About sixty years ago Thomas Lewis, Garthfawr, between Llanilar and Lledrod, was for some time suffering from almost unbearable bodily pain, and did not know what to do. The general belief was that he had been bewitched by an old woman who was a terror to the neighbourhood; and at last a man went to Llangurig, in Montgomeryshire, to consult a wise man about it. It was found out soon afterwards that as soon as the conjurer was consulted, the sick man fully recovered from his illness, got up from bed, dressed himself, and came down from his bedroom and felt as well as ever, to the very great surprise and joy of all his family and friends. My informant, Thomas Jones, of Pontrhydfendigaid, who knew the man well, vouches for the truth of this story.
Mr. Jones also gave me an account of another man who was witched by the same old hag. The wife of Rhys Rhys, Pwllclawdd and her sister were churning all day, but the milk would not turn to butter. Rhys, at last, went to the old witch and asked her to come and undo her mischief, as she had witched the milk. She was very unwilling to come, but Rhys compelled her. When Mrs. Rhys and her sister saw the old witch coming, they ran to hide themselves in a bedroom. The hag took hold of the churn’s handle for a few seconds, and the milk turned to excellent butter at once; but poor Rhys who had always been a strong man till then, never enjoyed a day of good health after; for the old hag witched the farmer himself in revenge for compelling her to unwitch the milk.
A HORSE WITCHED.
Thomas Jones, an old man who is 85 years of age and lives at Pontrhydfendigaid, informed me that about sixty years ago, the old witch was greatly feared by the people of the neighbourhood, as it was generally believed that the hag cursed or witched those whom she disliked. On one occasion, when her neighbour’s horse broke through the hedge into her field, she witched the animal for trespassing. The horse was shivering all over and everything was done in vain to cure the poor animal; but the very moment John Morgan, the Llangurig conjurer was consulted, the horse fully recovered, and looked as well as ever. My informant vouches for the truth of this, and says he had seen the horse, and that the man who consulted the conjurer was a friend of his, and, that he even knew the conjurer himself.
CATTLE WITCHED.
At Mathry in Pembrokeshire, there was a celebrated witch, and people believed that she was often guilty of witching the cattle. On one occasion when a servant maid of a farm-house in the neighbourhood had gone out one morning to milk the cows, she found them in a sitting posture like cats before a fire, and in vain did she try to get them to move. The farmer suspected the witch of having caused this. He went to her at once, and compelled the hag to come and undo her evil trick. She came and told him that there was nothing wrong with the cows, and she simply put her hand on the back of each animal, and they immediately got up, and there was no further trouble.