There was no more knocking after this evening. In the beginning of January, 1883, at the very time when these strange knockings, sound, and wailing were heard at Pen'rallt Fach cottage, a woman whose old home had been this very house before she had left her native land was dying in America ; and her crying on her death-bed in that far-off land was heartrending, when she found that she was too ill to return to Wales, to die at her old home in Cardiganshire, and to be buried with her husband, who had died before she had left for America. One Mr. Lloyd, from Newcastle Emlyn, happened to be at her deathbed in America, when she was longing in vain to die in her old home in Wales. This solves the mystery of the 'spirit knockings," and it also confirms the truth of the old belief that Death makes his presence known by knocking at the door of the relatives of friends of those he is about to strike. LLEDRITH-WRAITH. Lledrith is an apparition or the spectre of a person seen soon before his death or about the time he is dying. A most remarkable tale of an apparition of this kind is given in "Ysten Sioned," an interesting Welsh book written by the late Rev. Chancellor D. Silvan Evans, and Mr. John Jones (Ivon). About seventy years ago a young French sailor at Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire, had fallen in love with a servant maid in that town, and she with him. One evening, when this young woman was preparing to go to bed she heard her lover calling to her by her name. It was a bright moonlight night, and when she went to the door there she saw the young man approaching and offering his hand to her; but to her great surprise he disappeared again without speaking a single word. Soon after this, news came to the town that a ship from Aberystwyth got lost on the coast of Spain, and that amongst others of the crew, who were drowned, was the young Frenchman. The young woman discovered that her lover was drowned on the Spanish Coast in the very same hour that she saw his apparition at Aberystwyth! The young Earl of Lisburne ten years ago saw a wraith at Havod, on the night his father was dying at Crosswood Park. Of this I was informed by Mr. Inglis-Jones, Derry Ormond, and by his Lordship himself. It is well-known that the great Lord Brougham saw an apparition of this kind when a friend of his was dying in India, about one hundred years ago. TANWEDD. Another death portent was the tanwedd," so called because it appeared as a fiery light. The Rev. Edmund Jones says in his "Apparitions". When it falls to the ground it sparkleth and lightens. The freeholders and landlords upon whose ground it falls, will certainly die in a short time after." GWRACH Y RHIBYN. Gwrach y Rhibyn was an ugly old hag with long flowing hair, glaring eyes and face as gloomy as death itself. The shriek of the old hag was supposed to foretell a death or some misfortune. She appeared, as a rule, only before the death of a person who had lived a wicked life; at least this is the saying in West Wales, especially in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire. CWN ANNWN-HELL HOUNDS. Cwn Annwn were supposed to have been supernatural hounds whose yelling or howling on dark nights foreboded a death. If the howling was faint, it meant that the pack was close at hand, if loud, the hounds were only hunting at a distance. These hounds were supposed to watch for the souls of notoriously wicked men about to die. An old farmer, named Mr. Thomas Stephens, Llwyncelyn, Llanarth, Cardiganshire, informed me that his brother once heard the bark of these hounds on the road near Bronwen. OTHER DEATH OMENS. The Cock. It was once thought in all parts of Wales that the crowing of a cock before or about midnight was a sign of death; but whether one of the family or one of a neighbour's family was going to die, it depended on the direction of the cock's head whilst crowing. The Hen.-A hen crowing like a cock is also supposed to indicate a death in the family or some very near relation; or if not death, some very bad luck. A hen laying two eggs in the same day was also a sign of death. A hen laying a small egg was also a bad sign. An Owl persistently screeching near a house or a raven croaking hoarsely also indicated a death. The Dog.-A dog howling, which is called in Welsh Ci-ynudo, is a sign of a death. The Death Watch.-A sound made by a small insect like the ticking of a watch was once considered a sign of death. A few years ago a sound of this kind was for a long time heard at a house in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi; but as no one died in the house, the family was cured of the superstition. The sound in the ear as of a bell, is a token of death in the family. Clothes Burning.-A farmer's wife near Aberystwyth, informed me that a few years ago she placed a servant boy's wet trousers on a chair to dry before the fire. Then she went out to milk the cows, but when she returned to the house she found that the trousers was burnt. A few days after this her mother died. The untimely blossoming of a tree is another sign of a death. Yarrow and Heather.-Bringing either yarrow or heather into a house is a presage of death; white heather, however, is a sign of good luck. Death-pinch. This is a mark that cannot be accounted for, appearing suddenly on any part of the body, and is a sign of the death of one of the family or a relative. A Funeral Procession moving too fast is a sign that another funeral will soon follow. MISSING A BUTT. A writer in "Bye Gones" for 1892 says: The other day in going through Mid-Cardiganshire on election business, I observed one row of turnips growing in the middle of a field of potatoes on a farm occupied by a Nonconformist minister. When asked how it happened that that solitary rew of turnips came to be there, the minister explained that by accident the planters missed putting down potatoes, and the idea prevailed in the district if the vacant row was not filled in by sowing something in it, some one would die in consequence in the neighbourhood." This superstition is also found in Carmarthenshire as well as in Cardiganshire. I have met with many ministers of the Gospel, Professors of Universities, and other enlightened and educated men who are convinced that there are death portents. CHAPTER VIII. MISCELLANEOUS BELIEFS, WEATHER 20 find a horse shoe on the road or in a field is considered extremely lucky. T To see a lamb for the first time during the season with its head facing you is also lucky. When you see a newly-wedded couple throw an old pair of shoes at them, for it means "good luck to them.” This was done now at Llanilar, October, 1910, at the wedding of Miss Jones, Bryntirion, by Mrs. Richards, Derwen-Deg. To drop your stick or umbrella on your journey is unlucky. When you have started on a journey, to turn back to the house for something you have forgotten, means bad luck. To bring heather into the house is a sign of death: white heather, however, is considered extremely lucky. It is unlucky to meet a white horse when on a journey, to change it into luck spit over your little finger. If a young lady looks through a silk-handkerchief at the first new moon after New Year's Day, she will be able to see her future husband. It is unlucky to find a coin on the road, but if the head and not the tail happens to be up it is a lucky omen. To carry in one's purse a crooked sixpence, or a coin with a hole in it is lucky. Spit on the first coin you get in the day, and you'll have luck for 24 hours. Never begin any new work on a Friday or Saturday. It is considered unlucky for a servant to go to service on a Thursday or a Saturday. In Cardiganshire servants go to service either on a Monday or Wednesday, which are considered lucky days. A woman near Narberth in Pembrokeshire told me that Tuesdays and Thursdays are lucky days in that part. In some parts of Carmarthenshire, the most lucky days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. But the fact of it is, I have discovered that the days which are considered lucky in one part of the country are considered unlucky in another part. Odd numbers, especially three, and seven, are said to be lucky numbers. Thirteen, however, is considered very unlucky, and it is thought that if thirteen persons sit down to table, the last person who sits down and the first to rise up, are those to whom the illluck will fall. It is considered unlucky by many to shake hands across a table; and when two people are shaking hands, if two others of the company attempt to shake hands across their hands it is a very unlucky sign. It is considered unlucky by some to baptise more than one child in the same water. There is also the same superstition respecting one man washing after another in the same water. In Cardiganshire, it is believed that he who dies on Sunday is a godly man. Mr. Eyre Evans, Aberystwyth, informed me that he has just come across some people in Montgomeryshire who consider it unlucky to pick up or carry white stones in their pockets; and it seems from Sir John Rhys, that Manx Fishermen do not like to have a white stone in a boat. Curious Belief about Salt.-When people remove into a new house it is customary to take a bar of salt into the building before taking in any of the furniture. This is supposed to secure good luck. When this salt aeremony is forgotten or neglected, some people, especially women, are very much perturbed. I have discovered that this curious old belief about salt is very common at present in the towns of Aberystwyth, Carmarthen, and Tenby, and other parts of West Wales. To spill salt denotes quarrels. To serve another person with salt, is to serve him with sorrow. When a white spot appears on the nail of one of our fingers, it means a present. Never stir the fire in anybody's house unless you are a friend of seven years' standing. To break a looking-glass signifies ill-luck for seven years. To put the bellows on a table is considered unlucky. There is also the same superstition about boots all over Wales. Never mend your clothes while you are wearing them. There is a saying in Welsh "Gwell plygu at bin, na phlygu at ddim," (It is better to bend down for a pin, than to bend down for nothing.) It seems that a needle, however, is not considered |