Wax effigy on a piece of slate, found in Ffynnon Eilian, Anglesey, 1925

Description

This object was found in Ffynnon Eilian (Eilian's Well), Llaneilian, Anglesey, in 1925. It consists of a small piece of slate some three inches long and two inches wide, with crossed lines scratched around its border. In the centre of the slate, the letters RF have been carved and the letters OAM, MEM, AGM(?) and (--M) in the corners. A wax figure has been pinned to the centre of the slate with head body, legs and one arm, the left arm having been broken off. The evidence suggests that this object had been placed in the well by someone who bore no goodwill towards 'RF'. It was customary for people who wished misfortune against another person to write the name or initials of the person to be witched or cursed on a piece of slate, before placing it in a well. In the same way that some wells were believed to be 'healing' wells, others gained a more sinister reputation as cursing wells, into which people who wished to curse their enemies threw all manner of objects.