Welsh folklore

There once lived in these parts three enormous giants by the name of Berwyn (after whom the Berwyn mountains are named), and his two brothers Myvyr and Rhuddwyn. One night Berwyn decided to surprise his brothers by building a bridge across the valley, near to Pistyll Rhaeadr, over which he would walk to greet them at daybreak. Eager to get the bridge finished before daybreak, so that his brothers would be both surprised and impressed by the effort he had put into his scheme, Berwyn set out to gather boulders to begin his work. So long did it take for Berwyn to find the boulders that, by the time he had reached the place where his bridge was to be built, a cockerel was heard announcing the start of the new day. Shocked that time had flown by so quickly, Berwyn dropped the enormous rocks he had collected all across the valley floor, and, so that his brothers did not know it was him, ran back to his home to hide, leaving the boulders behind. These same boulders still lie strewn across the valley floor today, nearby to the majestic waterfall, their gigantic size a testament to the titanic proportions of the giant Berwyn and his brothers, Myvyr and Rhuddwyn.

If you go into St. Michael's church in Llanyblodwel (which you should, if only to see its beautifully painted interior), you will find a small brass plaque beneath a stained glass window that reads: "To the glory of God and in memory of Elias Owen MA, FSA, vicar of this parish 1892-98, Diocesan Inspector of Schools 1876-1892, author of The Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and Welsh Folk Lore &c. This window and tablet are dedicated by his many friends in this diocese." Elias Owen was born in Llandysilio in 1833. He was one of nine children. His mother and father, Susannah and James Owen, were farmers, and James would later become one of the first constables in the Montgomeryshire Constabulary, which was established in 1840.

Welsh Fairies 'Do the Tylwyth Teg ever pay you visits?' 'The Tylwyth Teg, sir?' 'Yes; the fairies. Do they never come to have a dance on the green sward in this neighbourhood?' 'Very rarely, sir; indeed, I do not know how long it is since they have been seen.' 'You have never seen them?' 'I have not, sir; but I believe there are people living who have.' George Borrow talking with a man from Pontfadog, Wild Wales (1872).

This file has been prepared for a number of the Boggart and Banshee podcast with Simon Young and Chris Woodyard. c. 1757 four children had an encounter with some mysterious humanoids, on the Denbighshire-Flintshire border, to the south of Bodfari and just to the north of the Clywd River. The encounter is well-documented because one of the four children, Edward Williams (1750-1813, later in life a famous Methodist preacher) wrote not one but two versions of his experience (Source A and Source B). The first was composed in his early twenties and the second towards the end of his life. This has caused much confusion as different folklorists have quoted from different versions not realising that there are two separate accounts. We give the two accounts below with full bibliographical references: and an unhelpful summary (Source C) by Wirt Sikes that has added to the confusion by alleging that the humanoids were Coblynau. Thank you, Wirt…

The tale about a fairy child, sequestered by local humans, has several variants across Asturias, each one containing a distinctive line: "My mother is calling for me". I will explore the meaning of each version, as well as the significance of the differences among them. I will also throw in a few versions of the same from Great Britain and Ireland, which will highlight both the similarities and the differences in Celtic folklore and myth across Atlantic Europe.

‘Serpent stones’ have been credited with medical efficacy since antiquity. Likely hav- ing their root in ancient traditions from India, accounts are now widespread across much of the world. Serpent stones are known by many names and descriptions of their appearance and medical uses are diverse; however, they commonly have a legendary association with serpents and are most frequently considered efficacious in the alexipharmic treatment of snakebite. This work presents and details five broad categories of serpent stone: a round white stone (thought to be extracted from the head of a dragon), a smooth lens-shaped black stone (purported to be taken from the head of a snake, but artificially manufactured of burnt bone or horn), ammonites (the fossilized shells of extinct cephalopods), glass or vitreous paste in the form of rings or beads, and serpentinite.

The medicinal uses of the snakestone bead within the British Isles are surveyed and considered for the first time. The snakestone beads of the British Isles - often annular beads formed of glass or paste, but also other items similar in form - were employed against a variety of ailments, including several of the most deadly childhood diseases of the nineteenth century: teething, whooping cough and ague. In addition, they were used in the treatment of livestock and as a remedy for eye diseases. The eighteenth century saw the snakestone beads conflated with the hag-stone and employed as an amulet against witches and evil spirits.

The twelfth-century writer Gerald of Wales was a product of unique hybridity in terms of not only sociopolitical culture, but also ecclesiastical spaces. Gerald often walked a line between the colonizer, the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and the colonized, the Welsh Church. The ways in which he navigated his career between the two emphasize not only Gerald's goals of an independent Welsh Church and a bishopric at St. David's, but also the ways in which Gerald orientalized himself. Through a postcolonial reading of Gerald's Irish and Welsh texts, this study examines the ways in which he characterizes the native peoples and their religions in the folklore he collects in order to identify Gerald's ultimately futile argument for an independent Welsh Church. This study of the colonizer and colonized additionally reveals how Gerald inadvertently further identified himself as Welsh in the eyes of his Anglo-Norman readers.