Welsh folklore, Wirt Sikes
Shon ap Shenkin
Shon pauses under a living tree to listen to an enchanting bird. When the music ends the tree has become withered and the farmhouse he left has grown old and unfamiliar. The old man at the door proves to be his nephew, who knows Shon through stories told by his own grandfather. Before they can embrace, Shon falls into dust on the doorstep.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalShon pauses under a living tree to listen to an enchanting bird. When the music ends the tree has become withered and the farmhouse he left has grown old and unfamiliar.
Further detail
TraditionalThe old man at the door proves to be his nephew, who knows Shon through stories told by his own grandfather. Before they can embrace, Shon falls into dust on the doorstep.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows the local Shon ap Shenkin story told to Sikes by a farmer’s wife. The character is treated as a figure of the collected tale, without asserting that the reported disappearance was a documented historical event.
Original passages
Source 1
British Goblins
now withered and barklessOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 107
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-P0107
- Original scan leaf
- 108
- Recorded leaf number
- 108
- Current Reader position
- 106
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
British Goblins
crumbled into dust on the doorstepOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880), active reader leaf 109
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-P0109
- Original scan leaf
- 110
- Recorded leaf number
- 110
- Current Reader position
- 108
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Birds of Rhiannon
Three birds whose song holds the surviving companions of Branwen’s story in an enchanted interval.
Same subject and traditionElidurus
A runaway child welcomed into an underground fairy country until he steals a golden ball.
Same subject and traditionPwyll
The prince of Dyfed whose hunt brings him into contact with Annwn’s hounds.
Same subject and traditionShui Rhys
A farmer’s daughter whose encounters with the fair folk lead to permanent disappearance.