British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions

by Wirt Sikes

Fad Felen,

Rhos

Maelgwn G...

coel,

Avagddu,

Teulu,

Tolaeth,

Arawn,

maruts,

psychopomp

Aneurin

Llandovery,

Caerau,

Caerau is a little village of perhaps one hundred souls, crouched at the foot of a steep hill on whose summit are the ancient earthworks of a Roman camp. On this summit also stands the parish church, distinctly visible from Cardiff streets, so ponderous is its square tower against the sky.

voluble

Crwys

‘Crwys?’

the story of Thomas Mathews was to the effect that he saw a Corpse Candle come out of his father’s mouth and go to his feet, and away a bit, then back again to the mouth, which it did not exactly enter, but blended as it were with the sick man’s body.

tallow

The man died not long after, in the presence of my informant, who described the incident with a dramatic force and fervour peculiarly Celtic, concluding with the remark: ‘Well, well, there’s only one way to come ...

‘Liber Landavensis’

one day as

St. S...

was celebrating the holy ...

St. Dub...

with two monks saw a stream of fire to proceed glitteri...

Tyrolese

[108] It is pronounced Croo-iss.

potables,

Pontfaen,

Earl of Cawdor,

coracle,

Pelagian

a presage of death.

Figures born of the fancy, as distinguished from creatures born of the flesh, prove their parentage by the vagueness of their outlines. The outlines of the Cyhyraeth and the Gwrach y Rhibyn sometimes run into and mingle with each other, and so do those of the Tolaeth and the Goblin Funeral; but the wonder is they are such distinct entities as they are.

but, religious belief quite apart, it remains to be proved that spirits of a supernatural world have any share in the affairs of a world governed by natural law. A goblin which manifests itself to the human eye, it seems to me, becomes natural, by bowing before the natural

laws which rule in optics.

The student who endeavours to govern his faith by the methods of science asks no more of any ghost that ever walked the earth, than that it will prove itself a reality. Man loves the marvellous. The marvels of science, however, do not melt away into thin air on close examination. They thrive under the severest tests, and grow more and more extraordinary the more they are tried.

spectroscope

radio...

Avagddu is the evil principle of darkness—hell, or the devil—with which the sun fights throughout the winter for the world’s life.

awen

penglog

noddle)

Gwent

Morganwg

Rh...

The immediate purpose of this rite was to levy contributions. Another such custom was called ‘tooling,’ and its purpose was beer. It consisted in calling at the farm-houses and pretending to look for one’s tools behind the beer cask. ‘I’ve left my saw behind your beer cask,’ a carpenter would say; ‘my whip,’ a carter; and received the tool by proxy, in the shape of a cup of ale. The female portion of the poorer sort, on the other hand, practised what was called sowling, viz., asking for ‘sowl,’ and receiving, accordingly, any food eaten with bread, such as cheese, fish, or meat. This custom is still maintained, and ‘sowling day’ fills many a poor woman’s bag. The phrase is supposed to be from the French soûl, signifying one’s fill.

Dewi

Cymhortha,