Dec. 29. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



505 



those who are free from this infidelity, stood more in 

 awe of the world to come, not far off"; and made a greater 

 preparation for eternity. Many indeed of the gentry, 

 and some others in imitation of them, here in Wales, as 

 well as in England, affect to disbelieve, dispute against, 

 and ridicule the account of apparitions and agencies of 

 evil spirits in the world, as if Satan walked to and fro in 

 the world, and did nothing, though the Scripture shows 

 otherwise (Job, chaps, i. and ii. ; 1 Kings, xxii. ; 1 Peter, 

 V. 8, 9.). I have seen some who would hardly believe 

 such things, which yet they heard from many, till by sen- 

 sible experience they were obliged to believe. Among 

 others, I met with one, and he a man of probity and great 

 sense, who, indeed, questioned not the being of spirits, 

 good and bad, in the world, but would hardly believe that 

 they appeared, or at least that it Avas but seldom. But 

 some time after, he was by very sensible experience con- 

 vinced, and owned his mistake. Is it reasonable that 

 such as have had no experience of these things, and speak 

 against thorn, should be believed against the many that 

 have ; and they also men of sense and probity ? No, it is 

 unreasonable, unjust, injurious, and foolish. The Scrip- 

 tures, both of the Old and New Testament, do speak of 

 apparitions of spirits, both good and bad, from heaven 

 and from hell, and do declare that the devil is the father 

 of the wicked, John, viii. 44. : Ye are of your father the 

 devil, and his lusts ye will do. That he is the god of this 

 world, 2 Cor. iv. 4. That he is the adversary and tempter 

 of the saints, and walketh about to do mischief. But can 

 he be a father that never appears to his children ? — a king 

 that never appears to any of his subjects? — an adversary 

 that always walketh about to do mischief, and doth mis- 

 chief, and vet is always invisible ? How unjust, un- 

 reasonable, foolish, and impious, therefore, is that kind of 

 unbelief which will not believe the God of truth, and the 

 testimonies of men, without number, in all ages of the 

 ■world ! 



" But the apparitions of the fairies, and of other spirits 

 of hell (for our Saviour, who perfectly knows hell, inti- 

 mates that there are different sorts of them, Mark ix. 29. : 

 A7id he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing 

 hut by prayer and fasting) have very much ceased in 

 Wales since the light of the Gospel ; and religion hath 

 so much prevailed : according as was foretold by the ad- 

 mirable Mr. Morgan Lloyd, of Wrexham, who, in one of 

 his books, which he wrote about the middle of the last 

 century, hath this expression concerning the fairies : ' The 

 day dawneth, and the worms of darkness will hide ; ' and 

 of the accomplishment of this prophecy, Mr. Charles Ed- 

 wards speaks in his History of the Faith in Welsh, which 

 he printed in the year 1676. In the fourth edition of 

 which very excellent book, not sufficiently attended to 

 and esteemed, pp. 2G9. and 270., he hath these words : 'For 

 as formerly the Gospel silenc'd the voices, and hindered 

 the actings of devils, so now, since the late reformation 

 and repairing of the faith, those familiar devils, the 

 fairies, are not so bold as in the time of popery, when 

 they appeared in visible companies, to deceive people into 

 familiarity with them — a sign that it is become a Gospel- 

 day when the worms of darkness do hide.' 



"But some persons may desire to know, why these 

 fairies have appeared in Wales more than in some other 

 countries ; to which I answer, that I can give no other 

 reason but this, — that having lost the light of the true 

 religion in the eighth and ninth centuries of Christianity, 

 and received popery in its stead, it became dark night 

 upon them ; and then these spirits of darkness became 

 more bold and intruding, and the people, as I said before, 

 in their great ignorance, seeing them, like a company of 

 children, in dry, clean places, dancing, and having musick 

 among them, thought them to be some happj' beings, as 

 No. 322.] 



appears from the names given them, namely, Mother's 

 blessing and Fair folks of the wood, made them welcome in 

 their houses, and, as saith the prophet Isaiah, xxviii. 18., 

 made a covenant with hell ; which was disannulled by 

 the light and grace of the Gospel. Mr. Edwards saith, 

 that the Welsh entered into familiarity with the fairies 

 in the time of Henry IV., p. 223. of the before-mentioned 

 book ; and very likely the evil then increased ; the severe 

 laws of that prince enjoining, among other things, that 

 they were not to bring up their children to learning, &c., 

 by which a total darkness came upon them, without any 

 light ; which cruel laws were occasioned by the rebellion 

 of Owen Glandwr, and the Welsh which joined with him, 

 foolishly thinking to shake off the Saxon yoke before 

 they had repented of their sins ; in which they had con- 

 tinued from the time of the faithful Gildas, who had told 

 them of their sins, and in vain warned them to repent. 

 But this evil had begun before, when the darkness of 

 popery first commenced. We ought therefore to bless thef 

 Lord for the Gospel day of light and liberty, which, 

 together with other greater blessings, hath greatly les- 

 sened, though not quite annihilated, these hellish appear- 

 ances. 



" The inhabitants of the earth have, for the most part, 

 but a slight knowledge of eternity, and the faith and con- 

 sideration of it answerably weak, and of little effect in the 

 far greatest part of men. And therefore any thing tend- 

 ing to help the faith of this great and impoi'tant subject, 

 the reality of eternity, ought to be esteemed and made use 

 of. And it is not easy to say what is more proper and 

 effectual for this end, than the real sensible apparitions 

 of spirits, good and bad, who are the subjects of eter- 

 nity, and prova its reality. Every truth may be of use^ 

 whether it comes from heaven or from hell. And this 

 kind of truth hath been of great use in this country, to 

 prevent a doubt of eternity and of the world to come ; 

 why then should not the account of apparitions and the 

 agencies of spirits have some place in Christian conversa- 

 tion and writings ? 



" Besides, seeing the apparitions, and the malevolent 

 agencies of evil spirits in Wales, are very much ceased 

 since the preaching of the Gospel, and the spreading of 

 the knowledge of God, who then cannot see that this 

 makes for the honour of God and His word, the comfort 

 of the inhabitants, and a further encouragement and en- 

 gagement to them to mind the word of the Lord, and to 

 live according to it ? This good we have from this evil, 

 and it is not a little. And the good also of having this 

 evil lessened, further appears from the perfect aversion of 

 these fairies to the name of God, and every spiritual good, 

 and is easily collected from the manner of their appear- 

 ances and actings in former times. 



" These are the good effects arising from it, and I will 

 ask no man's pardon for this account of apparitions in the 

 parish of Aberj'struth, tho' it is the only thing in this 

 writing which, in respect of some people, needs an apo- 

 logy ; for why should the sons of infidelity be gratified, 

 whose notions tend to weaken the important belief of 

 eternity, to dissipate religion, and to banish it out of the 

 world? " 



John Webb. 



THE SONG OP THE NIGHTINGALE. 



Notwithstanding the numerous allusions which 

 have appeared in the " N. & Q.," upon the note 

 or tune of the nightingale, whether it is melan- 

 choly or merry, I venture to send you another 

 from the pen of a poet, as true a lover of the 



