Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Snowdonia

Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Folktales

Canrig Bwt

A famous Welsh witch, who used to sleep under stone at Llanberis, in North Wales, was called Canrig Bwt, and her favourite dish at dinner- was children’s brains. A certain criminal who had received a death-sentence was given the alternative of attacking this frightful creature, his life to be spared should he succeed in destroying her.

Early Christianity / Folklore / Folktales / King Arthur / Legends / Welsh Folktales

St. Tydecho Stone

In the village of Llanymawddwy, there is an ancient church dedicated to St. Tydecho, thought to be the son of Anna Pendragon, King Arthur’s sister. Wirt Sykes in British Goblins (1881) gives the following tale of St. Tydecho and a blue stone. ‘There was a stone in the valley of Mowddwy, which did good service for the church. A certain St.

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Fairies / Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Fairies / Welsh Folktales

Fairy Bride Of Beddgelert

In ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891), Edwin Sidney Hartland mentions the following story from Beddgelert where a stolen fairy lady ‘would only consent to be the servant of her ravisher if he could find out her name.

Ancient Sites

Pen-y-Dinas Hillfort

The remains of the prehistoric, Iron Age, Pen-y-Dinas hillfort stand on a prominent peak (230 metres high), overlooking the coastal plain of Dyffryn Ardudwy. Its shape is oval, following the shape of the hill that it stands upon, and it measures approximately 60 metres by 50 metres. The wall of the hillfort is better preserved on the west side, which is where the entrance to the fort used to be.

Ancient Sites

Y Gyrn Lower Cairn (North)

This is the remains of one of a pair of ancient cairns that bestride the mountain path descending Y Gyrn from the west heading towards the Bryn Cader Faner ancient monument.

Ancient Sites

Y Gyrn Upper Cairn (South)

This is the remains of one of a pair of ancient cairns that bestride the mountain path descending Y Gyrn from the west heading towards the Bryn Cader Faner ancient monument.

Ancient Sites / Stone Circles

The Llyn Eiddew Bach Stone Circle

This stone circle is located close to Bryn Cader Faner, just to the east of the path that leads to this more famous ancient monument. The circle is difficult to find in the Welsh mountain moorland, chiefly because the stones are low to the ground and have been overgrown by the moor.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds

Gwern Einion

Gwern Einion is a representative cromlech, found on Gwern Einion Farm in the district of Llanfair, Meirionnydd. It has been damaged over the centuries, the burial chamber has historically been used as a shed, and the cairn has been robbed of its stone to build dry stone walls. It has actually been incorporated into a dry stone wall of the garden of a now derelict cottage on the farm.

Fairies / Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Fairies / Welsh Folktales

‘The Baby of Y Dolydd’

Y Dolydd is a long vacated, derelict cottage with an interesting Tylwyth Teg (Welsh Fairy) legend associated with it. Many years ago the cottage was the residence to a poor young widow, who one day encountered a charismatic Tylwyth Teg who asked her to bring up a child for him. The widow agreed to this, and several days later she found a beautiful baby boy on her doorstep.

Hauntings

The Talyllyn Railway ‘Ghost Train’

Rheilffordd Talyllyn (the Talyllyn Railway) is a narrow-gauge railway running for just over 7 miles from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol. It opened in 1866, being laid down to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys down to the coast at Tywyn, and it was the first narrow gauge railway in the United Kingdom to be authorised to take passengers under steam haulage by an ‘Act of Parliament’.