ory, that he announced his
intention to prove the thing a myth, and so, one _Nos G'lan Geua'_, Shon
Robert, as he was called, proceeded to the church just before midnight,
and, to his horror, he heard his own name--"Shon ap Robert," uttered by
the Spirit. "Hold, hold!" said the tailor, "I am not quite ready!" But,
ready or not ready, it made no difference to the messenger of death, for
that year the tailor died.

According to rustic opinion, demons were, from sinister motives, much
given to frequenting churches; still it was thought that as the Priest
entered the sacred building by the south door these Spirits were obliged
to make their exit through the north door, which was called in
consequence the Devil's Door; and this door was opened, and left open
awhile, to enable these Evil Spirits to escape from the church, before
divine service commenced. In agreement with this notion, the north side
of church yards was designated the Domain of Demons, and, by association
of ideas, no one formerly was buried in this side, but in our days the
north part of the church yard--where the space in the other parts has
already been occupied--is used for interments, and the north doors in
most old churches have been built up.

Formerly, at baptisms, the north church door was, in Wales, left open,
and that too for the same reason that it was opened before the hours of
prayer. But these superstitions have departed, as intimated by the
blocking up of north church doors.

_Satan and Bell Ringing_.

Durand, according to Bourne, in his _Antiquities of the Common People_,
ed. 1725, p. 17, was of opinion that Devils were much afraid of bells,
and fled away at the sound of them. Formerly, in all parts of Wales, the
passing bell was tolled for the dying. This is a very ancient custom
being alluded to by the Venerable Bede--

When the bell begins to toll,
Lord, have mercy on the soul.

A small hand bell was also rung by the parish clerk as he preceded the
funeral procession, and the church bell was tolled before, at, and after
the burial. I do not know whether this was done because the people,
entertaining Durand's opinion, wished to save the souls and bodies of
their departed friends from Satan. Reference is often made to small
handbells in parish terriers, and they are enumerated in those documents
with other church property. Thus, in Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd terrier,
1729, among the articles mentioned as belonging to t