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Folklore Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rfol20 Miscellaneous Notes from Beatrix A. Wherry Published online: 06 Feb 2012.

To cite this article: Beatrix A. Wherry (1905) Miscellaneous Notes from Monmouthshire, Folklore, 16:1, 63-67, DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.1905.9719439 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1905.9719439

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM MONMOUTHSHIRE.1

MRS. PRYCE says there was a little old fairy woman who used to go with a basket and buy things at market No one could make out where she came from or where she went to, though they watched her closely. She had white hair, done in an old-fashioned way, and white eyes. Two men were going once past a meadow called (I think) Pontcwm, where there was a big oak-tree, round which was a circle danced bare by the fairies. About twelve o'clock they passed this tree, and sure enough there were the fairies dancing away, so these young men they went and danced too. Presently one of them looked round for his friend, and loi he had vanished, "clean and clever," so had all the fairies. He went home alone; but he was taken up next day on the charge of having made away with his friend. So that night he went back to the tree, and there was his friend waltzing' round and round with a fairy. He said he had had a splendid time, that he was well off, and meant to stop. However he was persuaded to go back for a day and explain himself; but then he returned to the fairies for good and alL In old days the fairies used often to steal children. Mrs. Pryce says, "They liked the babies of we country folk, as being fine and solid-like, and they used to rear them up with their own." She thinks there was no way of keeping the fairies out except by strong bolts and bars, they would creep in at any hole, and the child, once taken, could not be recovered. She says the fairies "live fine," although underground. Sometimes they steal a sheep, and cut it up and drag it down. She Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 12:08 22 April 2015 describes them as being about the size of a six-year-old child, with beautiful white skins, dressed in a short white garment, no shoes or stockings, and having white eyes and white hair. I asked her if she thought I could ever see one, but she thought not, there are none about now. Alas I Mrs. Perrett or Sevan lives at Tregagle; she has very bad

'See voL xv., p. 75 [Witardry en tie Welsh Border), for the various persons mentioned in these Notes. 64 Collectanea.

rheumatism, and does not go out much. She repeated to me the same stories as Mrs. Pryce about Jack o' Kent, but is most interesting on the subject of fairies. I think she believes in them; at least she thinks they make fairy rings—it is much the simplest explanation 1 There was a tradition at Trelleck, she says, of a fiddler having been lost in & c&vc j lie was heard playing underground for years afterwards. Another story of the same sort, or pos­ sibly an explanation of the above, is that some people passing through a certain meadow used to hear lovely music. Several times they heard it, and at last they collected some folk together to investigate it They traced the music to a certain spot, and there they dug in the ground, disclosing at last an underground cave wherein were two old men, hermit-like, playing, one a violin, the other a harp. They had been there many years, and used to take it in turns to go out at night and fetch food. Very old and decrepit they were, and soon after they were taken from underground they died. Mrs. Bevan's mother was an Irishwoman, and used to see many strange things. Before her father died she heard the Banshee outside her window—a strange, singing cry. And one night her family had gone out, having arranged to throw up gravel to her window to be let in on their return; she had gone to bed, but presently she heard something outside and put her head under the bed-clothes. When she lifted it up there was an old man in the room, clad in silk stockings, buckled shoes, and a three-cornered hat I (suppose he had other garments, but Mrs. Bevan did not mention them). He walked up to the bed and looked at her, then to the window, then back to her—and vanished. The family had to get in by a ladder, and found the Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 12:08 22 April 2015 ghost-seer in a faint When her husband was at Gibraltar Mrs. Bevan's mother came to live in Monmouth, for when trying to get a pass to go but to'him she had drawn a blank. One day she had been up to Mitchel Troy to see some friends, and the man of the house came part way back with her. Now between Mitchel Troy and Monmouth there is a meadow, where it is said they began to build , but what was built up Collectanea. 65

by day every night fell down. Here Mrs. Bevan's mother saw a lady in white, whom she pointed out to her companion. He saw nothing. The lady came on, and passed between the two people with a sound of rustling silk, and vanished. She had long, loose, golden hair and a rich white gown. Mrs. Bevan's mother fainted, and had to be carried home. One of MRS. BRITON'S children was at an early age afflicted with rupture; she tried a great many cures for him, and none were successful. At last an old charmer advised her to pass him through a maiden ash, and that would cure him. (A maiden ash is one grown from its own seed and never touched with a knife.) At twelve o'clock on Friday night the baby was wrapped up and taken to the field while the clock was striking. The ash stood in the hedge, and had been wedged open the night before at the same time. Mrs. Briton stood one side of the hedge and the charmer the other, and they passed the baby nine times backwards and forwards through the tree. All this time not a word was spoken, the ash was bound up and the baby taken home, and as the tree healed so did the child, and is now as well as any other, and to this day the "stoggle" of the ash remains in the hedge. On Midsummer Eve there is a custom at Cwmcarvon to make a little mound of clay shaped like a grave and put in it pieces of valerian (" midsummer men " they call it about there), naming one for each member of the household. In the morning some are found lying right down—these are those destined to die within the year, those drooping will be ill during the year, and so on. To prophesy the course of true love two " midsummer men "

Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 12:08 22 April 2015 should be taken and named, say one for Tom and one for Jane. These should be stuck in clay and put over the lintel of the door. In the morning you will be able to tell how things stand. If Jane leans to Tom and Tom stands straight or leans away, Jane loves him in vain, and VICE VERSA. If both stand straight they do not care for each other, and if they bend over arid touch they will marry within the yearf?). At a wedding in , when the bride and bridegroom are coming back from church the way is roped, and on the rope K 66 Collectanea.

are tied four bouquets. The men who keep the rope stop the bridal party and demand toll from the bridegroom. When this is given they present the bouquets to the bride and bridegroom, best man and bridesmaid, and allow them to pass. When they arrive at the house, before taking her hat off, the bride is led by her husband to the breakfast table, where (with his sword if he has one, or, if not, with the best knife in the house) she makes one cut in the cake, he then takes the knife and makes a cut the other way, thus finishing the slice. The bride should always borrow something, a veil or lace, eta, to be married in. Burial Custom.—To keep a corpse from swelling a saucer of salt or a turf should be put on the breast and a pan of water underneath. Rue, hyssop, and wormwood should be put in the coffin. Before starting for the burial-ground there should be singing in the house. The corpse should be carried out at the front door feet first, and should then be turned with its face to the east. In Ross funeral cakes made like hot cross buns are baked, and a dole is given to the bearers, consisting of a coin, which may be a penny, sixpence, shilling, or upwards, one for each man. (Mrs. Briton says a relative of hers gave eight half-crowns.) These coins are always given in a pair of kid gloves. A curious incident took place once at Penallt A woman and her daughter had been turned out of their house, which had made them furious. Soon afterwards the older woman died, and while her corpse was being carried to church the daughter suddenly drew a slipper from under her apron and struck with it three times at the coffin, exclaiming as she did so, "Mother, I'm here, fulfilling your commands I" and with Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 12:08 22 April 2015 that she threw the slipper into an orchard close by belonging to those people who had turned them out And for long after that the farm never prospered and no one could stay there, though by this time the curse appears to have been removed, as the present inhabitants are doing welL Some time ago a terrible quarrel took place about some stolen fowls. The story is too complicated to follow, but it ended in one of the disputants, Mrs. Adams, being sent to goal. Collectanea. 67

HER HUSBAND THEN WENT TO JENKINS,1 WHO TOLD HIM THAT MRS. JONES, THE OTHER PARTY, had STOLEN HIS FOWLS, AND HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT SHE WOULD SOON BE COMING TO TELL HIM TO FETCH THEM BACK; "BUT," HE SAID, "DON'T YOU FETCH THEM BACK, YOU LET 'ER BRING THEM, AND IF SHE DON'T SHELL NEVER REST, I TELL YOU, AS LONG AS SHE DO LIVE." SURE ENOUGH, WHEN ADAMS GOT BACK HE HEARD THAT MRS. JONES HAD BEEN ASKING FOR HIM, AND PRESENDY SHE APPEARED AGAIN. "TOM," SAYS SHE, "IF THEM FOWLS BE YOUR/N, DO YOU COME AND FETCH 'EM." "NO," SAYS ADAMS, "YOU TOOK THEM, AND YOU CAN BRING 'EM BACK." BUT SHE DIDN'T, AND, SO MRS. BRITON SAYS, SHE HAS NEVER RESTED FROM THAT DAY TO THIS, BUT IS CONTINUALLY ON THE FIDGET— IF YOU GIVE HER A DROP OF TEA OR ANYTHING SHE CAN'T DRINK IT FOR SHAKING; SHE AND HER FAMILY ALWAYS HAVE BAD LUCK. AND IN REVENGE MRS. ADAMS HAS SWORN THAT WHEN MRS. JONES DIES AND IS CARRIED TO BE BURIED SHE WILL WALK BEFORE AND "FEATHER THE WAY." MRS. BRITON HAS PROMISED TO SEND ME A BOOK FULL OF RHYMES COLLECTED A LONG TIME AGO. THE ONLY ONES SHE HAS TOLD ME, THOUGH, ARE THE FOLLOWING:

" BATHE YOUR EYES ON BARTIMY DAY,' YON MAY THROW YOUR SPECTACLES AWAY."

" WHERE THE MISTRESS IS THE MASTER THE PARSLEY GROWS THE FASTER."

THE FOLLOWING ARE SAYINGS ABOUT THE PLACES ROUND: " BOM AND CHEPSTOW BRED, STRONG IN THE ARM AND WEAK IN THE HEAD."

" I'VE BEEN TO COLEFORD—GOT BOTH EYES OPEN!"' Downloaded by [Temple University Libraries] at 12:08 22 April 2015

BEATRIX A. WHERRY.

1SEE VOL. XV., P. 76. '[BARTLEMY DAYS ST BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY. POSSIBLY THERE IS HERE SOME CONFUSION WITH "BLIND BARRI MANIA, THE SON OF TIMGEUS."—ED.] '[/.«. ACROSS THE WYE. COMPARE THE BISHOP'S CASTLE SAYING (SHROPSHIRE), "YOU'VE GOT TO GO OVER CLAN BRIDGE TO GET SHARPENED."—ED.]