Part 18 (1/2)
There was a tradition in this parish that on All-Hallows' Eve a Spirit announced from the altar the names of those who were doomed to die in the coming year. The Spirit was locally called _Angelystor_. Those who were anxious to know whether they or their neighbours had a longer time to live stood underneath the east window on that eve, and anxiously listened for the dreaded revelation. It is related of a tailor, who was reckoned a wit, and affected disbelief in the Spirit story, that he announced his intention to prove the thing a myth, and so, one _Nos G'lan Geua'_, Shon Robert, as he was called, proceeded to the church just before midnight, and, to his horror, he heard his own name--”Shon ap Robert,” uttered by the Spirit. ”Hold, hold!” said the tailor, ”I am not quite ready!” But, ready or not ready, it made no difference to the messenger of death, for that year the tailor died.
According to rustic opinion, demons were, from sinister motives, much given to frequenting churches; still it was thought that as the Priest entered the sacred building by the south door these Spirits were obliged to make their exit through the north door, which was called in consequence the Devil's Door; and this door was opened, and left open awhile, to enable these Evil Spirits to escape from the church, before divine service commenced. In agreement with this notion, the north side of church yards was designated the Domain of Demons, and, by a.s.sociation of ideas, no one formerly was buried in this side, but in our days the north part of the church yard--where the s.p.a.ce in the other parts has already been occupied--is used for interments, and the north doors in most old churches have been built up.
Formerly, at baptisms, the north church door was, in Wales, left open, and that too for the same reason that it was opened before the hours of prayer. But these superst.i.tions have departed, as intimated by the blocking up of north church doors.
_Satan and Bell Ringing_.
Durand, according to Bourne, in his _Antiquities of the Common People_, ed. 1725, p. 17, was of opinion that Devils were much afraid of bells, and fled away at the sound of them. Formerly, in all parts of Wales, the pa.s.sing bell was tolled for the dying. This is a very ancient custom being alluded to by the Venerable Bede--
When the bell begins to toll, Lord, have mercy on the soul.
A small hand bell was also rung by the parish clerk as he preceded the funeral procession, and the church bell was tolled before, at, and after the burial. I do not know whether this was done because the people, entertaining Durand's opinion, wished to save the souls and bodies of their departed friends from Satan. Reference is often made to small handbells in parish terriers, and they are enumerated in those doc.u.ments with other church property. Thus, in Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd terrier, 1729, among the articles mentioned as belonging to the church is a small bell:--
”A little bell to be rung before the corps.”
In Rhuddlan terrier, 1791, we find:--
”One small bell, and another small corps bell.”
I may say that there is hardly a terrier belonging to a Church in North Wales which does not mention this portable handbell. Although the modern reason given for their use at funerals was, that all impediments might be removed from the roads before the funeral procession arrived, still it is probable that the custom at one time meant something more than this. The custom does not at present exist.
_Giraldus Cambrensis_ thus alludes to these handbells:--
”I must not omit that the portable bells . . . were held in great reverence by the people and clergy both in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; insomuch that they had greater regard for oaths sworn on these than on the gospels.”--Bohn's Edition, p. 146.
As it was thought that the Pa.s.sing Bell was originally intended to drive away the Evil Spirit hovering about in readiness to seize the soul of the deceased, so it might have been thought that the tolling of these handbells at funerals kept the Great Enemy away from the body about to be consigned to consecrated ground. But from a couple of lines quoted by Bourne, p. 14, from Spelman, in which all the ancient offices of bells seem to be included, it does not appear that this opinion was then current. The lines are:--
Laudo Deum verum, Plebem voco, congrego Clerum, Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, Festa decoro.
I praise the true G.o.d, call the people, convene the Clergy, Lament the dead, dispel pestilence, grace Festivals.
There is nothing in these lines corroborative of Durand's opinion, but as I do not know the age of the lines I cannot controvert his opinion, but if it was believed that the tolling of a bell could drive away pestilence, well can it be understood that its sound could be credited with being inimical to Evil Spirits, and that it sent them away to other places to seek for rest.
It certainly was an opinion, according to Croker, entertained in Ireland and elsewhere, that the dwarfs or fairies, were driven away from places by the ringing of the bells of churches, and Croker in his _Fairy Legends of Ireland_, vol. ii., p. 106, states that Thiele collected traditions according to which the Troldes leave the country on the ringing of bells, and remain away. Thus these mythic beings are confounded with Satan; indeed Croker remarks (vol. i., p. 46) ”The notion of fairies, dwarfs, brownies, etc., being excluded from salvation, and of their having formed part of the crew that fell with Satan, seems to be pretty general all over Europe.” He instances Ireland, Denmark, and Spain.
Bells certainly were objects of great superst.i.tion. In Dyer's _English Folk-Lore_, p. 264, it is stated that--Wynkin de Worde tells us that bells are rung during thunder storms, to the end that fiends and wicked Spirits should be abashed and flee and cease the moving of the tempest.
Croker also remarks in vol. ii., p. 140, of the above-named work:--”The belief in fairies and Spirits prevailed over all Europe long before the introduction of Christianity. The teachers of the new faith endeavoured to abolish the deeply-rooted heathenish ideas and customs of the people, by representing them as sinful and connected with the Devil.” In this way the Devil inherited many attributes that once belonged to the Fairies, and these beings were spoken of as Evil Spirits, Fiends, or Devils.
I now come to another kind of Welsh Folk-Lore a.s.sociated with fairies, Evil Spirits, or some mysterious power, that is the removal of churches from one site to another. The agency employed varies, but the work of the day disappeared in the night, and the materials were found, it is said, the next morning, on the spot where the church was to be erected.
_Mysterious Removal of Churches_.
I. LLANLLECHID CHURCH.