Top photograph: Delphi Campbell, 2025

Bottom Photographs: Spike Dennis, 2025

Y Toili, 2025

A hand embroidered quilt that utilities Welsh quilting methods made with scrap fabrics and threads. 

This quilt reflects the wildlife I encountered in Sir Benfro (Pembrokeshire) and their connections to local folklore.

Y Toili (a phantom funeral) is a phenomenon deeply rooted in Welsh folklore. The legend goes that if you witness a ghostly funeral procession accompanied by glowing lights—known as Canwyllau Corff (corpse candles)—with no coffin visible on the hearse, you are experiencing a phantom funeral. If you witness such an event, either you or someone you know will soon die.

Although these legends are found throughout Wales, their strongest ties are to St. Davids in y Gorllewin (the west). The myth of the Canwyll Corff is linked to the legends of Saint David, suggesting that these ghostly lights only began appearing after David’s birth. According to folklore, he was born on the storm-lashed rocks of Pembrokeshire near the sea, to his mother, Saint Non.

The animals depicted on my quilt are connected to the myths of Y Toili, Yr Helfa Wyllt (The Wild Hunt), and Cyhyraeth, all of which are death omens. Curlews and gulls are two of the birds associated with Cyhyraeth, a phantom wail that foretells one’s death, these semi aquatic birds would explain the prevalence of these stories being found around coastal towns. Migratory geese, foxes, and badgers are also linked to Cyhyraeth, though their eerie cries are often attributed to Yr Helfa Wyllt. On nights when these animals were most active, our ancestors believed that the sounds of mating calls and territorial disputes were, in fact, the baying of the hounds of Annwn and their fairy masters hunting for lost souls.

Rooks and owls complete this morbid procession, as both are considered harbingers of death and pestilence and both have their parts in the Mabinogion.