A Cup Which is Claimed as the Holy Grail

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 94, 22 April 1933, Page 16

A Cup Which is Claimed as the Holy Grail

In the Old World mansion of Nantoos, near New. Cross, Cardiganshire, Wales, there is said to be tho Holy Grail., Strange tales are told of its reputed power to heal. It is now apiece of blackened, crumbling wood, enshrined in a glass case, only a quar-' ter of its original size. Thero aro distinct teeth marks in, the wood. Marker also show that the wood has been nibbled. ■ There is a mark showing that it onco had ■ a band round the Tim. Throughout Wales it is known as "Cwpan Nantcos"—tho Nanteos Cup. It camo to this mansion originally from Strata Florida Abbey. One story says that the cup was a sacramental bowl used by tho abbey monks. Another that it was mnde j from the wood of the True Cross. Still another, that it is no other than the Holy Grail itself, brought from tho Holy Land originally by St. Joseph v -of Arimathca to Glastonbury, For cen- ] tnries the people of Nanteos have cher-1 ished it. From all over the world people have made pilgrimages to see it. j Even in recent years sick people have; asked for it. A visitor met an old servant in the mansion. "Thousand of people come crcjy year to sec it," she said. "I| cannot tell you how many bishops and1 priests and parsons have been here. It has been lent to churches. Put water in it.TTales le the water. It is like quinine bitters."

"I remember the time when the cup was continually in use, not only by the people of this district, but in villages a long way off," said an old woman in a nearby village. "It was called for in time of sickness, and many an ill person it was supposed to have cured.' The custom," she said, "was for a sick person to leave his watch or any other valuable in return for the loan of the -cup. Ho got back his security with its return. The healing power lay in drinking water, medicine, or wine out of the cup. "You have seen the marks of the tooth," said the old woman of memories. "Sick people used to bite pieces from the edges. They wore eating it away. So a band was put round the rim. But the cup would not heal. And not until tho band was removed did it function again." The .visitor heard other talcs of the Holy Grail as he wandered through the countryside. Thero was tho pedlar who cursed it, only to return next day to pray. Rosaries have been sent to lie overnight in it. An invalid wrote from Germany, not long ago," asking for the cup to be sent to her. This was not done. So she sent three handkerchiefs- to be placed on the cup, and it is stated that she was satisfied with that. Nanteos'in English is "The Nightingale's Brook." Thero is a wild duck sanctuary in a lake near the house. Something of the cloistered abbey atmosphere clings to the old mansion.