Quaint Old Customs - British Goblins CT022

Quaint Old Customs

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 3 Chapter 1

by

Wirt Sikes

Quaint Old Customs tells us to rise early on New Year's morning to bring good luck, the Mari Lwyd procession from house to house and the story of the Cutty Wren. Sikes also tells us about St. David, St. Patrick and the wearing of the leek.

• Serious Significance of seemingly Trivial Customs 2:32
  
• Their Origins 2:45
  
• Common Superstitions 3:37
  
• The Age We Live in 4:10
  
• Days and Seasons 6:11
  
• New Year's Day 6:32
  
• The Apple Gift 6:40
• Lucky Acts on New Year's morning 8:23
  
• The First Foot 9:20
  
• Showmen's Superstitions 9:34
  
• Levy Dew Song 10:51
  
• Happy New Year Carol 11:49
  
• Twelfth Night 12:34
  
• The Mary Lwyd 12:40
• The Penglog 14:25
• The Cutty Wren 15:11
• Tooling and Sowling 15:52
• St. Valentine's Day 16:45
• St. Dewi's Day 17:45
• The Wearing of the Leek 19:10
• The Traditional St. David 23:41
• St. Patrick's Day 27:54
• St. Patrick a Welshman 28:00
• Shrove Tuesday 29:44

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.

Bodleian Library
Levy Dew
Mari Lwyd
Penglog
Sowling
St. Valentine
St. Dewi
St. David
St. Patrick
Luther
Glamorganshire

pic. New Year's Apple

Cardiff

pic. Three Rays

Avagddu
Pembrokeshire
Jonah
Llef i Dduw

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chwi,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Meistr a meistres bob un trwy'r ty,
Gwyliau llawen i chwi,
Codwch yn foreu, a rheswch y tan,
A cherddwch i'r ffynon i ymofyn dwr glan.

awen
Aberconwy (Conway)
Carnarvonshire
Gwent
Morganwg
Rhymney Dingle

pic: Cutty Wren song

soûl
St. George
St. Andrew
Cardigan
Carmarthen
Lampeter
Manby
Cymhortha
Poictiers
Cressy

Pistol & Fluellen

Glyn Hodnant
Teify
Llandewi Brefi
Abel, Noah, Thomas, Peter, Paul & David
William the Conqueror
Llandeilo Talybont
Llantwit Major
Rosina
Iolo MSS
Crammwythau (pancakes)

 

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released

The Corpse Candle - British Goblins CT021

The Corpse Candle

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 2 Chapter 9

by

Wirt Sikes

Corpse Candles are ghostly candle lights that allow us to see through the veil, or seen as an omen of forthcoming doom. How the candle lights are not tricked and how they can be seen coming from the mouth of a corpse. Sikes tells us the story of Morris Griffith and the 'Light before the Burying' as well as how Corpse Candle lights can be seen on the surface of water and streams. He finishes off by discussing the origins of the phantoms of the spirit world which ends the last chapter of Book 2 of British Goblins.

• The Corpse Candle 0:55
  
• Its Peculiarities 2:12
  
• The Woman of Caerau 4:05
  
• Grasping a Corpse Candle 6:26
  
• The Crwys Candle 7:24
  
• Lights issuing from the Mouth 8:39
  
• Jesting with the Canwyll Corph 9:48
• The Candle at Pontfaen 12:18
  
• The Three Candles at Golden Grove 15:21
  
• Origin of Death-Portents in Wales 16:02
  
• Degree of Belief prevalent at the Present Day 17:28
  
• Origin of Spirits in General 19:34
  
• The Supernatural 19:56
  
• The Question of a Future Life 21:30

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.

Caerau
Crwys Candle
Canwyll Corph
Pontfaen
Aneurin
Llandovery
Cymry
Flambeau
Lledrith
Cardiff
Marquis of Bute
John Richards
'O wi! O Dduw!'
Jenny fach, Hach
Thomas Mathews
Liber Landavenis
St. Samson
St. Bubricius
William John
Lanboydi
Carmarthenshire
Morris Griffith
Pembrokeshire
Tre-Davydd
Llanferch-Llawddog
Mr. Higgon
Joshua Coslet
Heol Bwlch y Gwynt (Windgap Lane)
Llandilo Fawr parish
Prophet Jones
Golden Grove
Earl of Cawdor
St. David
King Arthur
Pelagian
Gwrach y Rhibyn
Cyhyraeth
Cambridgeshire
Evansville, Indiana
Feast
Tolaeth
Disraeli
Lothair
Plato
Aristotle

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released

Tolaeth Death Sounds - British Goblins CT020

Tolaeth Death Sounds

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 2 Chapter 8

by

Wirt Sikes

The Tolaeth Death Sounds includes the strange sounds that foretell death, the story of John Clode and his wife who heard the coffin arrive in their home two days before their son died! Sounds of rapping, knocking, people moving are all commonplace. Sikes tells us the story of the railway accident at Pontypridd, and a couple living nearby heard ghostly footsteps upstairs in their house. Edward Lloyd heard a ghostly voice while lying ill in bed. We hear about the Goblin Funeral which can precede a real funeral by several days. The Cwn Annwn, or Dogs of Hell, howl through the air and the story of Pwyll. King Arthur and the Wild Hunt.

Running Order:

• The Tolaeth Death Portent 0:54
  
• Its various forms 1:40
  
• The Tolaeth before Death 1:53
  
• Ewythr Jenkin's Tolaeth 6:00
  
• A Modern Instance 7:54
• The Railway Victim's Warning 9:10
  
• The Goblin Voice 10:10
  
• The Voice from the Cloud 11:12
  
• Legend of the Lord and the Beggar 12:25
  
• The Goblin Funeral 14:02
  
• The Horse's Skull 15:13
  
• The Goblin Veil 16:24
  
• The Wraith of Llanllwch 17:19
  
• Dogs of Hell 18:32
  
• The Tale of Pwyll 19:46
  
• Spiritual Hunting Dogs 22:55
  
• Origin of the Cwn Annwn 22:28

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.

Tolaeth
Ewythr Jenkin
Llanllwch
Pwyll
Cwn Annwn
Blaenporth, Cardiganshire
Teulu
Gwenllian
Jenny
Llynwent, Radnorshire
Pontypridd
Mary
Edward Lloyd, Llangurig
'Y mae nenbren y ty yn craccio' (the upper beam of the house cracketh)
'Fe dor yn y man' (it will presently break)
'Dyna fe yn tori' (there it breaks)
John, son of Watkin Elias Jones, Mynyddyslwyn
Iolo MSS
Rees Thomas, Carmarthenshire
Rhiw Edwst, near Capel Ywen
'Rhys bach, pa fodd yr y'ch chwi?' (My dear Rhys, how are you?)
Rev. Howel Prosser, Aberystruth
Edmund Jones, the Prophet Jones
Isaac William Thomas, Hafodafel
llanhiddel
Llanllwch Church
Cwn y Wybr
Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed
Pembroke
Narberth
Glyn Cych
Arawn
Thomas Phillips, Telech
Thomas Andrew
River Ebwy
Le Grand Veneur
Fontainebleau, France
Hackelberg, Germany
Britain, King Arthur
Mr. Baring-Gould
Odin
William Henderson
Hermes
Devonshire
River Styx
Indra

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released

Welsh Death Omens - British Goblins CT019

Welsh Death Omens

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 2 Chapter 7

by

Wirt Sikes

Welsh Death Omens includes the Welsh Banshee or Gwrach y Rhibyn, crying spirits, the groaning spirits as well as corpse candles and the chirping of a bird at the door of a person about to die. Taliesin predicted the frightful monster known as the Fad Felen which comes from the marsh with hair, teeth and eyes like gold and brings death in its wake. Sikes also talks about the frightful female spectres, banshees and black maidens familiar across the Celtic World as harbingers of death.

Running Order:

• Cambrian Death Portents 1:33
  
• The Corpse-Bird 2:48
  
• The Tan-Wedd 4:00
  
• Listening at the Church Door 6:12
  
• The Lledrith 7:27
  
• The Gwrach y Rhibyn 9:22
  
• The Llandaff Gwrach 12:08
  
• Ugliness of this Female Apparition 15:03
  
• The Black Maiden 15:13
  
• The Cyhyraeth, or Crying Spirit 16:45
  
• Its Moans on Land and Sea 17:55
  
• The St. Mellons Cuhyraeth 21:22
  
• The Groaning Spirit of Bedwellty 23:05

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.

Tan-Wedd
Lledrith
Gwrach y Rhibyn
Llandaff Gwrach
Cyhyraeth
St. Mellons Cuhyraeth
Bedwellty
The Banshee
Mr. Baring-Gould
Tolaeth
Cwn Annwn
Cwn y Wybr
Canwyll Corph
Teulu
Aderyn y Corph
Warwickshire
Mr. Davis to Mr. Baxter
Walter Watkins
Neuadd, parish of Brecknockshire
Taf Fechan Chapel
Llewelyn Sion of Llangewydd
Fad Felen
Rhos Church
Maelgwyn Gwynedd
Taliesin
Mallt y Nos
Rev. D. R. Thomas
Archaeologia Cambrensis
Croker
Ceffyl heb un pen
Marw coel
Y mae mor salw a Gwrach y Rhibyn
Fy ngwr (my husband)
Fm ngwraig (my wife)
Fy mlentyn bach (my little child)
Och Dduw!
Cardiff
Cow and Snuffers Inn
Benshi
Sir Walter Scott
Hermes
Black Maiden
Caerleon
Peredur
Avagddu
Glamorganshire
Prophet Jones
David Prosser, of Llanbyther Parish
'Woolach!'
Joshua Coslet
Towy
Carmarthenshire
Inis Cenin
Non, mother of St. David
Llan-non, Church of Non
Monmouthshire
Mary Morgan
Crumlyn Bridge
'O Dduw, beth a wnaf fi?' (O God, what shall I do?)
Meredith Thomas
Thomas Edward Morgan
Anthony Aaron
William Harry Rees

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released