is defined in Canon Silvan Evans's Dictionary as an abyss, Hades, etc. Plant Annwn, therefore, means children of the lower regions. It is a name derived from the supposed place of...
It is a good many years since Mrs. Mary Jones, Corlanau, Llandinorwig, Carnarvonshire, told me the following tale. The scene of the story is the unenclosed mountain between Corlana...
The Rev. E. V. Owen, Vicar of Llwydiarth, Montgomeryshire, told me that the Tit's notes are a sign of rain, at least, that it is so considered in his parish. The people call the bi...
An old hag went to a small farmhouse in Clocaenog parish, and found the farmer's wife occupied in dyeing wool blue. She begged for a little wool and blue dye. She was informed by M...
Y neb a fyno gael ei weinidog yn gywir, doded beth o'r lludw hwn yn nillad ei weinidog ac efe a fydd cywir tra parhao'r lludw.--Y Brython, vol. iii., p. 137. Which is:--Whosoever w...
The Rev. Owen Jones, Pentrevoelas, whom I have already mentioned as having supplied me with the Folk-lore of his parish, kindly gave me the following tale:-- There was a clean, tid...
A witch called at a farm when they were feathering geese for sale, and she begged much for one. She was refused, but it would have been better, according to the tale, had her reque...
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...
This was a kind of shadowy funeral which foretold the real one. In South Wales it goes by the name toilu, toili, or y teulu (the family) anghladd, unburied; in Montgomeryshire it i...
The cawing of a solitary crow on a tree near a house indicates a death in that house.
But a striking instance of rapid transition from one form to another is given in the Mabinogion. The fable of Ceridwen's cauldron is as follows:-- Ceridwen was the wife of Tegid Vo...
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...
A man, who lived in the farm-house called Esgair-llaethdy, in the parish of Myddvai, in Carmarthenshire, having bought some lambs in a neighbouring fair, led them to graze near Lly...
Once on a time, in the fourteenth century, the wife of a man at Corwrion had twins, and she complained one day to the witch who lived close by, at Tyddyn y Barcut, that the childre...
This bird's motions are looked upon as weather signs. Its feeding regions are high up in the air when the weather is settled for fair, and low down when rain is approaching. Its sc...
The Rev. J. Felix, vicar of Cilcen, near Mold, when a young man lodged in Eglwysfach, near Glandovey. His landlady, noticing that he looked pale and thin, suggested that he was suf...
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 red...
Should young persons wish to know whether their husbands were to be bachelors, or their wives spinsters, the following test was to be resorted to:-- Three persons were necessary to...
This is a sound, like the ticking of a watch, made by a small insect. It is considered a sign of death, and hence its name, Death Watch. A working man's wife, whose uncle was ill i...
A young married woman, a native of Denbighshire, told me that if a young woman sowed hemp seed, the figure of her lover would appear and follow her. This was to be done by night on...
The death rappings are said to be heard in carpenters' workshops, and that they resembled the noise made by a carpenter when engaged in coffin-making. A respectable miner's wife to...
Y mae chwedl go debyg am le o'r enw Llyn-y-Ffynonau. Yr oedd yno rasio a dawnsio, a thelynio a ffidlo enbydus, a gwas o Gelli Ffrydau a'i ddau gi yn eu canol yn neidio ac yn pranci...
The son of Llech y Derwydd was the only son of his parents and heir to the farm. He was very dear to his father and mother, yea, he was as the very light of their eyes. The son and...
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...
A widow, who had an only son, was obliged, in consequence of the large flocks she possessed, to send, under the care of her son, a portion of her cattle to graze on the Black Mount...
Fairies are represented in Wales as possessing all the passions, appetites, and wants of human beings. There are many tales current of their soliciting help and favours in their ne...
This test is to be carried out on All Hallow Eve. The young person walks backwards to a holly tree, takes a handful of grass from underneath it, and then carries the leaves to the...
The Fairies have, in Wales, at least three common and distinctive names, as well as others that are not nowadays used. The first and most general name given to the Fairies is Y Tyl...
The next subject I shall treat of is curious, and partakes of the nature of spiritualism. I hardly know by what other word to describe it, therefore I will give particulars, so as...
This, too, was thought to foretell a death, but whose death, depended on the direction of the bird's head whilst crowing. As soon as the crowing was heard someone went to ascertain...