Gower Peninsula: the Verry Volk

The Gower Peninsula is a region rich in folklore. One of its more endearing legends, is that of the Gower Verry Volk - fairy folk. Local mythology describes these little people as capricious, lively, and fond of music, dancing and general merriment. W. Y. Evans-Wentz gave an interesting insight into the lore of the Verry Volk, in this excerpt from his book, The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, now in the public domain, due to antiquity.

In the Gower Peninsula, Glamorganshire

Our investigations in Glamorganshire cover the most interesting part, the peninsula" of Gower, where there are peculiar folklore conditions, due to its present population being by ancestry English and Flemish as well as Cornish and Welsh. Despite this race admixture, Brythonic beliefs have generally survived in Gower even among the non-Cults; and because of the Cornish element there are pixies, as shown by the following story related to me in Swansea by Mr. —, a well-known mining engineer:

Pixies

"At Newton, near the Mumbles (in Gower), an old woman, some twenty years ago, assured me that she had seen the pixies. Her father's grey mare was standing in the trap before the house ready to take some produce to the Swansea market, and when the time for departure arrived the pixies had come, but no one save the old woman could see them. She described them to me as like tiny men dancing on the mare's back and climbing up along the mare's mane. She thought the pixies some kind of spirits who made their appearance in early morning; and all mishaps to cows she attributed to them."

Testimony from an Archaeologist

The Rev. John David Davis, rector of Llanmadoc and Cheriton parishes, and a member of the Cambrian Archaeological Society, has passed many years in studying the antiquities and folklore of Gower, being the author of various antiquarian works; and he is without doubt the oldest and best living authority to aid us. The Rector very willingly offers this testimony:

Pixies and "Verry Volk"

"In this part of Gower, the name Tylwyth Teg is never used to describe fairies; Verry Volk is used instead. Some sixty years ago, as I can remember, there was belief in such fairies here in Gower, but now there is almost none. Belief in apparitions still exists to some extent. One may also hear of a person being pixy-led; the pixies may cause a traveller to lose his way at night if he crosses a field where they happen to be. To take your coat off and turn it inside out will break the pixy spell. (1)

The Verry Volk were always little people dressed in scarlet and green; and they generally showed themselves dancing on moonlight nights. I never heard of their making changelings, though they had the power of doing good or evil acts, and it was a very risky thing to offend them. By nature they were benevolent."

(1) The same remedy is prescribed in Brittany when mischievous lutins or corrigans lead a traveller astray, in Ireland when the good people lead a traveller astray; and at Rollright, Oxfordshfre, England, an old woman told me that it is efficacious against being led astray through witchcraft. Obviously the fairy and witch spell are alike.

A "Verry Volk" Feast

"I heard the following story many years ago: The tenant on the Eynonsford Farm here in Gower had a dream one night, and in it thought he heard soft sweet music and the patter of dancing feet. Waking up, he beheld his cow-shed, which opened off his bedroom, filled with a multitude of little beings, about one foot high, swarming all over his fat ox, and they were preparing to slaughter the ox. He was so surprised that he could not move. In a short time the Verry Volk had killed, dressed, and eaten the animal. The feast being over, they collected the hide and bones, except one very small leg-bone which they could not find, placed them in position, then stretched the hide over them; and, as the farmer looked, the ox appeared as sound and fat as ever, but when he let it out to pasture in the morning he observed that it had a slight lameness in the leg lacking the missing bone." (1)

(1) The same sort of a story as this is told in Lower Brittany, where the corrigans or lutins slaughter a farmer's fat cow or ox and invite the farmer to partake of the feast it provides. If he does so with good grace and humour, he finds his cow or ox perfectly whole in the morning, but if he refuses to join the feast or joins it unwillingly, in the morning he is likely to find his cow or ox actually dead and eaten.

Fairies among Gower English Folk

The population of the Llanmadoc region of Gower are generally English by ancestry and speech; and not until reaching Llanmorlais, beyond Llanridian, did I find anything like an original Celtic and Welsh-speaking people, and these may have come into that part within comparatively recent times; and yet, as the above place-names tend to prove, in early days all these regions must have been Welsh.

It may be argued, however, that this English-speaking population may be more Celtic than Saxon, even though emigrants from England. In any case, we can see with interest how this so-called English population now echo Brythonic beliefs which they appear to have adopted in Gower, possibly sympathetically through race kinship; and the following testimony offered by Miss Sarah Jenkins, postmistress of Llanmadoc, will enable us to do so:

Dancing with Fairies

"A man, whose Christian name was William, was enticed by the fairy folk to enter their dance, as he was on his way to the Swansea market in the early morning. They kept him dancing some time, and then said to him before they let him go, "Will dance well; the last going to market and the first that shall sell."

And though be arrived at the market very late, be was the first to sell anything."

Fairy Money

"An old woman, whom I knew, used to find money left by the fairies every time they visited her house. For a long time she observed their request, and told no one about the money; but at last she told, and so never found money afterwards.

Nature of Fairies

The fairies (verry volk) were believed to have plenty of music and dancing. Sometimes they appeared dressed in bright red. They could appear and disappear suddenly, and no one could tell how or where."

Sadly, there have been no recent reports of any Verry Volk sightings on the Gower Peninsula. Local lore blames this fact on the coming of the motor car, the general modernisation of the peninsula, as well as the massive influx of visitors into this once remote region. According to local mythology, the last known appearance of the Verry Volk, was at Lagadantra farm.

Lagadantra lies at the end of the narrow lane that runs past St. Madoc's church, in the village of Llanmadoc. The farm is in a remote location, close to the dunes of Broughton Bay. Legend relates how the farmer's wife one day received a visit from a peculiar-looking and diminutive elderly woman. The visitor requested the loan of a sieve, in order to pan for gold. The farmer's wife said she didn't have a sieve, but the old woman reminded her that she had one which she used to strain hops.

The farmer's wife began to suspect her strange-looking visitor, with a seeming sixth sense, was in fact one of the verry volk. After all, how else could this peculiar stranger know she had a sieve, and what she used it for? Fearful of incurring the wrath of the verry volk, the farmer's wife cleaned the sieve and gave it to her visitor.

The old woman returned to the farm the next week, and gave the sieve back. She thanked the farmer's wife and revealed that she was, indeed, one of the Gower Peninsula's elusive verry volk. The old lady promised the farmer's wife, that in return for her kindness, Lagadantra's biggest beer barrel would never run dry - provided the latter never revealed the reason for this good fortune to another person. Like many fairy folk in different parts of the world, the secretive verry volk were said to reward those who showed them kindness, but to retract any reward if they broke their confidence.

Lagadantra's beer became the stuff of legends in more ways than one. It became known for its potency, and a capacity to inspire drinkers to dance and cavort with fairy-like zeal. Local legend relates that Lagadantra's magical beer enticed both customers and tenants away from local inns and hostelries, leaving them empty. Sadly, however, this chapter in Lagadantra's history was to be short-lived. The farmer himself became intrigued as to why the farm's biggest beer barrel was always full. Upon asking his wife, she unfortunately revealed the secret pact between her and the verry volk woman. That was the end of Lagadantra's good fortune, and the beer barrel ran dry.