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PACH PATCH A common name for a court fool. Both Henry VII and Henry VIII had fools
called 'Pach'. In the LIFE OF ROBIN GOODFELLOW, Pach seems to perform the
function of a censor of housewifery and care of the stock rather than Court
Jester. # 100 PADARN REDCOAT The coat of Padarn Redcoat was one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island
of Britain. # 104 - 156 PADERN PATERNUS (sixth century) The founder of Lanbadarn Fawr (Dyfed) where he was Abbot.
When Arthur tried to steal the saint's tunic, according to legend, Padern
caused the earth to swallow the king up to the neck. He was released only when
he apologized. Padern's feast-day is 15 April. # 378 -
454 PADSTOW According to Leland, Henry VIII's librarian, this Cornish town was the
birthplace of Arthur. # 156 PALACE ADVENTUROUS A palace, containing the Grail, in the Castle of Carbonek. #
156 PARIS # 156: A Frenchman, a friend of Arthur in LE MYREUR DES HISTOIRES. Arthur
conquered the kingdom of Saynes and bestowed it and the king's daughter on
Paris. He may be identical with the French King Paris mentioned in CULHWCH AND
OLWEN. # 730: It is generally thought that the city of Paris itself was
founded after Homer's time by the Parigii, a Celtic tribe who were still
living there at the time of the Romans (who called the town Lutetia).
According to some scholars, the name Paris is connected with sun worship, as
dolmens have been found with images of a sun ship strikingly similar to the
Egyptian sun ships. It seems that there were indeed certain links between the
Druidic cult and that of the Egyptian goddess Isis. The sun ship, which is
still found in the Paris coats of arms, gave name to the city, via Barisis
('Barque d'Isis', or boat of Isis'). There can indeed be little doubt that
Paris owes its name to Isis, as we also have written evidence that this
goddess - usually associated only with the Egypt of the pharaohs- was
venerated in northern Europe. # 156 - 221 - 482 - 662 -
730 PARSIFAL Richard Wagner's Parsifal is the knight to whom it succeeded to render the
Christian feast of Easter its proper power and significance, after the feast
is pined away and had become stereotyped in the hands of its priest hitherto,
the old and sick king Amfortas. With the holy lance Parsifal heal the king's
gaping wound, and thus justify himself as not only the rightfully keeper of
the Grail - the holy cauldron which contains the blood of Christ but also the
new and duly by right administrator of the political power in the kingdom.
Such is the tale of Parsifal in Wolfram von Eschenbach's medieval High German
drama PARZIVAL from about 1205, and from where Wagner was inspired to compose
the opera. But Wagner goes thoroughly into different features of the myth in a
way as Wolfram never have dreamt of, according to B. Bojesen. As for instance
does Wagner emphasize the incident with the beautiful witch, Kundry, and that
there in Parsifal's relation to her is hiding a decisive perspective in the
opera. In the middle of the second act she sings: 'The only reason why I was
lingering here, was as for you to find me'. But this reply acted with a double
entendre. In short, he, Parsifal, has to understand that she is a spiritual
function, which he should integrate. And the only way to do this is to reject
the physical sexual union with her. The result of this is pictured in the last
scene of the opera. After Parsifal has raised the Grail from its shrine,
Kundry sinks, with her eyes at him, slowly to the ground in front of Parsifal,
inanimated. She no longer exists as a concrete being - exactly because
Parsifal has integrated her as spiritual function. Parsifal is now 'whole',
and has in one stroke achieved his authority. See also: PERCEVAL. #
78 PARTHOLON PARTHOLAN The Celts believed themselves to be descended from the God of the
Underworld. Partholon is said to have come into Ireland from the West, where
beyond the vast, unsailed Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Faeryland, the Land of the
Living, the Land of the Happy Dead, was placed. Partholon's father was Sera
(the West?). He came with his queen Dealgnaid and a number of companions of
both sexes. Partholon was the leader of the first invasion of Ireland. He was
the chief of every craft: he cleared the plains for husbandry. His people were
overcome by plague. He is the reaper of the last sheaf in modern Irish
folklore. Partholan fought the Fomorians for the lordship of Ireland, and
drove them out to the northern seas, whence they occasionally harried the
country under its later rulers. # 418 - 454 - 562 PATRICK, SAINT (c.391-461) Patron of Ireland. He was British by birth and was enslaved by
Irish pirates who raided his home. He eventually escaped, having spent his
captivity consolidating his spiritual life while tending his master's herds.
He trained rather sketchily for priesthood and was determined to return to
Ireland and evangelize its people. His success was doubtless based on
preparatory work undertaken by anonymous monks already settled in Ireland, in
addition to his assimilation of existing druidic and religious patterns, upon
which he built. He put down the worship of Crom Cruach, is reputed to have
expelled serpents from Ireland, and to have explained the Trinity
theologically by means of the shamrock. His breastplate - or lorica prayer -
in which the warrior through his prayer invokes Christ as his armour, is very
typical of existing Celtic invocations. His feast-day is 17 March. # 454 -
562 PATRISE An Irish knight who was accidentally poisoned by Sir Pinel when he was
trying to poison Gawain. At first Guinevere was accused of his murder, but
Nimue found out the truth. # 156 - 418 PECHS PEHTS PICTS Pechs and Pehts are Scottish Lowland names for fairies and are confused in
tradition with the Picts, the mysterious people of Scotland who built the
Pictish Brughs and possibly also the Fingalian Brochs, the round stone towers,
of which the most perfect examples are the Round Towers of Brechin and
Abernethy. At the end of the nineteenth century, David Mac Ritchie made out a
good case for his THEORY OF FAIRY ORIGINS that the Feens or Fians of the
Highlands and Ireland were substantially identical with the Pechs of the
Lowlands and the Trows of Shetland. # 100 - 409 PEDIVERE A knight who murdered his wife. He was sent by Lancelot with her dead body
to Guinevere and eventually became a holy hermit. # 156 -
418 PEDRAWD In Welsh tradition, the father of Bedivere. # 156 PEGWELL, KENT An astonished-looking monster-headed prow of a Viking ship looks towards
the new hovercraft terminal at Pegwell Bay, no doubt as surprised by what goes
on today as when the infamous marauders Hengist and Horsa landed here in the
fifth century. The longship was sailed from Denmark to Pegwell in 1949, to
commemorate the arrival of the Saxons who so moulded the history and mythology
of Britain. The Saxons brought with them their pagan gods, which were later
introduced into a sort of genial English demonology and a complex tanglewood
of mythological tales, of which the story of Beowulf, the slayer of Grendel
and other monsters, has survived. Hengist was traditionally the founder of
Kent, and many of the name-places of old Saxon stomping grounds (their
earliest thefts) of Kent, Sussex and Wessex are derived from their method of
naming the localities they took over from those who had previously (or
currently) owned them. Hastings was from the followers of Haesta ('the violent
one'), reminding us of our schoolboy Latin, 'hasta, a spear', while the
followers of Raeda ('the red one') gave us Reading. More difficult to grasp
(though well recorded) is the derivation of the name Nottingham from its
founders, the family Snotr, 'the Wise ones'. Perhaps the only query one may
raise of the monstrous Viking longship is, why Pegwell? The earliest historian
of the subject, the Reverend Bede, tells us that Hengist and Horsa came to
Kent in AD 449 at the request of Vortigern, and landed at Ebbsfleet. What is
this Ebbsfleet now? All that remains of Ebbsfleet, above Pegwell Bay, is a
copy of a Saxon cross, some 18 feet high, covered with crumbling reliefs.
Tradition has it that the cross marked the place where Hengist and Horsa
arrived, and where, over a century later, Augustine was received by King
Ethelbert of Kent under the 'Ebbsfleet oak'. It is said that the monks truly
believed themselves to be the first Christians in Britain, yet when they
arrived at Canterbury they found there an old Roman church dedicated to Saint
Martin, perhaps the first of the stone churches built in England. The monks
should have known better - had not the legends told of the coming of Joseph of
Arimathea to Glastonbury, and was not the Queen who stood at the side of
Ethelbert already a Christian before they arrived? # 702 PELIAS An early King of Liones. # 156 PELLAM PELLES There seem to be some confusion about these names. According to Malory,
Pellam was King of Listinoise. Balin had killed his brother, the invisible
knight Sir Garlon, so Pellam fought with him. In the fray Balin's sword was
broken and he was chased by Pellam around the palace until he came to the
Lance of Longinus with which he stabbed his pursuer. This stabbing was called
the Dolorous stroke. Pelles (Pellam) was the Wounded King of the Grail Castle;
the stabbing was called the Dolorous Blow, since it caused not only the king
to be wounded, but the land to be laid waste. His daughter, Elaine of Corbenic
became the mother of Galahad by Lancelot. Galahad later healed his wounds with
blood from the Grail. Pelles is one of several characters with similar names:
Pellam, Pellean and Pellinore. These may indeed have once been the same
person, the root of the name derives probably from the Cornish 'Peller' or
wise man. Other scholars have identified him with Pwyll in the MABINOGION and
if true, this may well make him of otherworld origin. In later versions he
became the father of Pellam and brother of Pellinore. See also: FISHER KING. #
156 - 418 - 434 - 451 - 461 - 562 PELLEAM The Maimed King in French romance. See: PELLEHAN, and PELLAM PELLES, and
MAIMED KING, and WOUNDED KING. # 156 - 604 PELLEAS A Knight of the Round Table, who was enamoured of Ettard, who sadly did not
reciprocate his sentiments. Gawain said he would intercede for him, but
betrayed him, bedding Ettard himself. Nimue made Pelleas fall in love with her
by magic and made Ettard fall in love with Pelleas by the same means. Ettard,
finding her passion unrequited, died. # 156 - 418 PELLEHAN The Maimed King who, in the QUESTE, received his wound by drawing the Sword
of Strange Renges. Elsewhere it is stated that he received his wound when
Balin struck him with a lance. He is much the same character as Pellam. See:
MAIMED KING, and PELLAM PELLES, and WOUNDED KING. # 156 -
668 PELLINGS, THE A prosperous and respected family living at the foot of Snowdon who were
supposed to have fairy blood in them. They had fair complexions and Golden
Hair like the Tylwyth Teg, and were said to be the children of a fairy wife,
Penelope, one of the Gwragedd Annwn whose story was much like that of the Lady
of Fan y Fach. The imputation of fairy blood seems to have resented by most
Welshmen, but it was respected in the Pellings, as in the Physicians of
Mydfai. # 100 PELLINORE He was King of the Isles, one of Arthur's vassals, who is variously
described as sovereign of Listinoise, Northumberland or the Gaste Forest. His
brother was said to be Pelles, the Wounded King of the Grail legends.In some
versions his son was Perceval. In the LIVRE D'ARTUS he is called the Rich
Fisher King. He was wounded in the thighs for doubting the Holy Grail and this
suggests he was originally identical with Pellam. He pursued the Questing
Beast. During the rebellion of the kings in the beginning of Arthur's reign,
he killed Lot of Orkney, which caused a feud between the clans. In Malory, he
was the father of Aglovale, Perceval, Dornar, Driant, Lamorak, Alan, Melodiam
and Elaine. He slew King Lot and was killed by Lot's son, Gawain. It is
possible to discern in Pellinore, through the similarity of sound, the Celtic
ancestor god, Beli the Great (Beli Mawr), and this deity may also lie behind
similarly named Fisher or Maimed Kings. # 156 - 418 - 454 PENARDUN Daughter of Don, wife of Llyr, and also of Eurosswyd, and sister of Math;
mother of Bran, Nissyen and Efnissien, and consequently, an ancestor of
Arthur. # 156 - 562 PENARWAN Owain's wife. According to the TRIADS, she was unfaithful to him. #
104-156 PENBEDW A farm in Clwyd. In his book, SUPERNATURAL CLWYD (1989), R. Holland,
suggests that a menhir and nearby standing stones on the farm might be
Arthur's burial place as, in the vicinity, Moel Arthur was, according to
folklore, the site of Arthur's palace. # 156 PENDRAGON A title taken by Uther and later Arthur. Old Welsh Dragwn (dragon)
was used to mean a leader and Brythonic Pen signifies a head, so the
title means a chief leader. See: BREUNOR. # 156 PENTACLE The pentacle was sacred to the Celtic death-goddess Morgan and was carried
in her honor on a blood-red shield, according to the tale of GAWAIN AND THE
GREEN KNIGHT. It is still the sign of the earth element in the Tarot suit of
pentacles, which evolved into the modern suit of diamonds. With one point
downward, the pentacle was supposed to represent the head of the Horned God. #
701 PEOPLE OF PEACE, THE - OR DAOINE
SIDHE These, of the Highlands, are very much the same as the Daoine Sidh of
Ireland, except that they have - with the exception of the Feens, who exactly
reproduce the stories of Finn of the Fianna - no monarchial government. They
are Trooping Fairies who live under the green hills and ride on the Middle
Earth, hunting and dancing like other fairies. As individuals, they visit
mortals as lovers. The earliest study of them was made by Kirk in THE SECRET
COMMONWEALTH. There are ample accounts of them in the writings of J. G.
Campbell and J. F. Campbell, of J. G. Mackay, Donald Mackenzie and others. In
the Lowlands, the Elves or Good Neighbours have a king and a queen Nicnevin or
the Gyre-Carling - and in later days were suspected of having a good deal of
intercourse with witches and of paying a tribute to the Devil. # 100 - 130 -
131 - 370 - 415 - 464 PEOPLE OF THE HILLS, THE A widespread euphemism for the fairies who live under the green mounds, or
tumuli, all over England. It is the name chosen by Rudyard Kipling to be used
in PUCK OF POOK'S HILL and REWARDS AND FAIRIES. # 100 - 368 -
369 PEOPLE OF THE SIDHE, THE (shee) Danaans dwindle into fairies or People of the Sidhe. #
562 PERCARD The name of the Black Knight, killed by Gareth. # 156 -
418 PERCEFOREST In the romance of the same name, when Alexander the Great conquered
England, he made Betis king. Betis was accepted by the people, for the line of
Brutus had become extinct, and Betis' brother Gaddifer was made King of
Scotland. When Betis had killed the magician Damart, he was given the new name
of Perceforest. He founded the Knights of the Franc Palais and built a temple
to the Supreme God. His son Bethides made an unfortunate marriage to Circe,
who brought the Romans into Britain. They wiped out the Franc Palais, and
Perceforest and Gaddifer went to the Isle of Life. After the coming to Britain
of Alan, the Grail keeper, Gallafer, grandson of Gaddifer, accepted
Christianity and went to preach to his ancestors who still lived on the Isle
of Life. They were baptized, left the island and came to a place where there
were five monuments waiting for them. There they died. # 156 - 198 -
238 PERCEVAL The name by which the hero called Peredur by the Welsh is known in
non-Welsh sources. This name was apparently invented by Chrétien. According to
Chrétien, Perceval was raised in the woods by his mother who wanted him to
know nothing of knighthood; but, having seen some knights, he determined to go
to Arthur's court and become one. His mother told him to demand either a kiss
or a jewel from ladies so, when he came on a girl asleep in a tent, he kissed
her and purloined her ring. On arrival at Arthur's court he discovered the Red
Knight had taken a cup so he pursued and killed him. He stayed with an old
knight, Gornemant de Goort, who taught him chivalry and knighted him. He came
to the castle belonging to Blanchefleur, being besieged by King Clamadeus. He
became Blanchefleur's lover and defeated Clamadeus in monomachy (single
combat). On the way to see his mother, a fisherman directed him to his own
castle where he beheld an old man on a couch and was given a sword. The Grail
Procession occurred, but Perceval did not ask what the Grail was or whom it
served. Next morning, when he awoke, the castle was deserted and Perceval only
just escaped from it. The sword had fragmented. He encountered his cousin who
informed him that he should have asked the question and told him to take the
sword to Trebuchet. Perceval overcame the husband of the girl whom he had
kissed earlier in the tent, who had not understood that Perceval had acted
innocently. Perceval forgot about God for five years, but his hermit uncle absolved
him. Chrétien's work is unfinished, but Manessier (see CONTINUATIONS) told how
Perceval returned to the castle and asked the questions. He discovered that
the Fisher King was wounded by fragments of a sword which had killed his
brother Goon Desert; this wound would not heal until the murderer was killed.
Perceval killed the murderer and the king recovered. Perceval was identified
as the nephew of the Grail King who had been sustained by the Grail during his
period of ill health. When the king died, Perceval succeeded him. In the
English SIR PERCEVAL OF GALLES, Perceval's beloved is called Lufamour and he
eventually met his death on Crusade. In the DIDOT PERCEVAL, the Rich Fisher
told Perceval the secret words that Jesus had told Joseph of Arimathea. In
PEREDUR the procession in the castle features a salver with a man's head
surrounded by blood. It later transpired the head was his cousin's and that
Peredur/Perceval had to avenge him. In this tale we are told the hero had to
fight the afanc. In the QUESTE and Malory, Perceval is to some exrent
supplanted by Galahad. In Malory, Perceval's father is Pellinore; in Wolfram,
Gahmuret. Wolfram calls his mother Herzeloyde, his sister Dindrane and his
sons Kardeiz and Lohengrin. SIR PERCEVAL OF GALLES says his mother was
Acheflour, the sister of Arthur, and his father, Perceval, had been killed
years previously by the Red Knight. According to PERLESVAUS his father was
Julain and his mother Yglais, while Gerbert contends his mother was
Philosophine and his father Gales li Caus. His father is identified as Efrawg
in PEREDUR and as Bliocadran in the work of the same name, and his sister as
Agrestizia in the TAVOLA RITONDA. Perceval was said to have survived Galahad
by over a year Descent of Perceval (Wolfram): Mazadan - Laziliez - Addanz -
Gandin Gahmuret - Perceval. As Mazadan is also listed as Arthur's
great-grandfather, this makes Arthur Perceval's second cousin twice removed.
See: TWENTY-FOUR KNIGHTS, and WHITE STAG. # 112 - 153 - 156 - 185 - 346 - 418
- 434 - 740 - 748 PEREDUR Peredur was a chieftain from the North of Britain, York to be exact. But
like many other Northern heroes he became localized in Wales and was the
subject of a number of tales, telling of his feats and wanderings. The tale of PEREDUR, as we have it, belongs to the thirteenth century. We
know this because the earliest manuscripts date from the end of that century
and that they post-date parallel versions in French by Chrétien de Troyes.
They could be earlier, but unlikely. Chrétien's corresponding tale LE CONTE DU
GRAAL dates from 1181. The 'book' to which he refers given to him by his
patron Philippe of Champagne, was a version of the tale regarded as the common
source of both PEREDUR and LE CONTE DU GRAAL and was in French. Of course, the
differences probably outweigh the similarities between the two versions. The
Welsh tale is as straight-forward as the French is convoluting; Welsh
concision contrasts with French prolixity. The story is more readily available
in the Welsh, whereas the French explores psychological and social avenues in
a manner which paved the way for the great Western narrative tradition. But
then the stuff of the narrative was given to the French by the Welsh and
Breton story-tellers who sold their wondrous wares all over the continent. The
Celts have always known to tell a good story. See also: PERCEVAL. #
778 PERFERREN A niece of Arthur in Welsh lore, the mother of Saint Beuno. See: BUGI. # 55
- 156 PERIGLOUR Periglour(Welsh), Anmchara(Irish), means 'soul friend'. He was a person who
acted as spiritual guide and counsellor to young monks and to new converts (to
early Christianity). He took the part of confessor, but would offer only
wisdom, advice and encouragement to his juniors, refraining from taking on the
power to grant absolution for any sins. In that the Celtic Church followed the
practice of the Celtic druids, who communed with the gods without themselves
adopting divine authority. # 676 PERILOUS BED The strange resting-place encountered by various of the GRAIL seekers. It
appears as an ordinary bed, but anyone lying down on it is assaulted by
invisible opponents who fling spears and by fierce beasts who attack the
sleeper. Gawain successfully defeated the devices of the bed. #
454 PERILOUS BRIDGE According to PERLESVAUS this led to the Grail Castle. #
156 PERILOUS SEAT The Siege Perilous, so called because it swallowed up or cracked underneath
whoever wrongfully sat in it. It was the place reserved at the Round Table for
the Grail Knight. It was claimed by Perceval in the earlier versions of the
story: he sat in it and it cracked apart while a disembodied voice warned him
of his misdeed. He later caused the stone to reunite when he became a
successful Grail Knight. In later versions, it is Galahad's place. It is said
to represent the place of Christ at the table in the cenacle.
#185-454 PERIMONES See: RED KNIGHT. PERRY DANCERS The Suffolk name for the Aurora Borealis. See also: FIR CHLIS. #
100 PERTOLEPE See: GREEN KNIGHT. PETER DES ROCHES A historical bishop of Winchester, whose episcopate lasted 1204-38.
According to the LANERCOST CHRONICLE, he came upon a house in which Arthur was
still alive and banqueted with him. In order that people would know he told
the truth when he spoke of this, Arthur gave the bishop the power of closing
his hand and, upon opening it, producing a butterfly. This power led to his
being called the Bishop of the Butterfly. # 156 PETITCRIEU A fairy dog which came from Avalon. It was wonderfully coloured, tiny and
had a sweet-sounding bell about his neck. It was the property of Gilan, Duke
of Swales, who gave it to Tristan. # 156 PETROG, SAINT # 156: According to the poet Dafydd Nanmor, he was one of the seven
survivors of the Battle of Camlann. R. Bromwich argues that the poet used a
local Cardiganshire tradition. # 454: (sixth century) He came from South Wales
and founded a monastery at Wethinoc (Padstow) in Cornwall. He eventually
became a hermit and is credited with having a great affinity for wild animals,
especially a stag which he hid from huntsmen. His feast-day is 4 June. # 104 -
156 - 454 PETRUS According to John of Glastonbury, one of the associates of Joseph of
Arimathea; he travelled to the kingdom of Orkney and converted its ruler,
Orcant. He married Orcant's daughter, Camille, and was an ancestor of Lot. #
30 - 156 PHALERAE Decorative bosses for horses' harness. # 730 PHARAMOND FARAMOND A legendary Frankish king, possibly a historical ruler of the fifth
century. In Arthurian romance he was a freedman (a slave who had been set
free) who seized the French throne. He came in disguise to Arthur's court, for
Arthur was an enemy, but his disguise was penetrated. His daughter, Belide,
was enamoured of Tristan, who did not requite her passion, thereby causing her
to die of a broken heart. Pharamond provided a refuge for Tristan and Gorvenal
after the death of Meliodas. Ariosto tells us that Tristan defeated
Pharamond's son, Clodion, in combat. According to a non-Arthurian romance of
the seventeenth century, Pharamond was enamoured of Rosemonde, daughter of the
King of the Cimbri. # 21 - 156 - 198 - 712 PHARIANCE A knight who came with Ban and Bors to aid Arthur, and who took part in the
battle of Bedegraine. He was eventually exiled by the elder Bors for murder
and became a follower of Claudas. See also: PHARIEN. # 156 -
604 PHARIEN This character is probably identical with Phariance. His wife was the lover
of King Claudas. After Bors' death, Bors' sons fell into his hands, but they
were soon passed on to Claudas. # 156 PHELOT A knight who wished to kill Lancelot. He persuaded his wife to ask Lancelot
to climb a tree in order to retrieve her falcon. He removed his armour and
weapons to do this and Phelot then attacked him. However, Lancelot walloped
his assailant on the side of the head with a tree branch, thus knocking him
unconscious. He then beheaded Phelot with his own sword. # 156 -
418 PHOUKA, THE (pooka) The Irish word 'Phouka' is sometimes used, as 'Pouk', or Puck, was
in Middle English, for the Devil. More usually he is a kind of Bogy or
Bogey-Beast, something like the Picktree Brag of the North of England, who
takes various forms, most usually a horse, but also an eagle or a bat, and is
responsible for people falling as well. Many a wild ride has been suffered on
the Phouka's back. It is he who spoils the blackberries after Michaelmas. This
is Crofton Croker's view of him. According to Lady Wilde, however, he was
nearer to the Brownie or Hobgoblin. There is a charming story, 'Fairy Help',
in her ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND in which a young boy, a miller's son, makes
friends with Phouka and throws his coat over it as it rushes like a mad bull
towards him. Afterwards he sees the Phouka directing six younger ones to
thrash his father's corn while the miller's men are asleep. In this form the
Phouka is like an old withered man dressed in rags. The boy tells his father
and together they watch the phoukas at work through the crack of the door.
After this the miller dismisses his men, and all the work of the mill is done
by the phoukas. The mill became very prosperous. The boy Phadrig became very
fond of the Phouka and night after night he watched him through the keyhole of
an empty chest. He became more and more sorry for the Phouka, so old and frail
and ragged, and working so hard to keep the idle little phoukas up to their
work. At length, out of pure love and gratitude, he bought stuff and had a
beautiful coat and breeches made for the Phouka, and laid them out for him to
find. The Phouka was delighted with them, but decided that he was too fine to
work any more. When he left all the little phoukas ran away, but the mill kept
its prosperity, and when Phadrig married a beautiful bride he found a gold cup
full of wine on the bridal table. He was sure it came from the Phouka and
drank it without fear, and made his bride drink too. A better-known story is
that of 'The Phouka of Kildare', in which the brownie-like spirit keeps its
animal form of an ass, but describes itself as the ghost of an idle kitchen
boy. It too is laid by a gift of clothing, but in this case because it has at
length earned a reward by its labours. These stories show the Phoka very near
to Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, tricksy, mischievous, practical-joking, but
helpful and well-disposed to the human race. # 100 - 165 -
728 PICTS # 455: The name Picti is of Latin origin, based on the reported
custom of dyeing the skin. In Latin writings of the time of Roman Britain,
Picti has no specific ethnic application, but is said indiscriminately of all
inhabitant of Britain to the north of the Roman frontier. See also: Pretani,
and Britain. # 156: It was the people who lived in Northern Britain in Roman times and
in the traditional Arthurian period. They were raiding in Britain about the
time of the Roman withdrawal and Vortigern is thought to have invited the
Saxons to oppose them. According to Geoffrey, they opposed Arthur who might
have wiped them out had not their clergy interceded. Boece avers that
Guinevere died as their captive. As to the racial identity of the Picts, they
were possibly Celtic and called Pretani in their own language, hence the name
of Britain. The Irish called them Cruthin and applied this name also to people
of the same race in Ireland. Picti (painted folk), was the name given them by
the Romans. Although they probably preceded the Britons in Britain, the
Venerable Bede says they arrived after them and came from Scythia. Geoffrey
asserts that this migration took place under King Sodric who suffered defeat
at the hands of the British king, Marius, who bestowed Caithness on them. Mael
Mura of Othain, a medieval Irish poet, maintains they came from Thrace.
Whatever their origins, the kings of the principal Northern Pict kingdom in
Arthur's time were said to have been Galem I (AD 495), Drust III and Drust IV
(AD 510-25, after which Drust III ruled alone), Gartnait III (AD 530) and
Cailtram (AD 537); however this list should be treated with caution. The
Southern Picts were divided into four states - Atholl, Circinn, Fife and
Fortrenn. See also: PECHS. # 156 - 187 - 455 p 127 ff - #
508 PIG The pig has a formidable reputation in Celtic lore. Whether it be the great
boar, Twrch Trwyth or Orc Triath, or the pigs which Pwyll receives as a gift
from the Underworld of Annwn by Arawn. Their appearance in the first and
fourth branches of the MABINOGION, indicates an imbalance between the worlds
and sure enough they cause war in Britain and their theft by Gwydion, is
responsible for the slaying of Pwyll's son Pryderi. There is a similar story
in which Arthur and his men go to steal the pigs of Mark. The hero, Culhwch,
whose name means pig-sty, was actually born in one because his insane mother
was startled by pigs in the forest. It is he who is responsible for the
slaying of Twrch Trwyth, the Great Boar himself. See also: SWINE, and BOAR. #
104 - 226 - 439 - 454 PINEL A cousin of Lamorak who sought to avenge the latter's death by poisoning
Gawain. Sir Patrise of Ireland consumed the poison and Pinel had to flee once
his part in the affair had been discovered. # 156 - 418 PISHOGUE (pish-ogue) An Irish fairy spell, by which a man's senses are bemused, so
that he sees things entirely different from what they are in actuality. The
Fir Darrig is a master at pishogues, and the tale of the Fir Darrig in Donegal
is a good example, but pishogues are thickly scattered through the Fenian
legends. In English it is called Glamour, and examples of it are to be found
in Malory and in many English folk-tales. # 100 PIXIES PIGSIES PISKIES These are West Country Fairies, belonging to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
# 100 PIXY-LED One of the most common traits of the fairies was their habit of leading
humans astray. Pouk-ledden was the Midlands term for it, the stories of the
Stray Sod give us the Irish version, and Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, was often
credited with it by the early poets. Many of the fairies are credited with a
kind of trickery, among them the Gwyllion of Wales, but in modern times the
West Country Pixies or the Cornish Piskies are the most usual practitioners of
the art. To avoid being Pixy-led it is necessary to know the correct methods
of 'Protection against Fairies'. # 100 PLACE NAME STORIES The strong tendency toward antiquarianism among the early Irish is nowhere
better illustrated than in the collection of place-names stories known as
Dinnsenchas. In their present form brought in this encyclopaedia it is
hardly safe to assign the Dinnsenchas as a whole to any considerable
antiquity. On the other hand, there are certain individual instances in which
the stories seem to preserve, embedded in the explanation of place-names,
fragments of the most ancient narrative material. The habit of telling stories
to explain placenames is by no means limited to the early Irish; it must be
granted, however, that Irish antiquarians brought to the task an astounding
virtuosity and enthusiasm. Nowhere else in European literature of the Middle
Ages are legends of place-names so abundantly recorded. 1. INBER AILBINE. Ruad son of Rigdonn son of the king of Fir Murig mustered the crews of
three ships to go over sea to have speech with his foster-brother the son of
the king of Lochlann. When they had got halfway across they were unable to
voyage in any direction, just as if an anchor was holding them. So then Ruad
went out over the ship's side that he might know what it was that was stopping
them, and he swam under the vessel. Then he saw nine women, the loveliest of
the world's women, detaining them, three under each ship. So they carried Ruad
off with them and he slept for nine nights, one night with each of the women
on beds of bronze. And one of them became with child by him, and he promised
that he would come again to them if he should perform his journey. Then Ruad
went to his foster-brother's house and stayed with him for seven years, after
which he returned and did not keep his tryst truly, but fared on to Mag Murig.
So the nine women took the son that had been born among them, and set out
singing, in a boat of bronze, to overtake Ruad, but they did not succeed. So
the mother then killed her own son and Ruad's only son, and she hurled the
child's head after him; and then said every one as if with one mouth, 'It is
an awful crime (ailbine)! It is an awful crime!' Hence 'Inber Ailbine.' 2. FAFAINN. Broccaid mac Brice of the Galeoin of Labraid the Exile had a son, Fafne the
poet, and a daughter Aige. His mother was Liber daughter of Lot. Folk were
envious of them; so they loosed elves at them who transformed Aige into a fawn
and sent her on a circuit all round Ireland, and the warriors of meilge son of
Cobthach king of Ireland, killed her, and of her nought was found save a bag
of water, and this he threw into the river, so that from her the 'Aige' is
named. Thereafter Fafne her brother, in order to avenge her, went to blemish
the king of Ireland, and upon him three blotches were raised by Fafne's
satire. Then the poet was arrested by Meilge, for he, Meilge was guiltless of
Aige's death. And Fafne was killed on Fafainn, for satirizing the king of
Tara, and therein he was buried; and while they were killing him he entreated
that his name might be for ever on that mound, to wit 'Duma Faifni.' Liber
succumbed to her woe and drowned herself in the river Liber, so that from her
it is so called. Broccaid died of disease in Rath maic Bricc. 3. BOYNE. Boann (Boyne) wife of Nechtan son of Labraid went to the secret well which
was in the green of the fairy-mound of Nechtan. No one who went to it could
come away from it without his two eyes bursting, except Nechtan himself and
his three cup-bearers, whose names were Flesc and and Luam. Once upon a time
Boann went through pride to test the well's power, and declared that it had no
secret force which could shatter her form, and thrice she walked from right to
left round the well. Whereupon three waves from the well broke over her and
deprived her of a thigh and one of her hands and one of her eyes. Then she,
fleeing her shame, turned seaward, with the water behind her as far as
Boynemouth, where she was drowned. Now she was the mother of Angus son of the
Dagda. Or thus: 'Bo' the name of the stream [of the fairy-mound of Nechtan]
and 'Finn' the river of Sliab Guairi, and from their confluence is the name
'Boann' (= BÓ + (F)INN). Dabilla was the name of her lapdog, whence 'Cnoc
Dabilla' ('Dabilla's Hill'), today called 'Sliab in Cotaig' ('the Mountain of
the Covenant'). 4. DUBLIN. Dub daughter of Rodub son of Cass son of Glas Gamna was wife to Enna son of
Nos, an elf out of Forcartan. Enna had another wife, namely Aide daughter of
Ochenn son of Cnucha, and when Dub discovered this, for she was a druid and a
poetess, she grew jealous of Aide, and she went beside the sea as far as
opposite Ochenn's house. There she chanted a sea-spell so that Aide was
drowned in that house with all her family. Mairgine, Ochenn's servant, saw
Dub, and turned against her, and made a skillful cast from his sling at her,
so that he struck her off her path, and shattered her, and she fell into the
pool (LINN). Whence 'DUB-LINN' is said. 5. ATH CLIATH CUALANN (DUBLIN) Hurdles of wattling the Leinstermen made in the reign of Mesgegra under the
feet of the sheep of Athirne the Importunate when delivering them to Dun Etair
at the place in which Allainn Etair was taken from Ulster's warriors, where
also Mesdedad son of Amergin fell by the hand of Mesgegra king of Leinster. So
from those hurdles 'Ath Cliath' ('the Ford of Hurdles') was named. Or thus:
'Ath Cliath': When the men of Erin broke the limbs of the Matae, the monster
that was slain on the Liacc Benn in the Brug of Mac Oc, they threw it limb by
limb into the Boyne, and its shinbone (Colptha) got to Inber Colptha
('the estuary of the Boyne'), whence 'Inber Colptha' is said, and the
hurdle (Cliath) of its frame (i.e. its breast) went along
the sea following the coast of Ireland until it reached yon ford (áth); whence
'Ath Cliath' is said. 6. TONN CLIDNA Clidna daughter of Genann son of Tren went out of Tulach Da Roth ('Hill of
Two Wheels'), out of the Pleasant Plain of the Land of Promise, with Iuchna
Curly-locks to get to the Mac Oc. Iuchna practised guile upon her. He played
music to her in the boat of bronze wherein she lay, so that she slept thereat,
and then he turned her course back, so that she rounded Ireland southwards
till she came to Clidna. This is the time at which the illimitable seaburst
arose and spread throughout the regions of the present world. Because there
were at that season Erin's three great floods, namely, Clidna's flood and
Ladru's and Baile's; but not in the same hour did they arise: Ladru's flood
was the middle one. The flood pressed on aloft and divided throughout the land
of Erin till it caught the boat and the damsel asleep in it on the beach. So
there she was drowned, Clidna the Shapely, Genann's daughter, from whom 'Tonn
Clidna' ('Clidna's Wave') is named. 7. LOCH DERGDEIRC Ferchertne son of Athlo, chief-poet of Ulster, was the cruellest man that
ever lived in Erin. 'Twas he that would slay the woman in childbed, and would
demand his weapon from one foe and his only eye from another. 'Twas he,
moreover, that went to Eochaid son of Luchta son of Lugar son of Lugaid
White-Hand, King of Munster, to peg his only eye in payment for Boirshe's hen
which the poets had brought from the west; and Eochaid, to save his honor,
gave him his only eye. Then Eochaid went to wash the blood off his face, and
searched the rushry and found no water: so he tore a tuft of rushes from its
roots, and water trickled forth. With this he washed his empty eyesocket, and
as he dipped his head thrice under the water all the well became red. Then
because of the miracle of generosity which Eochaid had performed the King
regained both his eyes, and as he looked on the well he said: 'A red (derg)
hollow (derc) is this hollow, and this will be every one's name it.' Whence
'Loch Dergdeirc' is said. # 166 PLANT ANNWN, THE (plant anoon) The Welsh fairies of the underworld, whose entrance to the
human world is by the lakes. Their king is Gwyn ap Nud, and they are chiefly
known to men through their maidens, the Gwragen Annwn, by their white or
speckled cattle, the Gwartheg y LLyn, and by their swift white hounds, the Cwn
Annwn, who were sometimes seen with their fairy mistresses, but more often
heard on summer nights in full cry after the souls of men who had died
unassoiled and impenitent. The Lake Maidens made loving and docile wives until
the taboo attached to them was violated; the Lake Cattle brought wealth and
prosperity to any farmer who was lucky enough to keep one; but the hounds of
the underworld betray the nature of these underwater people: they were the
company of the dead, like the subjects of Fin Bheara in Ireland. In a story
told by Pugh of Aberdovey and preserved by John Rhys, Gwyn ap Nud is called
King of Annwn, but elsewhere Rhys calls Arawn, the friend of Pwyll of Dyfed,
the undoubted king of the underworld. # 100 - 554 PLANT RHYS DWFEN (plant hrees thoovn) This, meaning the family of Rhys the Deep, is the name
given to a tribe of fairy people who inhabited a small land which was
invisible because of a certain herb that grew on it. They were handsome
people, rather below the average in height, and it was their custom to attend
the market in Cardigan and pay such high prices for the goods there that the
ordinary buyer could not compete with them. They were honest and resolute in
their dealings, and grateful to people who treated them fairly. One man called
Gruffid always treated them so well that they took a great liking to him and
invited him to their country, which was enriched with treasures from all over
the world. They loaded him with gifts and conducted him back to their
boundary. Just before he took leave of them he asked how they guarded all
their wealth. Might not even one of their own people betray them into the
hands of strangers? 'Oh no,' said his guide. 'No snakes can live in Ireland
and no treachery can live here. Rhys, the father of our race, bade us, even to
the most distant descendant, honour our parents and ancestors; love our own
wives without looking at those of our neighbours; and do our best for our
children and grandchildren. And he said that if we did so, no one of us would
ever prove unfaithful to another, or become what you call a traitor.' He said
that a traitor was an imaginary character with them, shown in a symbolic
drawing with the feet of an ass, the head of the devil and a bossom full of
snakes, holding a knife in his hand, with which he had killed his family. With
that he said goodbye, and Gruffid found himself near his own home, and could
no longer see the Country of Plant Rhys. After this time he prospered in
everything and his friendship with the Plant Rhys continued. After his death,
however, the farmers became so covetous that the Plant Rhys no longer
frequented Cardigan Market, and were said to have gone to Fishguard. John Rhys
in CELTIC FOLK-LORE quotes this account from the BRYTHON VOL. I. # 100 -
554 PLENTYN-NEWID (plentin newid) Wirt Sikes in BRITISH GOBLINS gives a full account of a
plentyn-newid, or Welsh changeling, left by the Tylwyth Teg in exchange for
the beautiful human child which they coveted. The Welsh changelings differed
very little from those elsewhere, and received the same harsh treatment. # 100
- 596 POET RANKS In Wales as in Ireland, there were grades within the learned class. In the
pre-Christian society the highest was doubtless that of the druids, but even
in the earliest Welsh records the druids are hardly mentioned. The
'chief-poet' (Pencerdd), 'a poet who has won in a contest for a chair',
was at least equal in honour to the highest court officers. He seems to
correspond to the Irish Ollam or chief Fili. Beneath him was the
poet of the household or house-troop (bardd teulu), who was one of the
twenty-four court officers. When the bardd teulu took office he received from
the king a harp, with which he was never to part. He sang for the troop when
it went on a raid, and before it set out for battle he sang 'The Monarchy of
Britain'. The term Cerddorion seems to cover yet another class of
minstrels who recognized the pencerdd as their lord, and there are references
in the laws to the lowly Croesaniaid. In medieval tracts on the art of
poetry, slightly different terms seem to refer to the same classes:
prydydd 'poet', teuluwr 'poet of the household or house-troop',
and clerwr, 'minstrel'. Three duties are assigned to the teuluwr: to
gladden the company, to be generous (literally 'to promote generosity'), and
to make courteous supplication - terms which recall the festive music of
Buchet's House in Leinster. The teuluwr, who also composed love poems, was the
disciple of a prydydd, but the prydydd should shun the chaotic art of the
clewr for 'their arts are opposed to one another'. With the eclipse of the
superior functions of the master-poets, their art became for the most part
confined to the composition of praise-poems. When the law and the prophets
belong to the past, the psalms remain. In Ireland in the early seventeenth century, the traditional precedence of
the North was challenged by a southern poet, and this led to a sustained and
wide-ranging poetic disputation concerning the relative claims of Leth Cuinn
and Leth Moga. Towards the end of the following century a similar case for the
greater importance of the southern contribution to the Welsh literary
tradition was elaborated, not without fabrication, by Iolo Morganwg. In the
context of the fourfold structure, Iolo's claim for Glamorgan as the seat of
bardism may well be correct, provided the 'bard' is duly assigned to the third
place in the learned hierarchy. And it is fair to add that Iolo particularly
claimed for his native province a wealth of pleasant 'household poetry'
(canu teuluaidd) - the poetry of the teuluwr or bard. It is said that
throughout Welsh history the South has been the region of innovation and
enterprise and that what the South has created the North has elaborated and
perfected (W. J. Gruffydd, OWEN MORGAN EDWARDS, I, Aberrystwyth, 1937). Thirty
of the court poets of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, authors of
the most abstruse poems in the language, have been tentatively assigned to the
various provinces: more than half of them were from Gwynedd, eight from Powys,
and only one from the South. On the other hand, metres which later appear as
accentual song-metres seem to have found readier acceptance in South Wales. In
what is believed to be the first eisteddfod upon record two prizes were
offered, one for poets and one for instrumentalists. The former was won by a
poet from the North, the latter by a harpist from the South. In medieval
Ireland, the filid looked back to three early poets of Connacht as
their great exemplars, and most learned families either traced their origin to
Connacht or Meath or were associated with patrons from those parts. With the
emergence of the accentual metres, 'which belonged essentially to the people',
Munster poets came into far greater prominence. The dichotomy manifested in the division into North and South appeared too
in the division of the Welsh royal hall. One of the terms used for the
partition that separated the two parts of the hall was corf, a word
which is also used of 'a wood on the steep brink of a stream', such a wood as
often formed the boundary between the upper and lower halves of territorial
units. The king and his heir, his judge, his chief poet, and other
dignitaries, sat in the upper part of the hall; the captain of the house-troop
and his men, and the household bard, sat in the lower part. When the king
wished to hear a song, the chief poet sang two songs in the upper hall, one of
God and the other of kings, and then the household bard sang a third song in
the lower hall. It was also the household bard who, with a quiet voice, sang
for the queen in her room. The two songs - of God and of kings - in the upper
hall and the bard's one song in the lower hall hardly call for further
comment, and the same is true of the association of the bard with the queen
and with the troop. One officer connected with the court, the Maer
Biswail ('dung officer'), was responsible for the king's mensal land.
There the villeins came under his jurisdiction and he ordered their ploughing,
sowing, and other activities. He had charge, under the steward, of the
maintenance and supplies of the court, but he belonged to the villein class;
scant respect was shown to him in the precincts of the king's hall. # 548 -
736 POOKA The pooka of Irish legend was a magic spirit-animal, usually a horse; but a
pooka could appear in humanlike form also. To see a pooka was an omen of
death. Therefore the horse form probably descended from the spirit-horses of
Celtic religion whose function was to carry dead heroes to paradise. The pooka
was a cognate of Old English Puca, a fairy creature, which also
produced spook and Puck, Such ancestral fairy beliefs are still
preserved in a number of Irish place names, such as Puckstown, Puck Fair, and
Pooka's Ford. The pooka is still sighted occasionally, in remote and lonely
places, particularly swamps and bogs. In Scotland, the creature was usually
called a kelpie. This was a water spirit embodied sometimes in a seal,
sometimes in a white horse whose mane was like the foaming crests of the
waves. # 701 POPE The Pope is mentioned from time to time in Arthurian romance. The fictional
Pope Sulpicius made Gawain a knight; this may be another name for Pope
Simplicius (AD 468-83). The Pope crowned Arthur Emperor of Rome and sent the
bishop of Rochester to mediate between Arthur and Lancelot in the war over
Guinevere. The Salzburg Annals and Jean de Preis (1338-1400) claim Arthur was
contemporary with Pope Hilary (AD 461-68). Other popes in the traditional
Arthurian period were Felix III, Gelasius I, Anastasius II, Symmachus,
Hormisdas, John I, Felix IV, Boniface II, John II, Agapitus I, Siverius and
Vigilius. # 156 POPPET A witch's poppet was not the sort of puppet or doll that a child might play
with. It was meant to represent a real person, so it was very much a magical
symbol. Anything done to the poppet was supposed to happen to the person also.
Poppets also served as surrogate sacrifices. English and Welsh harvest
festivals sometimes involved the 'killing' of the cornbaby or Kernababy, a
poppet made from the sheaves of the previous harvest. As in all sacrifices,
the idea was to give back to the Mother part of her gift of nourishment. The
poppet was burned or 'drowned' at the Kern Supper (Harvest Feast). # 701 p 149
ff POTTER THOMPSON He found a secret tunnel running under Richmond Castle and discovered King
Arthur and his knights asleep. A horn and sword stood by, but as he went to
pick up the horn the knights began to stir. Terrified, he ran away
hearing: 'Potter Thompson, Potter Thompson If thou hadst drawn the sword or blow the
horn, Thou hadst been the luckiest man e'er born.' Another story about the castle has a drummer boy sent down an underground
passage to discover where it ran. He never emerged but his drumming is still
heard. A similar story about finding King Arthur is found at Sewingshields. #
282 - 454 POUK See: PUCK. POUK-LEDDEN The Midland equivalent of Pixy-led. It will be remembered that among the
mischievous tricks of Shakespeare's Puck is 'to mislead nightwanderers,
laughing at their harm'. In medieval times, 'Pouk' was a name for the Devil.
Langland speaks of Pouk's Pinfold, meaning Hell. By the sixteenth
century, however, Pouk had become a harmless trickster, and only the Puritans
bore him a grudge. # 100 POWER OVER FAIRIES Country people and learned Magicians both desired power over fairies and
chose it rather than the double-edged weapon of submission to Satan. They
generally pursued their end by rather different methods. The most brutal and
straightforward was by direct capture. Fairy wives were caught in this way, as
in the story of Wild Edric and many tales of the Roane or Seal Maidens. But
other captured fairies were caught from covetousness, like Skilly-widden, the
fairy boy. The fairies which were most eagerly seized were the Lepracauns, or
fairy shoemakers, of the same type as the Cluricaune, but there is no example
of their being retained by their captors. A typical tale about them can be
read in Thomas Keightley's FAIRY MYTHOLOGY. #100-362 POWRIES See: DUNTERS. POWYS An early Welsh kingdom. In the Arthurian period it is said to have been
ruled by legendary kings such as Cadell I, Cyngen I, and Brochmael I. #
156 PRAYERS Naturally, prayers are a chief form of protection in any supernatural
peril, and particularly the Lord's Prayer. Against the Devil it used to be
supposed that this was much more efficacious if said aloud, because the Devil
could not read man's thoughts, and could only judge the state of his soul by
his words and actions, and therefore he was fatally discouraged by hearing
people praying aloud. The same no doubt would apply to evil fairies when
seeking adequate protection against fairies. # 100 PREHISTORIC BRITAIN, THE RIDDLE OF See: BRITAIN, THE RIDDLE OF PREHISTORIC. PRESTER JOHN A legendary monarch whose realm was thought to have been in Asia or Africa.
He is first mentioned by the chronicler Otto of Freising who says he attacked
Ecbatana and defeated the Medes and Persians, whose capital it was. A spurious
letter of Prester John, describing the wonders of his kingdom, appeared in
Europe (perhaps in 1185) and became vastly popular. Marco Polo identified him
with an Asiatic ruler, but Jordanus de Sévérac (fourteenth century) placed him
in Ethiopia. He is mentioned in a number of Arthurian tales. In Wolfram, he
was the son of Feirefiz and Repanse and therefore a nephew of Perceval and a
cousin of Arthur. In the Dutch LANCELOT he is apparently the son of Perceval.
In TOM A' LINCOLN he was the father of Anglitora, with whom Arthur's
illegitimate son, Tom a' Lincoln eloped. # 156-668 PRETANI # 455 p 127 ff PRIORY OAK See: MERLIN'S TREE. PRIURE The King of the Sea, whose scaly envoy (according to DIU CRôNE) brought a
cup to Arthur's court to see if the men and women were false. Arthur was the
only one shown not to be so. # 156 PROCIDES Procides was the castellan of Limerick and gonfalonier of Ireland according
to DURMART. # 156 PROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES People walking alone by night, especially through fairy-haunted places, had
many ways of protecting themselves. The first might be by sacred symbols, by
making the sign of a cross or by carrying a cross, particularly one made of
iron; by prayers or the chanting of hymns, by holy water, sprinkled or
carried, and by carrying and strewing churchyard mould in their path. Bread
and salt were also effective, and both were regarded as sacred symbols, one of
life and the other of eternity. As Herrick says: For that holy piece of bread Bells were protective; church bells, the bells worn by morris dancers and
the bell round the necks of sheep and oxen. So was whistling and the snapping
of clappers. A man who was pixy-led, wandering around and unable to find his
way out of the field, would generally turn his coat. This act of turning
clothes may have been thought to act as a change of identity, for gamblers
often turned their coat to break a run of bad luck. Certain plants and herbs
were also protective counter-charms. The strongest was a four-leafed clover,
which broke fairy glamour, as well as the fairy ointment, which was indeed
said by Hunt to be made of four-leafed clovers. St. John's wort, the herb of
Midsummer, was potent against spells and the power of fairies, evil spirits
and the Devil. Red verbena was almost equally potent, partly perhaps because
of its pure and brilliant colour. Daisies, particularly the little field
daisies, were protective plants, and a child wearing daisy chains was supposed
to be safe from fairy kidnapping. Red-berried trees were also protective,
above them all rowan or mountain ash. A staff made of rowan wood or a rowan
cross or a bunch of ripe berries were all sure protections, and where rowan
did not grow ash was a good substitute. - If chased by evil fairies, one could
generally leap to safety across running water, particularly a
southward-flowing stream, though there were evil water-spirits such as the
kelpie who haunted fresh-water streams A newly-christened child was safe
against being carried off by the fairies, but before christening 'the little
pagan' was kept safe by his father's trousers laid over the cradle, or an open
pair of scissors hung above it. This last had a double potency as being made
of steel and as hanging in the form of a cross, on the same principle that the
child's garments were secured by pins stuck in cross-wise. The house and stock
were protected by iron horseshoes above the house and staple doors, and horses
were protected from being elf-ridden by self-bored stones hung above the
manger. With so many methods of protection, it was surprising that such number
of babies were stolen and replaced by changelings and so many travellers were
pixy-led. # 100 - 306 PROVINCE OF THE SPEARMEN (Irish, LAIGHIN - 'LY-IN'). See: CONNACHT. PRYDEIN See: BRITAIN. PRYDERI # 455: (prid-EER-ree) Pryderi, called also Gwynvardd Dyved, was the son of
Pwyll, Lord of Dyved, the son of Meirig, the son of Arcol, with the long hand,
the son of Pyr, or Pur of the East, the son of Llion the ancient. A
fascinating pedigree, but it would be absurd to connect their history with any
known chronological period. It is purely mythological, as appears from the
very import of their names. Pryderi is deep thought, or mature
consideration; and the general subject of this thought may be collected
from his other title Gwynvardd Dyved -Druid of Demetia. (According to
Rolleston, Pryderi means: trouble). Pwyll, his father, is reason,
discretion, prudence, or patience. That both the father and the son were
characters wholly mystical or personifications of abstract ideas is shown in
Taliesin's SPOILS OF THE DEEP, where we are told that the Diluvian patriarch
first entered the Ark by the counsel of Pwyll and Pryderi. # 454: Pryderi was snatched from his cot by a monstrous claw, causing his
mother, Rhiannon's ignominious servitude at the horse-block. Although not
stated, the context of the story suggests an otherworldly foe, possibly the
family of Gwawl, abducted him. He was found in a stable on May-Eve by Teirnyon
Turf Liant who was guarding his mare which was in foal. The monstrous claw
attempted to snatch her foal but was driven back by Teirnyon. Pryderi was
called by his rescuer Gwri and brought up as Teirnyon's own son. However, on
recognizing the likeness between the boy and Pwyll, Teirnyon returned the boy
to his parents and so released Rhiannon from her bondage. Pryderi later
married Cigfa and succeeded to the Lordship of Dyfed. When the enchantments
fell on his land, Pryderi and Manawyddan, his step-father, went hunting, and
he was stuck to a golden bowl and trapped in the Otherworld. Manawyddan
rescued him. In MATH, SON OF MATHONWY', Pryderi was robbed of his Pigs by
Gwydion, whom he followed and challenged to single combat. Gwydion exerted
magic force and so Pryderi died. There are elements within this story which
suggests that Pryderi is a form of Mabon, or that Mabon's lost mythos has been
transmitted within the story of Pryderi. See also: PWYLL. # 104 - 272 - 439 -
454 - 455 p 58 ff - # 562 PRYDWEN In Welsh tradition, the name of Arthur's ship in which he made the
expedition to Annwfn, although Geoffrey calls it his shield. This confusion
arose due to the similarity between shield and ship in the original Latin. #
156 - 243 - 260 - 439 PUBIDIUS In one version of the story of Merlin, Pubidius was the wizard's maternal
grandfather. He was the ruler of Mathtraval (Wales). #
156 PUCELLE AUX BLANCHE MAINS A fairy who became the lover of Guinglain. She lived on the Golden Island.
Her name means the Maiden with the White Hands. # 156 PUCK Shakespeare in his MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM has given Puck an individual
character, and it no longer seems natural to talk, as Robert Burton does in
THE ANATOMIE OF MELANCHOLY, of A puck instead of 'Puck', nor, like Langland,
equate Puck with the Devil and call Hell 'Pouk's Pinfold'. Shakespeare's Puck
is the epitome of the Hobgoblin, with the by-name of Robin Goodfellow. In folk
tradition emphasis is perhaps most laid on Puck as a misleader, and
'Poukledden' is a commoner phrase than 'Hobberdy's Lantern'. Shakespeare's
Puck plays all the pranks described in the 'Life of Robin Goodfellow'. His
self-descriptive speech to Titania's fairy could not be bettered as the
description of a hobgoblin. Human follies are his perpetual entertainment,
but, like all hobgoblins, he has his softer moments, his indignation is always
raised against scornful lovers and he feels real compassion for Hermia ,
scorned and deserted by the man with whom she had fled. Puck in Drayton's account of diminutive fairies in NIMPHIDIA shows many of
the same characteristics. For the rest, we shall find that Puck's traits
correspond with those to be found in the Celtic parts of these islands, in the
Pwca, Phouka and Pixies. Like all hobgoblins, he is a shape-shifter, but he
also performs Brownie labours for humans, and like a Brownie he is laid by a
gift of clothing. Shakespeare's Puck differs in one thing from ordinary pucks
of tradition: he belongs to the fairy court and cannot be called a solitary
fairy. # 100 - 120 - 193 - 593 PUFFIN After Arthur's death, he was reincarnated as Puffin, according to Cornish
lore. See: RAVEN. # 156 PURGATORY In the Middle Dutch romance WALAWEIN, this region was visited by Gawain,
who saw it as a boiling river. Souls went into it as black birds, but came out
white. # 156 PWCA (pooka) Welsh form of Puck. Many versions of Pwca appear in British
tradition, spelt variously as Pooka, Puck, Bwca, etc. His character are so
like those of Shakespeare's Puck that some Welsh people have claimed that
Shakespeare borrowed him from stories told him by his friend Richard Price of
Brecon who lived near Cwm Pwca, one of the Pwca's favourite haunts. Sikes in
BRITISH GOBLINS reproduces a rather pleasing drawing of the Pwca, done with a
piece of coal by a Welsh peasant. The Pwca in this picture has a head rather
like a fledgeling bird's and a figure not unlike a tadpole's. No arms are
shown, but the figure is in silhouette. One story about the Pwca shows that a
tribute of milk was left for him. This may possibly have been in payment for
his services as a cowherd, though that is not expressly mentioned. A milkmaid
at Trwyn Farm near Abergwyddon used to leave a bowl of milk and a piece of
white bread for Pwca in a lonely place on the pastures every day. One day, out
of mischief, she drank the milk herself and ate most of the bread, so that
Pwca only got cold water and a crust that day. Next day, as she went near the
place, she was suddenly seized by very sharp but invisible hands and given a
sound whipping, while the Pwca warned her that if she did that again she would
get worse treatment. Pwca is best known, however, as a Will o' the Wisp. He
will lead a benighted wanderer up a narrow path to the edge of a ravine, then
leap over it, laughing loudly, blow out his candle, and leave the poor
traveller to grope his way back as best he can. In this behaviour he is like
the Scottish 'Shellycoat' as well as the English Puck. # 100 -
596 PWYLL # 455: (poo-ellh) Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed (from the MABINOGION). This tale
manifestly alludes to Arkite theology, and to the rejection of Sabian
idolatry, or solar worship, and even some foreign abuses, or innovations,
which were intermixing with the doctrines and rites of the natives. # 454:
When out hunting, he encounted Arawn, Lord of Annwn and, in payment for an
unintentional insult, offered to exchange places with him and fight his enemy,
Hafgan. He spent a year in Arawn's shape and so won his friendship by good
manners and successfully overcoming Hafgan, that he was given the title 'Lord
of Annwn'. He won Rhiannon as his wife, but only after defeating her former
suitor, Gwawl. They lived happily until the loss of Pryderi. See also:
PRYDERI. # 104 - 272 - 368 - 454 - 455 p 58 ff - #
565
Charmes the danger and the dread.