The devil who joins a card game is one of the most widespread stories in Welsh religious folklore, a warning against gambling that was told by chapel people in every coalfield valley. Maesteg had its own version, which made the papers in the revival year of 1904.
According to the South Wales Daily News, as summarised by Rachel Taylor, a group of miners from the Maesteg Deep Colliery went up onto the mountainside to play cards, presumably away from the eyes of their families and ministers. A stranger came by and they invited him to join the game.
The newcomer's luck was astonishing. Hand after hand went his way, and before long he had taken all the miners' wages. Frustrated and suspicious, they began to look at their companion more closely, and saw that where he should have had feet he had cloven hoofs. The miners ran.
Taylor's closing advice is to "avoid playing cards with strange men". The location given here is approximate, on the hillside above the old colliery.
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