Halloween offering

LLANGERNYW

It means church of the cornish ( Cernyw = cornwall) so named after St Digains church which sits in the middle of the village. St Digain although declared as a Welsh saint was from Cornwall and was a prince of Dumnomia, and that shows to me

the close links between Cornwall and Cymru. The Church is most famous for the Yew Tree which stands in its grounds , it is said to be between 4000 and 5000 years old and one of the oldest trees in Britain.

However it is not the only thing the church is known for.

Legend has it

that if you stand before the east window on Noson Calan gaeaf ( Halloween) you will be in the presence of the 'angelystor' the "recording angel" who will read out the names of those who will die in the next 12 months .
It is told that a young carpenter from the village namely

Sion ap Rhobat was drinking in the village pub ' Yr hen hydd' ( The old stag) one night and was told of the legend. Now Sion was a bit of a penbach and ridiculed the notion, fuelled by drink and challenged by the villagers he visited the church next door one halloween only to

hear his own name read out by the Angelystor, frightened he pleaded with the angel to remove his name from the list but to no avail. He was buried in the church grounds three months later.

ps - The Old Stag is an awesome pub ( just saying)