#ceridwen

The Haunted Treasure

“The ancient manor-house on the Trewern Farm (less than a mile from the Pentre Evan Cromlech) had been haunted as long as anybody could remember. Strange noises were often heard in it, dishes would dance about of their own accord, and sometimes a lady dressed in silk appeared. Many attempts were made to lay the ghosts, but none succeeded. Finally things got so bad that nobody wanted to live there. About eighty years ago, the sole occupants of the house were Mr. — and his two servants. At the time, it was well known in the neighborhood that at once Mr. — became very wealthy, and his servants seemed to be able to buy whatever they wanted. Everybody wondered, but no one could tell where the money came from; for at first he was a poor man, and he couldn’t have made much off the farm. The secret only leaked out through one of the servants after Mr. — was dead. The servant declared to certain friends that one of the ghosts, or, as she thought, the Devil, appeared to Mr. — and told him there was an image of great value walled up in the room over the main entrance to the manor. A search was made, and, sure enough, a large image of solid gold was found in the very place indicated, built into a recess in the wall. Mr. — bound the servants to secrecy, and began to turn the image into money. He would cut off small pieces of the image, one at a time, and take them to London and sell them. In this way, he sold the whole image, and nobody was the wiser. After the image was found, and disposed of, ghosts were no longer seen in the house, nor were unusual noises heard in it at night.

Was the image one of the Virgin or of some Christian saint, or was it a Druid idol? Both opinions are current in the neighborhood, but there is a great deal in favor of the second. The region, the little valley on whose side stands the Pentre Evan Cromlech, the finest in Britain, is believed to have been a favorite place with the ancient Druids; and in the oak groves which still exist there tradition says there was once a flourishing pagan school for neophytes, and that the cromlech was in those days completely enclosed, forming like other cromlechs a darkened chamber in which novices when initiated were placed for a certain number of days–the interior being called the ‘Womb or Court of Ceridwen.’”

-W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries (1911)