“pwy sy’n caru, a phwy sy’n peidio,
a phwy sy’n troi hen gariad heibio.”
who loves, and who loves not,
and who puts off his old love?
undoubtedly, young men and young women all over the world from the time of adam to the present day, always had, and still have, their modes or ways of associating or keeping company with one another whilst they are in love, and waiting for, and looking forward to, the bright wedding day. in wales, different modes of courting prevail; but i am happy to state the old disgraceful custom of bundling, which was once so common in some rural districts, has entirely died out, or at least we do not hear anything about it nowadays. i believe wirt sikes is right in his remarks when he says that such a custom has had its origin in primitive times, when, out of the necessities of existence, a whole household lay down together for greater warmth, with their usual clothing on.
giraldus cambrensis, 700 years ago, writes of this custom in these words:—
“propinquo concubantium calore multum adjuti.”
of course, ministers of religion, both the clergy of the church of england and nonconformist ministers condemned such practice very sternly, but about two generations ago, there were many respectable farmers who more or less defended the custom, and it continued to a certain extent until very recently, even without hardly any immoral consequences, owing to the high moral standard and the religious tendencies of the welsh people.
one reason for the prevalence of such custom was that in times past in wales, both farm servants and farmers’ sons and daughters were so busy, from early dawn till a late hour in the evening that they had hardly time or an opportunity to attend to their love affairs, except in the night time. within the memory of hundreds who are still alive, it was the common [2]practice of many of the young men in cardiganshire and other parts of west wales, to go on a journey for miles in the depth of night to see the fair maidens, and on their way home, perhaps, about 3 o’clock in the morning they would see a ghost or an apparition! but that did not keep them from going out at night to see the girls they loved, or to try to make love. sometimes, several young men would proceed together on a courting expedition, as it were, if we may use such a term, and after a good deal of idle talk about the young ladies, some of them would direct their steps towards a certain farmhouse in one direction, and others in another direction in order to see their respective sweethearts, and this late at night as i have already mentioned.
it was very often the case that a farmer’s son and the servant would go together to a neighbouring farm house, a few miles off, the farmer’s son to see the daughter of the house, and the servant to see the servant maid, and when this happened it was most convenient and suited them both. after approaching the house very quietly, they would knock at the window of the young woman’s room, very cautiously, however, so as not to arouse the farmer and his wife.
i heard the following story when a boy:—a young farmer, who lived somewhere between tregaron and lampeter, in cardiganshire, rode one night to a certain farm-house, some miles off, to have a talk with the young woman of his affection, and after arriving at his destination, he left his horse in a stable and then entered the house to see his sweetheart. meanwhile, a farm servant played him a trick by taking the horse out of the stable, and putting a bull there instead. about 3 o’clock in the morning the young lover decided to go home, and went to the stable for his horse. it was very dark, and as he entered the stable he left the door wide open, through which an animal rushed wildly out, which he took for his horse. he ran after the animal for hours, but at daybreak, to his great disappointment, found that he had been running after a bull!
another common practice is to meet at the fairs, or on the way home from the fairs. in most of the country towns and villages there are special fairs for farm servants, both male and female, to resort to; and many farmers’ sons and daughters attend them as well. these fairs give abundant opportunity for association and intimacy between young men and women.
indeed, it is at these fairs that hundreds of boys and girls meet for the first time. a young man comes in contact with a [3]young girl, he gives her some “fairings” or offers her a glass of something to drink, and accompanies her home in the evening. sometimes when it happens that there should be a prettier and more attractive maiden than the rest present at the fair, occasionally a scuffle or perhaps a fight takes place, between several young men in trying to secure her society, and on such occasions, of course, the best young man in her sight is to have the privilege of her company.
as to whether the welsh maidens are prettier or not so pretty as english girls, i am not able to express an opinion; but that many of them were both handsome and attractive in the old times, at least, is an historical fact; for we know that it was a very common thing among the old norman nobles, after the conquest, to marry welsh ladies, whilst they reduced the anglo-saxons almost to slavery. who has not heard the beautiful old welsh air, “morwynion glan meirionydd” (“the pretty maidens of merioneth”)?
good many men tell me that the young women of the county of merioneth are much more handsome than those of cardiganshire; but that cardiganshire women make the best wives.
myddfai parish in carmarthenshire was in former times celebrated for its fair maidens, according to an old rhyme which records their beauty thus:—
“mae eira gwyn ar ben y bryn,
a’r glasgoed yn y ferdre,
mae bedw man ynghanol cwm-bran,
a merched glan yn myddfe.”
principal sir john rhys translates this as follows:—
“there is white snow on the mountain’s brow,
and greenwood at the verdre,
young birch so good in cwm-bran wood,
and lovely girls in myddfe.”
in the time of king arthur of old, the fairest maiden in wales was the beautiful olwen, whom the young prince kilhwch married after many adventures. in the mabinogion we are informed that “more yellow was her hair than the flowers of the broom, and her skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and her fingers than the blossoms of the wood-anemone, amidst the spray of the meadow fountain. the eye of the trained hawk, the glance of the three-mewed falcon, was not brighter than hers. her bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan; her cheek was redder than the reddest roses. those who beheld her were filled with her love. four white trefoils sprang up wherever she trod. she was clothed [4]in a robe of flame-coloured silk, and about her neck was a collar of ruddy gold, on which were precious emeralds and rubies.”
a good deal of courting is done at the present day while going home from church or chapel as the case may be. the welsh people are very religious, and almost everybody attends a place of worship, and going home from church gives young people of both sexes abundant opportunities of becoming intimate with one another. indeed, it is almost a general custom now for a young man to accompany a young lady home from church.
the welsh people are of an affectionate disposition, and thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of love, but they keep their love more secret, perhaps, than the english; and welsh bards at all times have been celebrated for singing in praise of female beauty. davydd ap gwilym, the chief poet of wales, sang at least one hundred love songs to his beloved morfudd.
this celebrated bard flourished in the fourteenth century, and he belonged to a good family, for his father, gwilym gam, was a direct descendant from llywarch ap bran, chief of one of the fifteen royal tribes of north wales; and his mother was a descendant of the princes of south wales. according to the traditions of cardiganshire people, davydd was born at bro-gynin, near gogerddan, in the parish of llanbadarn-fawr, and only a few miles from the spot where the town of aberystwyth is situated at present.
an ancient bard informs us that taliesin of old had foretold the honour to be conferred on bro-gynin, in being the birthplace of a poet whose muse should be as the sweetness of wine:—
“am dafydd, gelfydd goelin—praff awdwr,
prophwydodd taliesin,
y genid ym mro gynin,
brydydd a’i gywydd fel gwin.”
the poet, davydd ap gwilym, is represented as a fair young man who loved many, or that many were the young maidens who fell in love with him, and there is one most amusing tradition of his love adventures. it is said that on one occasion he went to visit about twenty young ladies about the same time, and that he appointed a meeting with each of them under an oak-tree—all of them at the same hour. meanwhile, the young bard had secretly climbed up the tree and concealed himself among the branches, so that he might see the event of this meeting. every one of the young girls was there punctually at the appointed time, and equally astonished to perceive any female there besides herself. they looked at one another in surprise, and at last one of them [5]asked another, “what brought you here?” “to keep an appointment with dafydd ap gwilym” was the reply. “that’s how i came also” said the other “and i” added a third girl, and all of them had the same tale. they then discovered the trick which dafydd had played with them, and all of them agreed together to punish him, and even to kill him, if they could get hold of him. dafydd, who was peeping from his hiding-place amongst the branches of the tree, replied as follows in rhyme:—
“y butein wen fain fwynnf—o honoch
i hono maddeuaf,
tan frig pren a heulwen haf,
teg anterth, t’rawed gyntaf!”
the words have been translated by someone something as follows:—
“if you can be so cruel,
let the kind wanton jade,
who oftenest met me in this shade,
on summer’s morn, by love inclined,
let her strike first, and i’m resigned.”
dafydd’s words had the desired effect. the young women began to question each other’s purity, which led to a regular quarrel between them, and, during the scuffle, the poet escaped safe and sound.
after this the poet fell in love with the daughter of one madog lawgam, whose name was morfudd, and in her honour he wrote many songs, and it seems that he ever remained true to this lady. they were secretly married in the woodland; but morfudd’s parents disliked the poet so much for some reason or other, that the beautiful young lady was taken away from him and compelled to marry an old man known as bwa bach, or little hunchback. dafydd was tempted to elope with morfudd, but he was found, fined and put in prison; but through the kindness of the men of glamorgan, who highly esteemed the poet, he was released. after this, it seems that dafydd was love-sick as long as he lived, and at last died of love, and he left the following directions for his funeral:—
“my spotless shroud shall be of summer flowers,
my coffin from out the woodland bowers:
the flowers of wood and wild shall be my pall,
my bier, light forest branches green and tall;
and thou shalt see the white gulls of the main
in thousands gather then to bear my train!”
one of dafydd’s chief patrons was his kinsman, the famous and noble ivor hael, lord of macsaleg, from whose stock the present viscount tredegar is a direct descendant, and, in judging the character of the poet we must take into consideration what was the moral condition of the country in the fourteenth century. [6]
but to come to more modern times, tradition has it that a young man named morgan jones of dolau gwyrddon, in the vale of teivi, fell in love with the squire of dyffryn llynod’s daughter. the young man and the young woman were passionately in love with each other; but the squire, who was a staunch royalist, refused to give his consent to his daughter’s marriage with morgan jones, as the young man’s grandfather had fought for cromwell. the courtship between the lovers was kept on for years in secret, and the squire banished his daughter to france more than once. at last the young lady fell a victim to the small pox, and died. just before her death, her lover came to see her, and caught the fever from her, and he also died. his last wish was that he should be buried in the same grave as the one he had loved so dearly, but this was denied him.
in merionethshire there is a tradition that many generations ago a squire of gorsygedol, near harlech, had a beautiful daughter who fell in love with a shepherd boy. to prevent her seeing the young man, her father locked his daughter in a garret, but a secret correspondence was carried on between the lovers by means of a dove she had taught to carry the letters. the young lady at last died broken-hearted, and soon after her burial the dove was found dead upon her grave! and the young man with a sad heart left his native land for ever.
more happy, though not less romantic, was the lot of a young man who was shipwrecked on the coast of pembrokeshire, and washed up more dead than alive on the seashore, where he was found by the daughter and heiress of sir john de st. bride’s, who caused him to be carried to her father’s house where he was hospitably entertained. the young man, of course, was soon head and ears in love with his fair deliverer, and the lady being in nowise backward in response to his suit, they married and founded a family of laugharnes, and their descendants for generations resided at orlandon, near st. bride’s.
the rev. d. g. williams in his interesting welsh collection of the folk-lore of carmarthenshire says that in that part of the county which borders on pembrokeshire, there is a strange custom of presenting a rejected lover with a yellow flower, or should it happen at the time of year when there are no flowers, to give a yellow ribbon.
this reminds us of a curious old custom which was formerly very common everywhere in wales; that of presenting a rejected lover, whether male or female, with a stick or sprig of [7]hazel-tree. according to the “cambro briton,” for november, 1821, this was often done at a “cyfarfod cymhorth,” or a meeting held for the benefit of a poor person, at whose house or at that of a neighbour, a number of young women, mostly servants, used to meet by permission of their respective employers, in order to give a day’s work, either in spinning or knitting, according as there was need of their assistance, and, towards the close of the day, when their task was ended, dancing and singing were usually introduced, and the evening spent with glee and conviviality. at the early part of the day, it was customary for the young women to receive some presents from their several suitors, as a token of their truth or inconstancy. on this occasion the lover could not present anything more odious to the fair one than the sprig of a “collen,” or hazel-tree, which was always a well-known sign of a change of mind on the part of the young man, and, consequently, that the maiden could no longer expect to be the real object of his choice. the presents, in general, consisted of cakes, silver spoons, etc., and agreeably to the respectability of the sweetheart, and were highly decorated with all manner of flowers; and if it was the lover’s intention to break off his engagement with the young lady, he had only to add a sprig of hazel. these pledges were handed to the respective lasses by the different “caisars,” or merry andrews,—persons dressed in disguise for the occasion, who, in their turn, used to take each his young woman by the hand to an adjoining room where they would deliver the “pwysi,” or nose-gay, as it was called, and afterwards immediately retire upon having mentioned the giver’s name.
when a young woman also had made up her mind to have nothing further to do with a young man who had been her lover, or proposed to become one, she used to give him a “ffon wen,” (white wand) from an hazel tree, decorated with white ribbons. this was a sign to the young man that she did not love him.
the welsh name for hazel-tree is “collen.” now the word “coll” has a double meaning; it means to lose anything, as well as a name for the hazel, and it is the opinion of some that this double meaning of the word gave the origin to the custom of making use of the hazel-tree as a sign of the loss of a lover.
it is also worthy of notice, that, whilst the hazel indicated the rejection of a lover, the birch tree, on the other hand, was used as an emblem of love, or in other words that a lover was accepted. among the welsh young persons of both sexes were able to make known their love to one another without speaking, [8]only by presenting a birchen-wreath. this curious old custom of presenting a rejected lover with a white wand was known at pontrhydfendigaid, in cardiganshire until only a few years ago. my informant was dr. morgan, pontrhydygroes. mrs. hughes, cwrtycadno, llanilar, also informed me that she had heard something about such custom at tregaron, when she was young.
it was also the custom to adorn a mixture of birch and quicken-tree with flowers and a ribbon, and leave it where it was most likely to be found by the person intended on may-morning. dafydd ap gwilym, the poet, i have just referred to, mentions of this in singing to morfudd.
young people of both sexes, are very anxious to know whether they are to marry the lady or the gentleman they now love, or who is to be their future partner in life, or are they to die single. young people have good many most curious and different ways to decide all such interesting and important questions, by resorting to uncanny and romantic charms and incantations. to seek hidden information by incantation was very often resorted to in times past, especially about a hundred years ago, and even at the present day, but not as much as in former times. it was believed, and is perhaps, still believed by some, that the spirit of a person could be invoked, and that it would appear, and that young women by performing certain ceremonies could obtain a sight of the young men they were to marry.
such charms were performed sometimes on certain saints’ days, or on one of the “three spirits’ nights,” or on a certain day of the moon; but more frequently on “nos calan gauaf” or all hallows eve—the 31st. of october. all hallows was one of the “three spirits’ nights,” and an important night in the calendar of young maidens anxious to see the spirits of their future husbands.
in cardiganshire, divination by means of a ball of yarn, known as “coel yr edau wlan” is practised, and indeed in many other parts of wales. a young unmarried woman in going to her bedroom would take with her a ball of yarn, and double the threads, and then she would tie small pieces of wool along these threads, so as to form a small thread ladder, and, opening her bedroom window threw this miniature ladder out to the ground, and then winding back the yarn, and at the same time saying the following words:—
“y fi sy’n dirwyn
pwy sy’n dal”
which means:
“i am winding,
who is holding?”
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then the spirit of the future husband of the girl who was performing the ceremony was supposed to mount this little ladder and appear to her. but if the spirit did not appear, the charm was repeated over again, and even a third time. if no spirit was to be seen after performing such ceremony three times, the young lady had no hope of a husband. in some places, young girls do not take the trouble to make this ladder, but, simply throw out through the open window, a ball of yarn, and saying the words:
“i am winding, who is holding.”
another custom among the young ladies of cardiganshire in order to see their future husbands is to walk nine times round the house with a glove in the hand, saying the while—“dyma’r faneg, lle mae’r llaw.”—“here’s the glove, where is the hand?” others again would walk round the dungheap, holding a shoe in the left hand, and saying “here’s the shoe, where is the foot?” happy is the young woman who sees the young man she loves, for he is to be her future husband.
in carmarthenshire young girls desirous of seeing their future partners in life, walk round a leek bed, carrying seed in their hand, and saying as follows:—
“hadau, hadau, hau,
sawl sy’n cam, doed i grynhoi.”
“seed, seed, sowing.
he that loves, let him come to gather.”
it was also the custom in the same county for young men and young women to go round a grove and take a handful of moss, in which was found the colour of the future wife or husband’s hair.
in pembrokeshire, it is the custom for young girls to put under their pillow at night, a shoulder of mutton, with nine holes bored in the blade bone, and at the same time they put their shoes at the foot of the bed in the shape of the letter t, and an incantation is said over them. by doing this, they are supposed to see their future husbands in their dreams, and that in their everyday clothes. this curious custom of placing shoes at the foot of the bed was very common till very recently, and, probably, it is still so, not only in pembrokeshire, but with welsh girls all over south wales. a woman who is well and alive told me once, that many years ago she had tried the experiment herself, and she positively asserted that she actually saw the spirit of the man who became her husband, coming near her bed, and that happened when she was only a young girl, and some time before she ever met the man. when she was telling me this, she had been married for many years and had grown-up children, and i may add that her husband was a particular friend of mine. [10]
another well-known form of divination, often practised by the young girls in carmarthenshire, cardiganshire and pembrokeshire, is for a young woman to wash her shirt or whatever article of clothing she happens to wear next to the skin, and having turned it inside out, place it before the fire to dry, and then watch to see who should come at midnight to turn it. if the young woman is to marry, the spirit of her future husband is supposed to appear and perform the work for the young woman, but if she is to die single, a coffin is seen moving along the room, and many a young girl has been frightened almost to death in performing these uncanny ceremonies. the rev. d. g. williams in his excellent welsh essay on the folk-lore of carmarthenshire, mentions a farmer’s daughter who practised this form of divination whilst she was away from home at school. a young farmer had fallen in love with her, but she hated him with all her heart. whilst she was performing this ceremony at midnight, another girl, from mere mischief dressed herself in man’s clothing, exactly the same kind as the clothes generally worn by the young farmer i have mentioned, and, trying to appear as like him as possible, entered the room at the very moment when the charm of invoking the spirit of a future husband was being performed by the farmer’s daughter, who went half mad when she saw, as she thought, the very one whom she hated so much, making his appearance.
the other girls had to arouse their schoolmistress from her bed immediately so that she might try and convince the young girl that she had seen nothing, but another girl in man’s clothes. but nothing availed. the doctor was sent for, but he also failed to do anything to bring her to herself, and very soon the poor young woman died through fright and disappointment.
another common practice in west wales is for a young woman to peel an apple at twelve o’clock, before a looking glass in order to see the spirit of her future husband. this also is done on all hallow’s eve. sowing hemp seed is also a well-known ceremony among the young ladies of wales, as well as england.
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the candle and pin divination.
it was also the custom, at least many years ago, if not now, for a young woman, or two of them together to stick pins at midnight in a candle, all in a row, right from its top to the bottom, and then to watch the candle burning and the pins dropping one by one, till the last pin had dropped, and then the future husband of the girl to whom the pin belonged, was supposed to appear; but if she was destined to die single, she would see a coffin. [11]
another form of divination, was to put the plates on the dining-room table upside down, and at midnight the spirit of the future husband was supposed to come and arrange them in their proper order.
another custom resorted to in cardiganshire and other parts in order to see a future husband, or rather to dream of him, was to eat a hen’s first egg; but no one was to know the secret, and absolute silence was to be observed, and the egg was to be eaten in bed.
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going round the church.
this kind of divination was perhaps of a more uncanny character than anything i have hitherto mentioned, and a custom which both young men and young women very commonly practised, even within the last 50 years as i have been told by old people. this weird practice was to go round the parish church seven times, some say nine times, whilst others again say nine times-and-half, and holding a knife in the hand saying the while:—
“dyma’r twca, lle mae’r wain?”
“here’s the knife, where is the sheath?”
it was also the practice to look in through the key-hole of the church door each time whilst going round, and many people assert to this very day that whoever performed this mode of divination in proper order, that the spirit of his or her future wife or husband would appear with a sheath to fit the knife; but, if the young man or woman was to die single, a coffin would meet him or her. mr. john jones, of pontrhydfendigaid, an intelligent old man of 95, with a wonderful memory, told me that, when a boy, he had heard his mother giving a most sad account of what happened to a young woman who did this at ystrad meurig in cardiganshire about the year 1800. she was the daughter of a public house in the village, and the name of her mother was catherine dafydd evan. mr. jones’s mother knew the family well; some of them emigrated to america.
this young woman was in love with one of the students of st. john’s college, in the neighbourhood, and being anxious to know whether he was to be her husband or not, she resorted to this uncanny practice of walking nine times round ystrad meurig church. around and round she went, holding the knife in her hand and repeating the words of incantation, “here’s the knife, where is the sheath?” and whilst she was performing her weird adventure, to her great alarm, she perceived a clergyman coming out to meet her through the church door with his white surplice [12]on, as if coming to meet a funeral procession. the frightened young woman fell down in a swoon, almost half dead, as she imagined that the one she met with a surplice on was an apparition or the spirit of a clergyman officiating at the phantom funeral of herself, which prognosticated that instead of going to be married, she was doomed to die.
it turned out that the apparition she had seen was only one of the students, who, in order to frighten her, had secretly entered the church for the purpose. but the poor girl recovered not, and she died very soon afterwards.
i heard the following story from my mother when i was a boy. a girl had determined to obtain a sight of her future husband by going round the parish church nine times at all hallows’ eve in the same manner as the young woman i mentioned in the above story, but with more fortunate results. this also happened somewhere in cardiganshire or carmarthenshire. just as the young woman was walking round the ninth time, she saw, to her great surprise, her own master (for she was a servant maid) coming to meet her. she immediately ran home and asked her mistress why she had sent her master after her to frighten her. but the master had not gone out from the house. on hearing the girl’s account, the mistress was greatly alarmed and was taken ill, and she apprehended that she herself was doomed to die, and that her husband was going to marry this servant girl, ultimately. then the poor woman on her death bed begged the young woman to be kind to her children, “for you are to become the mistress here,” said she, “when i am gone.”
it was also a custom in wales once for nine young girls to meet together to make a pancake, with nine different things, and share it between them, that is, each of the girls taking a piece before going to bed in order to dream of their future husbands.
another practice among young girls was to sleep on a bit of wedding cake.
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water in dish divination.
i remember the following test or divination resorted to in cardiganshire only about twelve years ago. it was tried by young maidens who wished to know whether their husbands were to be bachelors, and by young men who wished to know whether their wives were to be spinsters. those who performed this ceremony were blindfolded. then three basins or dishes were placed on the table, one filled with clean water, the other with dirty water, and the third empty. then the young man or young woman as the [13]case might be advanced to the table blindfolded and put their hand in the dish; and the one who placed his hands in the clean water was to marry a maiden; if into the foul water, a widow; but if into the empty basin, he was doomed to remain single all his life. another way for a young maiden to dream of her future husband was to put salt in a thimble, and place the same in her stockings, laying them under her pillow, and repeat an incantation when going to bed. meyrick in his history of cardiganshire states that “ivy leaves are gathered, those pointed are called males, and those rounded are females, and should they jump towards each other, then the parties who had placed them in the fire will be believed by and married by their sweethearts; but should they jump away from one another, then, hatred will be the portion of the anxious person.”
testing a lover’s love by cracking of nuts is also well known in west and mid-wales.
it was also a custom in the old times for a young girl on st. john’s eve to go out at midnight to search for st. john’s wort in the light of a glow worm which they carried in the palm of their hand. after finding some, a bunch of it was taken home and hung in her bedroom. next morning, if the leaves still appeared fresh, it was a good omen; the girl was to marry within that same year; but, on the other hand, if the leaves were dead, it was a sign that the girl should die, or at least she was not to marry that year.
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the bible and key divination.
the bible and key divination, or how to find out the two first letters of a future wife’s or husband’s name is very commonly practised, even now, by both young men and young women. a small bible is taken, and having opened it, the key of the front door is 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 god my god.” some take solomon’s songs, chapter viii., verses 6 and 7 instead of the above verse from the book of ruth. then the bible is closed, and tied round with the garter taken off the left leg of him or her who wishes to know his or her future wife or husband’s initials. a person cannot perform this ceremony himself; he must get a friend with him to assist him. the young man must put the middle finger of his right hand on the key underneath the loop, and take care to keep the bible steady. [14]then the man, who does not consult the future, repeats the above verse or verses, and when he comes to the appointed letter, that is the first letter of the future wife’s name, the bible will turn round under the finger. i was told at ystrad meurig, that a few years ago, a young woman, a farmer’s daughter, tried this bible and key divination; and whilst the ceremony was going on, and her sister assisting her to hold the key under the bible and repeating the words, instead of the book turning round as she expected, she saw a coffin moving along the room, which was a sign that she was doomed to die single; and so it came to pass! the farmhouse where this young woman lived is situated in the neighbourhood of strata florida, cardiganshire; but i do not wish to name the house. i have myself once or twice witnessed this divination practised, but i never heard of a coffin appearing, except in the case of the young woman just mentioned.
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divination by the tea-cup.
tea-cup divination is also very much practised by young girls in wales in order to find out some future events concerning love affairs, future husbands, etc. there was a woman, who only died a few years ago, in the parish of llandyssul, near a small village called pontshan in cardiganshire, who was considered an expert in the art of fortune telling by a tea cup, at least young women and young men thought so, and many of them resorted to her, especially those who were in love or intending to marry. there was another one near llandovery in carmarthenshire, and there are a few even at present to whom the maidens go for consultation.
but welsh women, who are so fond of tea, can find out many things themselves by means of the tea cup without resorting to those who are considered experts in the art. when several of them meet together to tea they help one another in divining their cups, and tea drinking or sipping is the order of the day among the females of wales. after having emptied the cup, it is turned round three times in the left hand, so that the tea-leaves may cover the surface of the whole cup. then the cup is placed in the saucer, bottom upwards, to drain, for a few minutes before inspection. if the leaves are scattered evenly round the sides of the cup, leaving the bottom perfectly clear, it is considered a very good sign; but on the other hand when the bottom of the cup appears very black with leaves, it is a very bad sign: some trouble or some misfortune is near. when the leaves form a ring on the side of the cup, it means that the girl who consults is to marry very soon; but if the ring is at the bottom of the cup, disappointment [15]in love awaits her, or she is doomed to die single. when the tea leaves form a cross or a coffin, that also is considered a bad sign; but as a rule, a horse, a dog, or a bird portends good. two leaves seen in close proximity on the side of the cup foretell a letter bringing good news. when there is a speck floating on the surface of a cup of tea before drinking, some people say it means a letter, a parcel, or a visitor, but a young girl takes it to represent her lover, and she proves his faithfulness by placing the speck on the back of her left hand, and striking it with the back of her right hand. should the speck or the small tea leaves stick to the back of the left hand and cling or stick fast to the right hand when striking it, it means that the young man is faithful; but on the other hand, should it happen that the tea still remain on the left hand where it was first placed, especially after striking it three times, the young man is not to be depended upon. some women can even tell by means of the tea-cup what trade their admirer follows, the colour of their future husband’s hair, and many other such things.
a lily is considered a most lucky emblem, if it be at the top, or in the middle of the cup, for this is considered a sign that the young man, or the young woman who consults, will have a good and kind wife, or husband, who will make him or her happy in the marriage estate, but on the other hand, a lily at the bottom of the cup, portends trouble, especially if clouded, or in the thick.
a heart, especially in the clear, is also a very good sign, for it signifies joy and future happiness. two hearts seen together in the cup, the young man, or the young woman’s wedding is about to take place. tea-cup divination is well-known all over the kingdom; and in the colonies, especially australia, it is by far more popular than in england.
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divination by cards.
divination by cards is not so much known in wales as in england, and this is more popular in towns than country places.
