Fairy Tales and Ancient Mythology - British Goblins (Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions) CT002

Fairy Tales and Ancient Mythology

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

Book 1 Chapter 1

by

Wirt Sikes

A comprehensive exposition of ghosts, fairies, dragons, superstitions and supernatural folklore drawn from the Welsh traditions, 'British Goblins' is packed with information on fairy mythology. All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, will be found recorded in the show-notes below and we've done our best to get the pronounciations right for you.

Running Order:

• Book 1: The Realm of Faerie 0:46
  
• Section 1 1:24
  
  • Fairy Tales and the Ancient Mythology 1:46
  • The Compensations of Science 3:00
    
• Section 2 3:58
  
  • Existing Belief in Fairies in Wales 4:02
    
  • The Faith of Culture 5:33
    
  • The Credulity of Ignorance 7:13
    
• Section 3 8:48
  
  • The Old Time Welsh Fairyland 8:52
    
• Section 4 11:26
  • The Fairy King 11:30
    
  • The Legend of St. Collen and Gwyn ap Nudd 12:32
    
• Section 5 15:32
  
  • The Green Meadows of the Sea 15:35
    
  • Fairies at Market 17:34
    
  • The Land of Mystery 18:30
    

 

Fairies marketing at Laugharne

Names Used in this Section

Rev John Logan
St. Collen
Gwyn ap Nudd
"foi scientifique"
Archaeologia Cambrensis
Mr. John Walter Lukis, President of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society
Glamorganshire
Merthyr
Chaucer's Wyf of Bathes Tale:

        In olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour, ...
        Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie; ...
        I speke of many hundrid yer ago;
        But now can no man see non elves mo.

Dryden
Gwerddonau Llion
Gwydion
Dyfed (Demetia)
Mabinogion
Lady Charlotte Guest
Pembroke
Carmarthen
Cardigan
Vale of Neath
Craig y Ddinas
Morgana
Mor Gwyn
Morgan
king of Annwn
Avalon of the Arthurian legends
Parry's 'Welsh Melodies'
British king Gavran
Three Losses by Disappearance
Merlin
Madog
Pembrokeshire
Carmarthenshire
Milford Haven
Laugharne
Flemings in 1113

 

British Goblins can be found on Sacred Texts.

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

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Who was Wirt Sikes?

Who was Wirt Sikes?

Wirt Sikes is best known today for his British Goblins book. His full name was William Wirt Sikes, born on November 23rd 1836 and who dies on August 18th 1883. He was an American journalist and writer, perhaps best known today for his writings on Welsh folklore and customs.

British Goblins on Abe Books

William Wirt Sikes was born in Watertown, New York, the son of William Johnson Sikes, a prominent local physician. He was the seventh of eleven children, of whom only six survived to adulthood. Sikes himself was seriously ill as a child and almost lost his hearing, so he was largely educated at home. At fourteen he went to work for a printer and learned how to set type. He supported himself thereafter by typesetting, contributing to local newspapers, and giving temperance lectures.

At the age of nineteen, on August 28, 1855, he married Jeannette Annie Wilcox (1837-1889); they had two children, George Preston Sikes (1856-1957) and Clara Jeanette Sikes (1858-1956).

 

Sikes goes to Europe

After their marriage the couple went to Europe, where they continued to practice journalism. Sikes produced a biographical and critical piece on the Wiertz Museum for Harper's Magazine in 1873 which was later reprinted by the museum.

In June 1876 Sikes was appointed U.S. Consul at Cardiff, Wales. Over the next few years Sikes produced a number of pieces on Welsh folklore, mythology, and customs, collected as British Goblins; Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends, and Traditions (1880) and Rambles and Studies in Old South Wales (1881). He also wrote Studies of Assassination (1881). He died in Cardiff in 1883 and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Brookwood, Surrey.

 

Works by Wirt Sikes

• British Goblins; Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends, and Traditions can be found on Project Gutenberg or Archive.org.
  
•  One poor girl: the story of thousands on Archive.org.
• Studies of Assassination on Archive.org.
• Under a cloud (Short Story) in Stories and sketches by our best authors (1867) on Archive.org.

 

 

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CT001 Preface to 'British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions'

British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)

The Preface

by

Wirt Sikes

A comprehensive exposition of ghosts, fairies, dragons, superstitions and supernatural folklore drawn from the Welsh traditions, 'British Goblins' is packed with information on fairy mythology.

The Old Woman of the Mountain

 

Names Used in this Section

Caerleon

Camarthen

Mr. Sikes doesn't really use any other strange names in this Preface, but he does quote from Chaucer - which may need noting here.

He quotes from the Wife of Bath's Tale, and he says:

In olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour, ...
Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie; ...

 

British Goblins can be found on Sacred Texts.

You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.

Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or in Apple Podcasts.

Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte.  You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released

Launch Time

So, we've decided to launch a new podcast called Celtic Tomes. You may have seen out Libsyn page,  our Facebook page or even our Blogger page, and wondered what it was all about?

If like us, you have seen all those wonderful books that were once published about Celtic Mythology, Folklore, or the Fairies and wished that you had the time to read them, then you will understand why we wanted to make a podcast to help us read these books.

Audiobooks with Benefits

A podcast is a wee bit more than just an Audiobook though. You can talk to the Readers in the Comments below each Chapter, tell us about your own research on Facebook, comment on Blogger or even send us a Tweet using our @CelticMythShow account.

You should also find that the books we bring you in the Celtic Tomes podcast compliment the Stories that you will find in our sister podcast, the Celtic Myth Podshow.

British Goblins

We are going to be starting with a classic book about Welsh Fairy lore by Wirt Sikes. In 1881, he published British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions.

British Goblins is a comprehensive exposition of ghosts, fairies, dragons, superstitions and supernatural folklore drawn from the Welsh traditions, 'British Goblins' is packed with information on fairy mythology.

From the Preface:

"In a certain sense Wales may be spoken of as the cradle of fairy legend. It is not now disputed that from the Welsh were borrowed many of the first subjects of composition in the literature of all the cultivated peoples of Europe.

"In the ground it covers, while this volume deals especially with Wales, and still more especially with South Wales, where there appear to have been human dwellers long before North Wales was peopled, it also includes the border counties, notably Monmouthshire. Illustrated. Contents: The Realm of Fairy; The Spirit World; Quaint Old Customs; Bells, Wells, Stones and Wagons."

We hope you enjoy the upcoming Chapters!

 

The next Chapter from Celtic Tomes has been released

Welcome to the Celtic Tomes blog!

Welcome to the inaugural blog for the Celtic Tomes Podcast. Coming soon to a Podcatcher or Podcast App near you! Show-notes will be available at http://celtictomes.libsyn.com. You can also find us on Facebook at Celtic Tomes.