Cyhyraeth Death Sound
:
DEATH PORTENTS.
This was thought to be a sound made by a crying spirit. It was
plaintive, yet loud and terrible. It made the hair stand on end and the
blood become cold; and a whole neighbourhood became depressed whenever
the awful sound was heard. It was unlike all other voices, and it could
not be mistaken. It took in its course the way the funeral procession
was to go, starting from the house of the dead, and ending in the
chur
hyard where the deceased was to be buried. It was supposed to
announce a death the morning before it occurred, or, at most, a few days
before. It was at one time thought to belong to persons born in the
Diocese of Llandaff, but it must have travelled further north, for it is
said to have been heard on the Kerry Hills in Montgomeryshire. The
function of the Cyhyraeth was much the same as that of the Corpse
Candle, but it appealed to the sense of sound instead of to the sense of
sight. Dogs, when they heard the distressing sound of the Cyhyraeth,
showed signs of fear and ran away to hide.