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.



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