The Torrent Spectre

: FAIRY, OR MYTHIC ANIMALS.
: Welsh Folk-lore

This spectre was supposed to be an old man, or malignant spirit, who

directed, and ruled over, the mountain torrents. He delighted in

devastating the lands. His appearance was horrible to behold, and it was

believed that in the midst of the rushing stream his terrible form could

be discerned apparently moving with the torrent, but in reality remaining

stationary. Now he would raise himself half out of the water, and ascend

like a mist half as high as the near mountain, and then he would dwindle

down to the size of a man. His laugh accorded with his savage visage,

and his long hair stood on end, and a mist always surrounded him.



Davies, in his Mythology of the Druids, says that believers in this

strange superstition are yet to be met with in Glamorganshire. Davies

was born in the parish of Llanvareth, Radnorshire, in 1756, and died

January 1st, 1831.



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