An old farmer, named Mr. Thomas Stephens, Llwyncelyn, Llanarth, Cardiganshire, informed me that his brother once heard the bark of these hounds on the road near Bronwen.
The Cock.--It was once thought in all parts of Wales that the crowing of a cock before or about midnight was a sign of death; but whether one of the family or one of a neighbour's family was going to die, it depended on the direction of the cock's head whilst crowing.
The Hen.--A hen crowing like a cock is also supposed to indicate a death in the family or some very near relation; or if not death, some very bad luck.
A hen laying two eggs in the same day was also a sign of death. A hen laying a small egg was also a bad sign.
An Owl persistently screeching near a house or a raven croaking hoarsely also indicated a death.
The Dog.--A dog howling, which is called in Welsh Ci-yn-udo, is a sign of a death.
The Death Watch.--A sound made by a small insect like the ticking of a watch was once considered a sign of death. A few years ago a sound of this kind was for a long time heard at a house in the parish of Llanddewi Brefi; but as no one died in the house, the family was cured of the superstition.
The sound in the ear as of a bell, is a token of death in the family.
Clothes Burning.--A farmer's wife near Aberystwyth, informed me that a few years ago she placed a servant boy's wet trousers on a chair to dry before the fire. Then she went out to milk the cows, but when she returned to the house she found that the trousers was burnt. A few days after this her mother died.
The untimely blossoming of a tree is another sign of a death.
Yarrow and Heather.--Bringing either yarrow or heather into a house is a presage of death; white heather, however, is a sign of good luck.
Death-pinch.--This is a mark that cannot be accounted for, appearing suddenly on any part of the body, and is a sign of the death of one of the family or a relative.
A Funeral Procession moving too fast is a sign that another funeral will soon follow.
"The other day in going through Mid-Cardiganshire on election business, I observed one row of turnips growing in the middle of a field of potatoes on a farm occupied by a Nonconformist minister. When asked how it happened that that solitary row of turnips came to be there, the minister explained that by accident the planters missed putting down potatoes, and the idea prevailed in the district if the vacant row was not filled in by sowing something in it, some one would die in consequence in the neighbourhood."