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Tolaeth Death Sounds - British Goblins CT020

Celtic Tomes

Release Date: 10/11/2017

Cult Accessories CT054 show art Cult Accessories CT054

Celtic Tomes

This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts.

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Celtic Tomes

The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the seasons.

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Celtic Tomes

The Irish geis, pl. geasa, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous consequences, and also an obligation to do something commanded by another.

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Celtic Tomes

The Celts offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the future from the entrails of the victim. We shall examine the Celtic custom of human sacrifice from these points of view first.

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Celtic Tomes

The Celts may have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain, or by pillars.

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Celtic Tomes

Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of divinities.

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Celtic Tomes

The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local cults. This chapter also details how the Celts made their sacred places in dark groves, the trees being hung with offerings or with the heads of victims.

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Celtic Tomes

Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance of the cult of waters and of water divinities. This chapter also details the many fairies and folklore creatures associated with water.

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Celtic Tomes

McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselves alone.

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Celtic Tomes

The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead and other grave customs is the subject of this chapter. McCulloch also talks about the role of fairies and the festival of Samhain.

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More Episodes

Tolaeth Death Sounds

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 2 Chapter 8

by

Wirt Sikes

The Tolaeth Death Sounds includes the strange sounds that foretell death, the story of John Clode and his wife who heard the coffin arrive in their home two days before their son died! Sounds of rapping, knocking, people moving are all commonplace. Sikes tells us the story of the railway accident at Pontypridd, and a couple living nearby heard ghostly footsteps upstairs in their house. Edward Lloyd heard a ghostly voice while lying ill in bed. We hear about the Goblin Funeral which can precede a real funeral by several days. The Cwn Annwn, or Dogs of Hell, howl through the air and the story of Pwyll. King Arthur and the Wild Hunt.

Running Order:

  • The Tolaeth Death Portent 0:54
  • Its various forms 1:40
  • The Tolaeth before Death 1:53
  • Ewythr Jenkin's Tolaeth 6:00
  • A Modern Instance 7:54
  • The Railway Victim's Warning 9:10
  • The Goblin Voice 10:10
  • The Voice from the Cloud 11:12
  • Legend of the Lord and the Beggar 12:25
  • The Goblin Funeral 14:02
  • The Horse's Skull 15:13
  • The Goblin Veil 16:24
  • The Wraith of Llanllwch 17:19
  • Dogs of Hell 18:32
  • The Tale of Pwyll 19:46
  • Spiritual Hunting Dogs 22:55
  • Origin of the Cwn Annwn 22:28

 

Names Used in this Section

All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronunciations right for you.


Tolaeth
Ewythr Jenkin
Llanllwch
Pwyll
Cwn Annwn
Blaenporth, Cardiganshire
Teulu
Gwenllian
Jenny
Llynwent, Radnorshire
Pontypridd
Mary
Edward Lloyd, Llangurig
'Y mae nenbren y ty yn craccio' (the upper beam of the house cracketh)
'Fe dor yn y man' (it will presently break)
'Dyna fe yn tori' (there it breaks)
John, son of Watkin Elias Jones, Mynyddyslwyn
Iolo MSS
Rees Thomas, Carmarthenshire
Rhiw Edwst, near Capel Ywen
'Rhys bach, pa fodd yr y'ch chwi?' (My dear Rhys, how are you?)
Rev. Howel Prosser, Aberystruth
Edmund Jones, the Prophet Jones
Isaac William Thomas, Hafodafel
llanhiddel
Llanllwch Church
Cwn y Wybr
Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed
Pembroke
Narberth
Glyn Cych
Arawn
Thomas Phillips, Telech
Thomas Andrew
River Ebwy
Le Grand Veneur
Fontainebleau, France
Hackelberg, Germany
Britain, King Arthur
Mr. Baring-Gould
Odin
William Henderson
Hermes
Devonshire
River Styx
Indra

 

British Goblins can be found on Archive.org

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.