Welsh Folk-Lore | Page 8

the Rev. Owen Jones, Vicar of Pentrevoelas, a
mountain parish in West Denbighshire, for the following tale, which

was written in Welsh by a native of those parts, and appeared in
competition for a prize on the Folk-Lore of that parish.
The son of Hafodgarreg was shepherding his father's flock on the hills,
and whilst thus engaged, he, one misty morning, came suddenly upon a
lovely girl, seated on the sheltered side of a peat-stack. The maiden
appeared to be in great distress, and she was crying bitterly. The young
man went up to her, and spoke kindly to her, and his attention and
sympathy were not without effect on the comely stranger. So beautiful
was the young woman, that from expressions of sympathy the smitten
youth proceeded to words of love, and his advances were not repelled.
But whilst the lovers were holding sweet conversation, there appeared
on the scene a venerable and aged man, who, addressing the female as
her father, bade her follow him. She immediately obeyed, and both
departed leaving the young man alone. He lingered about the place
until the evening, wishing and hoping that she might return, but she
came not. Early the next day, he was at the spot where he first felt what
love was. All day long he loitered about the place, vainly hoping that
the beautiful girl would pay another visit to the mountain, but he was
doomed to disappointment, and night again drove him homewards.
Thus daily went he to the place where he had met his beloved, but she
was not there, and, love-sick and lonely, he returned to Hafodgarreg.
Such devotion deserved its reward. It would seem that the young lady
loved the young man quite as much as he loved her. And in the land of
allurement and illusion (yn nhir hud a lledrith) she planned a visit to the
earth, and met her lover, but she was soon missed by her father, and he,
suspecting her love for this young man, again came upon them, and
found them conversing lovingly together. Much talk took place
between the sire and his daughter, and the shepherd, waxing bold,
begged and begged her father to give him his daughter in marriage. The
sire, perceiving that the man was in earnest, turned to his daughter, and
asked her whether it were her wish to marry a man of the earth? She
said it was. Then the father told the shepherd he should have his
daughter to wife, and that she should stay with him, until he should
strike her with iron, and that, as a marriage portion, he would give her a
bag filled with bright money. The young couple were duly married, and
the promised dowry was received. For many years they lived lovingly

and happily together, and children were born to them. One day this man
and his wife went together to the hill to catch a couple of ponies, to
carry them to the Festival of the Saint of Capel Garmon. The ponies
were very wild, and could not be caught. The man, irritated, pursued
the nimble creatures. His wife was by his side, and now he thought he
had them in his power, but just at the moment he was about to grasp
their manes, off they wildly galloped, and the man, in anger, finding
that they had again eluded him, threw the bridle after them, and, sad to
say, the bit struck the wife, and as this was of iron they both knew that
their marriage contract was broken. Hardly had they had time to realise
the dire accident, ere the aged father of the bride appeared,
accompanied by a host of Fairies, and there and then departed with his
daughter to the land whence she came, and that, too, without even
allowing her to bid farewell to her children. The money, though, and
the children were left behind, and these were the only memorials of the
lovely wife and the kindest of mothers, that remained to remind the
shepherd of the treasure he had lost in the person of his Fairy spouse.
Such is the Pentrevoelas Legend. The writer had evidently not seen the
version of this story in the Cambro-Briton, nor had he read Williams's
tale of a like occurrence, recorded in Observations on the Snowdon
Mountains. The account, therefore, is all the more valuable, as being an
independent production.
A fragmentary variant of the preceding legend was given me by Mr.
Lloyd, late schoolmaster of Llanfihangel-Glyn-Myfyr, a native of
South Wales, who heard the tale in the parish of Llanfihangel.
Although but a fragment, it may not be altogether useless, and I will
give it as I received it:--
Shon Rolant, Hafod y Dre, Pentrevoelas, when going home from
Llanrwst market, fortunately caught