Preface:

"My inducement for presenting to the public these tales of 'by-gone
days' was the advertisement of the very Rev. Archdeacon Beynon, which
appeared in the Carmarthen Journal, of _May_ 21, 1830, proposing
a reward of twenty guineas, with a medal value three guineas, for
the _best printed_ English Essay, 8vo. containing 500 pages, on
the Superstitions, Ghosts, Legends, &c. of _all parts_ of the
principality, to be delivered _before February_ 3, 1831. Now when
the limited period proposed for the collection of 500 pages of matter,
and the above little adjective _all_ is considered, it must appear
obvious that such an Herculean labour is not capable of being
accomplished by _one_ individual alone.--Imagining it, therefore,
to be a matter of impossibility to perform what the very reverend
gentleman requires, I cannot consistently with propriety offer myself
as a candidate, but will say--'_Palmam qui meruit ferat_.'

"I have had considerable trouble to collect the stories which appear in
the work, being also two years from attaining my majority, and having so
short a period to collect them, as the book is hastily ushered before a
discerning public, I trust they will overlook any imperfections which
may appear."

The production of the work is creditable to the enthusiasm of, legally
speaking, the infant author; and we should be happy to learn that our
insertion in the _Mirror_ of some of the pieces in this volume has
fostered its growth. We quote an interesting passage on

_Fairy Rings._