Lady of the Lake

The Lady of the Lake is a fascinating legend which can be traced back to ancient times. The Lady of the Lake is said to be mother of the Physicians of Myddfai whose manuscripts include work on medicine ie. herbs as well as anatomy, physiology, surgery and pathology. The farms named are still in existance. This version of the legend is taken from “Myths and Legends of Wales” retold by Tony Roberts and available from Abercastle Publications.

A farmer who died fighting for Welsh freedom at the end of the 12th century left a widow who then farmed at Blaensawdde near Llanddeusant. In time her stock increased and she had to graze the cattle on the Black Mountains where their favourite place was near the little lake Llyn-y-fan fach. Her son used to go and look after the cattle; to his amazement one day he saw a beautiful young lady sitting on the smooth surfce of the water, combing her long hair. She saw the young man, who offered her barley bread and cheese. She refused and gently evaded him, saying:

Cras dy fara (Hard baked is thy bread)       Nid hawdd fy nala (It is not easy to catch me)

and she dived under the water and disappeared. He realised he had immediately fallen in love with her and when he got home, he told his mother. She advised him to take some unbaked bread the next day; which he did. He waited for hours the next day but at last she came but she refused his offer saying:

Llaith dy fara (Unbaked is thy bread)         Ti ni fynna (I will not have you)

But she smiled at him as she disappeared so he took heart. His mother suggested taking some slightly better baked bread the next day. He waited all day and as he was about to return, he saw some cows on the surface of the water; and then the lady. This time she accepted his bread and after some persuasion she consented to be his wife but she would live with him only till she received three blows without a cause (Tri ergyd diachos). He willingly agreed.

Then she returned to the lake coming back with another girl like her and a noble-looking old man who was her father. He told the farmer he consented providing he could distinguish the girl he had chosen from her sister. This he did only because she moved her foot slightly and he noticed a slight variation in the way she did up her sandals. “You have chosen correctly,” said her father, ” be kind to her and I will give her a dowry of as many sheep, cattle, goats and horses as she can count without drawing breath.” She immediately counted as rapidly as she could, counting in fives. And the animals came out of the lake when her father called them.

So they were married and lived happily for some years at Esgair Laethdy near Myddfai, and had three sons. But there was once a christening which the wife was reluctant to go to; and her husband touched her on the shoulder when she hadn’t gone to fetch the horse; and she reminded him that this was the first blow. Then, at a wedding, she burst into tears saying: “People are entering into trouble.” And he touched her a second time on the shoulder. Then after years had gone by, the third blow was struck. It was at a funeral where she appeared cheerful: “Because people, when they die, go out of trouble,” and her husband reproved her with a touch. She went back to the lake, calling the animals by name, down to the “little black calf though suspended on the hook.” Back they all went to the lake, the ploughing oxen leaving a great furrow behind them.

The Lady of the Lake appeared to her sons at intervals and advised them on healing. They became the famous Physicians of Myddfai and became doctors to Lord Rhys Grug of Llandovery and Dynefor. There have been numerous descendants who were doctors, the last dying in Aberystwyth about a hundred years ago.