Rhiannon

The name, “Five-Wells,” has arisen from the circumstance that in the vicinity, five fields so abut upon a spring that each has a drinking-place or “well supplied therefrom. The name is also applied to a farmhouse near.

From John Ward’s ‘Five-Wells Tumulus, Derbyshire’ in the Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist (1901). He describes his excavations of the site.

I would therefore beg to call attention to what is perhaps the oldest stone in this island about which there is documentary evidence extending over thirteen centuries, and which is still standing in the identical spot where it was erected centuries earlier still.

[..] the Book of Chad [..] has the words behet hirmain guidauc = as far as the long stone of Gwyddog or Gwyddawg. Mr. Gwenogvryn Evans considers that this entry must have been made before A.D. 840..

There’s also mention of the ‘byrfaen’ or short stone, also on the boundary of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and nearby. But this is supposed to be lying ‘among a heap of debris, namely, in three pieces’.

WH Davey adds, ‘My son has asked in the immediate neighbourhood about the stones, but could get no further particulars except that it is supposed that they are on the site of a battle which took place in that locality.‘

However it seems that the short stone was never that short, because there’s also a quote from Nicholson’s 1813 ‘Cambrian Travellers’ Guide, in which it was said to be ‘15 feet long and 4 in width and thickness’.

From ‘A boundary stone with a good record’ in Illustrated Archaeologist v1 (1893).

The fort up here is only one of a variety of things you can point to around Dufftown to illustrate the undoubtedly true tale that follows. The writer was clearly very proud of his local legend.

Battle of Mortlach:-- In the year 1010, Malcolm II. obtained, in this parish, that signal victory over the Danes, which has ever since given the place a superior degree of fame, and makes it respected as classic ground. Human nature is inclined to regard, with a peculiar reverence, the very spot of earth on which was of old transacted any remarkable event.

Malcolm had been beat the year before by the Danes, and was obliged to leave them in possession of the lands of Moray. Anxious, however, to expel such intruders, he now returns upon them from the south, with a powerful force; and the Danes, having intelligence of his motions, came forward to give him battle.

It’s excitingly written but rather lengthy – you can read it here in the 1796 statistical account.
stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1791-99/Banff/Mortlach/17/442/
Essentially three of the Scottish generals get themselves killed in their enthusiasm, and the home side fears that the game’s up. But the sensible King pops over to the church and has a quick pray. This perks him up and after a rousing speech to the army he ‘throws Enetus, one of the Danish generals, from his horse, and kills him with his own hand.’ After this the Scots rally and see off the Danes. There’s the cunning idea that the river could have been dammed to flood the Danish while they slept, but the author can’t quite fit that into the story convincingly, so attributes it to another occasion.

As traditional and pretty sure memorials of this famous battle, are pointed out;
1. The vestiges of an intrenchment, very distinct at this day, on the summit of the little Conval-hill, called by the neighbourhood the Danish Camp.
2. A number of tumuli, or cairns, supposed to have been collected over the bodies of the fallen.
3. A huge and irregularly roundish stone, formerly, it is said, on the grave of Enetus, but now rolled a few ells from its station over the corpse, and made a part of a fence about a field of corn; where it is denominated the Aquavitae Stone. To account for this appellation, and to prevent antiquarians from puzzling their brains with dark and learned hypotheses in time to come, it may not be improper to tell, that the men, whose brawny strength removed this venerable tenant, finding it rather a hard piece of work, got, as a solace for their toil, a pint of whisky, out of which, immediately, around the stone, they took a hearty dram. Every body knows, that, in Scotland, whisky and aquavitae are the same.

There are numerous other ‘proofs’ as well, including (possibly) a gold torc.
The stone, according to the RCAHMS record, was broken up c1860, and before being moved was originally at NJ32314072.

A ditch extends all along the top of the Malvern Range, which is said to have been constructed by Gilbert de Clare, the (red) Earl of Gloucester, who married Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward the 1st. The Earl resided at Hanley Castle and received the right of Malvern Chase as his wife’s dower, so, wishing to separate this from the lands of the Bishop of Hereford, he constructed a ditch. It is hardly possible that a ditch alone without a fence or pallisading could keep deer and other game from straying. He swore his usual oath, “By the Splendour of God, if I catch any man trespassing upon my manor I will cut off his hands.”

What an unutterable prat. This is from ‘Camps on the Malvern Hills’ by F G Hilton Price, in the journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, v10, 1881. W S Symonds also calls it the ‘Red Earl’s Ditch’ in his ‘Hanley Castle’ novel (see Waum’s Well).

This is from p29 of ‘Hanley Castle’ by W. S. Symonds. It’s a novel, but he says in his preface that he wrote it with the motive of interesting the local inhabitants in local history and traditions, so I imagine the Facts are true.

Bridget now proposed that we should descend the hill to the well of St. Waum, and take a drink of the water, so good for the healing of broken hearts, sore eyes and rheumatism. I laughed at the idea, as we were both strong and healthy, but down the hill we went for the sake of St. Waum’s spell and Bridget’s fancy.

The spring, for well there is none, bubbles forth from a green quaking turf near a narrow inlet of the hills at the corner of the forest which formerly covered a great part of the country between Hereford and the Malverns. Even now it is closely hidden by thickets of eglantine, hawthorn and hazel, and the path was so fully over-grown with trailing plants that we had charge boldly to get through at all.

He calls the cave above ‘the Cave of Glendower, or Hermit’s Cave’.
archive.org/stream/hanleycastleane00symogoog#page/n48

(I visited a spring today myself, and am covered in the nettle stings to prove it).

I looked up ‘waum’ and it rather despatches the idea of a christian saint. The OED says it meant in Old English, ‘a gushing forth or upwelling of water, a spring, or the water of such’ and also ‘the bubbling and heaving of water etc. in the process of boiling’. Interesting!

I also found this nearby stoney folklore. Clutter’s cave is the same cave mentioned above.

In a ravine to the south-east of the Beacon Camp and a little below Clutter’s Cave, against the roots of an old crab tree, lies a huge block of syenite. This stone is called the “Divination” Stone, and has been described in ancient manuscripts as the show stone, suggesting that at one time singular religious rites were performed upon it.

The exact dimensions of the stone I did not take, but simply measured the part that bore the appearance of having been hollowed out by man. The hollow portion of the stone faces south and is 4 feet wide from east to west, and 3 1/2 feet from north to south; the centre of the depression is 4 inches in depth.

A little beyond is a British trackway still visible in places, leading from the top of the hill, to an old spring called “Waums” Well.

From ‘Camps on the Malvern Hills’ by F G Hilton Price, in the journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, v10, 1881.

That of old, all those of any publict spirit in the parioch specially the gentlemen conveened upon St. Stephens day if lawfull, and failzeing thereof the next lawfull day at the Knock of Alves, with their best horse and armes, and ran there races westward two miles and 1/2 of distance ending at the Kairne of Kilbuyack.

From ‘Geographical Collections Relating to Scotland made by Walter MacFarlane’ by Sir Arthur Mitchell, v1 (1906). MacFarlane originally published it in 1748.
archive.org/stream/publicationssco06socigoog#page/n29
St Stephen’s day is the 26th December should you wish to recreate the racing. Maybe the cairn is the ruined ‘Moray Cairn’ at NJ 1106 6147?

This is going to be a long story, for which I apologise, but I’ve not seen it reproduced elsewhere. It is (I think) from Walter de Mapes’ / Walter Map’s writings. He died in about the year 1200. His main work is ‘De Nugis Curialium’ so I am assuming this is taken from there (but I’ve not been able to find another English translation). However the list on Wikipedia that describes its contents doesn’t really have anything that looks relevant. It’s got lots of weird stuff (phantom animals, the wild hunt, vampires, a Northumberland ghost story) but not Stonehenge. So I’m a bit bemused for the moment. Anyway it makes a change from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s (also 12th century) version.The following quote, wherever it originally comes from and whoever translated it, is taken from ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ by John Britton (v15, 1814), p365. books.google.co.uk/books?id=pi1JAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA365

After Emrys (ie Ambrosius) had tranquillized every place, he made a journey to Salisbury (ie Sarum) to behold the graves of those whom Hengistyr had caused to be slain of the British. At that time three hundred monks formed a community in the monastery of Ambri Mount; for so it was called, because it was founded by a person named Ambri. And Emrys was grieved to see that spot devoid of every mark of honour; so he summoned to him all the stone-masons and carpenters in Britain, to erect a trophy which whould be an eternal memorial around that sepulture. But after they had assembled together their ingenuity failed them;

thereupon Tramor, Archbishop of Caer-Llion, drew near, and thus spoke to Emrys: ‘My Lord cause thou to come before thee Merdin (Merlin) the bard of Gortheyrn, for he is able to invent a wonderful structure, through his skill, to be of eternal duration.‘

So Merdin was brought to Emrys; and the king was joyful to see him; and Emrys desired him to foretel the events that were to happen in this island. But Merdin replied: “It is not right to declare those things except when there is a necessity; and were I, on the contrary, to speak of them, the spirit that instructs me would depart, when I should stand in need of it.” Upon that the king would not press him further, but enquired of him how he could invent a fair and lasting work over that spot.

Thereupon Merdin advised a journey to Ireland to the place where stood the Cor-y-Cawri, or the circle of the giants on the mountain of Cilara. For thereon he said, are stones of an extraordinary quality, of which nobody has any knowledge; for they are not to be obtained by might nor by strength, but by art, and were they at this place in the state they are there, they would stand to all eternity.

So Emrys said, laughingly, by what means can they be brought from thence? Merdin replied, laugh not, because I speak only seriousness and truth; those stones are mystical, and capable of producing a variety of cures; they were originally brought thither by giants from the extremities of Spain; and they placed them in their present position. The reason of their bringing them was, that when any of them was attacked by disease, they used to make a fomentation in the midst of the stones, first laving them with water, which they poured into the fomentation; and through that they obtained health from the disease that might affect them, for they put herbs in the fomentation; and those healed their wounds.

When the Britons heard of the virtues of those stones, immediately they set off to bring them. Uthyr Pendragon being commissioned to be their leader, taking 15,000 armed men with him; Merdin also was sent as being the most scientific of his contemporaries. At that time Gillamori reigned in Ireland, who, on hearing of their approach, marched against them with a great army, and demanded the object of their errand. Having learned their business, he laughed, saying, ‘It is no wonder to me that a feeble race of men have been able to ravage the isles of Britain, when its natives are so silly as to provoke the people of Ireland to fight with them about stones.’ Then they fought fiercely, and numbers were slain on both sides, until at length Gillamori gave way, and his men fled.

Then Merdin said, “Exert your utmost skill to carry the stones,” but it availed them not. Merdin then laughed, and without any labour but by the effect of science, he readily brought the stones to the ships. So they then brought them to Mount Ambri.

Then Emrys summoned to him all the chiefs and graduated scholars of the kingdom, in order, through their advice, to adorn that place with a magnificent ornament. Thereupon they put the crown of the kingdom upon his head, celebrated the festival of Whitsuntide for three days successively; rendered to all in the island their respective rights; and supplied his men in a becoming manner with gold, silver, horses and arms.

So when every thing was prepared Emrys desired Merdin to elevate the stones as they were in Cilara; and this he accomplished. Then every body confessed that ingenuity surpassed strength.

As the ancient parochial boundary between Warminster and Corsley passes over the larger hill, it has been for time out of mind customary for a great concourse of people to assemble here on Palm Sunday to defend the boundary, and prevent encroachments.

From ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ volume 15, by John Britton and others (1814).

... “Cley” has nothing to do with the earth called clay because the hill is entirely of chalk. The name is a mere corruption of an old word, Cleg, which means hill.

Cley Hill had its revel. This was on Palm Sunday, and was probably a relic of the procession which on that day used to be made before the Reformation. It is said this gathering took place in order to keep up the boundaries of two parishes that cross the hill. The custom however led to riot and abuse and was discontinued.

Mentioned similarly in the Warminster and Westbury Journal, 12th August 1882.

Apparently from Howell’s ‘Collection of Proverbs’ from 1659, but quoted in ‘English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases’ by W C Hazlitt (1907):

Sutton Wall and Kenchester Hill
Are able to buy London, were it to sell.

These are two places fruitful in the country, saith Mr. Howell.

Maybe it’s a misquote and should imply the two places were better than London in the past? as they both have big forts (Kenchester is next to Credenhill Park Wood fort) – rather like the rhymes that tell ‘when [local old place] was a bustling town,
[local big city] was a furzy down’. Maybe, maybe not.

‘Traditionary lines’ from ‘Herefordshire Words and Phrases’ by F T Havergal (1887)
archive.org/details/herefordshirewo00havegoog

Hope under Dinmore, and if Dinmore should fall,
The Devil would have Hope and Dinmore and all.

As long as Helsby hill wears a hood,
The weather’s never very good.

Observational but not particularly useful advice recorded in Holland’s 1886 ‘Glossary of words used in the county of Chester’.

There are two forts here above Llanbedrog, separated by a small valley. Pen-y-Gaer is apparently the more obvious today, according to Coflein. There are lots of springs around this high land, and a path / road lead toward one with particular renown – Ffynnon Bedrog (SH32263226). Coflein calls it a wishing well, but the Reverend Baring Gould knows better.

In Wales [St Petroc] is more especially associated by tradition with Llanbedrog. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was there considered to be “beneficial to offer to Pedrog for gangrenes.” His Holy Well, Ffynnon Bedrog, is on Bryn Du, in the parish. It enjoyed a great reputation formerly, and many traditions linger of the miraculous cures effected by its waters in every conceivable ailment. Some years ago a round vessel of dark stone was found at its bottom full of pins. Thieves could be discovered by it. A bit of bread thrown on its surface by the injured person sank at the mention of the thief’s name among a number of suspected persons.

From p102 of ‘Lives of the British Saints, Vol. 1’ by S Baring-Gould and John Fisher (1907).
archive.org/stream/cu31924092447816#page/n125

[Famed] for her prophetic gifts was the Lady of Lawers (Bantighearna Lathuir), one of the Breadalbane family, married to Campbell of Lawers. Her prophecies relate to the house and lands of Breadalbane, and are written, it is believed, in a book shaped like a barrel, and secured with twelve iron hoops or clasps in the charter room of Taymouth Castle. This book is called ‘The Red Book of Balloch’.

[..] A stone called the ‘Boar Stone’ (Clach an Tuirc), a boulder of some two or three hundred tons in a meadow near Loch Tay, will topple over when a strange heir comes to Taymouth...

From p 276 of ‘Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’ by John Gregorson Campbell (1900).
archive.org/stream/cu31924029909896#page/n299
A slight overestimate of the weight of the stone I fear.

On the top of a high stone in Scaristavor parks, the raven will drink its fill of men’s blood [..]

This stone is about ten ft. high, and is one of the three fragments into which a larger stone, used by an old woman of former days as a hammer to knock limpets off the rocks (ord bhairneach) was broken. Of the other two, one is in Uigh an du tuath, and one in Tarnsa Islet. At a spot from which these three fragments can be seen, there is hidden an urn of silver and an urn of gold (croggan oir’s cr. airgid). It is easy to find a place whence one can see two, but when about to see the third, one of the first two disappears. Five or six yards make all the difference. A herdsman once found the spot, but when digging for the treasure he happened to see a heifer that had fallen on its back in a stream. He ran to its rescue, and never could find the place again.

From p274 of ‘Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’ by John Gregorson Campbell (1900).
archive.org/stream/cu31924029909896#page/n297

This stone probably does not have anything to do with this story: you’d imagine you’d want one more horizontal for balancing milk in. But it being (as the RCAHMS record strongly states) ‘one of the most impressive standing stones in Lorn’, it surely has added to the Respect for Stones in the area. The Acharra stone is a hefty 3.7m high with a pointy tip. It’s about a mile from Achadh nan Darach.

The being which attached herself to the farm-house of Achindarroch (Acha-nan-darach, field of oaks) in Glenduror, Appin, Argyleshire, was variously known as the Glaistig and as the Gruagach of Glenduror. She attended to the cattle, and took particular charge of keeping the calves from the cows at night. She followed the house (not the family), and was alive not many years ago. A portion of the milk was poured out for her every evening on a stone called Clach na Glaistig (the Glaistig stone), and once this was neglected by a new tenant, the calves were found next morning with the cows.

Her face was described by those who professed to have seen her, as being like a grey stone overgrown with lichens. A servant girl, going on a dark evening to draw water from a stream flowing past the house, was asked by her fellow-servants if she was not afraid of the Glaistig. In her reply she spoke contemptuously of that being, and on her way to the stream received a slap on the cheek that twisted her head to one side. The following evening, going on the same errand, she got a slap on the other cheek that put her head right.

From p162 of ‘Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’ by John Gregorson Campbell (1900), where you can read more about this type of creature, associated with various Scottish locations (and generally with similar Gruagach stones for milk).
archive.org/stream/cu31924029909896#page/n185/

Next day came down to the castle of Dunadeer: from its eminent situation on the top of a high circular hill, it is observable at a great distance.

Lessly, bishop of Ross, whose history of Scotland was printed at Rome in the fifteenth century, says that this hill was called Dun d’ore, the Golden Mountain, on account of its abounding with gold; that it was owing to this, that the teeth of the sheep which feed upon it, look as if overlaid with gold; and a large circle of stones on the hill, give a brazen sound.*

And the common people have still a tradition current among them, that persons skilled in magic, by performing certain ceremonies at sun-rise, will see the shrubs assume the appearance of gold, on those parts of the hill that most abound with it. From whence these fables derived their origin must be uncertain: but as to the last, one could easily conceive, how the whole summit of the mount would have a golden hue, when receiving the warm glow of the morning, before the sun-beams reached the plain.

*Lesslaei, Hist. Scotiae, 29. The bishop observes, that tradition said, the great circle of stones had composed the temple of an idol:- it may be superfluous to remark, that more probably the stones were druidical, and the fable of the sound they gave, calculated to inspire votaries with greater awe.

From ‘Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland’ by Charles Cordiner (1780).
books.google.co.uk/books?id=67NCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT45

A visit was paid to St. Ann’s Well, and its pure waters were very refreshing. Its legend is lost, as is many another, from the much more frequent changes of abode by the agricultural labourers in these days.
Further up in the same field is the Lady Well; and here, said Mr. Lewis, a lady is said to have committed suicide. Nobody goes for its waters as they do to St. Ann’s, but happily the place seems not to be haunted.

In contrast to all the other tales of St Ann’s Well!
From

The visitors [to Woldbury Camp] were soon engaged in examining its embankments, considering the water supply, and taking the height of the summit, where stood that now familiar object, an Ordnance Survey pole. The papers were to be read beneath the yew trees on the large south-western embankment, where “the British Chieftain was buried,” said a resident on the spot.

From

About eight miles north of Aberystwyth is an ancient grave known as Bedd Taliesin. According to a local tradition, Taliesin, Chief Bard of the Island of Britain was buried on this spot. The grave, which is composed of stones, is in the centre of a large heap of earth or mound surrounded by stone circles, and some generations ago bones, and even a human skull, were found in it, which probably were the remains of the great ancient poet.

There is a superstition respecting Bedd Taliesin that should anyone sleep in it for one night, he would the next day become either a poet or an idiot. There is a similar popular belief in connection with Cader Idris, in Merionethshire, where an eminant bard once tried the experiment.

Taliesin’s Grave is in the Parish of Llanfihangel genau’r Glyn, and in the adjoining parish of Llancynfelin there is a village bearing the name of Taliesin; and, according to the ‘Mabinogion,’ the great poet was born somewhere between the Dyvi and Aberystwyth. The people of North Cardiganshire believe to this day that Taliesin was both born and buried in their district. The origin of his birth, which was supposed to be very miraculous, and other legends which cling to the memory of this great man are to be found in the Mabinogion.

from ‘Folk-lore of west and mid-Wales’ by John Ceredig Davies (1911).
archive.org/stream/folkloreofwestmi00daviuoft#page/n7/mode/2up

Mr. Larking has since made some excavations at one of the cromlechs of the parish of Addington, the only result of which was the discovery of some fragments of rude pottery, but they were attended with a circumstance which shows how long the ancient superstitions connected with such monuments have lasted. He had fixed on the site for excavating one afternoon, when the keeper happened accidentally to be present.

Early in the forenoon of the next day, Mr. Larking, with some workmen, proceeded to the spot, and he was rather surprised to find the keeper and an assistant waiting for him with picks and spades, and to see them work with extraordinary vigour and earnestness.

As the day passed on, and nothing but a few bits of pottery turned up, disappointment was visible in the features of the keeper, which became still more apparent when they all quitted their work and prepared for their departure. Before they separated, however, he communicated to my excellent friend the cause which made him work so diligently – in the preceding night he had dreamt that the cromlech contained a large crock of gold, and he was in hopes to be the fortunate discoverer of it!

From the Gentleman’s magazine and historical review, volume 192 (1852).
books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sq3PAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA567

Just to add to greywether’s folklore – not that I’m encouraging vandalism but it won’t work just any hour of the day.

Into it [the Toothie Stane, the large outer portal stone] have been driven at least two dozen nails or screws. Local legend explains these by saying that it used to be the custom for anyone suffering from toothache to seek a cure by driving a nail into the stone at midnight!

I am indebted to Mr S. R. Skilling [for an account] of a rather similar superstition from SW. England, to the effect that an aching tooth could be cured by hammering a nail into the trunk of an oak tree.

The excavation of the chambered cairn at Brackley, Kintyre, Argyle. JG Scott, in PSAS 89 (1955/6).

It was a weird thing entering that cairn that had been so long closed, and it was a cheerful thing to come out and see the people that had gathered, even from this lone district, as soon as they heard that there was really a building and chambers found in the cairn.

It was curious, also, to listen to the superstitions that came out. One woman who lived here, and might therefore be considered an authority, said that she used to see lights upon it in the dark nights. That you may explain as you please; distances are not easily judged of in the dark. One man, who also lived near, and who certainly was intelligent, said he would not enter for the whole estate of Lochnell.

We have often inquired the name of the cairn. The cairn really has had no definite name. Some people have called it Carn Ban or White Cairn, but that is evidently confusing it with the other cairn which we saw over the moss, and which is really whiter. Some people have called it Ossian’s Cairn, but that is not an old name, and even if it had been, we know that it is a common thing to attach this name to anything old. We call it Achnacree Cairn, from the name of the farm on which it stands.

It was a pleasant day for us and all around to find an interest so human and natural arising out of things deep in the ground in this secluded place, adn it makes one wonder whether there be not, in every part of the world, something that might interest us all if we only knew how to look at it.

There’s plenty more detail on the cairn in this book. There’s the interesting detail that on a ledge inside the cairn on the east side “were placed six white pebbles of quartz – four in one part and two a little separate. On the west side were two white pebbles; others of the same kind, but discoloured, were found in the soil.” And more pebbles were found in some urns in the cairn. “The quartz pebbles have been often noticed. Mr. Mapleton has found them often in urns and cists in this county, and in one case near Lochnell and far from quartz rock [..] He found three angular pieces of quartz firmly imbedded in a deep cup made in the rock, and surrounded by rings or circle markings, in the Kilmartin district lately. These markings were covered over with about 15 inches of soil, in which no quartz occured. Dr. Wilson mentions twenty-five urns having been found on the Cathkin hills, each with its face downwards, and a quartz stone under it.”

From ‘Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach’ by Robert Angus Smith (1879).
openlibrary.org/books/OL23638293M/Loch_Etive_and_the_sons_of_Uisnach

Many years ago the late Lord Bagot removed the Emlyn Stone from Bedd Emlyn to his residence at Pool Park near Ruthin, the distance being hardly two miles, and the stone not of very large size. The transport, however, took two days, and the waggon did break down for some reason or other; so that the whole transaction was looked on as very mysterious, and confirmatory of the local superstition [that you shouldn’t go moving stones].

Coflein has Bedd Emlyn at the same place as the Bryn Beddau cairns, although it is more of a pit now than a cairn. The stone from the cairn is supposed to be inscribed with ogham, and Coflein says it has been taken to the national museum in Cardiff. I can’t find a picture. But even if it really is later, it must get special approval for being associated with older cairns?

From v III of Archaeologia Cambrensis (1872) ‘Notes On Some South Wales Cromlechs’ by E L Barnwell.

In a field called “Parc y Bigwrn,” and in Pensarn farm, in the same parish [as Gwal y Filiast], are the remains of a cromlech destroyed about sixty years ago. Two of the supporting stones are still erect, and near them lie the remains of the rest of the chamber. One of them, nearest the hedge, is 8 1/2 ft. by 4 1/2 ft., the average thickness being 3 ft. Another was broken, about sixty years ago, into two parts, and one of them removed on a sledge drawn by six horses. All that now remain are six in number, including the part of the broken stone not removed. They vary in dimensions from 7 or 8 ft. to 4 ft. in length. Their average breadth is about 3 1/2 ft.

Our informant (John Jones), a man of more than eighty years of age, has always lived close to the spot. His memory and his character for veracity are equally good, and he remembers the capstone having been shifted from the west bearer; but had been told by his seniors that it had previously been horizontal, and was known as the table. It was subsequently thrown on the ground, where it now remains.

It may be as well to give the old man’s exact words: “Yr oedd chwech ceffyl yn tynu y gareg, ac yr oedd y car llusg yn rhwygo y ffordd. Yr oedd yno tua 10 o ddynion wrth y gorchwyl, ac yr oeddent yn llawn braw pan yn cyffwrdd a’r gareg.” The English of which is: “There were six horses drawing the stone, and the road was rent asunder. About ten men were engaged, and they were full of awe when touching the stone.”

This superstitious dread of disturbing stones of this kind was once almost universal in the Principality as well as in Brittany, and is still felt by many of the country people.

From v III of Archaeologia Cambrensis (1872) ‘Notes On Some South Wales Cromlechs’ by E L Barnwell.

A remarkable tumulus known as the Twmpath, near Colwinston, was thoroughly explored under the direction of Mr. F. G. Price, F.S.A., in 1887. The central portion had been excavated several years previously by the then owner of the property, when nine cinerary urns and their contents were brought to light; but as these were not the sort of treasure he looked for, the work was abandoned.

[.. Price] mentions the tradition of a local battle, the slain of which were said to be buried here.

From a ‘Handbook to Cardiff and the neighbourhood’ from 1920, here.

I happened upon this whilst looking for Menteith-related stories. So it’s not exclusively about this area, but does include it. And I think it’s really nice. It mentions white bulls – those famous ancient beasts of the Tain (or Cattle Raid of Cooley) epic, and maybe the sort whose descendents you can visit at Chillingham. Thoughts of the wild wood I suppose. The original was written in Latin by Hector Boece in his ‘Scotorum Historiae’. But there’s a translation of the 1575 version at this website
philological.bham.ac.uk/boece/

Marching with Argyll and Lennox in the interior lie the districts of Sterling and Menteith, and not far distant a town of this same name of Sterling, together with a very stout castle formerly named Mons Dolorosus. Once upon a time the Caledonian forest began here, and the old names Callendar and Caldar still remain. It ran in a long expanse through Menteith and Stratherne as far as Athol and Lochaber.

This forest is wont to produce very white bulls that have lion-like manes but otherwise resemble domesticated ones, but they are so wild and untamed that they avoid contact with men, and if they sense that some plant or tree has been touched by human hand, they shun it for several days thereafter. If they are captured by some trick (a very difficult thing to do), they soon die of sorrow. And when they see they are being attacked, they charge whomever they encounter and lay him low, having no fear of dogs, javelins, nor any kind of steel.

They say that Robert Bruce, having gained the throne and pacified his kingdom, hunted here for his recreation and came close to destruction. For when he was wandering about wherever his fancy took him, carefree and unescorted, he was confronted by a bull of this kind that had been wounded by a hunting-dart. Driven to a frenzy, it confronted Robert and threatened him with imminent death, and the king had no way of avoiding the danger. While all his company saw this and were standing stock-still in amazement, one present-minded man, willing to sacrifice his life for the king’s sake, took the bull by the horns with might and main, and not only stopped it in its tracks, but very courageously wrestled it to the ground without suffering any harm himself.

Then the bull was slain by the spears of those who came a-running, and this averted the king’s impending death. As a reward for saving his life, the king handsomely rewarded the fellow by conferring on him the name of Turnbull. Families of this name, possessed of no small degree of nobility, still exist, and that king is said to have been the first to give them this name and distinction.

The meat of this animal is delightful to eat and our nobility is particularly fond of it, although it does have gristle. But the gaming that used to be found in all that forest are now to be seen only in that part which is called Cumbernauld, having been hunted to extinction elsewhere to appease Man’s gluttony.