Of Apparitions &c. In Glamorganshire.
I am now to give an account of the most wonderful actings of a disembodied Spirit that ever I have heard of in this Century, which came to pass in Tridoll Valley, not far from the Town of Aberavan, in a pious family, in th ehouse of Mr William Thomas. A man esteemed more than commonly pious by those acquainted with him, as also his wife and maid-servant; a very courageous young woman, as the future account will show.
The account I have in a letter from the Rev. Mr William Evans of Lanquake who was there, and had it from them verbatim as follows:
About the year 1760 the maid durst not go with the candle about the room by night, for the light of the candle would diminish, grow narrow as if in a damp, and at last would go out, and the fire out of the wick, so that she was obliged to go to the room without the candle. When she came downstairs, he would strike her on the side of the head, as it were with a cushion; while she was at private prayers, he would let her alone, excepting once or twice that she was obliged to give over, though a very courageous young woman.
One time she brought a marment of water into the house, and the water rose up out of the vessel about her, and about the house.
Another time when abundance of pilchards came to the sea, so that the people could scarce devour them, she asked leave of her master to go and fetch some of them; but her, being a very just man, told her not to go, that the pilchards were sent for the use of poor people, and that they themselves wanted nothing. But she ventured to go, and brought some to the house, but after giving a turn about th ehouse, and going to look after them, found them all gone, and thrown upon the dunghill; upon which her master blamed her, saying Did not I tell thee not to go?
One time they had a pot of meat upon the fire, and both the meat and broth were taken away, they knew not where, and the pot left empty, to their no small disappointment.
Sometimes the clasped Bible would be thrown whisking by their temples, and striking against something, and yet the Bible not much damaged.
So it would do with the Gads of the Steeller; and once it struck one of them into the skreen where a person then sat, and the mark of it still to be seen in the hard board; such a blow in the man’s forehead or temples would have killed him on the spot; but it did not touch th eman.
Once the china dishes were thrown off the shelf and not one broke. And in diverse particulars the evil spirit was evidently limited in its mischievous doings.
It troubled the maid very much in winter, taking away the clothes from her bed: in summer gathering more clothes to put upon her. Sometimes when it began to take off the clothes, she would take hold and get upon them and go toprayer; and when she prayed it would let the clothes alone for that time; which encouraged her the more to prayer.
It was a great business with this light hating Spirit to throw an old lantern about the house without breaking it. It would throw the candlestick also, and yet the candle would not go out of the socket, nor break.
Once she was going upon business before day, and being come to the highway, a thick darkness which was terrible to enter into, filled the way; upon which she thought once to go over the hedge to avoid it; but presently thought it was not good to yield to the evil Spirit, and therefore went to prayer, I commend her for it, by the hedgeside; after she rose up the darkness went off, and she went her way.
One night it divided the books among them, when they were in bed; to the man of the house it brought the Bible, to the woman of the house Allen’s Sure guide; Arthur Dent, and such books as she delighted in; upon the maid’s bed the English books which she understood not. When it began to stir in the beginning of the night, the man of th ehouse would call the family to prayer.
About two years space it continued in all to trouble them, in which space of time, it would sometimes be quiet for a fortnight, or three weeks giving no trouble .Once it endeavoured to hinder them from going to meeting, by hiding the bunch of keys and carrying them out of their place on a Lord’s day, and for all their searching could not find them. They were loath to appear in their old clothes at meeting. But the good man of the house bid them not yield to the Devil, but to borrow some clothes of one another; something which one had, which another had not; but at last there was something wanted which they could not be without, and must have or break the lock; but concluded to go first to prayer, and so did, and afterwards found the keys where they used to be, and where they had searched enough for them before.
Another time the maid went to milking to the barn, and while she was milking the cow, the barn door was suddenly shut. She rose up to see what had shut it, but could see nothing, and came back to milk, and then it turned the door backward and forward to make an idle ringing noise. She then knew what it was, and before she had done milking shut the door, but when she attempted to open it afterward, she could not open it by any means, and was going to open another door, but presently thought he might hold that fast shut; and that it was not good to yield to the Devil, and this heroine went to prayer against the enemy, as the best way of prevailing over him; which she did, and afterward the door opened as usual.
At one time it endeavoured to make variance between the mistress and the maid, by strewing charcoal ashes upon the milk; when the mistress found the milk so, she charged the maid with some neglect, and watched the next milk herself; yet this was made more foul.
At one time, W. Thomas and his wife went to watch to a neighbour’s house where was a dead relation. There was a young man a first cousin to William Thomas, who would be no means believe that there was a Spirit at W.T.’s house, and said they were only making tricks with one another: and very strong he was, a hero of an unbeliever, like many of his brethren in infidelity, and said he would lie in the house alone, and desired the keys of the house; he had them and went to see if there was any Spirit in it; but he had no disturbance, and if he was strong before, so strong that the testimony of three sober religious persons had no weight with him, he was now strong with a witness, and very uppish as high as the house top, and bantered them upon it.
Sometime after he came, and sayed over night; and hearing that the maid was disturbed in bed by the Spirit, he said in the hearing of the family, if any thing comes to disturb thee, call upon me, he lying either in that or the next room. Some time in the night the Spirit came to attempt to take away the clothes from the maid, and she cried out; he awaked and suddenly rose out of bed, to catch somebody who was playing tricks with the maid, as he thought, but saw now that there was nothing to be seen with her: but was made to know that there was an invisible Agent in the place, which now severely handled him, for feeling is believing. And he went to his bed in a worse condition than he came out of it, excepting that he was cured of his stubborn Sadducism. He never afterward bantered them, being made to believe that there was something more than human in the place.
One time Mr W.E., the author of this letter, being there, and at prayer by the bedside, it struck the bed so violently, though it was but with a trencher, that it made a report like that of a gun; so that both the bed and the room did shake; and it did so twice, which greatly surprised him. Here was a pure room for a Sadducee to sleep in for two or three nights.
One time it made so great a noise that the man of the house on a sudden thought the house was going away, and he was greatly terrified. It never after this made so loud a noise. Once when they were at meeting, it threw the pad against the door, at the foot of the stairs, which made so great a noise, as surprised and terrified those who were near the door especially.
One time the Revd. Mr Rich. Tibbot, a Dissenting minister from Montgomeryshire, being come to preach that way, and he is an evangelical holy minister of Christ, came into this house, and being in bed together with another person, and expecting the stir, continued awake and talking a long time, at last Mr Tibbot slept; his companion keeping awake heard him come, and awaked Mr Tibbot. It began to pluck the clothes, they held them, and prayed, and it let them alone a while. But they being thoroughly awaked by this time kept awake, expecting it would come again to pull the clothes, and therefore turned the clothes about them as well as they could; accordingly it came to pull them, which they held with all their might; so that they thought the clothes were broken between them; which really they were not.
Having not prevailed this way, it struck the bed with the cawnnen, a vessel to hold corn, so strongly that it removed the bed out of its place, and with so loud a stroke that W.T. heard it, and brought a light with him, they also calling for it; and they had quiet the rest of the night. Theyhad I think been keeping the day before in a day of fasting and praying, which, it may be, enraged him.
I imagine in myself how dreadful his companion’s word was to Mr Tibbot just newly awaking in the dead of night; Here it is Coming! when they expected to feel his power. Here was a pure place for a couple of Infidel Sadducees, to be in Mr Tibbot and his companion’s place for the time. The proud bantering Mr S.B. and his companion in infidel mirth, Mr A.T. who heave need of this conviction which Mr T and friend had not, though even to them it was a confirmation of what they rightly believed before. It deserves to be observed how this evil Spirit was limited in its ill doings, for when the good man of the house, and such he certainly was, was shaving it would not touch him while the razor was on his face, but when he would take it off, it would then strike him on the side of his head.
The manner of its going away, and ceasing to trouble was this. The man of the house being in bed with his wife Cathering Thomas, thought he heard a voice calling upon him, he then awaked his wife, and rose up a little in bed, and said to the spirit, in the name of the Lord Jesus what seekest thou in my house? Hast thou any thing to say to me? The Spirit answered it had, and desired him to remove some things, telling what they were, out of the place where they had been mislaid.
The good man thinking it to be a Devil, one of the fallen angels, made answer; Satan, I’ll do nothing that thou biddest me any farther than my Bible gives me leave; I command thee in the name of God to depart from my house. Both of them perfectly knew the voice, to be that of a dead relation, at least that it perfectly resembled it. This gave them both a great concern, least it should be the Spirit of that relation of whom they hoped better things: however from that time forth it gave no disturbance. For my part I believe it was the disembodied Spirit of that relation which sought an alleviating circumstance to its bad state by the removal of those mislaid things, and wish they had removed them, as it always gives ease to them who appear on such accounts, and cease to give trouble to those to whom they appear; there being no reason to be given why one of the fallen angels, properly called Devils, should personate a disembodied human Spirit, but reason against it. It was the voice of a femal relation more nearly related, either to Mr, than Mrs Thomas, which they heard; of whom they hoped better things. Oh that both men and women were more concerned, and laboured to the utmost to avoid a miserable, and to secure a happy Eternity, after life and death.
In: A relation of numerous and extraordinary apparitions of spirits in the Principality of Wales. Edmund Jones. 1780.