The Hidden Golden Chair
: FAIRY MOTHERS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES.It is a good many years since Mrs. Mary Jones, Corlanau, Llandinorwig,
Carnarvonshire, told me the following tale. The scene of the story is
the unenclosed mountain between Corlanau, a small farm, and the hamlet,
Rhiwlas. There is still current in those parts a tale of a hidden golden
chair, and Mrs. Jones said that it had once been seen by a young girl,
who might have taken possession of it, but unfortunately she did not do
so, and from that day to this it has not been discovered. The tale is
this:--
There was once a beautiful girl, the daughter of poor hardworking
parents, who held a farm on the side of the hill, and their handsome
industrious daughter took care of the sheep. At certain times of the
year she visited the sheep-walk daily, but she never went to the mountain
without her knitting needles, and when looking after the sheep she was
always knitting stockings, and she was so clever with her needles that
she could knit as she walked along. The Fairies who lived in those
mountains noticed this young woman's good qualities. One day, when she
was far from home, watching her father's sheep, she saw before her a most
beautiful golden chair. She went up to it and found that it was so
massive that she could not move it. She knew the Fairy-lore of her
neighbourhood, and she understood that the Fairies had, by revealing the
chair, intended it for her, but there she was on the wild mountain, far
away from home, without anyone near to assist her in carrying it away.
And often had she heard that such treasures were to be taken possession
of at once, or they would disappear for ever. She did not know what to
do, but all at once she thought, if she could by attaching the yarn in
her hand to the chair connect it thus with her home, the chair would be
hers for ever. Acting upon this suggestion she forthwith tied the yarn
to the foot of the chair, and commenced unrolling the ball, walking the
while homewards. But long before she could reach her home the yarn in
the ball was exhausted; she, however, tied it to the yarn in the stocking
which she had been knitting, and again started towards her home, hoping
to reach it before the yarn in the stocking would be finished, but she
was doomed to disappointment, for that gave out before she could arrive
at her father's house. She had nothing else with her to attach to the
yarn. She, however, could now see her home, and she began to shout,
hoping to gain the ear of her parents, but no one appeared. In her
distress she fastened the end of the yarn to a large stone, and ran home
as fast as she could. She told her parents what she had done, and all
three proceeded immediately towards the stone to which the yarn had been
tied, but they failed to discover it. The yarn, too, had disappeared.
They continued a futile search for the golden chair until driven away by
the approaching night. The next day they renewed their search, but all
in vain, for the girl was unable to find the spot where she had first
seen the golden chair. It was believed by everybody that the Fairies had
not only removed the golden chair, but also the yarn and stone to which
the yarn had been attached, but people thought that if the yarn had been
long enough to reach from the chair to the girl's home then the golden
chair would have been hers for ever.
Such is the tale. People believe the golden chair is still hidden away
in the mountain, and that some day or other it will be given to those for
whom it is intended. But it is, they say, no use anyone looking for it,
as it is not to be got by searching, but it will be revealed, as if by
accident, to those fated to possess it.
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