by Anne Ross
The Grail
Celtic medieval literature was much concerned with the ritual of feasting in the houses of the noble leaders and their retinues. Feasts require vessels, and, as magic plays a large rôle in the medieval Welsh (and Irish) tales, there were various dishes from bowls to plates and platters, often of rich metals and jewelled adornments, which had the ability never to be empty, no matter how large the gathering or how hungry the guests. There was also one other such vessel possessing magical qualities of largesse and this fascinated the medieval writers. One of the major themes in medieval Welsh literature is the search by eminent knights for this vessel. We know it as the Holy Grail — in medieval French la sainte Graal — and many legends are focused on this mysterious dish. Although it is associated with Christianity the motif of the never-empty vessel belongs to a much more archaic milieu.
For the present it is sufficient to concentrate upon the origin of the Christian legend of the Holy Grail. Joseph of Arimathea is believed to have taken the vessel used by Christ, a cup of some kind, while distributing food and drink to his disciples at the Last Supper. When Christ was crucified, Joseph was at the foot of the cross with the cup in which he collected some blood from the sacred sacrifice. Details are difficult to come by but it would seem that Joseph was a trader and it is even believed in some quarters that on one of his journeys to Britain he was accompanied by the boy Christ. This supposition is echoed in William Blake’s beautiful hymn ‘And did those feet, in ancient time, walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the Holy Lamb of God on England’s pleasant pastures seen?’ If this is to be believed, then Joseph brought the Holy Grail, the sacred vessel, to Glastonbury after the crucifixion, as well as a cutting from the thorn tree from which Christ’s cruel crown was fashioned.
Between this period in the first century AD and the Grail legends in medieval European tradition, long centuries elapsed and the Grail mysteriously disappeared. The search for it (the quest for the Holy Grail) was undertaken by many brave knights including Celtic warrior heroes. Some of the best medieval literature is that contained in Welsh manuscripts. The fascination of the Grail has never waned and even today its mystery has not been resolved. Many vessels throughout the country claim to be the original Grail and one in particular, the Nanteos cup (see below), was accredited with having been the True Grail, possessing magical powers of healing.
The Nanteos cup
There is a beautiful eighteenth-century mansion at Nanteos, near Aberystwyth, which stands in superb wooded grounds and possesses a fine lake and many ancient and splendid trees. It has not had an altogether happy history, and there are several stories about hauntings which take place at intervals during the year. Belief in these is now weakening as modern conditions and the influence of television displace them. However, there is a strange atmosphere in the house and the well in particular has ghostly associations. It was the home of the Powells, a rich family, the sons of which were sadly killed during the war. Although the splendid house and its associated buildings are sufficient attraction in themselves, the fact that the Powells owned and still own the famous Nanteos cup (41) — renowned for its powers of healing the sick — has made it a place of considerable pilgrimage. The vessel has given rise to many stories as to its ultimate origin and powers. It was eventually moved for safekeeping to a bank in Hereford, where it is held in the vaults; it may, however, be returned to Nanteos for the purpose of healing in conjunction with the special qualities of the well.
The cup itself is known in Welsh as the Ffiol and people, not only of Welsh ancestry, come from all over the world to seek the healing virtues of the cup. The water, which forms a major part in the healing process has to come from the well, the virtues of which in conjunction with those of the cup make the healing possible. People have such faith in the powers of the cup that, if they are very ill or near death, they often request that a bottle of water filled from the cup should be sent to them with all due haste; many claim that they have benefited from this even when on the very verge of death. However, this cannot go on indefinitely. In Wales as in Gaelic Scotland it is believed that too frequent a use of a vessel or well will eventually weaken and finally destroy any powers of healing.
The story goes that the cup originally came from the Holy Land and is of great age. The wood is very dark. The Grail cup, having according to tradition been brought first of all to Glastonbury by Joseph of Arimathea from the Holy Land, was then traditionally taken to the abbey of Ystrad Fflur, near Pontrhydfendigaid, Cardiganshire, and then to Nanteos, where it carried out many cures, being especially efficacious in the case of haemorrhage. Surprisingly, it has seemingly never been subjected to such scientific tests as radiocarbon dating. Many people claim to have found or acquired the original Grail, assuming such really exists, but the Nanteos cup would seem to have as good a claim as any.
41 Sketch of the ‘Holy Grail’, formerly at Nanteos, Cardiganshire (Ceredigion), based on a drawing of the remains of the ‘Healing Cup’ on p.294 of J.C. Davies Folklore of West and Mid Wales, Aberystwyth, 1911 and Lanerch, 1992
10 Fairies, supernatural birds and animals
The origin of the fairies
Belief in fairies and fairy lore was not, like many other things, peculiar to the Celtic peoples, but is found widely throughout the world in various forms. At present, our particular interest must be focused on the concepts of this mysterious race, as it was envisaged throughout Wales. The usual name for this unearthly race is the Tylwyth Teg. They were also known as Bendith y Mamau (the mothers’ blessing). Another supernatural tribe or people were known as Ellyll (elf or goblin). The fairies were regarded by most peoples as being on the whole dangerous to humanity and thus in need of constant propitiation. However, they could also be helpful to mankind if proper respect were given to them. They were notorious for stealing healthy babies who had been put out in the sunshine while the busy mother took the opportunity to get on with her chores. In the Scottish Highlands, and probably in Wales also, iron was a most powerful weapon against them and so the long iron tongs used for the peat or wood fires used to be taken outside and placed across the cradle of the sleeping infant. These would protect the little one from theft by the fairies. Until within living memory in many places, a bowl of milk or some food was put out last thing at night to please these supernatural beings and so protect the household from harm.
Many people claimed to have seen the fairies. I myself have never done so to my knowledge, but I have spoken to many people who have described these Otherworldly people. Contrary to general belief that they are small, dainty creatures, rather like great dragonflies, my informants have always spoken of them as being up to 3ft in height. Despite their ability to aid mankind, they were nearly always held in superstitious awe. It is a widespread motif that they lived in fairy mounds, which no man could enter freely but could be lured into, where time did not exist in human terms and from which it was very difficult to escape. Those who managed to do so were astonished to find they had returned to a completely changed world. Often, instead of having made merry with these strange beings for an hour or so, as they thought, they had been away for one or more centuries. Their families had been lying in the graveyard for many years, their dwellings were often in ruins and they recognised very little about the place which they believed they had left so recently. Often their own demise followed soon after their return and they virtually crumbled into dust, being now of a great age. Another belief concerning the fairies was that they were really the souls of the dead but I think there is little to support this theory.
There were, and still are, many stories about the Tylwyth Teg, and some families claim to be descended from a fairy woman who married a mortal. The motif of the marriage taking place only on condition that the husband would never strike his fairy wife is very widespread in the Celtic countries and Wales has recorded several good examples. These tend to be somewhat lengthy and complicated but the motif is of the fairy bride telling her suitor that she would o
nly consent to a marriage with him on condition that he should never strike her, usually with iron. They marry and live together happily for many years and children are born to them. However, it is inevitable that such happiness must end. Always by chance, the husband succeeds, to his horror, in inadvertently striking his wife with an iron object which is intended for another purpose. For example, stirrups being put on a horse touch her leg and she immediately disappears, or a blow meant for the anvil, for example, accidentally strikes the girl, with the same sad result. In the story just recounted, it was the iron stirrups which resulted in the termination of the marriage. Three or four children had been born from the union and people believed — and may yet believe — they had met or had knowledge of their descendants.
The Welsh fairies, as we have seen, could be known by several different names, amongst them Tylwyth Teg, Bendith y Mamau and Dynon Bach Teg (little fair folk). This last was a Pembrokeshire name. In the non-Welsh-speaking region of Pembrokeshire, people who lose their way, especially at night, were said to be pisky-led. Pisky of course stands for pixie. Other groups of elf-like or fairy beings called bwbach, bwca, bwci, bwgan, coblyn and ellyll are sometimes classified as fairies. Bwca also appears as pwca (Puck?). Bwbach meant ‘to scare’ in the fourteenth century. The female fairies were very beautiful creatures and usually helpful, living communally. They were also generally benevolent. Sometimes they kept close to the fire, living, it is alleged, under the hearthstone at a farm near Aberdaron. Sometimes the fairy women fell in love with humans and took men for their husbands and bore them children. Apart from the coblin which makes a knocking sound in the mines the other sprites are ill-intentioned and malevolent.
The fairies live, as we have seen, in a community, which has as its king Gwyn ap Nudd. This is an interesting name and it is not unlikely that it is of Irish origin. Gwyn is the linguistic equivalent of Finn and Nudd is the Welsh equivalent of Irish Nuadu and the god Nodons or Nodens, the god who presided over his sanctuary at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, overlooking the River Severn. It is a dramatically beautiful place, and in this general area much folklore about the old gods still lingers. Sul Minerva, equated with Sulis, was goddess of the healing waters of Aquae Sulis (Bath), waters which incidentally harboured a considerable number of metal curse-tablets. Sul was certainly a non-Roman goddess of great power, whose shrine may have been on the hill above the baths, known as Little Solbury. Excavations were started there recently, and may bring about interesting results.
In the life (Buchedd) of St Collen, which is more legendary and supernatural than hagiographical, Collen is at some time alleged to have become Abbot of Glastonbury and then retired in order to lead an extremely austere life on Glastonbury Tor. Glastonbury Tor was the legendary home of a certain tribe of fairies and Collen had a dangerous encounter on the Tor with Gwyn ap Nudd, King of Annwn, the Otherworld or Underworld, and of the fairies. This threatened to be a dangerous situation for the man of God but he kept his nerve, sprinkled Gwyn with holy water from a bottle which he habitually carried with him, and overcame him. He immediately left his retreat and proceeded to a sanctuary which may have been Llangollen, Llan being ‘church’ and Collen the name of the saint. He is said to have been venerated as a saint in Cornwall and Brittany.
The saint described in some small measure his experience when he glimpsed the interior of Glastonbury Tor in which the Otherworld was allegedly situated. It was full of fairies dancing and merry-making and distributing delicious-looking food with which they tempted Collen but which he staunchly refused to eat. It is generally known that if one finds oneself by some means or another inside a fairy dwelling-place, it is fatal to eat any morsel of fairy food, no matter how tempting it may be.
Fairies play an important rôle in all Celtic folklore and I have talked to many people in Celtic areas, Highland and Island, Scotland and Wales and Ireland, who claim to have seen these not-so-little people. The Tylwyth Teg are at the centre of many Welsh legends but space does not permit me to dwell on them in greater detail. Rhys quotes a strange tale from Conwy Vale from an informant of his who knew that fairies lived for seven years on the earth, seven years in the air, and seven years under the ground. There they were known as plant Rhys ddwfn, which means ‘the children of Rhys of the Deep’. Jones questions this statement (p.53) as being doubtful unless it conceals some Goidelic influence, as is quite possible. There are strong Irish undertones here.
Supernatural birds and animals
There were widespread beliefs in Wales, as in the other Celtic countries, that the land was not only inhabited by ordinary animals — sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and others — but by numerous mythological creatures, often closely resembling the more familiar animals, but possessing powers baleful and benign which soon made it obvious to those who came into close contact with them that these were no earthly creatures. Many were believed to belong to the Tylwyth Teg or fairies. Some were owned by even more sinister figures, whose acquaintance we shall briefly make in the course of this chapter. The Otherworld dogs are known as Cwn Annwn and are sometimes described in English as Hell-dogs, or hounds of Hell. In Wales they may also be called Cwn Wybir (‘sky dogs’) and Cwn Bendith y Mamau. One description, given by Owen p.125 ff of his Welsh Folklore, of these fairy dogs is as follows: the ‘Fairy Pigs’ consisted of a pack of small hounds which were headed by a large dog. They made a blood-curdling baying which put the fear of death into all who heard it, which is not surprising for it portended death! In other words, they resembled Gaelic banshees. All normal dogs stopped barking and raced back to their kennels. The birds were silent in the groves as soon as they heard the fairy dogs’ baying, and as they approached, the owl itself was silent. When the terrible howl of the Hell-hounds was heard all fell silent in the house. Young people ceased laughing and all the talk round the fireside came to an abrupt end. They must indeed have been intimidating creatures, as the human beings, upon hearing their terrible cries, grew pale and began to tremble with fear, huddling together protectively. The worst thing of all was the fact that these animals were actually foretelling the imminent death of someone in the immediate locality. Crossroads were particularly popular with these Hell-hounds, and they made an even more alarming bawling there. If anyone dared to interfere with them, they would bite and haul the unfortunate person away with them; their bite alone often proved fatal to the victim. They would gather in great numbers in the churchyard, in which the burial they had foreseen was to take place. Moreover, their infallible instinct indicated to them the spot where the grave would be dug, where they would sink into the earth and disappear.
This is a very alarming description of belief in the supernatural carried to an extreme but it is by no means unique to Wales. Usually in other Celtic traditions it is a single black dog that threatens the traveller and sometimes brings about his death. In my own, Scottish, family it is the fox that acts as the banshee. There was no record, however, of these sinister animals ever harming any other creature, human or animal, if they were not provoked. It was generally believed, however, that certain supernatural hounds could be heard on wild, stormy nights in close pursuit of the souls of unbaptised babies and those who had not received the rites and holy blessings before death. Belief in these dogs was widely and deeply held.
These dogs were usually described as being white with red ears. This takes us right back to Celtic mythology, being a close description of the Otherworld dogs one encounters in older documents. An old man described them, saying their colour was blood-red, they were always dripping with gore, and their eyes and teeth were like fire. He had never seen the dogs himself, but had heard tales of them. As Owen goes on to say, these are clearly the dogs that Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed encountered when he went hunting and carelessly set his own dogs on a stag which had been killed by a pack of magical dogs, brilliant white with red ears. Such Otherworld animals occur frequently in medieval tales of Wales. See, for example the story of Pwyll Pendeuic Dyvet (Pwyll Lord of Dyvet) in Williams, Ifor, Pedei
r Keinc y Mabinogi, p.1ff.
The Otherworld cow
There are numerous tales from most, if not all the Celtic countries about a supernatural or fairy cow which behaved in various singular ways and which was able to supply an entire township with milk, provided it was properly treated. Any misuse of this nourishing substance would cause the milk to dry up and the animal would disappear and go to some other village or township. Stories about this magical creature are to be found widely in Wales, either in wild mountain country or in the lush valleys for which Wales is renowned. Y Fuwch Frech — ‘The Speckled Cow’ — was alleged to have had her home on the open mountain side.
Elias Owen managed to obtain a piece of interesting oral tradition concerning the magic animal directly from one Thomas Jones of Cefn Bannog in the same region, near Ruthin, Clwyd. The following is a précis of his interesting fieldwork in the area. He was told that long ago a marvellous cow was pastured on the hill close to the farm, Cefn Banawg, which took its name from the mountain ridge. She was well cared for and several place names attest to her popularity. A trackway led from the ruined cow-house to a spring named Ffynnon y Fuwch Frech (Spring of the Speckled Cow), from which the cow habitually drank. It used to graze on a pasture known as Waun Banawg, not far away. Remains of ruins in such regions show the walls to have been several feet thick, ideal for keeping out cold and wet in the dark winter months. It is an isolated place but the ancient house had a plenitude of heather and ferns. The local tradition was that this cow was the mother of the mythical horned Ychain Banawg (large oxen). The people of Denbighshire loved to tell stories about this speckled cow and recited a remarkable story about it which was handed down from generation to generation, an interesting indication of the strength of the oral tradition in Wales. People in need of milk used to carry a bucket to this cow, and no matter how large a vessel they took, there was always enough rich milk to fill the pail full. This ready supply of good milk continued for a long time and people went constantly to the cow, which gave generously of its largesse to one and all. But this was, like all good things, to come abruptly to an end through magical intervention. An evil hag was envious of the good fortune of the people and she took a sieve in her hand and went to attempt to milk the poor cow dry. She milked it and milked it into the sieve and in the end there was no more milk to be got. The cow took great offence at this treatment and instantly went away and no one ever saw her again.