Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Llyn Barfog
Sikes places the elfin-cow legend at Llyn Barfog among the hills near Aberdovey. Green-clad women appear at dusk with white hounds and herds of beautiful white cattle. A farmer captures one of the cows and prospers through its milk and calves. When he tries to have it killed, a fairy woman calls the cattle home and the cow’s descendants vanish with her.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSikes places the elfin-cow legend at Llyn Barfog among the hills near Aberdovey. Green-clad women appear at dusk with white hounds and herds of beautiful white cattle.
Further detail
TraditionalA farmer captures one of the cows and prospers through its milk and calves. When he tries to have it killed, a fairy woman calls the cattle home and the cow’s descendants vanish with her.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the Carmarthenshire version of the Llyn Barfog cattle story recorded by Sikes. The story’s explanation of Welsh black cattle is a traditional origin account, without being presented as animal-breeding history.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
clad all in green, accompanied by their milk-white houndsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 51
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-P0051
- Original scan leaf
- 52
- Recorded leaf number
- 52
- Current Reader position
- 50
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
all her progeny to the third and fourth generations went home with herOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 52
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-P0052
- Original scan leaf
- 53
- Recorded leaf number
- 53
- Current Reader position
- 51
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
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