The South Wales coast from Chepstow to Aberystwyth . d himwith her beak, and scratched him with her longbird-like talons. One detail, that she smelt like a bucket o tar, sounds bad. Since then she hashad the Castle of a night to herself. Pennard has a better and more authentic folk-tale than this, however. Once, on the night ofthe wedding feast of its Welsh chief and castellan,who had carried back a rich bride from the Northafter fighting there for her father, the watchmanheard an unusual humming and soft shrillingwithin the walls. He grew uneasy as he listened,and then called the porter out f
The South Wales coast from Chepstow to Aberystwyth . d himwith her beak, and scratched him with her longbird-like talons. One detail, that she smelt like a bucket o tar, sounds bad. Since then she hashad the Castle of a night to herself. Pennard has a better and more authentic folk-tale than this, however. Once, on the night ofthe wedding feast of its Welsh chief and castellan,who had carried back a rich bride from the Northafter fighting there for her father, the watchmanheard an unusual humming and soft shrillingwithin the walls. He grew uneasy as he listened,and then called the porter out from behind thegreat door. He, too, heard the uncanny they went into the yard, and saw therein the moon-dazzle a troop of the Tylwyth Teg, orFair Family, dancing and singing. Full of amaze,they ran back to tell the bridegroom of the he fell into a rage, and swore he would have nocoblynau (goblins) in his castle, and finally rushedout into the moonlight and attacked the moon-beams as Cuchulain fought the waves—in default Tp. THE EAST GOWER COAST 189 of the small folk, who had all disappeared. Butthey took their fairy revenge all the same. A voicelike the wind rising cried, y dyn heb heb gastell, heb giniaw—that is, Theman without welcome. He shall be without castleor wedding feast! Even as the voice died awaythe wind rose and blew the sand up in such cloudsthat it smothered the Castle, covered the weddingfeast like snow, and drove the people out home-less. Pennard Castle, however, is one of the fewcastles that are traditionally of faery origin;which in Wales generally means that the site wasthat of a British Caer before it came into the handsof the later castle-builders. The tradition, whichseems contrary to the above story, is that it was,like Hay Castle, built in a single night; some sayby the Tylwyth Teg, some by a Welsh Fferyll(Virgil, , a wizard), who did it to save his Normans had taken him prisoner after aWelsh raid, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondontfisherunwin
