The farmer then departed with the magic paper safely in his pocket, and when Friday came, he watched on the road, and to his great joy and surprise, he found the horse near Glanbran. Just as he mounted the animal to go home, a young man who passed by, told him that a few days ago, he had seen this very horse offered on sale at Rhayader fair, but that the man who was trying to sell him failed to do so!
A LLANFAIR CLYDOGAU WIZARD.
Mr. Walter Evans (Pentre-Richard), in the Parish of Llanddewi Brefi, informed me a few years ago, before he died, that some years ago, when he lost some sheep, a conjurer who lived on Llanfair mountain, directed or pointed out to him where to find them, and that they were found two days afterwards in some water nearly drowning as the wise man had said. This Llanfair Clydogau conjurer only died about nine years ago, and until he died people consulted him from the surrounding districts of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire.
The best service rendered by conjurers to society was to help people to discover thieves, and the superstitious often restored what they had stolen through fear.
On one occasion a man who was often losing potatoes from the field went to Harries, Cwrtycadno, who was a terror to thieves. The conjurer showed him the thief in a magic glass, which enabled the man to discover who the culprit was. In another potato tale, the wise man, by means of his magic art forced the thief to appear at his house and confess his guilt.
THE WIZARD OF LLANPUMPSAINT AND THE DUCKS OF ALLTYFERIN.
Mr. Griffiths, of ‘Rhenallt, an old farmer near Carmarthen, informed me about six years ago that long ago when he was a young man, he was once a servant at Alltyferin. Ducks were continually lost at the farm, and his master who suspected a neighbour as the thief, sent Griffiths with a letter to a conjurer who lived at Fosybroga. The wise man sent a note in reply giving a full description of the thief, and he was caught.
A woman in Pembrokeshire, who had lost a most valuable picture, consulted a well-known wizard, who showed her a picture of the thief in a magic glass. She recognised the culprit at once as one of her intimate friends. The wizard then wrote the name of the thief on a piece of paper, and pierced it with a needle, and informed his client that if the picture was not restored to her within half an hour the thief would be eaten up of a strange disease.