SUPERSTITIONS: Some strange, some sinister, some simply silly Part Two by Sara John
Some further definitions of Superstition, even underground, have come to light since I wrote last month’s article on this subject. This quote from ‘Highland Superstitions’ by the Rev. Alexander Macgregor (writing in1922) explains that: “It is a Latin word, whose secret has been lost, so that, except for a guess, the meaning can never be recovered. However, the mere fact that it was once a living force commends it to our interest, for even when we laugh at old beliefs, and try to explain them away, they still intrigue us and win our interest.” The topics under this heading are rich and various. By far the most widely based, interesting and plentiful are reports of the activities of the ‘Little people’, Y Tylwyth Teg. Possibly, it has been suggested, they were the original residents of Wales, and of the north of Scotland, and as the Celts, then the Romans arrived, they were forced to move to higher, wilder parts of the countryside, or even underground. Keeping themselves well apart from the newcomers. It was said that they were small of stature and unintelligible in their ways.
most wonderful shade of green. They come from time to time to local markets with many herbs and remedies for the ills of animals. They never speak, it is all done by signs, and all payments are in silver. There were reported countless tales of people, frequently young men, out at dusk going on an errand to collect salt or flour or suchlike for the family from a nearby farmstead. In each quite similar report the young man on his own, would meet with a group of beautiful young people playing musical instruments, singing and dancing. He is invited and encouraged to join in. The family await his return. They have a long wait. It will be a year and a day before the Tylwyth Teg permit their captive guest to complete his errand and return home. He will never accept he was away for a year and a day. Mother’s confinements and babies’ births were subject to superstition, and fear. The expectant woman would be well warned not to make any preparations or purchases prior to the safe arrival of the new infant!
Sir John Rees and Professor Gwynn Jones produced considerable bodies of work on these “Fairy Tales”, albeit long ago at the end of the 18th century. Eiluned and Peter Lewis also added considerably to reports of their interchange with other later incomers in ‘The Land of Wales’ (published Batsford in 1937).
Another, possibly the greatest fear in all the Celtic countries, was that of a visit from one of the mischievous Little People determined to exchange the beautiful newborn with what was referred to as a changeling. The newborn baby would be whisked away and replaced by one of the Little Folk’s own offspring. The changeling would be deformed and unnaturally ugly. And unwanted.
The Tylwyth Teg, from oral reports as recently as the 1920s, speaks of people who are friendly, lucky though mischievous folk, living in remote areas on the mountains and in caves. The women are very beautiful, frequently dressed in green silks and satins, but the green is the
A most interesting autobiography by a doctor, originally from Northumberland who was a G.P. on Shetland before the last War includes an account of his meeting with a local ‘midwife’, who along with himself was also attending a birth at a remote farmhouse. She volunteered
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