e
As doth an eagle when him liste to soare,
This same steed shall bear you evermore,
Withouten harm, till ye be there you leste,
Though that ye sleepen on his back or reste;
And turn againe with writhing of a pinne,
He that it wroughte he coulde many a gin,
He waited many a constellation,
Ere he had done this operation.

_Chaucer's Squire's Tale_, 137-152.

The rider of the magic horse was made acquainted with the charm that
secured its obedience, for otherwise he took an aerial ride at his peril.
This kind of invention is oriental, but it is sufficiently like the
Celtic in outline to indicate that all figments of the kind had
undoubtedly a common origin.

I have seen it somewhere stated, but where I cannot recall to mind, that,
the Water Horses did, in olden times, sport, on the Welsh mountains, with
the puny native ponies, before they became a mixed breed.

It was believed that the initiated could conjure up the River Horse by
shaking a magic bridle over the pool wherein it dwelt.

There is much curious information respecting this mythic animal in the
_Tales of the Cymry_ and from this work I have culled many thoughts.

_The Torrent Spectre_.

This spectre was supposed to be an old man, or malignant spirit, who
directed, and ruled over, the mountain torrents. He delighted in
devastating the lands. His appearance was horrible to behold, and it was
believed that in the midst of the rushing stream his terrible form could
be discerned apparently moving with the torrent, but in reality remaining
stationary. Now he would raise himself half out of the water, and ascend
like a mist half as high as the near mountain, and then he would dwindle
down to the size of a man. His laugh accorded with his savage visage,
and his long hair stood on end, and a mist always surrounded him.

Davies, in his _Mythology of the Druids_, says that believers in this
strange superstition are yet to be met with in Glamorganshire. Davies
was born in the parish of Llanvareth, Radnorshire, in 1756, and died
January 1st, 1831.

_Gwrach y Rhibyn_, _or Hag of the Mist_.

Another supernatural being associated with water was the _Gwrach y
Rhibyn_. She was supposed to reside in the dripping fog, but was seldom,
if ever seen. It was believed that her shriek foretold misfortune, if
not death, to the hearer, and some even thought that, in a shrill tenor,
and lengthened voice, she called the person