Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Pwca
Sikes links Pwca or Pooka to Ellylldan, but gives the shorter name a wider range. The being belongs both to light-led encounters and to a broader world of mischievous fairy stories. He associates the name with Cwm Pwca, a glen in Breconshire remembered for goblin pranks before industrial works altered the setting. A claim that the valley inspired Shakespeare is reported as a local fancy rather than demonstrated history.
Also known as Pooka · Welsh Puck
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalSikes links Pwca or Pooka to Ellylldan, but gives the shorter name a wider range. The being belongs both to light-led encounters and to a broader world of mischievous fairy stories.
Further detail
TraditionalHe associates the name with Cwm Pwca, a glen in Breconshire remembered for goblin pranks before industrial works altered the setting. A claim that the valley inspired Shakespeare is reported as a local fancy rather than demonstrated history.
Context & interpretation
The entry is restricted to Sikes’s account of Pwca and the valley traditions. His reported Shakespeare connection is kept as a tradition, and his proposed equivalence with English Puck does not settle every use of either name.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
a more poetic flavour and a wider latitudeOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 35
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-P0035
- Original scan leaf
- 36
- Recorded leaf number
- 36
- Current Reader position
- 34
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
a fancy as light and airy as Puck himselfOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 35
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-P0035
- Original scan leaf
- 36
- Recorded leaf number
- 36
- Current Reader position
- 34
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Bwbach
A household goblin who helps with work but can torment an unwelcome guest.
Same subject and traditionCoblynau
Mine fairies whose knocking is said to reveal rich veins of ore.
Same subject and traditionEllylldan
The luring elf-fire that draws a wanderer into marshy ground.
Same subject and traditionEllyllon
Small woodland elves associated with hollows, fairy food and flowers.