The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 481, March 19, 1831
TekstMANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS
CAMBRIAN SUPERSTITIONS
We noticed the preparation of this work at p. 315 of our last volume, and there gave a few anticipatory extracts. The author is Mr. W. Howells, of Tipton, whose good fortune it has been to secure a list of Subscribers to his work, of gratifying length and flattering rank. The origin of the volume is curious enough, and is thus explained in the Preface:
"My inducement for presenting to the public these tales of 'by-gone days' was the advertisement of the very Rev. Archdeacon Beynon, which appeared in the Carmarthen Journal, of May 21, 1830, proposing a reward of twenty guineas, with a medal value three guineas, for the best printed English Essay, 8vo. containing 500 pages, on the Superstitions, Ghosts, Legends, &c. of all parts of the principality, to be delivered before February 3, 1831. Now when the limited period proposed for the collection of 500 pages of matter, and the above little adjective all is considered, it must appear obvious that such an Herculean labour is not capable of being accomplished by one individual alone.—Imagining it, therefore, to be a matter of impossibility to perform what the very reverend gentleman requires, I cannot consistently with propriety offer myself as a candidate, but will say—'Palmam qui meruit ferat.'
"I have had considerable trouble to collect the stories which appear in the work, being also two years from attaining my majority, and having so short a period to collect them, as the book is hastily ushered before a discerning public, I trust they will overlook any imperfections which may appear."
The production of the work is creditable to the enthusiasm of, legally speaking, the infant author; and we should be happy to learn that our insertion in the Mirror of some of the pieces in this volume has fostered its growth. We quote an interesting passage on
Fairy Rings
In the youthful days of an aged friend of mine, the belief in fairies existed in many parts of Wales; and, when a "schoolboy, with his satchel," unwillingly trudging to school, he has often observed, in a meadow near Conwil, Carmarthenshire, three small circles of grass, which appeared to have been weaved round the edges. Wondering much for what purpose they were ordained, he once asked his mother the use of them, when she gave him a severe injunction not to approach on any account, much less enter the rings, for, said she, they belong to the Bendith eu mammau (a species of fairies), and whoever enters them can never get out, it being enchanted ground.
These rings have not only been noticed by the illiterate, but by philosophers and learned characters, who have advanced two opinions respecting them. Some, among whom are Dr. Priestly and Mr. Jessop, upon practical and scientific observations, attributed them to lightning, but their experiments did not prove altogether satisfactory. Drs. Wollaston, Withering, and others, who had duly examined these spots, ascribed them to the growth of fungi, which opinion seems undoubtedly the best.—The rings vary in size and shape, some having seven yards of bare, with a patch of green grass a foot broad in the middle; others, of various sizes, are encompassed with grass much greener than that in the interior. It is rather remarkable that no beasts will eat of them, although some persons suppose that sheep will greedily devour the grass. Shakspeare thus speaks in his Tempest:
"Ye elves of hills, brooks, stagnant lakes, and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot,
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms–."
The following story is well known in Carmarthenshire:—A farmer going out one morning very early to fetch his horses from pasture, heard some delicious music, far sweeter he thought (no doubt) than ever bard produced from his telyn (harp); and being allured by it, as we read of men being allured of old by the enchanting voices of Sirens, he proceeded to the place whence the strains seemed to issue, and in a sequestered retreat beheld the elves footing it merrily. Wishing perhaps to obtain more extensive knowledge of these "dear little creatures," he had the magnanimity to enter the ring, with the intention of joining their matachin, and soon had his desire gratified, for there they kept him, dancing away, night and day, without intermission. His relatives at home were at a loss to know what had become of him, and immediately concluded that he had terminated his existence, or had gone on a journey; but days, weeks, and months rolled on, and no farmer appeared, nor were any tidings heard respecting him, until it chanced one day that a man passing by the lonely spot, saw him knocking his legs about as if he was bereft of his reason; and going up to him, inquired what caused him to be so merry, which broke the spell; and the farmer, as if waking out of a dream, exclaimed, "O dear! where are my horses?" and stepping out of the magical circle, fell down, and mingled his dust with the earth: no wonder, for he had been dancing without nourishment or food for more than a twelvemonth. If every fair dancer joined the Tylwyth teg's dance, how many beings would be danced out of the world?
This is credited, he informs me, in some parts of North Wales, at the present day. Two men travelling together, happened to be benighted soon after entering a wood, and one of them being fatigued, sat down and slept, but when he awoke could no where discover his companion; thinking he had travelled on, he proceeded, but when he arrived at home, was astonished at the inquiries respecting his fellow, and related that he had lost him while he slept. As there seemed to be a mystery in the case, the relatives of the absent individual went to the village wizard, who informed them that he was in the power and hands of the fairies, but if they would go to the place where he was missed by his companion, just a year after that time, they would see him dancing with them, when they were to rescue him. After the year had elapsed, they went and found it as the conjuror had said;—whereupon one of them dragged the man out of the ring, who immediately asked if it was not better to proceed home, imagining it was the same night, and that he was with his companion. One of the people presented him with some victuals, which he began to eat, but had no sooner done so, than he mouldered away.
Wishing the juvenile author all success in his future essays, we commend his present work to the lovers of superstitious lore, and to the substantial notice of the very reverend personage already alluded to.
THE GATHERER
A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.
SHAKSPEARE.
THE REFORM BILL
(For the Mirror.)
The debate relating to the Reform Bill lasted seven nights. There are many curious circumstances attached to the number seven—viz. the seven golden candlesticks, the seven wise men of the east, the seven colours, the seven sounds, the seven stars, the seven wonders of the world. Ancient Rome was built upon seven hills, &c. The gift of prophecy and the power of healing is attributed to the seventh son of a seventh son. When the several members rose late, or rather early in the morning on the seventh night's debate on the Reform Bill, the House caught the idea of Macbeth, and exclaimed, "Another yet! a seventh! I'll see no more'!"—and the House of Russell dispersed the House of Commons.
P.T.W
EPITAPH
The following lines were written by my father, on the death of his first child, who died in infancy:—W.H.H.
Nipt in the bud, the father's hope here sleeps,
And o'er her first-born child the mother weeps.
Why weep! the disencumber'd soul that's flown
Now shines another cherub round the throne!
Ah! who can tell what cares, what hopes, what fears,
Had been the portion of its lengthen'd years?
A better lot proportion'd Heaven design'd,
And bade it leave this sin-fraught world behind!
PATRIOTISM
When Admiral Sir George Rooke, who took Gibraltar, in the reign of Queen Anne, came to make his will, it surprised those that were present; but Sir George exclaimed—"I do not leave much, but what I have was honestly gotten; it never cost a sailor a tear, or the nation a farthing."
JAC-CO
SILK MANUFACTURE
In 1734, Sir Thomas Lambe erected, in an island on the Derwent, near Derby, a curious mill for the manufacture of silk. He brought the model, the only one of the kind in the kingdom, from Italy, at the hazard of his life. This machine was deemed so important, that, at the expiration of Sir Thomas's patent, parliament voted him 14,000l. for the risk he had incurred, and the expense attending its completion.