The Corpse Candles of Wales
In Welsh tradition, a small light floating along the road at night is a canwyll corff, a corpse candle, taking the path of a coming funeral.
What was reported
In Wales, people told of the canwyll corff, the corpse candle: a small light, like a candle flame, seen at night drifting from a house towards the churchyard along the route a funeral would take. It was said to foretell a death in that house; a small pale light for a child, a larger one for an adult.
Writers in the 1600s and 1700s collected many accounts of people who saw them, some of whom said they'd been touched by one or had to step aside to let it pass.
Explanations offered
Lights like these are often explained as will-o'-the-wisp, glowing gases from marshy ground, or as lanterns seen at a distance. In a world where funerals followed fixed routes, a light on that road was easily read as a warning.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Carmarthenshire, Wales
- Witnesses
- Welsh tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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