers, and as they differed much from all the human beings we had ever
seen. Thus alarmed we dropped our play, left our station, and made for
the stile. Still keeping our eyes upon them we observed one of their
company starting from the rest and making towards us with a running pace.
I being the youngest was the last at the stile, and, though struck with
an inexpressible panic, saw the _grim elf_ just at my heels, having a
full and clear, though terrific view of him, with his ancient, swarthy,
and grim complexion. I screamed out exceedingly; my sister also and our
companions set up a roar, and the former dragged me with violence over
the stile on which, at the instant I was disengaged from it, this warlike
Lilliputian leaned and stretched himself after me, but came not over.
With palpitating hearts and loud cries we ran towards the house, alarmed
the family, and told them our trouble. The men instantly left their
dinner, with whom still trembling we went to the place, and made the most
solicitous and diligent enquiry in all the neighbourhood, both at that
time and after, but never found the least vestige of any circumstance
that could contribute to a solution of this remarkable phenomenon. Were
any disposed to question the sufficiency of this quadruple evidence, the
fact having been uniformly and often attested by each of the parties and
various and separate examinations, and call it a childish deception, it
would do them no harm to admit that, comparing themselves with the scale
of universal existence, beings with which they certainly and others with
whom it is possible they may be surrounded every moment, they are but
children of a larger size. I know but few less credulous than the
relator, but he is no Sadducee. 'He who hath delivered will yet
deliver.'"

My friend, Mr. R. Prys Jones, B.A., kindly informs me that he has several
intelligent boys in his school, the Boys' Board School, Denbigh, from
Bodfari, and to them he read the preceding story, but not one of them had
ever heard of it. It is singular that the story should have died so soon
in the neighbourhood that gave it birth.

FAIRY TRICKS WITH MORTALS.

It was formerly believed in Wales that the Fairies, for a little fun,
sportively carried men in mid air from place to place, and, having
conveyed them to a strange neighbourhood, left them to return to their
homes as best they could. Benighted travellers were ever fearful of
encountering a throng of Fairies lest they should by them be seized, and
carried to a strange part of the country.

Allusion is made to this freak of the Fairies in the _Cambro-Briton_,
vol. i., p. 348:--

"And it seems that there was some reason to be apprehensive of
encountering these 'Fair people' in a mist; for, although allowed not to
be maliciously disposed, they had a very inconvenient practice of seizing
an unwary pilgrim, and hurrying him through the air, first giving him the
choice, however, of travelling above wind, mid-wind, or below wind. If
he chose the former, he was borne to an altitude somewhat equal to that
of a balloon; if the latter, he had the full benefit of all the brakes
and briars in his way, his contact with which seldom failed to terminate
in his discomfiture. Experienced travellers, therefore, always kept in
mind the advice of Apollo to Phaeton (In medio tutissimus ibis) and
selected the middle course, which ensured them a pleasant voyage at a
moderate elevation, equally removed from the branches and the clouds."

This description of an aerial voyage of a hapless traveller through Fairy
agency corresponds with the popular faith in every particular, and it
would not have been difficult some sixty, or so, years back, to have
collected many tales in various parts of Wales of persons who had been
subjected to this kind of conveyance.

The first mention that I have been able to find of this Fairy prank is in
a small book of prose poetry called _Gweledigaeth Cwrs y Byd_, or _Y
Bardd Cwsg_, which was written by the Revd. Ellis Wynne (born 1670-1,
died 1734), rector of Llanfair, near Harlech. The "Visions of the
Sleeping Bard" were published in 1703, and in the work appear many
superstitions of the people, some of which shall by and by be mentioned.

In the very commencement of this work, the poet gives a description of a
journey which he had made through the air with the Fairies. Addressing
these beings, he says:--"Atolwg, lan gynnulleidfa, yr wyf yn deall mai
rhai o bell ydych, a gymmerwch chwi Fardd i'ch plith sy'n chwennych
trafaelio?" which in English is--"May it please you, comely assembly, as
I understand that you come from afar, to take into your company a Bard
who wishes to travel?"

The poet's request is granted, and then he describes his aerial passage
in these words:--

"Codasant fi ar eu hysgwyddau, fel codi Marchog Sir; ac yna ymaith a ni
fel y gwynt, tros dai a thiroedd, dinasoedd a theyrnasoedd, a moroedd a
mynyddoedd, heb allu dal sylw ar ddim, gan gyflymed yr oeddynt yn hedeg."
This translated is:--

"They raised me on their shoulders, as they do a Knight of the Shire, and
away we went like the wind, over houses and fields, over cities and
kingdoms, over seas and mountains, but I was unable to notice
particularly anything, because of the rapidity with which they flew."

What the poet writes of his own flight with the Fairies depicts the then
prevailing notions respecting aerial journeys by Fairy agencies, and they
bear a striking resemblance to like stories in oriental fiction. That
the belief in this form of transit survived the days of _Bardd Cwsg_ will
be seen from the following tale related by my friend Mr. E. Hamer in his
Parochial Account of Llanidloes:--

_A Man Carried Through the Air by the Fairies_.

"One Edward Jones, or 'Ned the Jockey,' as he was familiarly called,
resided, within the memory of the writer, in one of the roadside cottages
a short distance from Llanidloes, on the Newtown road. While returning
home late one evening, it was his fate to fall in with a troop of
Fairies, who were not pleased to have their gambols disturbed by a
mortal. Requesting him to depart, they politely offered him the choice
of three means of locomotion, viz., being carried off by a 'high wind,
middle wind, or low wind.' The jockey soon made up his mind, and elected
to make his trip through the air by the assistance of a high wind. No
sooner had he given his decision, than he found himself whisked high up
into the air and his senses completely bewildered by the rapidity of his
flight; he did not recover himself till he came in contact with the
earth, being suddenly dropped in the middle of a garden near Ty Gough, on
the Bryndu road, many miles distant from the spot whence he started on
his aerial journey. Ned, when relating this story, would vouch for its
genuineness in the most solemn manner, and the person who narrated it to
the writer brought forward as a proof of its truth, 'that there was not
the slightest trace of any person going into the garden while Ned was
found in the middle of it.'"

Montgomeryshire Collections, vol. x., p. 247.

Mr. Hamer records another tale much like the foregoing, but the one I
have given is a type of all such stories.

Fairy illusion and phantasy were formerly firmly believed in by the
inhabitants of Wales. Fairies were credited with being able to deceive
the eyesight, if not also the other senses of man. One illustrative tale
of this kind I will now record. Like stories are heard in many parts.
The following story is taken from _Y Gordofigion_, p. 99, a book which
has more than once been laid under contribution.

FAIRY ILLUSIONS.

"Ryw dro yr oedd brodor o Nefyn yn dyfod adref o ffair Pwllheli, ac wrth
yr Efail Newydd gwelai _Inn_ fawreddog, a chan ei fod yn gwybod nad oedd
yr un gwesty i fod yno, gofynodd i un o'r gweision os oedd ganddynt
ystabl iddo roddi ei farch. Atebwyd yn gadarnhaol. Rhoddwyd y march yn
yr ystabl, ac aeth yntau i mewn i'r ty, gofynodd am _beint_ o gwrw, ac ni
chafodd erioed well cwrw na'r cwrw hwnw. Yn mhen ychydig, gofynodd am
fyned i orphwys, a chafodd hyny hefyd. Aeth i'w orweddle, yr hwn ydoedd
o ran gwychder yn deilwng i'r brenhin; ond wchw fawr! erbyn iddo ddeffro,
cafodd ei hun yn gorwedd ar ei hyd mewn tomen ludw, a'r ceffyl wedi ei
rwymo wrth bolyn clawdd gwrysg."

This in English is as follows:--"Once upon a time a native of Nefyn was
returning from Pwllheli fair, and when near Efail Newydd he saw a
magnificent Inn, and, as he knew that no such public-house was really
there, he went up to it and asked one of the servants whether they had a
stable where he could put up his horse. He was answered in the
affirmative. The horse was placed in the stable, and the man entered the
house and asked for a pint of beer, which he thought was the best he had
ever drunk. After awhile he inquired whether he could go to rest. This
also was granted him, and he retired to his room, which in splendour was
worthy of the king. But alas! when he awoke he found himself sleeping on
his back on a heap of ashes, and the horse tied to a pole in the hedge."

FAIRY MEN CAPTURED.

There are many tales current of wee Fairy men having been captured.
These tales are, however, evidently variants of the same story. The
dwarfs are generally spoken of as having been caught by a trapper in his
net, or bag, and the hunter, quite unconscious of the fact that a Fairy
is in his bag, proceeds homewards, supposing that he has captured a
badger, or some other kind of vermin, but, all at once, he hears the
being in the bag speak, and throwing the bag down he runs away in a
terrible fright. Such in short is the tale. I will proceed to give
several versions of this story.

1. _Gwyddelwern Version_.

The following tale was told by Mr. Evan Roberts, Ffridd Agored, a farmer
in the parish of Llanfwrog. Roberts heard the story when he was a youth
in the parish of Gwyddelwern. It is as follows:--

A man went from his house for peat to the stack on the hill. As he
intended to carry away only a small quantity for immediate use, he took
with him a bag to carry it home. When he got to the hill he saw
something running before him, and he gave chase and caught it and bundled
it into the bag. He had not proceeded far on his way before he heard a
small voice shout somewhere near him, "Neddy, Neddy." And then he heard
another small voice in the bag saying, "There is daddy calling me." No
sooner did the man hear these words than in a terrible fright he threw
the bag down, and ran home as fast as he could.

2. _The Llandrillo Version_.

I am indebted for the following tale to Mr. E. S. Roberts, schoolmaster,
Llantysilio, near Llangollen:--

Two men whilst otter-hunting in Gwyn Pennant, Llandrillo, saw something
reddish scampering away across the ground just before them. They thought
it was an otter, and watching it saw that it entered a hole by the side
of the river. When they reached the place they found, underneath the
roots of a tree, two burrows. They immediately set to work to catch
their prey. Whilst one of the men pushed a long pole into one of the
burrows, the other held the mouth of a sack to the other, and very
shortly into the sack rushed their prey and it was secured. The men now
went homewards, but they had not gone far, ere they heard a voice in the
bag say, "My mother is calling me." The frightened men instantly threw
the sack to the ground, and they saw a small man, clothed in red, emerge
therefrom, and the wee creature ran away with all his might to the
brushwood that grew along the banks of the river.

3. _The Snowdon Version_.

The following tale is taken from _Y Gordofigion_, p. 98:--

"Aeth trigolion ardaloedd cylchynol y Wyddfa un tro i hela pryf llwyd.
Methasant a chael golwg ar yr un y diwrnod cyntaf; ond cynllwynasant am
un erbyn trannoeth, trwy osod sach a'i cheg yn agored ar dwll yr arferai
y pryf fyned iddo, ond ni byddai byth yn dyfod allan drwyddo am ei fod yn
rhy serth a llithrig. A'r modd a gosodasant y sach oedd rhoddi cortyn
trwy dyllau yn ei cheg, yn y fath fodd ag y crychai, ac y ceuai ei cheg
pan elai rhywbeth iddi. Felly fu; aeth pawb i'w fan, ac i'w wely y noson
hono. Gyda'r wawr bore dranoeth, awd i edrych y sach, ac erbyn dyfod ati
yr oedd ei cheg wedi crychu, yn arwydd fod rhywbeth oddifewn. Codwyd hi,
a thaflodd un hi ar ei ysgwydd i'w dwyn adref. Ond pan yn agos i Bryn y
Fedw wele dorpyn o ddynan bychan yn sefyll ar delpyn o graig gerllaw ac
yn gwaeddi, 'Meirig, wyt ti yna, dwad?' 'Ydwyf,' attebai llais dieithr
(ond dychrynedig) o'r sach. Ar hyn, wele'r helwyr yn dechreu rhedeg
ymaith, a da oedd ganddynt wneyd hyny, er gadael y sach i'r pryf, gan
dybied eu bod wedi dal yn y sach un o ysbrydion y pwll diwaelod, ond
deallasant ar ol hyny mai un o'r Tylwyth Teg oedd yn y sach."

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