e knew full well that as
long as his back was turned towards them he was in their power, but that
when he faced them they could do him no harm; so; to avoid their evil
influence, and to frustrate their designs, he faced them, and walked
backwards every step from Cynvael to the Llan, and in this way he escaped
being injured by his female enemies. But this was not all. Huw Llwyd
knew that when he reached the Church porch he was beyond witchcraft's
reach. Having arrived there he shouted out--"I defy you now, and before
I leave the Church I will make you that you can never again witch
anyone." He was as good as his word, for by his skill in the black art,
he deprived those two ladies, ere he left the Church, of their power to
witch people, and during the rest of their lives they were like other
women.

Huw Llwyd, who was born 1533, and died 1620, was a clergyman, and it was
generally believed that priests could counteract the evils of the enemy
of mankind.

The wide-spread belief of witches being able to transform themselves into
animals is shown in the legends of many countries, and, as in the case of
fairy stories, the same tale, slightly changed, may be heard in various
places. The possibility of injuring or _marking_ the witch in her
assumed form so deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her
natural form was a common belief. A tale in certain points like the one
recorded of Huw Llwyd and the witches who turned themselves into cats is
to be heard in many parts of Wales. It is as follows. I quote the main
facts from my friend Mr. Hamer's account of Llanidloes, published in the
_Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol. x., p. 243:--

_A Witch transformed into a Hare injured by one whom she tormented_.

"An old woman, thought to be a witch, was said by a neighbour to be in
the habit of visiting her nightly in the shape of a hare, and that in
consequence she was deprived of her rest. The witch came to her bed, as
a hare, and crossed it, and the tormented one was determined to put an
end to this persecution. For this purpose she procured a hammer, which
she placed under her pillow when she retired to rest. That night the old
witch, unaware of the reception awaiting her, paid her usual visit to her
victim. But the instant she jumped on the bed she received a stunning
blow on the head, and, it need not be added, disappeared. Next morning,
a friend of the persecuted woman, who was in the secret of the w