An interesting discovery to support the latest work getting ready for Chin Up at The Chopping Block:
Below is the story of 'The Phantom Lights of Tuskar' - as told by Alun Morgan
So many wrecks have occurred on the treacherous reefs and
sandbanks near Porthcawl (see Porthcawl:
its History and Development for a fuller account) that it is little wonder
many strange stories have been told about the coastline. Not so very long ago,
when the docks were being built, it was firmly believed that a ghostly and inexpiable
light could be seen hovering above the Tuskar Rocks. Sometimes the light drifted
westward and could then be seen hovering over Sker Point. In either case, old
salts said, the light was the harbinger of storms and a forth coming wreck.
Possibly because of this light the water around Tuskar was
regarded with awe by local fishermen. It was considered appropriate, for
example always to cast out three nets. If the middle one filled with crab and
lobster, bad weather and a poor season would follow; if it filled with fish,
fair weather and a good season were indicated.
In addition to the phantom ship described in Part 1 the sailors of
Porthcawl talk a tale in the early nineteenth century of a ship from the
underworld. It was a three-masted barque which, as it sailed up and down the
coast, smelled abominably of sulphur – so much so that life in the coastal
villages became difficult. In this ship the devil had placed the souls of
sinners, but its constant meandering had annoyed St. Donat so much that he pierced
the hull with a spear. The devil, who at that moment was counting the number of
souls aboard, was thrown into the water and had to swim for his life. The ship
was wrecked and a giant from the Gower made a toothpick from the mast and a
handkerchief from the sails.
Accompanying the ghost light of Tuskar there was the ‘Cyhiraeth’. This
was merely a sound but was no less frightening and was dreaded not only by
sailors but by all the folk who lived within the sight and sound of the sea. It
was an earthy noise, starting first as a moan heard in the distance across the
waves and gradually increasing in pitch and loudness until it became a scream.
It might stop suddenly or die away gradually only to come again in a startling
shriek that petrified all those who heard it. It often travelled inland,
frightening the people in the lonely little villages of the Vale. It was always
the harbinger of a terrible storm with the certainty of a shipwreck to follow.
Taken from http://hellohistoria.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/phantom-lights-of-tuskar.html
