Weird & Wonderful Wales

Plas Mawr is an Elizabethan townhouse built between 1576-1585. Conwy is supposedly beset by The Mermaid’s Curse. Some fishermen caught a mermaid in the Conwy estuary and paraded her through the town. As she started to suffocate, she cursed the people and buildings of Conwy – at the very same spot where both Conwy Town Hall and a later library burned down. On both occasions, the mermaid’s laughter was heard through the flames. Up the Conwy Valley is Llansanffraid, where Gwen Ferch Ellis (1542-1591) was tried for witchcraft. She was accused of leaving a curse at the home of Thomas Mostyn, and was later hung in Denbigh town square. Other stories from the county include the Llyn yr Afanc, a pool on Conwy River once terrorised by the sea serpent Afanc. Back on the coast are the submerged lands of Tyno Helig (‘Helig’s Hollow’), which lay between Great Orme and Bangor. They were flooded by the ghost of a Scottish chieftain who was murdered by the lowly baron Tathal for his golden aristocratic collar. Prince Helig's vain daughter Gwendud had refused to marry Tathal until he improved his status.

Painting - copyright Pete Fowler / Literature Wales
Written piece - copyright Eluned Gramich / Pete Fowler / Literature Wales