Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Corpse Candle
The Canwyll Corph may appear as an unsupported blue flame, a candle held by a ghost, or a light leaving the mouth or nostrils. Sikes records several forms rather than a single fixed appearance. Some traditions read age and identity from a candle’s size or colour; paired large and small candles can signify a mother and child. A Caerau account describes a candle dissolving into sparks when touched.
Also known as Canwyll Corph · Canwyll Gorff
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalThe Canwyll Corph may appear as an unsupported blue flame, a candle held by a ghost, or a light leaving the mouth or nostrils. Sikes records several forms rather than a single fixed appearance.
Further detail
TraditionalSome traditions read age and identity from a candle’s size or colour; paired large and small candles can signify a mother and child. A Caerau account describes a candle dissolving into sparks when touched.
Context & interpretation
The entry concerns the candle traditions and Caerau accounts collected by Sikes. Meanings assigned to size, colour or sparks are attributed beliefs rather than a reliable way to predict death.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
a light which issues from a person's mouth or nostrilsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 254
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-P0254
- Original scan leaf
- 255
- Recorded leaf number
- 255
- Current Reader position
- 253
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
a little shower of pale sparklesOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 256
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-P0256
- Original scan leaf
- 257
- Recorded leaf number
- 257
- Current Reader position
- 255
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed