Mary Thomas, the Fasting Woman

Mary Thomas (about 1723-1812) the Fasting woman by R Havall after Edward Pugh, (1761-1813)
published in Pugh’s Cambria Depicta: (1813)

When Thomas Pennant visited Mary Thomas in 1770 she was living at a farm called Tyddyn Bach in the parish of Llangelynin (on the coast between Tywyn and Fairbourne); J.S. Duncan (1804) noted that she lived at ‘Pwlthlanthog’; Pugh saw her at Mr Robert’s house called Tan yr Allt Llangelynin in 1810 (published 1816) and in 1812  a visitor saw her in a cottage on the road between Dolgellau and Ynysfaif (near Friog).
Many of these descriptions of Mary Thomas were written by Welshmen, none of whom can be classified as typical tourists. Mary Thomas’s homes were not on a route normally followed by tourists and so far, I have not come across any accounts of visits to her by tourists but two of the reports below suggest that Mary Thomas had visitors, including English nobility and Gentry as well as one member of the English Royal family.

Sarah Jacob was another Welsh fasting girl who lived in Llanfihangel-Ar-Arth in Carmarthenshire. She died in 1869, and again, there are no records of tourists’ visits to her. http://www.welshlegalhistory.org/research-jacobs-case.php

Descriptions of Mary Thomas in chronological order

1770 (published 1781) Thomas Pennant

In a former visit (July 18th, 1770) to this place [Barmouth], my curiosity was excited to examine into the truth of a surprizing relation of a woman in the parish of Celynin [Llangelynin], who had fasted a most supernatural length of time. I took boat, had a most pleasant passage up the harbour, charmed with the beauty of the shores, intermixed with woods, verdant pastures, and corn fields. I landed, and, after a short walk, found, in a farm called Tyddyn Bach, the object of my excursion, Mary Thomas, who was boarded here, and kept with great humanity and neatness. She was of the age of forty-seven, of a good countenance, very pale, thin, but not so much emaciated as might be expected, from the strangeness of the circumstances I am going to relate; her eyes weak, her voice low, deprived of the use of her lower extremities, and quite bed-ridden; her pulse rather strong, her intellects clear and sensible.

On examining her, she informed me, that at the age of seven, she had some eruptions like the measles, which grew confluent and universal; and she became so sore, that she could not bear the left touch: she received some ease by the application of a sheep’s skin, just taken from the animal. After this, she was seized, at spring and fall, with swellings and inflammations, during which time she was confined to her bed; but in the intervals could walk about; and once went to Holywell, in hopes of cure.

When she was about twenty-seven years of age, she was attacked with the same complaint, but in a more violent manner; and during two years and a half, remained insensible, and took no manner of nourishment, notwithstanding her friends forced open her mouth with a spoon, to get something down; but the moment the spoon was taken away, her teeth met, and closed with vast snapping and violence: during that time, she flung up vast quantities of blood.

She well remembers the return of her senses, and her knowledge of every body about her. She thought she had slept but a night, and asked her mother whether she had given her any thing the day before, for she found herself very hungry. Meat was brought to her; but so far from being able to take any thing solid, she could scarcely swallow a spoonful of thin whey. From this, she continued seven years and a half without any food or liquid, excepting sufficient of the latter to moisten her lips. At the end of this period, she again fancied herself hungry, and desired an egg; of which she got down the quantity of a nut kernel. About this time, she requested to receive the sacrament; which she did, by having a crum of bread steeped in the wine. After this, she takes for her daily subsistence a bit of bread, weighing about two penny-weights seven grains, and drinks a wine glass of water: sometimes a spoonful of wine, but frequently abstains whole days from food and liquids. She sleeps very indifferently: the ordinary functions of nature are very small, and very seldom performed. Her attendant told me, that her disposition of mind was mild; her temper even; that she was very religious, and very fervent in prayer: the natural effect of the state of her body, long unembarrassed with the grossness of food, and a constant alienation of thought from all worldly affairs. [note:] She was living in 1780 and in the same state. [end of note]
Pennant, Thomas, (1726-1798), The Journey to Snowdon, (London, 1781), pp. 105-107

1793
In the parish of Cylynin [Llangelynin] near to Barmouth is a surprising old woman who has fasted a most extraordinary length of time. I did not see her, but the fact, I believe, is very well authenticated.
[Slaney, Plowden,] A Short journal of a tour through the counties of Denbigh, Merioneth, Cardigan, and Caernarvon, and the island of Anglesey in 1793, NLW 9854C. p. 25

1804 (July) Walter Davies
Visited Mary Thomas, mentioned by Mr Pennant in his tour. She says she is in her 80th year. She says she was affected by a paralytic disorder – which confined her for a long time. At 17 she became continually bed ridden – at 22 a slight symptom of restored nature appeared – but soon after a relapse took place – was supported for years by suction <through> from a goose quill, and ever since she has borne the appearance of a mere skeleton, perfectly helpless.
Davies, Walter, NLW MS 1755Bii, notebook 11 (‘notebook 3, Journal IX, no. A, Journal continued from no VIII’), f. 11/7

1804
Duncan made very brief notes of a tour of Wales in 1804. When on his way from Barmouth to Dolgellau he wrote:
old woman of ?Pwlthlanthog aged 60 said to have lived 40 years without food
Diary of J.S. Duncan (of the Ashmolean) and his brother? P.B. Duncan, Tour Through Wales from Oxford, 1804, NLW MS 16714A, f. 9r

1810 Pennant’s Editor
[The following was added as a note to Pennant’s original account by the editor of the 1810 edition of his Tours.]
She at this time (1786) continues in this situation, and observes the same regimen. [note:] Mary Thomas is still (Dec. 1809) living: but for some time has taken as much nourishment as could be expected at the advanced age of eighty five years, sixty-five of which she has been confined to her bed. Her intellects are perfectly clear. In 1806 she remembered and spoke with pleasure of Mr Pennant’s visit to Celynin. [end of note]
Pennant, Thomas, Tour of Wales, vol. 2, (London, 1810), p. 261-264

1812
About 2 miles from Barmouth lives an old woman who has been in bed for about 65 years. She took to it when 20 years old  being much afflicted with the rheumatism, for the last five years she has subsisted on a glass of water and a thin small slice of bread each week, her knees are drawn almost up to her chin and her hands so thin and transparent that a candle may be seen through them. It is supposed that she does not weight more than 15 pounds.
Hawker, Joseph, ‘Tour of Jos^h Hawker and Elizabeth his wife through north Wales, 1812’, NLW add MS64B, p. 22

1812
A letter written by a friend of Peter Roberts, author of Cambrian Popular Antiquities, (1815)
August 31, 1812
Dear Sir
I had not much difficulty in finding out the subject of your inquiry, as she is lodged in cottage on the road between Dolgellau and Ynysfaig [near Friog]. Her name is Mary Thomas, and she is eighty seven years of age, since Epiphany last (in Welsh Ystwyll), a favourite date of our countrymen. Her first appearance was, to me, frightful enough, as her features are peculiarly large, and the skin of her face is lank of leathery, and pallid. The ears, eyebrows, and mouth, are all prominent; indeed, the head altogether seems larger than that of any other I ever noticed, at that time of life. Her mental powers are tolerably good, and particularly so at her age. She says, that she was born free from any natural defect, and continued until ten years old in good health, when she had a very dangerous fever, which left her afflicted in the limbs. About her twentieth year she was taken by her parents to Holywell, for the recovery of her health; but returned without any benefit. She was about forty years of age, I believe, when she commenced her fasting life, and for ten years, she says, she took no nourishment; but had her lips occasionally wetted with sugar and water. This state of her life was called by the country people, Gweledigaeth, or Trance [note:] This expression evidently relates to the time when she remained insensible, which, according to Mr Pennant’s account she did for two years and a half; after which she recovered the use of her senses, and the knowledge of everybody about her. [end of note]. but I did not find that she remembered any thing particular during its continuance. The first solid morsel she ate upon her restoration, she remembers receiving from the hands of Mr Lloyd the clergyman of the parish. Since her return from Holywell she has ever been bed-ridden; though frequently removed from one house to another. Her present sustenance is a shilling loaf of the finest bread per week, taken in ale, of which also she has a shilling’s worth weekly. She is nearly double in bed, and her arms are nothing but skin and bone. She has been for these many long years supported by the Parish of Celynin, at the rate of two shillings per week. Besides this, however, she has received a good deal from her curious visitors, particularly in the summer seasons. The family of Arthog, which is close by, is also very charitable to her. I do not find that she belongs to any particular religious sect, but many good neighbours often read religious books to her, with which she is much pleased. I must not omit a report of the neighbours, that, during the early feverof which I spoke above, she was, at one time, supposed to be dead, at which time her mother earnestly exclaimed, in a wish to God, to have her any how restored to her, and in this condition she has remained. I remarked that she has a strong desire to represent herself as a wonder. The people of the house know not when, or how much at a time, she eats, as she helps herself at pleasure from a box within her reach.
I am, etc, [Anon]
Robert, Peter, The Cambrian Popular Antiquities: or, An account of some traditions, customs, and superstitions, of Wales, with observations as to their origin, &c. &c., (1815), pp. 317-330
The letter was also published in Anon, An accurate account and description of Dolgelley and Carnarvon : the lofty mountains of Cader Idris and Snowdon, and other romantic sceneries in the counties of Merioneth and Caernarvon, with the principal inns, roads, &c. also an itinerary of roads, &c. (Gomerian Press, Dolgellau, printed and sold by R Jones, sold also by I.E. Jones, Printer, Caernarvon, (no date but post 1815), pp. 23-27.

1813 (pre) (published 1816) Edward Pugh
Leaving Abermaw, or Barmouth, I crossed the ferry, and went to a cottage of David Roberts’s, called, Tan yr Allt, in Llangelynin parish, to visit a very extraordinary old woman, whose name is Mary Thomas. Mr. Pennant mentions her so far back as the year 1770: but as forty years have been added to her lingering existence, she now may be considered as an infinitely greater curiosity. Her history is precisely this: when at the age of seven or eight years, an eruption, similar to the measles, broke out upon her, which continued to affect her, more or less, at the spring and fall of the year: during this time she kept her bed, and walked out alternately. I questioned her very closely; nevertheless, I perceive that Mr. Pennant’s account of her differs a little from mine, respecting the period of her finally taking to her bed: but this is immaterial, as it might have risen from the circumstance of her frequent confinement. At one time, relates Mr. Pennant, “she continued more than seven years without any sustenance of any kind, excepting a little liquid, to moisten her mouth.” At the age of fifteen, her complaint returned, with the addition, as it was supposed, of a severe cold, which affected her legs so power fully, as totally to deprive her of their use: consequently she has been bed-ridden from the commencement of the attack. She is now eighty-six years of age, so that seventy-one out of that number have witnessed her pitiable condition. Once a day she is removed to another bed in the same room, while her own is making. The tendons of the legs are so permanently fixed and contracted, as to bring the os calcis nearly in contact with the os-sacrum, thus debarring her, at once, of the possibility of extending her limbs, as well as of the power of walking. Having passed so many years, suffering under the influence of the greatest pains, which have baffled the skill and the experience of the faculty in the country, added to the want of such indulgencies as soften the asperities of life, she is reduced to a mere skeleton. The colour of her countenance is pale brown, and her eyes a deep jet, as is also her hair. Her food is bread and milk, of which she takes but a few penny-weights in quantity, and that but once a day. It has been observed, lately, that she eats more than she used to do, but this has not occasioned, as we might be led to suppose, a renovation of health: the reverse is her experience; for she seldom feels a cessation from sickness, and her sleep is uneasy and disturbed. Mary has lately lost the use of one eye, though its decay was not observable to me. Her recollection is exquisitely strong, and her hearing so quick, that she can hear an out-of-door conversation a considerable distance off. She is so susceptible of cold, that it has been judged necessary to put fire in an iron pot, which is placed in bed with her, but so well secured, as to prevent the least danger by accident, or at all prove a molestation to her. Until very lately she had for many years habituated herself to the singular practice of kneading and baking her own bread. A large dish was placed on the bed by her side, upon which she contrived to knead and form her paste: this was replaced by a tripod wooden stool reversed, which received an iron kettle, full of fire; upon this was also placed an iron pan or plate with the shapened dough; and thus, in due time, she would produce an excellent loaf. Her singular history brings a number of visitors from all parts to see her, particularly the English nobility and gentry, when on their excursions through this country. I am concerned to state that my efforts to learn the name of a nobleman, whose benevolence has made him highly respected here, have proved abortive. He saw this poor object, felt for her, and with a munificence that will do his lordship everlasting honour, sent her necessaries of different descriptions, to the value of fifty pounds. Some time since, his Royal Highness Prince William Henry of Gloucester honoured her with a visit: she seemed highly pleased with the idea of having beheld the King’s nephew, and that the royal visitor should have condescended to enter her humble habitation; and she spoke of the prince with a heart fraught with gratitude.
No one having ever published her portrait, she readily permitted me to take her likeness; and I have been so successful, that the accuracy of it may be depended upon. It has been asserted by some people, that Mary Thomas is an artful woman; that her illness has been feigned, to deceive the charitable stranger; and that her abstinence by day, is compensated by her voluptuous appetite being amply satisfied at night; and this was even told me by a gentleman in the neighbourhod. Is it not surprising, that people will so far suffer prejudice to get the better of their understanding, as to deny the truth of an extraordinary operation of Providence, for no other reason than that it appears unaccountable to them? Is it likely, or can it be believed for a moment, that a gay, young, and sprightly girl, at the artless age of fifteen, could have the courage to adopt an austere, rigid way of life: a mode of existence so shocking, that the very soul would naturally revolt from it?—that she would abandon her companions, and those innocent pastimes and pleasures, so congenial to youthful constitutions; and that she would, without premeditation, instantly forego the vast gradation of delights which youth are so apt to picture to themselves, as flowing through life, for the bitter potion of a perpetual imprisonment, and exclusion from all the happiness and comforts attached to liberty and ease? Such a supposition is an egregious absurdity, broached by ignorant and unfeeling minds, without the slightest foundation of truth or probability. The day I saw this woman, these insinuations were fully and satisfactorily refuted by Mrs. Thomas of Llanegrin , who, twenty-five years ago, lived in the same house with her, when a similar report was in circulation : but which Mrs. T. declares to have been utterly void of truth; as such a circumstance as that of her getting up at night for refreshment, or of any such being conveyed to her, must infallibly have been attended with discovery, which never took place. This and a few other cottages are situated under horribly looking, high craggy rocks, which seem to threaten instant destruction to the whole. Should high winds, lightning, or any other casual misfortune, dislodge some of the heavy masses of stone from their sockets, some fatal event must ensue.
[Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743–1805), was a younger brother of King George III. He was not nephew, but grandson, to George II who died in 1760. The exact date and nature of his visit to Wales is unknown, but Prince William Henry is known to have been in Chester and north east Wales in 1803 (Parry, Edward, Royal Visits and Progresses to Wales and the Border Counties of Cheshire, Salop, Hereford, and Monmouth … (Chester, 1850), pp. 412-414)]
Pugh, Edward, (1761-1813) Cambria Depicta: A Tour Through North Wales illustrated with Picturesque Views, By a Native Artist, (London: printed by W. Clowes for E. Williams, 1816. Quarto), pp. 212-214, illustrated opp. p. 213.

pre 1813
If the desire for length of days has occupied the feelings of mankind in an uncommon manner, a few instances of living without food has excited proportionate surprize and curiosity. There are on record several extraordinary instances of abstinence, and in your Journal for last November 21 case of this kind (viz. Ann Moore) has deservedly attracted considerable attention. But strange as this power of existing without sustenance may appear, it is perhaps less rare than has been suspected. In a remote part of North Wales there is actually at this time a counterpart to the case reported by Mr Taylor. This extraordinary being is also a woman; named Mary Thomas. She is now of the age of 84 years, 63 of these she has been confined to the bed, and during this long period has lived nearly without eating or drinking. For ten years about the middle of this long term she was supported absolutely without food of an kind; then lying in a torpid state, unconscious of her own existence. In 1807 her ingesta were confined to one ounce of bread and a glass of water in fourteen days; and this was invariably rejected from her stomach in a few minutes after being taken. Under this extended period of abstinence she is reduced to a breathing skeleton. An eminent artist, Mr James Ward of Newman Street, has in his possession an admirable sketch [see below], unique in its kind, of this being; taken from the life by himself. It is superfluous to observe how much philosophers and physicians would be gratified by an etching from this curious portrait executed with the truth and spirit it’s possessor is capable of giving to it, and accompanied with such authentic facts as Mr Ward’s knowledge of the woman can supply. I will venture to assert that such a document would find a ready admission into the Medical and Physical Journal.
Royston, Paper on Medical Topography, London Medical and Physical Journal, Vol. xxi, p. 96 (above)
Published in Richmond, Legh, A Statement of Facts relative to the Supposed Abstinence of Ann Moore … (London, 1813), appendix pp. xix-xxii

1813  
Ward, James, R.A.,   Some Account Of Mary Thomas Of Tanyralt In Merionethshire, Who Has Existed Many Years Without Taking Food: And Of Ann Moore, Commonly Called The Fasting Woman Of Tutbury. Accompanied With Portraits and Illustrative Etchings, (London: 1813)

Sketch by James Ward, entitled ‘Welsh Fasting Woman’

1813
The following cases of Abstinence, which have been published at various times, and supported, authority of a respectable nature, are inserted here as specimens of that sort of information, which has long lain before the public, and induced many to attach credit to the circumstances therein recorded. …
[Full transcription of Pennant’s account of his visit to Mary Thomas from his Journey to Snowdon, vol. 2, (1781), pp. 105-107, transcribed above.]
[Extract from Mr. Royston’s Paper on Medical Topography, inserted in the London Medical and Physical Journal, Vol. xxi, p. 96 (above)]
It may not be unacceptable to the reader to see a few extracts from a work which, from the beauty of its execution, is likely to deliver the history and portraits of these two extraordinary characters “down to posterity,“ and, as far as it concerns Ann Moore, “to record her imposition to future generations.”
When Mr Ward visited Mary Thomas in 1802, she appeared to be free from pain, and had a marked character of serenity. He was assured by herself and many others, that she had for years abstained from every kind of food. He found “the temporal arteries beating strongly. The pulse at the wrist was marked by a regular irregularity of beats; two pulsations quickly succeeding each other, and then a momentary pause before and after the third. She put his hand upon her chest, which produced the sensation of its being placed upon a skeleton. Her legs and thighs were quite useless, and doubled under her: her arms were drawn up towards her shoulders at an acute angle.”
Mr Ward found that she had been in this abstinent and crippled state for the greater part of a century, being then very advanced in age. During ten years she had been in a state of torpor, unconscious of her own existence, and during that interval took no kind of sustenance whatever.
On recovering from this ten year’s state of torpidity, she expressed a desire to take the sacrament, but being unable to swallow a morsel of bread, the sacred rite was administered to her, on her own suggestion, in boiled egg; of which she took a portion no larger than the head of a pin. The clergyman of the parish informed Mr W. that he had thus frequently administered the sacrament to Mary Thomas: that on these occasions he always found her religious feelings so exalted, and her mind so uncommon, as to raise his admiration and respect. As far as I could judge, piety and resignation were the prominent features of her character.
Mr. W. visited her again in 1807: he then observed that “all the veins from the nose to the eyes were largely distended, some being of a purple colour, and others blue—the eyelids red— the eyebrows very black—the skin of the face, arms, and chest much shrivelled, and wrapped over the bones, apparently without the intermedium of muscles or cellular substance.”
The persons about her corroborated the circumstance of the ten years of torpidity; and they were convinced that she received no sustenance during that period. They admitted, however, that she did now and then make an effort, occasionally, to swallow a bit of bread and drink a little water. But the quantity thus taken, did not exceed one ounce of bread in a fortnight, and one Wine glass of water, “taken, at intervals in minute quantities: and even this did not remain in her stomach.’ Every effort to swallow produced sickness, and whatever she took into her stomach was generally rejected immediately, or never remained more than ten minutes”
That a woman, who has existed – between seventy and eighty years, almost without food ; and certainly, according to evidence that does not in any way seem objectionable, for ten whole years without the least particle of nutriment of any kind or form passing her lips, and without shewing any sensibility to or knowlege of external events; who neither had intestinal nor urinary excretions, presents a case most interesting and possibly instructive, is hardly to be denied. In 1812 this woman was still living.”
Five very fine etchings illustrate this part of Mr. Ward’s narrative, respecting Mary Thomas.’
Richmond, Legh, A Statement of Facts relative to the Supposed Abstinence of Ann Moore … (London, 1813), appendix, pp. xix-xxii, lxix-lxxi

1813
J.G. Wood reproduced much of Pennant’s account (wrongly dating his second visit to 1786), adding the following:
The woman died lately, at the end of the year 1812, after having supported a wretched existence, precisely as above described [by Pennant] till she reached the advanced age of seventy-three.
Wood, John George, The Principal Rivers of Wales, (1813), pp. 197-198

1820 (or earlier) Guide Book
Mary Thomas, the fasting Woman near Dolgellau
Of the various affections of the physical system of the human body, there is, perhaps, no one which excites more curiosity, or more difficult to explain, than that by which life is continued for many years, without the degree of sustenance, upon which, except in a very few instances, the continuation of life is known to depend. That it should appear supernatural to the ignorant is not surprising, when to the most learned and ingenious it presents a phenomenon, the possibility of which has frequently been doubted, as to which, so much investigation has been thought necessary to ascertain the fact. In case of such rare occurrence, it is of importance to the natural history of man, and may be so to medical science, to collect as many particulars as can be obtained; and, therefore though the present instance has been noticed by Mr Pennant long ago, it will not be useless to describe the state of the same person now after so long an interval. Mr Pennant’s is as follows:
In a former visit … [Quotes all of Pennant’s account and the editor’s note from the 1810 edition]
Not having been able to see this woman myself, I requested a friend who had the opportunity of calling upon her to do so, and transmit an account of her to me. This he very obligingly has done as follows: [Letter dated August 31, 1812, above.]
To this account I have only to add, that this woman died in the year 1813.
Anon, An accurate account and description of Dolgelley and Carnarvon : the lofty mountains of Cader Idris and Snowdon, and other romantic sceneries in the counties of Merioneth and Caernarvon, with the principal inns, roads, &c. also an itinerary of roads, &c. (Gomerian Press, Dolgellau, printed and sold by R Jones, sold also by I.E. Jones, Printer, Caernarvon, (no date but post 1815 – reference to Cambrian Popular Antiquities, see above), pp. 23-27.
[This volume consists mostly of extracts from Pennant, Bingley, Aikin, Pratt, Warner and Cambrian Popular Antiquities. Several versions under different titles were produced between about 1801 and at least the mid-1820s, but earlier versions do not include the above reports.]

1823 [this might not be the same woman]
{Fasting woman no sustenance for 2 ½ years …}
Ellison, Robert, Rev. A Tour Through Wales in a series of letters, (1823), p. 7, NMGW, Cardiff, 913, (42.9), E15

1840
The third edition of Nicholson’s guide gave Mary’s family name and possibly the name of her house incorrectly:
At Tan-yr-Allt, in Llangelynin, across the ferry, lived Mary Roberts, an extraordinary woman, who at the age of fifteen was attacked with a species of dyspepsia. Mr. Pennant saw her in 1770, and Mr. Pugh visited her in 1810. She was then eighty six years of age. Her food was bread and milk, of which she ate but a few pennyweights once a day. She is since dead.
Nicholson’s Cambrian Traveller’s Guide, in every direction containing remarks made during many excursions in the Principality of Wales augmented by extracts from the best writers, Third edition, revised and corrected by his son, The Rev. Emilius Nicholson, (1840), pp. 64-65