Loved reading this. Many threads for me to look into further.
I thought I might find a PDF of Spooklights on the Internet Archive but unfortunately not, it did however have an article from a magazine in 1987 which must have been from you.
Good find John, yes I remember UFO Brigantia with fondness. I can't believe this was published almost 40 years ago. The Spooklights book is some way off publication but I will keep you informed via this blog. Thanks for your kind words in support.
Brigantia looks amazing! They definitely don't make them like they used to : ) Back when the zine was the thing and clearly you are (in internet parlance) an OG of the UFO n' strange lights realm!
"The Breton Sand Yan y Tad (St. John and Father) is a double ignis fatuus fairy, carrying at its finger-ends five lights, which spin round like a wheel."
That's a description of a Will o'the Wisp which is simultaneously a flying saucer published in 1880, though presumable the story is much older. You'll find it in Chapter 2 of "British Goblins" by Wirt Sikes, a classic work which, if you don't already have a copy, is in the public domain and easy to obtain online.
The same chapter also includes what Sikes considers to be the definitive Will o'the Wisp tale, which he heard repeated almost word for word in many different places. Interestingly, marshes don't figure in it at all, the peril into which the evil boggart lures the traveller being a narrowly avoided fall from a high place. So the traditional connection between these pesky sprites and marshland is both partial and misleading. They don't specifically lure wayfarers into swamps, but rather they lure them into any type of terrain which might prove fatal, including swamps, but they prefer cliffs, which are more common than swamps and even more lethal. It would seem that all those scientists who spent years trying to make methane spontaneously ignite so they could prove that evil elves with magic lanterns weren't real were barking up the wrong tree, all because they failed to properly define the thing they were trying to disprove before inventing torturous theories to try and disprove it.
On the other hand, you may notice a distinct similarity between Sikes' tale and all those more recent stories about people who spent hours staring at strange lights in the sky which they were absolutely convinced were flying saucers, and sometimes even tried to chase them in cars, without success because they were chasing an object millions of miles away commonly known as the planet Venus. Now, since we know that Venus is the single most common cause of UFO reports, though far from being the only one, and we also know that the most frequently told Will o'the Wisp story sounds very like a somewhat embroidered account of some idiot chasing Venus across a moor and nearly falling off a cliff in the dark, though other Will o'the Wisp accounts differ, and a few even describe spinning disks of light...
Basically, Will o'the Wisps and UFOs are not just similar but identical, and both of them can have such a wide range of causes that trying to pin them down to any one cause, especially a rather improbable sounding one that can't be reproduced in a laboratory or proven to exist in nature, is as useless as Steuart Campbell's physically impossible stellar mirage theory that explained all UFO sightings ever to the satisfaction of Steuart Campbell and absolutely no-one else.
Oh, by the way, since by now you presumably have a copy of "British Goblins" conveniently to hand, I think you'll find what Sikes has to say on the related topic of Corpse Candles very interesting indeed.
David, if I I might be so bold, I've written a little on just this topic at Skunkworksblog. Search "Spook Lights Here and There" (rather than my linking the post...)
The poem was written probably around '94, so I don't remember the particular page; however, if one had access to a digital copy of the Autobiography, one could search the key words in the first stanza, as it adheres pretty closely to the original. Hope that helps if you want to follow it up!
Hi David,
Loved reading this. Many threads for me to look into further.
I thought I might find a PDF of Spooklights on the Internet Archive but unfortunately not, it did however have an article from a magazine in 1987 which must have been from you.
https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/UFO_Brigantia_issue_26/UFO_Brigantia_issue_26.pdf
Look forward to hearing more about the updated version.
All best,
John
Good find John, yes I remember UFO Brigantia with fondness. I can't believe this was published almost 40 years ago. The Spooklights book is some way off publication but I will keep you informed via this blog. Thanks for your kind words in support.
Out of curiosity did you ever look into the Egryn Lights and the history there?
http://inamidst.com/lights/egryn
Brigantia looks amazing! They definitely don't make them like they used to : ) Back when the zine was the thing and clearly you are (in internet parlance) an OG of the UFO n' strange lights realm!
"The Breton Sand Yan y Tad (St. John and Father) is a double ignis fatuus fairy, carrying at its finger-ends five lights, which spin round like a wheel."
That's a description of a Will o'the Wisp which is simultaneously a flying saucer published in 1880, though presumable the story is much older. You'll find it in Chapter 2 of "British Goblins" by Wirt Sikes, a classic work which, if you don't already have a copy, is in the public domain and easy to obtain online.
The same chapter also includes what Sikes considers to be the definitive Will o'the Wisp tale, which he heard repeated almost word for word in many different places. Interestingly, marshes don't figure in it at all, the peril into which the evil boggart lures the traveller being a narrowly avoided fall from a high place. So the traditional connection between these pesky sprites and marshland is both partial and misleading. They don't specifically lure wayfarers into swamps, but rather they lure them into any type of terrain which might prove fatal, including swamps, but they prefer cliffs, which are more common than swamps and even more lethal. It would seem that all those scientists who spent years trying to make methane spontaneously ignite so they could prove that evil elves with magic lanterns weren't real were barking up the wrong tree, all because they failed to properly define the thing they were trying to disprove before inventing torturous theories to try and disprove it.
On the other hand, you may notice a distinct similarity between Sikes' tale and all those more recent stories about people who spent hours staring at strange lights in the sky which they were absolutely convinced were flying saucers, and sometimes even tried to chase them in cars, without success because they were chasing an object millions of miles away commonly known as the planet Venus. Now, since we know that Venus is the single most common cause of UFO reports, though far from being the only one, and we also know that the most frequently told Will o'the Wisp story sounds very like a somewhat embroidered account of some idiot chasing Venus across a moor and nearly falling off a cliff in the dark, though other Will o'the Wisp accounts differ, and a few even describe spinning disks of light...
Basically, Will o'the Wisps and UFOs are not just similar but identical, and both of them can have such a wide range of causes that trying to pin them down to any one cause, especially a rather improbable sounding one that can't be reproduced in a laboratory or proven to exist in nature, is as useless as Steuart Campbell's physically impossible stellar mirage theory that explained all UFO sightings ever to the satisfaction of Steuart Campbell and absolutely no-one else.
Oh, by the way, since by now you presumably have a copy of "British Goblins" conveniently to hand, I think you'll find what Sikes has to say on the related topic of Corpse Candles very interesting indeed.
Earthlights? Or is that theoria non grata these days?
David, if I I might be so bold, I've written a little on just this topic at Skunkworksblog. Search "Spook Lights Here and There" (rather than my linking the post...)
Enjoyed reading your poem. Do you have a page ref for the spooklights reference in WB Yeats autobiography?
The poem was written probably around '94, so I don't remember the particular page; however, if one had access to a digital copy of the Autobiography, one could search the key words in the first stanza, as it adheres pretty closely to the original. Hope that helps if you want to follow it up!
thanks Bryan I will check this out!