Welsh Folk-Lore Part 34

He writes in the third part of his book, where a devil is accused in the Parliament of h.e.l.l, thus:--"Aeth nos _Ystwyll_ ddiweddaf i ymweled a dwy ferch ieuanc yng Nghymru _oedd yn troi crysau_, ac yn lle denu'r genethod i faswedd, yn rhith llanc glandeg, myned ag elor i sobreiddio un; a myned a thrwst rhyfel at y llall mewn corwynt uffernol."

"He went on the night of _Epiphany_ to visit two young girls in Wales, who were turning shirts, and, instead of enticing them to folly, in the form of a handsome young man, he took to the one a coffin to sober her, and to the other he appeared in a h.e.l.lish whirlwind, with a horrible noise."

Happy, however, is the young woman should the man she loves appear, for he is to be her husband.

_Hemp Seed Sowing_.

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 Hallow Eve. I find from _English Folk-Lore_, p. 15, that this divination is practised in Devonshire on St.

Valentine's Eve, and that the young woman runs round the church repeating, without stopping, the following lines:--

"I sow hempseed, hempseed I sow, He that loves me best Come, and after me now."

_Sage Gathering_.

A young person who went of a night to the garden, and stripped the leaves of the sage tree, would, as the clock struck twelve, be joined by her lover. This was to be done on All Hallow Eve.

_Pullet's Egg Divination_.

Mr. J. Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, told me the following:--When he was a young man, he, his sister, and the servant man, formed a company to find out by divination their future life partners.

They procured a pullet's egg, it was emptied into a cup, to this was added flour and salt, in equal proportions, these ingredients were mixed together, made into three small cakes, and baked. They all ate one half of their cake, and the other half was placed in their respective stockings, to be placed under their bolsters. They went upstairs backward, and thus to bed, preserving the while, absolute silence. It was believed, he said, that they should that night, in their dreams, if everything were carried out properly, see their partners, who would come to their bedsides to offer them a drink of water.

_The Candle and Pin Divination_.

The process is as follows:--A couple of young women meet, and stick pins in a candle, and if the divination acts properly the last pin drops out of the candle at 12 o'clock at night, and then the future husband of the girl to whom that pin belongs appears.

I must not name the lady whom I am indebted to for the following information, but she told me that when she was a young woman, she, and her friend, took part in this prying into the future, and exactly at 12 o'clock her companion's pin fell out of the candle, and at that very instant there was a knocking at the door, and in great fright both ran upstairs, but the knocking continued, and her friend put her head out of the window to enquire who was there, and my informant told me that the man at the door became her friend's husband, though at the time they were consulting the future she was desperately in love with another man.

There were other ways in which people could _Rhamant_. Enough has been said on this subject, but there are other practices resorted to, having much the same object in view, which I will now relate.

_To ascertain the condition of the Person whom you are to Marry_.

_Water in Basin Divination_.

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 carry out the test. These three young ladies were to join in the undertaking and they were to proceed as follows:--On _Nos Calan Gauaf_, All Hallow Eve, at night, three basins were to be placed on a table, _one filled with clear spring water_, _one with muddy water_, _and the other empty_. The young ladies in turn were led blindfolded into the room, and to the table, and they were told to place their hands on the basins. She who placed her hand on the clear spring water was to marry a bachelor, whilst the one who touched the basin with muddy water was to wed a widower, and should the empty basin be touched it foretold that for that person a life of single blessedness was in store.

_Hairs of a Lover found under a Holly Tree_.

This test is to be carried out on All Hallow Eve. The young person walks backwards to a holly tree, takes a handful of gra.s.s from underneath it, and then carries the leaves to the light, and she then sees among the gra.s.s several hairs of her true lover.

_The Bible and Key Divination_.

A key is taken, and placed on the 16th verse of the 1st chapter of Ruth:--"And Ruth said, intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d."

The Bible is then closed with that part of the key that enters the lock on this verse. The person who wishes to look into the future takes the garter off his left leg, and then ties the Bible round with his garter, which also pa.s.ses through the loop of the key. He has with him a friend who joins in carrying out the test. Both men place one of their big or central fingers on the key underneath the loop, and press the key, so as to keep the Bible steady and the key from falling. Then the man, who does not consult the future, reads the verse above written, and should the Bible turn towards the other man, it is an affirmative answer that the young lady he loves will accept him.

The writer received this account from a man who had himself consulted the future by the Bible and Key.

_Testing a Lover's Love by Cracking of Nuts_.

This divination is common to many countries, but the writer knows that it is resorted to on _All Hallows Eve_ in Denbighshire by young ladies, partly, it may be in fun, and partly in earnest. The plan of proceeding is as follows:--Nuts are placed on the bars of the fire grate, equal in number to the young lady's lovers, and the nut that cracks first, and jumps off the bar, represents her true love. She has, of course fixed in her mind the lover each nut stands for. So common is this test that in the North of England _All Hallows Eve_ is called "_Nutcrack night_."

_Gay_ describes the ceremony:--

Two hazel nuts I throw into the flame And to each nut I give a sweetheart's name; This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed, That in a flame of brightest-colour blazed; As blazed the nut, so may thy pa.s.sions grow, For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow.

_Burns_, in his poem of _Hallowe'en_ also mentions the nut divination.

The auld guidwife's weel-hoordet nits Are round an' round divided, An' monie lads' and la.s.ses' fates Are there that night decided; Some kindle, couthie, side by side, An' burn thegither trimly; Some start awa' wi' saucy pride, And jump out-owre the chimlie Fu' high that night.

Jean slips in twa' wi' tentie e'e; Wha 'twas, she wadna tell; But this is Jock, an' this is me, She says in to hersel': He bleez'd owre her, and she owre him, As they wad never mair part; 'Till, fuff! he started up the lum, An' Jean had e'en a sair heart To see't that night.

_The Apple Pip Trial of Lovers_.

The fair lady takes as many pips as she has lovers, and these she places on the point of a knife, which she inserts between the bars of the fire grate. Each pip represents a lover, and the pip that swells out and jumps into the fire indicates that he is the best lover for whom the pip stands.

SPIRITUALISM.

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 to make the matter intelligible to the reader, and call it "Spiritualism."

It was believed that it was possible for the spirit to leave the body, and then, after an absence of some time, to return again and re-enter it.

The form the spirit a.s.sumed when it quitted the body was a bluish light like that of a candle, but somewhat longer. This light left the body through the mouth, and re-entered the same way.