Description
By Wirt Sikes. Illustrated by T. H. Thomas. Explore the folklore, beliefs, and traditional customs of nineteenth-century Wales in one of the most important early studies of Welsh folk traditions.
In British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions, journalist and folklorist Wirt Sikes gathers the legends, supernatural beliefs, and traditional customs of Wales, with particular attention to South Wales and the neighbouring border counties. Drawing upon oral accounts, local traditions, and earlier sources, he records a remarkable body of folklore that remained deeply rooted in Welsh life during the nineteenth century.
Within these pages are the Tylwyth Teg, or Welsh fairies; household spirits and mine goblins; spectral hounds, wandering ghosts, corpse candles, enchanted lakes, and hidden realms. Sikes also examines folk beliefs surrounding animals, wells, bells, stones, witchcraft, dreams, omens, and death.
Far more than a collection of fairy stories, British Goblins is an important early study of Welsh folklore. Sikes combines engaging narrative with historical and cultural observation, preserving traditions that might otherwise have faded from memory. His work offers a fascinating glimpse into the beliefs, imagination, and customs of nineteenth-century Wales.
Curious, detailed, and occasionally unsettling, this classic volume documents a world in which folklore remained closely interwoven with everyday life. This carefully restored edition preserves Wirt Sikes’s landmark work together with the original illustrations by T. H. Thomas.
About the author: William Wirt Sikes (1836–1883) was an American journalist, novelist, and diplomat best known for his writings on Welsh folklore and customs. Born in Watertown, New York, he was largely educated at home and began working for a printer at the age of fourteen. He subsequently worked as a typesetter and journalist and published his first collection of stories and poems, A Book for the Winter-Evening Fireside, in 1858.
After working for newspapers in Chicago and New York, Sikes contributed stories and articles to several periodicals and published a number of novels and other works. In June 1876, he was appointed United States consul at Cardiff, Wales, a position he held for the remainder of his life. During his years in Wales, he studied the country’s folklore, mythology, customs, and history, producing the works for which he is now best remembered, including British Goblins and Rambles and Studies in Old South Wales.
