R. Rice Davies - The Cambrian Sketch-Book

This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler

TALES, SCENES,
AND LEGENDS OF WILD WALES.

BY
R. RICE DAVIES.

Author ofThe Handy Book on Tax Laws, Havelock,
Essay on Recreation Grounds for Swansea, etc.

London:
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO.

Swansea:
THE CAMBRIAN WELSH AND ENGLISH BOOK
PUBLISHING COMPANY

Madam ,

Among the illustrious men and women of Cambria it would be difficult to select one to whom this book could be so appropriately inscribed as your ladyship. You are, and ever have been, the warm and sincere friend of my country; you are profoundly versed in her historic, poetic, literary, and legendary annals; you are a liberal and munificent contributor to almost every great movement designed to promote the social and intellectual, the moral and religious, welfare of the people of our ancient Principality; and you have attained a high and imperishable fame as a graceful and eloquent writer. In these pages your ladyship will find depicted scenes connected with the past history of the land; tales of years that are gone, which roll before us with their dark or splendid deeds, and specimens of the wild but graceful legends which have shed a poetic charm upon almost every nook and corner of Wales. I cherish the hope that their perusal will afford your ladyship delight and pleasure, while their contents, possibly, may help to increase your ladyships interest in and attachment to the land you so much love.

I am, Madam,
Very respectfully,
Your ladyships obedient Servant,
R. RICE DAVIES.

The history of the Cambrian race is interesting not only to the antiquarian, but also to all real lovers of traditional and legendary lore. It is a race which had its origin in the mythical age, in the far back and remote past, in that period of the worlds history when intellectual and moral darkness covered the earth, and when gross darkness, like a black pall, enveloped the minds of the people. The country which this race originally occupied is simply a matter of conjecturean unascertained fact; while the period when the Cambrian people first left their own native soil, the land of their love and their fondest affection, and wandered over hill and plain, over mountain and dismal swamp, through woods and primeval forests, wading through mighty fordable rivers, and crossing stormy seas, until they reached the pebbled strand of this our sea-girt isle, is still a matter of uncertaintyone of the mysteries of this mysterious world. That they occupied this island, and were in undisturbed possession of it many hundred years before the appearance in our world of Him who is the true Light of humanity, there exists abundance of evidence; and it is not unlikely, but on the contrary highly probable, that sections of this ancient people were then engaged, as now, in developing the mineral wealth of the country.

Coming down to a later date, a less remote period, we have actual descriptive accounts of the Welsh people, of their manners and customs, their habits and mode of life, their religious rites and form of worship; and considering the then state of the world, we are astonished at the comparative high state of civilization to which this ancient race had at that time attained. But to trace the history of their civilization down through the ages is foreign to my present purpose, however tempting the theme. The object I had in view in preparing this work for the press, was not to place before the reader a consecutive narrative, but to select topics with a view to illustrate some of the traits of character of this ancient, singular, and extremely interesting peoplea people who, in spite of oppression, injustice, and isolation, have nobly clung to the old faith; who have ever as citizens been loyal, patriotic, and virtuous; and who, moreover, in the face of very serious disadvantages, have obtained a position of intellectual and moral manhood, which cannot fail to inspire us with admiration and wonder. Let me say here, that if this work deepens the Welshmans love of country, and induces the English reader to regard us in a more favourable light than that adopted by a class of Saxon critics, I shall consider I have not laboured in vain.

As regards the tales and sketches of this volume, they are not ideal pictures of Cambrian life and character, but are for the most part founded on fact. For example, the ascent of Snowdon was undertaken alone, some ten years ago, and by the most difficult, tedious, and hazardous route. I often wonder at my want of prudence in ascending from Capel Curig, that glorious old Alpine height, on a cold, dank, and misty autumnal morning, without a guide or a friendly hand to point the way. Alone I accomplished the journey, without experiencing much difficulty, or meeting a single mishap. The story of Dunraven Castle is founded on a historical fact. It is one of the most painful of the many painful incidents of those terrible times. Parson Jones is not an ideal but a real character painted from life. His fame as a charmer, a conjuror, and magician, was celebrated far and wide. I well remember farmers wives and others visiting him in order to secure his assistance in driving away evil spirits from their dwellings. A wonderful man was Parson Jones! An able divine, a true preacher of the cross, a lovable and childlike man was he. When his body was consigned to the tomb, the people felt that they had lost one of their best earthly friends. As to the legends of Lake Savathan and Elidorus, they have been handed down in written history. The tale of Cadwgan is a real picture of Cambrian life. The story of Saint Winifred is founded on an old Welsh legend. A marvellous work has recently been written by one of Englands greatest novelists; it is not impossible that the idea of the Coming Race had its origin in the tale of Elidorus.

In this work I have avoided the literary paths trodden by previous Cambrian authors: writers who, in their own sphere of literature, have left behind them imperishable names. I believe that the mine of wealth I have endeavoured to explore is new, while virgin is the soil. Deeply interesting are the legends which have been handed down from a people, who, alas! alas! no longer tread the sacred ground of wild Wales. In the selection of topics, I have only discovered for the theme of my pen a few precious gems, having culled here and there a few fair and fragrant flowers, thus leaving for future literary labours, many others of tints equally beautiful and sweets equally delicious. Almost every dell and hamlet, every sylvan glade and mountain side of wild Wales abounds with legends and tales, stories of real life which are too interesting to be lost, and too important in the lessons they afford to remain hid in the bosom of members of our ancient race.

It is possible that exception will be taken to the ideal picturescreations of the authors fancyof the fairies and fairy land, which form rather a prominent feature of this work. For introducing to the reader the people of the fairy kingdom beneath the bay of Swansea, I have no apology to make. In the thoughts they breathe and in the opinions they express they are very human, while the land in which they dwell bears witness to the presence of the energizing power and infinite benevolence of the Supreme. From our childhood we have been accustomed to listen to the wonderful tales relating to Lilliputian races, in which the narrators described their sayings and doings, their gambols and frolics, their pranks and merry-making, their sweet music and dulcet notes; and in our wanderings, we have often gazed on the green rings wherein they danced on mead and meadow. And are we not ready to confess that those fairy stories possessed a special charman interest which even reality itself hardly awakens? I am aware that belief in the existence of those arial forms, those ghostly, impalpable, and ambiguous beings, has been regarded as an evidence of mental blindness, and the absence of high culture and civilization. This charge cannot be maintained. The peoples of all European nations believe in the existence of those wonderful people, and, personally, I should regret to see their faith undermined. Fairies are associated with the spiritual and super-human; with virtue and purity; thus they help us to look upward to the spirit-world, where flesh and blood, where materialism and its unhallowed fruits have not, and can never have, even a temporary lodgment.