The ghost of a headless dog reputedly haunts the area of Penparcau. The origin of the story is a myth that tells of how a giant, going to his father's rescue, rode at such a rate that his dog could not keep up with him and its head came off in the leash. The dog now roams, mournfully crying and looking for its long-lost owner.

One winter morning in the late 19th century, Penparcau villagers awoke to see strange footprints in the snow, and realised that they were not human - they were hoof-prints made by a creature that walked on two legs and not four.

 

The villagers followed these unusual prints has wandered all around their parish, including over walls and roofs. They concluded that the Devil himself had walked through Penparcau that snowy night.

Crugiau is a house in Aberystwyth, and was purportedly haunted by the ghost of a lady in old-fashioned clothing.

Peter Underwood recounts a story passed to him by the great, late Elliott O’Donnell. It concerned an “old house that stood near the sea front”. Having visited Aberystwyth, there are some atmospheric streets just off the sea front that hark back to times gone by – houses so tightly packed together in small, claustrophobic streets that hardly let daylight in. However, in the hours of darkness, when a fog has enveloped the town, these narrow thoroughfares exude a chilling air that you can imagine such a house would exist perfectly in.

 

The story revolves around a young woman who went to stay with an aunt at Christmas. She was awoken one night by the sound of a clock striking one, but realised that the room was bathed in a “curious leadish-blue light” from one of the candles on the mantelpiece. Believing her aunt must have forgotten to extinguish it she got out of bed and blew it out, then returned to the comfort of her blankets. Within moments of settling down and closing her eyes, she realised that the room was again awash with the same light. She again got out of bed, extinguished the flame then turned to head back to bed. As she pulled the blankets over herself, the candle once again illuminated the room in its glow.

 

She was now scared, and buried her head under the bedclothes until the morning. When she woke, she mentioned the curious events to her aunt, who dismissed them as childish fantasy. However, on speaking to the family maid, she received a much different reaction. The maid had been with her aunt for many years, and had seen such a candle the night the aunt’s sister had died. Believing this to be another example of the “canwyll corf” (corpse candle), she was adamant that the aunt did not have long left on this earth. Surely enough, a few days later, the aunt passed away.

This tale dates back to 1870, when a young maid was preparing for bed. She heard the voice of her boyfriend calling her name. He was a French sailor and the two were very much in love. She went to the door and saw him approach with his hand outstretched, but he disappeared without speaking. News later reached her that the ship he was sailing on was lost with all hands off the Spanish coast - at the very time she saw him...