A Man Carried Away By The Evil One

: STORIES OF SATAN, GHOSTS, ETC.
: Welsh Folk-lore

W. E., of Ll--- M---, was a very bad man; he was a brawler, a fighter, a

drunkard. He is said to have spat in the parson's face, and to have

struck him, and beaten the parish clerk who interfered. It was believed

that he had sold himself to work evil, and many foul deeds he committed,

and, what was worse, he gloried in them.



People thought that his end would be a shocking one, and they were not

disappoi ted. One night this reprobate and stubborn character did not

return home. The next day search was made for him, and his dead body was

found on the brink of the river. Upon inspecting the ground, it became

evident that the deceased had had a desperate struggle with an unknown

antagonist, and the battle commenced some distance above the ceunant,

or dingle, where the body was discovered. It was there seen that the

man had planted his heels deep into the ground, as if to resist a

superior force, intent upon dragging him down to the river. There were

indications that he had lost his footing; but a few yards lower down it

was observed that his feet had ploughed the ground, and every step taken

from this spot was traceable all down the declivity to the bottom of the

ravine, and every yard gave proof that a desperate and prolonged struggle

had taken place along the whole course. In one place an oak tree

intercepted the way, and it was seen that a bough had its bark peeled

off, and evidently the wretched man had taken hold of this bough and did

not let go until the bark came off in his hands, for in death he still

clutched the bark. The last and most severe struggle took place close to

the river, and here the body was dragged underneath the roots of a tree,

through a hole not big enough for a child to creep through, and this

ended the fight.



Mr. Jones stated that what was most remarkable and ominous in connection

with this foul work was the fact that, although footprints were seen in

the ground, they were all those of the miserable man, for there were no

other marks visible. From this fact and the previous evil life of this

wretched creature, the people in those parts believed that the fearful

struggle had taken place between W. E. and the Evil One, and that he had

not been murdered by any man, but that he was taken away by Satan.



The next tale is a type of many once common in Wales, and as in one

respect it connects these tales, or at least this particular one, with

Fairy stories, I will relate it.