"When I was young my
grand-father told me that the Kolbrin had been brought back to light
by his grand-father's people in the place known to them as Futeril
Cairn, beyond the pool of Pantlyn at Carclathan by way of Gwendwor
in Wales."
"I remember him saying it was originally written in the old alphabet
of thirty-six letters. The books were stored in a tinker's budget
box, the lid of which was not hinged but held with flanges and
lifted off after being heated, a cuning device of the wayfaring
tinkers. It was also secured with pins and stirrups. There were
goblin heads at the corners and it was fastened by locking bars
inside and out. I never saw it, nor did I know anyone who knew
whether it still existed."
"I remember being told that inside the box was a clear glass
roundish ball about the size of a large apple, which at one spot
reflected all the colours of the rainbow. It was encased in a
precious cagework inside a protective cover of horny hide which had
raised swellings, the like of which my grand-father had never seen
before. He knew a lot about animals and their hides, but could not
tell what this was; he thought it might have been the hide of some
kind of large, horny snakelike creature such as those which live in
deep lakes."
"There were two stones of dullish glass like rainstones, one being
whitish at one end. Each was oval in shape and somewhat flattened
and tapered towards one end. Grand-mother used to tell fortunes with
these and they went to cousin Sarah in America. There were two other
pieces of rounded glass set in something made of bone which had
pretty designs engraved on it. The bone setting was falling apart
and was of no conceivable use. There was also a bluish coloured
cross with an opening at the top and its arms were forked at the
ends. This was fastened by a small chain curiously worked, to piece
of round brass about the size of a small plate which was engraved
with figured, of which a bird, a wand, two billhooks, a whip and
some heads could be made out. There were beads of blue and red and a
brooch shaped like a hook and made of gold. There was a acorn-like
cap such as Flamens wear."
"There was also a longish brass object like a knife, with engraving,
in a wrapping of rotten wood. That is all there was, except for the
books which were not like books at all. I do not know what became of
the other items. I saw the glass ball once when I was a small child
but cannot remember much about it, except that it was hollow at one
end and when I put a finger in the hollow it felt warm."
J.McA.