26 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2>"» S. VI. 132., July 10. '58. 



Haven for the purpose of undergoing repair, died 

 on board ; and his coffined corpse was brought up 

 the pill, and landed at the very spot where my 

 mother heard the phantom boat touch the ground. 



Some years ago a friend of mine, a clergyman 

 resident in the city of ft. David's, who was the 

 vicar of a rural parish, had a female parishioner 

 who was notorious as a seer of phantom funerals. 

 When my friend used to go out to his Sunday 

 duty, this old woman would accost him frequently 



with "Ay, ay, Mr. vach. you'll be here of a 



week day soon, for I saw a funeral last night." 

 Upon one occasion the clergyman asked her, 

 "Well, Molly, have you seen a funeral lately?" 



" Ay, ay, Mr. vach" was the reply, " I saw 



one a night or two ago, and I saw you as plainly 

 as I see you now ; and you did what I never saw 

 you do before." " What was that ?" inquired my 

 friend. " Why," replied the old woman, " as you 

 came out of the church to meet the funeral you 

 stooped down, and appeared to pick something off 

 the ground!" "Well," thought my friend to 

 himself, " I'll try, Molly, if I cannot make a liar 

 of you for once." Some little time after this con- 

 versation occurred, my friend was summoned to a 

 burial in his country parish, Molly and her vati- 

 cinations having entirely passed from his memory. 

 He rode on horseback, and was rather late. Hastily 

 donning his surplice, he walked out to meet the 

 funeral procession. As he emerged from the 

 church porch, his surplice became entangled in 

 his spur ; and as he stooped down to disengage it, 

 the old woman and her vision flashed across his 

 recollection. " Molly was right, after all," said 

 he to himself, as he rose up and walked on. 



In the year 1838 I was on a visit to my parents, 

 who at that time resided on the spot on which my 

 mother was born, and where she passed the latter 

 years of her life. Within a short distance of the 

 house stood a: large walled garden, which was ap- 

 proached through a gate leading into a stable- 

 yard. From underneath the garden wall bubbled 

 a well of delicious spring water, from whence the 

 domestic offices were supplied. It was a custom 

 of the family, in the summer time, that the water 

 for the use of the house should be brought in late 

 in the evening, in order that it might be cool ; 

 and it was the duty of a servant to go out with a 

 yoke and a couple of pails to fetch the water, just 

 before the time of closing up the house for the 

 night. One evening the girl had gone out for this 

 purpose. The night was beautifully fine ; the 

 moon shining so brightly that the smallest object 

 was distinctly visible. The servant had not been 

 absent many minutes, when she ran into the house 

 without her burden, and, throwing herself into a 

 chair in a state of extreme terror, fainted away. 

 Restoratives having been used she recovered a 

 little, and upon being questioned as to the cause 

 of her alarm, she told us that as she was stooping 



over the well, about to fill one of her pails, she 

 suddenly found herself in the midst of a crowd of 

 people, who were carrying a coffin, which they 

 had set down at the gate of the stable-yard. As 

 she had received no intimation of the approach of 

 the concourse by any sound of footsteps, she was 

 greatly alarmed ; and as the object borne by the 

 throng did not tend to tranquillise her nerves, 

 she took to her heels, leaving her pails behind 

 her. As no persuasion could induce her to return 

 to the well, I offered to do so for her, and to as- 

 certain the cause of her terror. When I arrived 

 at the stable-yard there was neither coffin nor 

 crowd to be seen ; and upon asking a neighbour 

 whose cottage commanded a view of the well 

 whether she had seen a funeral go by, she put a 

 stop to any farther inquiry, by asking me " Who 

 had ever heard of a funeral at ten o'clock at 

 night?" To which pertinent query I could only 

 reply by stating what the servant professed to 

 have seen. So the matter rested fir a few weeks, 

 when there occurred an unusually high tide in 

 Milford Haven. The water rose far above the 

 level of the ordinary springs ; filling the creek, 

 and flowing into the court in front of the house, 

 it only ebbed when it had reached the door. 

 The roadway at the end of the pill was impass- 

 able. A person having died on the opposite side 

 of the inlet a few days before this, the funeral 

 took place on the morning of the high tide ; and 

 as it was impossible to take the corpse to the 

 parish church by the usual route, the bearers 

 crossed the pill in a boat with the coflin, and 

 having laid it down at the gate of our stable-yard 

 remained there until the boat could bring over 

 the remainder of the funeral concourse. 



In the year 1848 I returned to my home, after 

 an absence of some years. A few days after my 

 arrival, I took a walk one morning in the yard of 

 one of our parish churches, through which there is 

 a right of way for pedestrians. My object was a 

 twofold one ; firstly, to enjoy the magnificent 

 prospect visible from that elevated position ; and, 

 secondly, to see whether any of my friends or ac- 

 quaintances who had died during my absence 

 were buried in the locality. After gazing around 

 me for a short time, I sauntered on, looking at 

 one tombstone and then at another, when my at- 

 tention was arrested by an altar-tomb enclosed 

 within an iron railing. I walked up to it, and 

 read an inscription which informed me that it was 



in memory of Colonel . This gentleman had 



been the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner for 

 South Wales ; and while on one of his periodical 

 tours of inspection he was seized with apoplexy 

 in the workhouse of my native town, and died in 

 a {e.w hours. This was suggested to my mind as 

 I read the inscription on the tomb ; as the melan- 

 choly event occurred during the period of my 

 absence, and I was only made cognizant of the 



