The "Ddraglais is a chime, a type of bell or gong, that had a unique design.
Its made of three triangular pieces of thin iron, the longest side about the length of a man's arm, all fused together at a top point so that none touch one another except there. The whole is suspended by a chain-loop from the apex, so that, when struck, an eerie, three-toned voice issues forth.
"The Dragon's breath...the voice which once harkened to the wind; let it speak again! Ddgaiglais...the Dragon-Voice, the Dragon-Wind..."
Until more recent years, the town forgers around Newhill Mount, in Whales, were traditionally responsible to replace the chime when it was rusted through. "Made of Iron," a Mr. Strattford explained, "each lasted about fifty years--one for the life of each craftsman." And so it was the duty of the town smith to know to what specifications it must be constructed.
The tradition was the ruminants of the old Pagan ways, which were now dead, and has been part of the source of local lore concerning the inhabitation of Newhill Mount, in a cave, by the spirit of Merlyn. This is so b/c of a carved stone which stands just outside the cave, bearing the name of "The Necromancer of Yore, in strange-notched markings," he said.
(For more information, or to see a picture, see "The History and Topography of Caermarthenshire" by John O'Donovon, originally published in 1895.)
