Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Wales

Black Dogs / Devil / Folklore / Folktales / Legends / Welsh Folktales

Devil In Risca

According to British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes; ‘To William Jones, a sabbath-breaker, of Risca village, the devil appeared as an enormous mastiff dog, which transformed itself into a great fire and made a roaring noise like burning gorse’.

Devil / Folklore / Folktales / Legends / Occult / Welsh Folktales

Devil Conjuration In Merthyr Tydfil

Before Picton Street in Merthyr Tydfil was replaced by Caedraw Road, you could find the Black Lion Inn (58 Picton Street), and according to the following story which appeared in British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes, two of its drunken customers attempted to summon the Devil which appeared to them in the shape of a gosling. ‘These men were one night drinking together at the Black Lion Inn, when

Apparitions / Devil / Hauntings / Legends

Black Calf Of Narberth

Wirt Sykes in his British Goblins (1881) tells us of what may have been the ghost of an animal or as those in the North of England may refer to as a hairy ghost. However, this one, according to Sykes may have been something more sinister.

Devil / Folklore / Folktales / Legends / Occult / Welsh Folktales

Devil Summoning Tailor of Glanbran

The 18th century Glanbran House was dismantled around 1930 and was the ancestral home of the Gwynne family, the descendants of David Goch Gwyn who settled at Glanbran in the 16th century. Wirt Sykes in his British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881) gives the following story in which an unnamed member of the Gwynne family plays a prominent part.

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Fairies / Folklore / Welsh Fairies

Ellyllon

According to ‘British Goblins’ (1881) by Wirt Sykes; ‘The Ellyllon are the pigmy elves who haunt the groves and valleys, and correspond pretty closely with the English elves.

Fairies / Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Fairies / Welsh Folktales

Mynydd y Fedw

In ‘Celtic Folklore Welsh And Manx’ (1901), John Rhys recounted the following folktale originally passed down Siân Dafydd of Helfa Fawr, and Mari Domos Siôn of Tyn Gadlas, Llanberis who would probably have been born around 1770.

Apparitions / Haunted Hotels / Haunted Pubs / Hauntings

The Castle Hotel, Conwy

The Castle Hotel on High Street is an old coaching inn that was originally made up of two hostelries, the King’s Head and The Castle, which was the larger of the two. They were combined to create The Castle Hotel in the 1880’s.

Ancient Sites

Pen-y-Gaer Hill Fort

A Bronze Age hill fort can be found on the summit of Pen-y-Gaer, close to the village of Llanbedr-y-Cennin to the south of Conwy. The fort had quite complex defences, including three ramparts in places, and some short standing stones (a sort of chevaux de frise) to act as obstacles to both cavalry and infantry.

Ancient Sites

Garn Fadryn Hill Fort

Garn Fadryn (371 metres in height), has on its summit a Middle Iron Age hillfort covering an area of approximately twenty-six acres in total. The hill fort construction seems to have been done in stages, the first stage taking place in around 300BC enclosing about twelve acres.