MARTIN Blane was an Irishman, one of many of his countrymen and women who worked in the Welsh fields as a haymaker. He was elderly and becoming increasingly feeble and his one hope was that he would earn enough to be able to return to his native land before he died. Because of his age, the farmer Blane worked for allowed him to stay in his barn for a few weeks while he gathered strength for his trip - but he grew weaker rather than stronger. One night the farmer, whose room faced the barn, was startled by a wailing sound, "loud and unearthly". He hurried to his window and saw, crouching by the door of the barn, "a female form shrouded from head to foot in a cloak... sobbing piteously". Over and over again this strange figure let out a blood-chilling, mournful wail and she frequently extended fleshless arms and clapped her hands with a hard, "bony" sound.. This went on for some time, the farmer rooted to the spot with fear, and then: "suddenly the dark form arose - it was very tall and awful - folded its cloak around it close - close as a bat its wings, crying still, but faintly". It faded away in the darkness, the eerie wailing continuing for a little while longer. Then all was still. Snapping out of his trance, the farmer hurried outside. He found Martin Blane was dead and all his other servants "crouched in one heap at his door". This story was written down by a traveller, Mrs Hall, in 1861. Unfortunately, she does not give a location for the weird adventure. However, she leaves no doubt as to the identity of the apparition - it was a banshee.. Banshees are female spirits which belong to old families in Ireland and which manifest to warn of the deaths of any of the family members. Wales had its own version of the banshee, the Gwrach y Rhibyn, which broadly translates as Hag of the Mists. The Gwrach y Rhibyn also appeared as an old woman - a hideous one - and would wail and moan in grief in the same way as a banshee. A vivid eyewitness account of this apparition, seen in Llandaff, near Cardiff, in 1877, describes it as: "... a horrible old woman with long red hair and a face like chalk, and great teeth like tusks... she went through the air with a long, black gown trailing along the ground below her arms." The Gwrach gave out an unearthly screech and flapped bat-like wings against the window of a neighbouring house - where a man was found dead the next morning. Her visitation was intended as a warning - but I can't help but think that the ghastly sight and sound of her was more likely to send this poor man to his grave than otherwise! * Have you experienced anything strange or supernatural in Wales? If so, please let me know. You can send your story to: Richard Holland, Wales of the Unexpected, 2 Alyn Bank Cottages, Llong, Mold, Flintshire CH7 4JR. | 
