Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Bwbach
The Bwbach is a helpful goblin associated with a tidy hearth and household work. A traditional account has the spirit accept cream left at night and work the churn, leaving the maid little effort to finish making butter. In a contrasting tale it repeatedly harasses a Baptist preacher, disturbing his prayers and finally confronting him in his own likeness. The household helper becomes hostile when a visitor offends its preferred habits.
Also known as Boobach · Bwbachod
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalThe Bwbach is a helpful goblin associated with a tidy hearth and household work. A traditional account has the spirit accept cream left at night and work the churn, leaving the maid little effort to finish making butter.
Further detail
TraditionalIn a contrasting tale it repeatedly harasses a Baptist preacher, disturbing his prayers and finally confronting him in his own likeness. The household helper becomes hostile when a visitor offends its preferred habits.
Context & interpretation
The entry concerns the helpful hearth goblin and Sikes’s preacher story. The account reflects the collection’s reported religious tensions; it is neither an assessment of Baptist belief nor a universal description of Welsh household spirits.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
the good-natured goblin which does good turnsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 45
Exact passage checked against active scan text and its original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0044-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0044-E001-P0045
- Original scan leaf
- 46
- Recorded leaf number
- 46
- Current Reader position
- 44
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
my person, my dress, and even my hymn-bookOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 46
Exact passage checked against active scan text and its original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0044-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0044-E001-P0046
- Original scan leaf
- 47
- Recorded leaf number
- 47
- Current Reader position
- 45
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
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