Mr. Theophilus, the old blacksmith, at Cilcwm, in Carmarthenshire, told me that when he was a boy the cattle had been witched by an enemy. They would not touch the grass in the field of their own farm; but whenever put in any field of another farm they would graze splendidly. My informant’s mother could not understand this, and she felt very much distressed about it. At last she took the advice of friends and went to consult the Wizard of Cwrt-y-Cadno, who informed her that an enemy with whom she was well acquainted, had witched her cattle. Then he advised her to go home and buy a new knife, (one that had never been used before), and go directly to a particular spot in the field where a solitary “pren cerdinen” (mountain ash) grew, and cut it with this new knife. This mountain ash, and some of the cows’ hair, as well as some “witch’s butter” she was to tie together and burn in the fire; and that by performing this ceremony or charm, she should see the person who was guilty of witching her cows, coming to the door or the window of her house. My informant told me that his mother carried out these directions, and that everything happened as the wizard had foretold her. After this, there was nothing wrong with the cows.
WITCHES AND THE MOUNTAIN ASH.
Of all things to frustrate the evil designs of witches the best was a piece of mountain ash, or as it is called in Welsh “pren cerdinen.” The belief in mountain ash is very old in Wales, and the tree was held sacred in ancient times, and some believe that the Cross of our Lord was made of it. Witches had a particular dread of this wood, so that a person who carried with him a branch of “pren cerdinen” was safe from their spells; and it is believed in Wales, as well as in parts of England, that the witch who was touched with a branch of it was the victim carried off by the devil when he came next to claim his tribute—once every seven years.
I was told a few years ago at Talybont, that many in that part of Cardiganshire grew mountain ash in their gardens, and that a man carrying home a little pig was seen with a branch of this wood to protect the animal from witchcraft. In South Pembrokeshire many carry in their pockets a twig of the mountain ash when going on a journey late at night; and a woman at Llanddewi Brefi, in Cardiganshire, Miss Anne Edwards, Penbontgoian, informed me about seven years ago that when she was a child the neighbourhood was full of witches, but nothing was so effective against them as the mountain ash; no witch would come near it. A man travelling on horseback, especially at night, was very much exposed to the old hags, and the horse was more so than even the man riding the animal; but a branch or even a twig of the mountain ash carried in hand and held over the horse’s head, protected both the animal and the rider against all the spells of witches. The same woman informed me that on one occasion, the servant man and the servant girl of Llanio Isaf, in that parish, were going to the mill one night, but all of a sudden they found both themselves and their horse and cart right on the top of a hedge. This was the work of the witches. After this, they carried a mountain ash, so as to be safe.
Another old woman in Pembrokeshire, named Mrs. Mary Williams, Dwrbach, informed me that a notorious old hag who was supposed to be a witch, was coming home on one occasion from Haverfordwest fair, in a cart with a farmer who had kindly taken her up. As they were driving along the road between Haverfordwest and Walton East, they happened to notice three teams harrowing in a field, and the farmer who was driving the cart asked the witch whether she could by her spells stop the teams? “I could stop two of them,” said she, “but the third teamster has a piece of mountain ash fast to his whip, so I cannot do anything to him.”
Mrs. Mary Williams also informed me that when she was a little girl her mother always used to say to her and the other children on the last day of December: “Now children, go out and fetch a good supply of mountain ash to keep the witches away on New Year’s Day,” and branches of it were stuck into the wall about the door, windows and other places outside. Then witches coming to beg on New Year’s Day could do no harm to the inmates of the house.
In Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, and North Pembrokeshire, the mountain ash is called “pren cerdinen,” but it was once known in the South of Pembrokeshire, where the people are not of Welsh origin, as “rontree”; and the name “rowan” is still retained in some parts of England, which is derived according to Dr. Jameson, from the old Norse “runa,” a secret, or charm, on account of its being supposed to have the power to avert the evil eye, etc.