Snake Rings, or Glain Nadroedd.
Mention is made in Camden of snake rings. Omitting certain remarks not connected with the matter directly, he writes:—“In some parts of Wales we find it a common opinion of the vulgar that about Midsummer Eve (though in the time they do not all agree) ’tis usual for snakes to meet in companies, and that by joyning heads together and hissing, a kind of Bubble is form’d like a ring about the head of one of them, which the rest by continual hissing, blow on till it comes off at the tail, and then it immediately hardens, and resembles a glass ring; which whoever finds (as some old women and children are persuaded) shall prosper in all his undertakings.” The above quotation is in Gibson’s additions to Camden, and it correctly states the popular opinion. Many of these rings formerly existed, and they seemed to be simply glass rings. They were thought to possess many healing virtues, as, for instance, it could cure wens and whooping cough, and I believe I have heard it said that it could cure the bite of a mad dog.
Sheep.
It was thought that the devil could assume any animal’s form excepting that of the sheep. This saying, however, is somewhat different from what a farmer friend told me of black sheep. He said his father, and other farmers as well, were in the habit of killing all their black lambs, because they were of the same colour as the devil, and the owners were afraid that Satan had entered, or would enter into them, and that therefore these sheep were destroyed. He stated that his father went on his knees on the ground and prayed, either before or after he had killed the black lambs. It is a common saying that the black sheep is the ringleader of all mischief in a flock of sheep. The expression, “He is a black sheep,” as applied to a person, conveys the idea that he is a worthless being, inclined to everything that is bad.
It is even now in country places thought to be a lucky omen if anyone sees the head of the first spring lamb towards him. This foretells a lucky and prosperous year to the person whose eyes are thus greeted.