Witchcraft

The Hare-Witch and the Hammer, Llanidloes

Llanidloes

Early 19th century

An old woman in Llanidloes was believed to be a witch. A neighbour of hers complained that the old woman visited her every night in the shape of a hare, and that because of it she could get no rest. The hare would come to her bed and run across it.

She decided to put an end to it. She got hold of a hammer and put it under her pillow when she went to bed. That night the witch came as usual, not knowing what was waiting for her, and the moment the hare jumped onto the bed it got a stunning blow on the head. It vanished.

The next morning a friend of the tormented woman, who was in on the whole business, found some excuse to call on the old woman. She was laid up in bed, and she had a frightful black eye. The visitor had no doubt where it had come from.

Stories like this were not harmless entertainment. They were the reasoning behind the crowds that forced suspected witches to say the Lord's Prayer in the streets of the same town, recorded separately on this site.

Llanidloes town; no specific house is identified.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
52.449, -3.540 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Elias Owen, Welsh Folk-Lore: A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales (1896), Project Gutenberg [public-domain]

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