1 00:00:00,270 --> 00:00:05,030 All right. Can people hear me and see the screen? Yes. 2 00:00:05,030 --> 00:00:12,290 Looking good. OK. All right. Well, you'll be pleased to know I'm not going to be talking about cheese. 3 00:00:12,290 --> 00:00:16,940 You'll have to forgive the somewhat cliched image. 4 00:00:16,940 --> 00:00:21,770 But the supernatural in Wales is very much like I was sheep, actually. 5 00:00:21,770 --> 00:00:27,710 I'm sure that for every one person, there is at least three stories of ghosts. 6 00:00:27,710 --> 00:00:37,880 So wizards or witches that they could recount either from their own experience or from that of the community and by community. 7 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:48,260 I mean these physical communities, because the supernatural in Wales is always deeply rooted to a physical fight, 8 00:00:48,260 --> 00:00:53,360 whether that's a village or a house, a community, a mountain. 9 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,910 Naturally, we're in Wales, Awale, a castle, a beach or a bridge. 10 00:00:58,910 --> 00:01:00,590 It's very topographical. 11 00:01:00,590 --> 00:01:13,310 And, you know, within a Mankins and glacial lakes to go around, then it's no wonder that the landscape attracts and inspires the supernatural. 12 00:01:13,310 --> 00:01:20,660 Now, there are some obvious examples that I can think of, maybe not obvious to a non Welsh audience, 13 00:01:20,660 --> 00:01:25,620 but when it comes to a sense of place, we have, for instance, 14 00:01:25,620 --> 00:01:30,740 at the village of Chandana in Angasi, 15 00:01:30,740 --> 00:01:43,700 renowned for its beautiful sandy beach and its which is supposedly they landed back in sixteen or seventeen, eighteen century city. 16 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:50,370 And they settled in the area. And became known as the Shans on the Witch. 17 00:01:50,370 --> 00:01:54,630 They lived by Bacon and Kherson. They were renowned for their kids. 18 00:01:54,630 --> 00:02:03,360 And in fact and their famous curse is the only complete Welsh language to that. 19 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:12,650 I'm aware of that. And some survived. Now we head into another village, a small village in Mongolia, Russia, called Shan. 20 00:02:12,650 --> 00:02:16,950 And this area was famous for its journey on horseback. 21 00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:22,800 So it's coming man or men skilled in all of fortune-telling. 22 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:33,050 Come to magic. And. And healing cattle from about 1862 to the 1940s. 23 00:02:33,050 --> 00:02:39,830 The area was famed for their dannion head. And this gentleman here, Evan Briska cringe. 24 00:02:39,830 --> 00:02:44,930 Or the conjuror, as they would say colloquially, was one of the most famous of these men. 25 00:02:44,930 --> 00:02:54,700 And there's lots and lots of references to this in popular accounts of magical belief, some supernatural around this time, 26 00:02:54,700 --> 00:03:04,820 if we had to then be again, another market town in North Wales can be, on the other hand, was famous for its Jadwin winning side. 27 00:03:04,820 --> 00:03:13,470 So it's coming. Women and Fairleigh, the example you can see here was one of Denby's finest. 28 00:03:13,470 --> 00:03:20,070 I absolutely love any any excuse to bring her out and showcase showcases. 29 00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:24,980 And she's seen this portrayed was painted by Edward Pale. 30 00:03:24,980 --> 00:03:30,450 He was an artist and he told North Wales in the early 19th century. 31 00:03:30,450 --> 00:03:34,850 And he visited Fallon and had a consultation with him. 32 00:03:34,850 --> 00:03:43,340 Lots and lots of information about gay practises, not just in eggless pages, but in Welsh ballads and into. 33 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:50,030 So we do know quite, quite a lot. About two now as well as sheep. 34 00:03:50,030 --> 00:03:56,250 We have lots and lots of Holywell in Wales. We're not short on these Eisenach. 35 00:03:56,250 --> 00:04:04,130 It's a darker side to this image. You can see here is of fine on anyone, I think aliens. 36 00:04:04,130 --> 00:04:11,180 Well, and then be sure it's one of Wales's most famous coups in Wales. 37 00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:17,720 It's a reputation that it gained in the 18th century, peaked in the 1980s, 38 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:25,340 mainly around the activities of John Evans, also known as Jack of Unknown, Jack the Whale. 39 00:04:25,340 --> 00:04:30,350 He became keeper of the whale sometime in about 1820. 40 00:04:30,350 --> 00:04:34,100 I don't quote me on that or Roundup time again. 41 00:04:34,100 --> 00:04:40,550 Lots of written evidence on this. Some by John himself. 42 00:04:40,550 --> 00:04:52,220 But in terms of how this site is sort of interpreted from a heritage perspective, from a cultural perspective, there's not a lot we need. 43 00:04:52,220 --> 00:04:59,300 I mean, the locality might have something to do with that. If it's on private land and it's it's quite hidden. 44 00:04:59,300 --> 00:05:01,850 It's quite remote. But, yeah. 45 00:05:01,850 --> 00:05:12,120 So that aspect of its history from if you were to visit, you know, coming from a heritage farm to live still remains quite hidden. 46 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:23,310 But what I believe about today in this little ruined cottage in Pennant, a village in Costa Kensha, 47 00:05:23,310 --> 00:05:34,040 which was the home of my very best friend fashion, Vitek is the name of the cottage. 48 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:40,740 And being Welsh for old Chad. The house was built in a hole, Chad. 49 00:05:40,740 --> 00:05:46,110 And that was where Martin live. Now, my story is quite unique. 50 00:05:46,110 --> 00:05:57,720 She was a reputed which various oral testimonies to her activities and practises 51 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:04,050 that have been recorded by the Sound Archive in St. Fuckin National History Museum. 52 00:06:04,050 --> 00:06:15,210 And there's lots of testimonies of locals who remember Maari and recounting their experiences and beliefs surrounding who. 53 00:06:15,210 --> 00:06:25,140 So as I said, she was a reputed witch. Apparently, she had a very dubious look about her with a long hook nose. 54 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:30,030 And she wore a shawl over her head, which gave her the appearance of the witch. 55 00:06:30,030 --> 00:06:33,690 Well, it's not really clear. How could they? Let's be honest. 56 00:06:33,690 --> 00:06:45,960 She also spoke in a very distinctive way and which I find quite interesting because it reminds me of how people believe the fairies communicated. 57 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:50,130 So a lot of a lot of them know close to Panopto. 58 00:06:50,130 --> 00:07:01,410 Mari spoke quietly, softly and charming in her way of speaking now charming in the sense of the word used was so, 59 00:07:01,410 --> 00:07:11,610 you know, so it kind of indicates that it was maybe a musical and lyrical quality to how she felt. 60 00:07:11,610 --> 00:07:15,920 She sometimes went to chapel as a therapy, which is wrong. 61 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,600 But the minister was quite wary of acknowledging your presence. 62 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:27,870 And Mari was a little bit picky about the communion branch as well, which was always kind of left under his feet. 63 00:07:27,870 --> 00:07:33,690 Any misfortune in the area was actually attributed to Molly. 64 00:07:33,690 --> 00:07:43,990 David Jones, a local farmer. He believed Marryat bewitched his character and because he 14 of his cows bolted in when 65 00:07:43,990 --> 00:07:50,880 you and a horse that he was due to sell broke its leg before he was due to go to market. 66 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:59,040 Now, he was usually quite mindful, he says, to send Mara a bag of flour and just just to keep on the good side. 67 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:05,250 But he'd obviously missed a couple of delivery slots in this instance. 68 00:08:05,250 --> 00:08:17,730 Now, Molly as well was seen on several occasions to have snakes, to carry snakes, which is quite interesting. 69 00:08:17,730 --> 00:08:24,610 Dan Edwards, he was only a young boy when he saw Mallory with an a friend. 70 00:08:24,610 --> 00:08:34,380 And when he told it to put them down, she she said they were her children and she praised them on another occasion. 71 00:08:34,380 --> 00:08:44,740 She was carrying a load of firewood, which when she threw on the fireplace, turned out to be a dozens and dozens of snakes. 72 00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:54,630 And again, I think when Gunn sort of questioned her on this, she told them that they were a great company, too. 73 00:08:54,630 --> 00:09:00,180 I mean, the poor boy must have been absolutely terrified to function. 74 00:09:00,180 --> 00:09:07,290 So she's an interesting case, Mollari, not just because of the deep and a logical motive around her, 75 00:09:07,290 --> 00:09:13,530 which don't happen a lot in cases of witchcraft, but commentator as well. 76 00:09:13,530 --> 00:09:20,550 It put me in public mood. I mean. It's the Rubins can still be seen. 77 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:28,540 And it's a very small one. So we can tell you from the photographs, I'm just two rooms with a fireplace in each room, 78 00:09:28,540 --> 00:09:37,470 windows at the front, because there's a cottage pressed against a stone outcrop. 79 00:09:37,470 --> 00:09:40,770 So it's been a very ruinous state. 80 00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:54,620 And again, in terms of any kind of heritage or exportation or punches to this cottage, well, as you can probably tell, there isn't any. 81 00:09:54,620 --> 00:10:02,190 Now, if we compare this to, say, Penda hair one. 82 00:10:02,190 --> 00:10:09,360 Again, the site of a very famous witch trials, witch trials back in 60, Twila's. 83 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:21,980 The situation couldn't be more different. And it's been very successful in attracting heritage lottery funding for the area. 84 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:37,200 It's a famous spot for the trial. But it's also a natural history, a natural conservation spot on an acre of outstanding, outstanding natural beauty. 85 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:44,190 Now, the link with the on witch trials is off the hook, if you like, 86 00:10:44,190 --> 00:10:58,650 is the unique selling point to attracting people to an area not necessarily of supernatural significance, but all natural and conservation interests. 87 00:10:58,650 --> 00:11:04,840 They also uncovered a witches cottage near the area as well. 88 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:16,950 And while we were doing some engineering works back in 2011. So, again, this supernatural element to pen to hand has worked very well for the FBI. 89 00:11:16,950 --> 00:11:29,320 It's been quite successful in attracting money from trust and as an area of a cultural heritage destination. 90 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:34,960 That supernatural phone, that hook is being as requite round became to home. 91 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:44,850 And like I said, the situation could not be more different when it comes to Morrie's cottage and indeed the wider community and Panopto. 92 00:11:44,850 --> 00:11:50,360 I mean, if you didn't know about Morri and his story, which let's face it, not many, 93 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:56,220 not like he that many people do, you would need to know that the cottage was there. 94 00:11:56,220 --> 00:12:06,720 Even if you did if you were to go to the area, you would probably be give me some very typical Welsh directions to find in it, 95 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:12,540 such as will the baby go up the hill over the bridge does not make it any more random. 96 00:12:12,540 --> 00:12:20,830 Monken and turn left by the old person who was flying in the sky, which is pretty much the directions I was given when I came home. 97 00:12:20,830 --> 00:12:28,060 Is it the same now? I can't help it. 98 00:12:28,060 --> 00:12:32,740 We can focus on this, really. That's. This, 99 00:12:32,740 --> 00:12:40,450 the lack of any kind of cultural or heritage interpretation around MA resculpted the community much 100 00:12:40,450 --> 00:12:50,700 more widely is perhaps a reflection of the academic and historical interpretation of mommy's story. 101 00:12:50,700 --> 00:12:57,080 No way of unlike in trying to connect in Tehran and mass trials. 102 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:06,140 So because it's not the worst experience of witchcraft, more often than not being sadly overlooked. 103 00:13:06,140 --> 00:13:10,090 It has to be said. Hi, my Farfel Juliet. 104 00:13:10,090 --> 00:13:19,330 And this is true also of the battle seems to do without things like continuation from the art in the 19th century, you know, 105 00:13:19,330 --> 00:13:31,150 talking about witchcraft and certain genealogical aspects as well to Morris practises and the beliefs surrounding her. 106 00:13:31,150 --> 00:13:38,230 Also, I think there's a question as well about how we treat the supernatural in history. 107 00:13:38,230 --> 00:13:52,210 There's something still quite Victorian, I think, in how information on supernatural is recorded and conveyed and understood. 108 00:13:52,210 --> 00:14:05,740 So I'm ending this talk. We leave with a question because this does raise the important question of how historians and heritage experts 109 00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:16,210 come back to work together to ensure that these layers of history and supernatural or otherwise a copy reveals. 110 00:14:16,210 --> 00:14:19,428 So fantasy time will be one.