2°<i S. IX. May 12. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



361 



He said the man was of that integrity of character, and 

 of such simplicity also, that it seemed difficult to be- 

 lieve he should be either able or willing to fabricate this 

 wonderful tale. Farther the doctor was silent, and so 

 am I. 



" Henry Reynolds, of Pennyhold, in the parish of Cas- 

 tlemartin in the county of Pembroke, a simple farmer, 

 and esteemed by all who knew him to be a truth-telling 

 man, declares the following most extraordinary stor}"- to 

 be an absolute fact, and is willing, in order to satisfy 

 such as will not take his bare word for it, to swear to the 

 truth of the same. He says he went one morning to the 

 cliffs that bound his own lands, and form a bay near 

 Liuny Stack. From the eastern end of the same he 

 saw, as he thought, a person bathing very near the 

 western end, but appearing, from almost the middle up, 

 above water. He, knowing the water to be deep in that 

 place, was much surprized at it, and went along the 

 cliffs, quite to the western end, to see what it was. As he 

 got towards it, it appeared to him like a person sitting in 

 a tub. At last he got within ten or twelve yards of it, 

 and found it then to be a creature much resembling a 

 youth of sixteen or eighteen years of age, with a very 

 white skin, sitting in an erect posture, having, from some- 

 what about the middle, its body quite above the water ; 

 and directly under the water there was a large brown 

 substance, on which it seemed to float. The wind being 

 perfectly calm, and the water quite clear, he could see 

 distinctly, when the creature moved, that this substance 

 was part of it. From the bottom there went down a tail 

 much resembling that of a large Conger Eel. Its tail in 

 deep water was straight downwards, but in shallow 

 water it would turn it on one side. The tail was contin- 

 ually moving in a circular manner. The form of its body 

 and arms was entirely human, but its arms and hands 

 seemed rather thick and short in proportion to its body. 

 The form of the head, and all the features of the face, 

 were human also ; but the nose rose high between its 

 eyes, was pretty long, and seemed to terminate very 

 sharp. Its head was white like its body, without hair ; 

 but from its forehead there arose a brownish substance, of 

 three or four fingers' breadth, which turned up over its 

 head, and went down over its back, and reached quite into 

 the water. This substance did not at all resemble hair, 

 but was thin, compact, and flat, not much unlike a rib- 

 bon. It did not adhere to the back part of its head, or 

 neck, or back ; for the creature lifted it up from its neck, 

 and washed under it. It washed frequently under its 

 arms and about its body ; it swam about the bay, and 

 particularly round a little rock which Reynolds was within 

 ten or twelve yards of. He staid about an hour looking at 

 it. It was so near him, that he could perceive its motion 

 through the water was very rapid ; and that, when it 

 turned, it put one hand into the water, and moved itself 

 round very quickly. It never dipped under the water all 

 the time he was looking at it. It looked attentively 

 at him and the cliffs, and seemed to take great notice 

 of the birds flying over its head. Its looks were wild 

 and fierce ; but it made no noise, nor did it grin, or in 

 any way distort its face. When he left it, it was about 

 an hundred yards from him ; and when he returned with 

 some others to look at it, it was gone. This account was 



taken down by Doctor George P of Prickerston, 



from the man's own mouth, in presence of many people, 

 about the latter end of December, 1782." 



The physician who took down the foregoing 

 statement from the mouth of the eyewitness, was 

 (li orge Phillips, M.D. of Haverfordwest, a gen- 

 tleman of high social position. 



John Payin Phillips. 



UR CHASDIM AND FIRE WORSHIP. 



Jewish tradition asserts as a matter of fact that 

 Abraham, upon the command of Nimrod, was 

 thrown" into a burning fiery furnace, without 

 being injured by the flames. Traces of this le- 

 gend are found in many of the Targums and Mi- 

 drashiin, the only point of difference among them 

 being, whether this deliverance was wrought di- 

 rectly by God or an angel ; and, if by an angel, 

 whether by Michael or Gabriel? 



Jerome (qucest. in Gen. xi. 28.) is acquainted 

 with this legend, and even adds another tradition 

 not known in the Midrashim, in which the age of 

 Abraham at his departure from Haran is not to 

 be reckoned from his birth, but from his deliver- 

 ance out of the fiery furnace, considering him 

 then as it were born again. Augustin also (De 

 Civit. Dei, i. 16. c. 15.) mentions this tradition ; 

 and the Syrian Christians appointed a day for the 

 memorial of Abraham's deliverance out of the 

 furnace. The Koran (sect. xxi. xxix. xxxvii.) 

 and several other Arabic historical and legen- 

 dary books have this tradition, and some Karaite 

 writers even, though generally contradicting Rab- 

 binical traditions and tales, have accepted, it. 



Concerning the origin of this legend it is im- 

 possible to speak authoritatively ; we throw out 

 one or two suggestions, and shall be glad to find 

 others throw more light iipon the subject. 



1. It is not improbable that the legend origin- 

 ated in the literal translation of Gen. xv. 7., " I 

 am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur (11S, 

 fire) of Chasdim." The Mishna (Abot, v. 3.) 



enumerates ten temptations Abraham was ex- 

 posed to, without mentioning them separately ; 

 and its expositor R. Nathan mentions among the 

 ten temptations tbat of Ur Chasdim, but does not 

 say anything more in explanation of it. R. Eli- 

 ezer is the first who refers the second temptation 

 to Abraham, representing him to have been im- 

 prisoned for ten years, then thrown into the fiery 

 furnace, and at last delivered by the King of 

 Glory (God), with which explanation a great 

 number of Jewish rabbis in the eleventh and 

 twelfth centuries agree. 



2. The geographical situation of Ur Chasdim is 

 not as yet ascertained : the LXX. and Josephus 

 are at variance on this point, nor have the latest 

 investigations led to a more positive result ; and 

 there is perhaps some plausibility in considering 

 it to be a plain or province dedicated to fire and 

 idol-worship. Now the plain in Dan. iii. 1., where 

 upon Nebuchadnezzar's command the monument 

 was erected, and where the three young men were 

 thrown into the fiery furnace and miraculously 

 delivered, was called NTH nj?p3. Concerning the 

 situation of this plain also there are doubts; while 

 some seek it near Susiana, others think of homo- 

 nymous cities westward of the Tigris and in 

 Mesopotamia, but more likely it is the plain near 



