The Skeleton Bride
Happy Halloween! Enjoy our final tale of horror in North Wales.
The secluded village of Nant is home to one of the most tragic ghost stories to have emerged from North Wales – and it all stems from an age-old tradition, The Wedding Quest.
Rhys and Meinir had been childhood sweethearts, practically inseperable, and as they aged their love grew stronger. Finally the time came that they were given permission to be married. The wedding party was arranged, guests brought gifts to present to the happy couple, and all seemed well – until the morning of the ceremony.
A tradition in the area, the Wedding Quest involved the bride hiding from her groom on the morning of their wedding. Rhys set out with friends to find his beloved and take her back to the church where they would be wed. But as the day wore on, and he became more and more panicked, he began to realise that Meinir was gone – maybe for good.
Over the next few months, Rhys continued his search. He grew gradually more desperate, eventually becoming a wild man of the woods, losing his mind completely.
One stormy night, months after Meinir had disappeared, Rhys took shelter under the oak tree that he and his love had so often visited, on the slopes of Yr Eifl. A bolt of lightning struck the tree as he cowered beneath it, and the trunk split wide open – what was inside would shock Rhyl to his bones.
Within the splintered oak were the remains of his bride-to-be, still wearing her wedding dress.
Rhys’ shock and grief overcame him, and he died on the spot next to his Meinir.
There have been reports of their ghosts haunting their site ever since – a skeleton in a wedding dress, holding hands with a disheveled wild man.
A memorial to the couple now stands on Yr Eifl.