I have said that some of the means employed were innocent and others cruel. Before proceeding I will record instances of both kinds. It was thought that if a young woman placed a snail under a basin on Nos Wyl Ifan, S. John’s Eve, it would by its movements trace the name of her coming husband underneath, or at least his initials. One can very well imagine a young woman not over particular as to form, being able to decipher the snail’s wanderings, and making them represent her lover’s name. Should the snail have remained immovable during the night, this indicated her own or her lover’s death; or at the least, no offer of marriage in the coming year.
It was usual for young women to hunt for Llysiau Ifan (S. John’s Wort) on Nos Wyl Ifan, at midnight, and it was thought that the silvery light of a glow-worm would assist them in discovering the plant. The first thing, therefore, was to search for their living lanthorn. This found, they carried the glow-worm in the palm of the hand, and proceeding in their search they sought underneath or among the fern for St. John’s Wort. When found, a bunch was carried away, and hung in the young woman’s bedroom. If in the morning the leaves appeared fresh, it was a sign that she should be married within the year; if, however, the leaves were found hanging down or dead, this indicated her death, or that she was not to get a husband within that year. We
can well understand that a sharp young person would resort to means to keep the plant alive, and thus avert what she most feared.
The following instance of Rhamanta I received from a young woman who witnessed the work done. She gave me the name of the party, but for special reasons I do not supply names.
A young woman was madly in love with a young man, and she gave the servant man a jug of beer for procuring a frog for her. This he did; and she took the poor creature to the garden, and thrust several pins into its back. The tortured creature writhed under the pain, but the cruel girl did not cease until the required number had been inserted. Then she placed the frog under a vessel to prevent its escape, and turning to my informant, she said, “There, he will now come to our house this evening.” The man certainly came, and when he entered she smiled at my informant, and then both went together to the lacerated frog, and the pins were extracted one by one from its back, and the wounded animal was set at liberty. My informant said that the hard-hearted girl mumbled something both when inserting and extracting the pins.
It was believed that the spirit of a person could be invoked and that it would appear, after the performance of certain ceremonies, to the person who was engaged in the weird undertaking. Thus a young woman who had gone round the church seven times on All Hallow Eve came home to her mistress, who was in the secret that she was going to rhamanta, and said, “Why did you send master to frighten me?” But the master had not left the house. His wife perceived that it was the spirit of her husband that had appeared to the girl, and she requested the girl to be kind to her children, “for,” said she, “you will soon be mistress here.” In a short time
afterwards the wife died, and the girl became her successor.
I obtained the preceding tale from the Rev. P. Edwards, son of the Rector of Llanwyddelan, Montgomeryshire, and the lady who related the tale of herself to Mr. Edwards said the occurrence took place when she was servant girl.
There are several versions of the above tale to be met with in many places in Wales.
I will give one, omitting names, from my work on “Old Stone Crosses,” p. 203:—“An aged woman in Gyffylliog parish, who is still alive (1886), saw her husband by rhamanta; and so did her fellow-servant. I am indebted to Mr. Jones, Woodland Farm, to whom the woman related it, for the story I am about to give. When young women, she and her fellow-servant, in accordance with the practice of the country, determined to obtain a sight of the men whom they were to marry. The mistress was let into the secret that that night one of the two was going to raise the veil of the future, and the other the following night. As the clock began striking twelve the fellow-servant began striking the floor with a strap, repeating the doggerel lines