o'-the-Wisp - The Lantern Man, Feu Follet, Ignis Fatuus (2025)

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o'-the-Wisp - The Lantern Man, Feu Follet, Ignis Fatuus (1)

Artist unknown. Source: Flammarion,L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (1888,p.749).

Will-o'-the-wisps are lambent flames seen flickering over marshes and fens,recorded for centuries in many different cultures under many differentsynonyms. Though often explained as ignited marsh gas, some accounts describebehaviours which contradict this theory.

  • The Lambent Flame
  • Nomenclature
  • Bibliography and Historical Accounts
  • Further Reading Online

This page traces the history and theories behind the Will-'o-the-wisp, orthe ignis fatuus, "foolish fire", as it's known in Latin.

The Lambent Flame

There was in every hollow

A hundred wrymouthed wisps.

Dafydd ap Gwilym (trans. Wirt Sikes), 1340

The Will-o'-the-wisp has been recorded as flickering over marshy groundsince at least the middle ages, as the quote above testifies. In the centuriesthat followed, dozens of antiquaries have recorded anecdotes and personalaccounts of the ignis fatuus, with even Sir Isaac Newton mentioningthem in his 1704 opus Opticks. The lights have also been incorporated intomodern literature, e.g. Dracula, and have even had a children's television shownamed after them. The most commonly cited explanation for them is that they'rethe product of ignited marsh gas: most likely slowly leaking methane whoseignition is triggered by phosphene (also called phosphine or phosphorus hydride). Historical andcontemporary accounts of these lights, however, often fly in the face of thisexplanation given that the lights are often seen to move, and to not emitheat.

Some of their synonyms reveal what cultures thought about them: "treasurelights", of Danish origin, suggests that they are the marking places oftreasure; "corpse candles" suggests that they're the souls of the departed;"fairy lights", which now mean quite a different thing, suggest that they'rethe work of (or indeed are) fairies.

The phenomenon is also inextricably linked with the leading astray ofweary travellers into mires. The light was taken to be a lantern or a torchcarried by a mischeivous spirit, as is indeed reflected in the nameWill-o'-the-wisp itself, which has an etymology of "William of the wisp [oflighted hay]". The man of the lantern was said to play tricks on people, asin the case of the gentleman who was knocked off his horse by the Lantern Manof Horning, Norfolk in the 18th century*.

As quoted by Wilkie (1996), in 1778 William Pryce wrote in MineralogiaCornubiensis that tinners would use anomalous light forms to find veinsof tin: "another way of finding veins [...] is by igneous appearances offiery coruscations. The Tinners generally compare these effluvia to blazingstars." The westcountry seems to have held the phenomenon in generally high regard, in fact, for Dr. Jonathan Couch (or his son, Thomas Quiller-Couch) quotes a poem* in his History ofPolperro that is reminiscent of the practice of using foxfire to guide one back home through forest:

Jack o' the lantern! Joan the wad,

Who tickled the maid and made her mad;

Light me home, the weather's bad.

Nomenclature

o'-the-Wisp - The Lantern Man, Feu Follet, Ignis Fatuus (2)

Artist unknown. Source: Mudie,A Popular Guide to the Observation of Nature (1836,p.144).

The web is littered with folklore sites made by amateur researchers thatcontain lists of synonyms for the Will-o'-the-wisp. In most cases, citationsand sources for these lists are not given, although Katherine Briggs'sEncyclopaedia is possibly a source for many. The following list has beencompiled mainly from these amateur web sources, with a sprinkling of namesgarnered from books and journals. These ought to be cleaned up and made into atable, with citation information added as laboriously and pedantically aspossible, but for the time being the unadorned list itself will have tosuffice. The list runs to about sixty entries in total, and some sources arenoted below.

Britain and Unknown: Billy-wi'-t'-wisp (West Yorks.) (gc: 3); Bob-a-longs;canwll corfe (Wales); corp[se]-candle (Scotland, Lancs., Lincs.);Dead/death-candle (Scot., Somerset); elf-fire (gc: 1,440); Ellylldan (Wales)(gc: 551); fetch candles (gc: 38); fetch lights (gc: 42); foolish fire (gc:645); Friar Rush with a lantern; friars-lanthorn (Milton) (gc: 37); gealbhan(Devereux) (Scot., tree sparrow*) (gc: 123);Gyl Burnt-tayl (England, flirty female) (gc: 11); Hinky-punk (Briggs'sEncyclopaedia) (Somerset and Devon); Hob-and-his-Lanthorn (England);Hobbledy's-lantern (Warwickshire, Worcs., and Gloucs.) (gc: 3);Hob[by]-lantern (Worcs., Herts., East Anglia, Hamps., Wiltshire, and westWales); ignis fatuus (gc: 11,600); Jack-a-lantern, Jack-o-lantern (fromJack-with-a-lantern); Jacky Lantern; Jenny-burnt-tail (Northants. andOxfordshire) (gc:30); Jenny-wi'-t'-lantern (Northumbria and North Yorks.);Joan-(in-)the-wad (Somerset and Cornwall); Kit-in-the-candlestick (Hamps.)(gc: 5); Kitty-candlestick (Wiltshire) (gc: 9); Kitty-wi'-the-wisp(Northumberland); Lantern-man (East Anglia); Meg o'th' Lantern (name of alane in Derbyshire*); Merry dancers(Scotland); Nimble men (Scotland); Peg-a/o-lantern (Lancs.); Peggy-lantern(Lincs.); Peggy wi'th' lantern (Derbs.); Pinket (Worcs.); Spunkie/Spunky(Somerset, Fife); Teine Sith/Tiene Sith or "Fire Faery" (Hebridies, Shetland,and Orkeny) (gc: 43); walking fire; Will-o'-the-wisp, Will-with-the-wisp(Lincs., general use); Will-o'-the-Wykes (Norfolk, Lincs. Cars) (gc: 21);Willy Wisp.

Non-British: Annequin (France); Elbisch Feuer (Germany*); feu follet(France*); feux follets or feu folette (Quebec); flammerole (France); furolles(France); Heerwische (Germany); hitodama (Japan); Huckpoten (Germany); Irrbloss(Sweden); Irrlicht (Germany); Irrwisch (Germany); kitsunebi (Japan); liekkio(Finland); lygtemand (Denmark); Lyktgübbe (Scandinavia); Ruskaly (Russia).

Partial list of sources:

Many of the names associated with the phenomenon include personal names:in the list above we have Billy, Friar Rush, Gyl (possibly), Jack, Jacky,Jenny, Joan, Kit/Kitty (possibly), Meg, Peg/Peggy, and Will/Willy. The oldestdating for the most common phrase, Will-o'-the-wisp, in the OED is from thedramatist John Day's "Law-trickes" (1608). The oldest for ignis fatuus is inWilliam Folke's "A Goodly Gallery (Book of Meteors)" (1563) as "[t]hisimpression seene on the land, is called in Latine, Ignis fatuus, foolishfire, that hurteth not, but only feareth fooles." Ball Lightning on the otherhand is a comparatively modern form: "1857 J. P. NICHOL Cycl. Physical Sci.431/2 Ball lightnings or globes of fire..move slowly from the clouds to theEarth".

Shakespeare mentions "an ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire" in Henry IV Part I, Act III. "Somehow this idea got tangled up in people's mind with the Jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp, friar's lantern, or ignis fatuus, that mysterious, cool, dancing flame of burning methane sometimes to be seen in marshes. The word wildfire comes from the old Germanic wildfeuer for that phenomenon (modern German prefers Irrlicht or Trugbild)." - Wildfire, Quinion

(Todo: Incorporate "Brenning-drake, Burning candle, Dank Will, Death-fires,Dick-a- Tuesday, Elf-fire, the Fair Maid of Ireland, Friar's lantern,Gyl-Burnt-tail, Mad Crisp, Peg-a-lantern, Puck, Shot stars, Spittle of thestars, Star jelly, a Sylham lamp, Walking fire, Wandering fires, Wanderingwild-fire, Sheerie, Ignis Fatuus: Spirit Fire. The Breton Sand Yan y Tad: St.John and the Father is a double ignis fatuus that carries at its finger-endsfive lights that spin around like a wheel." - Christine's Faery List: Jacko'Lanterns. Lyktgubbe is mentioned on bruzelius.info.)

E.G.R. in Notes and Queries (2nd S. No 10, Mar. 8, 1856) quotes from Lewis'sWelsh-English Dictionary (Carmarthen, 1805) thus: "Hudlewyn. An Ignisfatuus. Will with a wisp, &c. Will with a wisp is more frequent in placesunctuous, marshy, and abounding in reeds. They haunt burying-places, places ofexecution, and dunghills. Some that have been catched consist of ashining viscous matter, like the spawn of frogs, not hot, but only shining; sothat the matter seems to be phosphorous, raised from putrefied plants orcarcases." In Daniel Silvan Evans's An English and Welsh dictionaryfrom 1858, he has the following entry (p.94): "Ignis fatuus, s. (Ll.)ellylldan, hudlewyrn, hudlewyn, llewyrn, malldan, tân ellyl, tânllwynog".

Bibliography and Historical Accounts

This incomplete bibliography lists, chronologically, some of the mentions ofthe Will-o'-the-wisp that I've been able to find. I hope to republish as manyof the public domain ones as is possible linked from the bibliography. Thelargest of those reproductions so far is John Brand'sreport from 1777.

  • William Fulke (1563), A Goodly Gallerye:William Fulke's Book of Meteors. pp.10-13. The first known recordedmention of the ignis fatuus in the English language, according to theOED.
  • Willsford (1658), Nature's Secrets. "The lowest meteor in the airis the burning candle, or, as some call it, ignis fatuus." Via ThomasWright (1857), Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English.
  • John Aubrey (c.1697), The Natural History ofWiltshire. On p.18 of Britten's 1844 edition*.
  • Sir Isaac Newton (1704). Opticks. In Qu. 8: "Vapoursariſing from putrefy'd Waters, uſually call'd IgnesFatui" (1721 edition only, p.315). In Qu. 10: "The Ignis Fatuusis a vapour ſhining without heat, and is there not the ſamedifference between this vapour and flame, as between rotten Wood ſhiningwithout heat and burning Coals of fire?" (p.134). From a PDF version*.
  • Rev. William Derham, F.R.S. (1729), Of theMeteor called the Ignis Fatuus, from Observations made in England. In"Transactions of the Royal Philosophical Society", London, pp.204-209. Cf. theitacomm.net bibliography*(maintained by Giuseppe Stilo and Roberto Labanti), and Hutton, CharlesMathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, 1795, "DERHAM (DoctorWilliam)".
  • Dr. Thomas Shaw (1738), Shaw's Travels, or Observations Relating toSeveral Parts of Barbary and the Levant. According to Charles Hutton inhis "A Mathematical and Philosphical Dictionary", in Shaw's Travels, p. 363,Dr. Shaw "describes a remarkable Ignis Fatuus, which he saw in the HolyLand".
  • Rev. John Brand (1777), Of The PhenomenonVulgarly Called Will or Kitty With a Wisp, or Jack with a Lanthorn. In"Observations on Popular Antiquities: Including the Whole of Mr. Bourne'sAntiquitates Vulgares", reprinted in 1888 by W. Carew Hazlitt.
  • Charles Hutton (1795), Ignis Fatuus. In "Mathematical andPhilosophical Dictionary".
  • R. S. Kirby (1820), Kirby's Wonderful andScientific Museum; p.263-9.
  • Richard Chambers (1830), Observations on thePhenomenon termed Ignis Fatuus. Read before the Linnaean Society, andprinted in the Magazine of Natural History by Edward Charlesworth(1837), pp.353-7
  • L. Blesson (1832), Observations on the IgnisFatuus, or Will-with-the-Wisp, Falling Stars, and Thunder Storms. In TheEdinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol XIV, p.90.
  • Anonymous (1834), Ignis Fatuus. In"The Times" newspaper, 16th October 1834, p.4, column B. Reprinted from theEdinburgh Evening Courant.
  • R. Overton (1839), Will with a Wisp. In"The Times" newspaper, Wednesday 22nd May 1839, p.2, column F. Reprinted fromthe Norwich Mercury of Saturday, i.e. the 18th May 1839.
  • Jabez Allies (1840), Ignes fatui. In the"Worcester papers of January 1840", reprinted as "Ignes fatui, as seenin December, 1839, and January, 1840, in Powick" in pp.409-411 of On theAncient British, Roman and Saxon Antiquities and Folklore of Worcestershire(1852).
  • Julian Jackson (1841), What to Observe; or,The Traveller's Remembrancer, p.99.
  • William Kirby and William Spence (1843). AnIntroduction to Entomology; or, Elements of The Natural History ofInsects. Vol. II. London: A. Spottiswoode. 1842, 6th ed. pp.340-2
  • Jabez Allies (1846), On The Ignis Fatuus or Will-o'-The Wisp and TheFairies. 47 pages. Publisher: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
  • Henry Duncan (1847), Ignis Fatuus, orWildfire; in Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons. Harper andBrothers. pp.25-30.
  • James Motley (1848), Notes to the CanwyllCorph; Note 3 in Tales of the Cymry. London: Longmans, andHughes; Swansea: Brewster; and Llanelly: Thomas. pp.112-115.
  • Robert Southey (1849), Common-placeBook; pp.278-9. Published by Longman.
  • Jabez Allies (1852), On the Ignis Fatuus, or Will-o'-the-Wisp, and theFairies. In "On the Ancient British, Roman and Saxon Antiquities andFolklore of Worcestershire", pp.409-470. Expanding on the 1846 pamphlet.
  • Anonymous "E.G.R." (1855), Will o' theWisp. In "Notes and Queries", 13th October 1855, p.290. Refers also to aquestion in Volume xii, p.167.
  • Anonymous "Y." (1862), To the Editor of TheTimes. In "The Times" newspaper, 1st November 1862, p.5.
  • J. H. Humfrey (1862), To the Editor of TheTimes. In "The Times" newspaper, 3rd November, 1862, p.7.
  • Thomas Lamb Phipson (1862), Phosphorescence;or, the emission of Light by minerals, Plants, and animals. London: LReeve & Co. pp.63-69
  • Thomas Lamb Phipson (1862), To the Editor ofThe Times. In "The Times" newspaper, 4th November 1862. Mentions his book,Phosphorescence.
  • Charles Leeson Prince (1891),Will-o'-the-Wisp. In "Notes and Queries", 7th S. XI., 4th April 1891,p.275.
  • F. Ramsbotham (1891), The "Ignis Fatuus,"or, Will o' the Wisp, in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal MeteorologicalSociety, Vol. 17, p.260.
  • Ethel H. Rudkin (1938), Will o' the Wisp.In "Folk-Lore", 1938-9, Volume 49-50, pp.46-8.
  • Dr. Allan A. Mills (1980), Will-o'-the-Wisp. In "Chemistry inBritain", London. Volume 16, pp.69-72. (Februrary 1980).
  • Dr. Allan A. Mills (2000), Will-o'-the-wisp revisited. In"Weather", Vol. 55 No. 7, pp.239-241. (July 2000).

Given the antiquity of most Will-o'-the-wisp reports, probably down in partto encroaching urbanisation and draining of the fens and marshes in theprevious few centuries, the linked accounts are all from sources on whichthe copyright has lapsed.

Summary of the sightings:

Reference Date Location Land Number Colour Longevity
1834 Unknown 1 13th October 1834 Loch of Barbush, nr. Dunblane Loch, murky ex-curling pond From 2 to 6 at the same time Blue During a 1.5 hour period
1839 Overton 1 8th May 1839, 11:30 PM 1/2 miles from Rudham, towards Tatterford Meadow 2 first, then several - More than a few seconds
1855 E.G.R. 1 2nd March 1844? Before 1855 Quy Bottom, Newmarket Road, a few miles from Cambridge Fenny bog 1? - -
1862 Phipson 1 (Blesson) Before 1862 Valley of Gorbitz, Germany? Marshy ground 1 - Hours? Appeared gradually as night fell
1938 Rudkin 1 (A.B., et al.) Before 1938. E.g., between 8 and 10 PM Old Leys Lane and Sallow Holt, nr. Willoughton, Lincolnshire Road, farmland Single light? Like a bicycle lamp. White or Orange? Minutes?
1938 Rudkin 2 (A.B.) Before 1938 Blyton Carrs, Lincolnshire Law land Several? "Redder" (than a bike lamp) -
1938 Rudkin 3 (G.H.) End of summer 1931, before 1938 Cammeringham Top and in a wood at Cammeringham, Lincolnshire Hill, woods 1? - -
1938 Rudkin 4 (G.H.) Before 1938 Fish Pond (field), Harpswell, Lincolnshire Field 1 - -
Reference Altitude Behaviour Sound & Smell Temp. Weather Nomenclature
1834 Unknown 1 Surface Reeling and passing one another, fantastically - - Calm and moist, preceeding heavy shower and wind Ignis Fatuus, Jack wi' the lantern, Will o' the Whisp
1839 Overton 1 2 feet Moving, half circles, 2 or 3 in sync with lightning - - Dense fog, starlit night, vivid lightning, NE wind Will with a Wisp, ignis fatuus
1855 E.G.R. 1 - - - - - Will O' The Wisp, hob o' lanterns, hobby-lanterns, Syleham lamps, lantern-men, lanternman
1862 Phipson 1 (Blesson) Surface Flame-like, marsh gas. Flame receded on approach - Enough to light a piece of paper - Will-o'-the-wisp, ignis fatuus, Jack-o'-lantern, elf-candles
1938 Rudkin 1 (A.B., et al.) 3 feet or so Moved, like a bicycle. Moves steadily, doesn't dance - - - Will o' the Wisp, Peggy with a Lantern, Willie Wisp, Jenny Lantern
1938 Rudkin 2 (A.B.) Close to the ground Move about, dance, like a man carrying a lantern - - - Will o' the Wisp, Peggy with a Lantern, Willie Wisp, Jenny Lantern
1938 Rudkin 3 (G.H.) - Bounding up and down - - It had been a very wet summer Will o' the Wisp, Cammeringham Light
1938 Rudkin 4 (G.H.) - Comes across a field, occasionally seeks a stream - - - Will o' the Wisp, Peggy with a Lantern, Willie Wisp, Jenny Lantern

Notes: Phosphoretted Hydrogen

When did the phosphoretted hydrogen theory of Will-o'-the-wisps originate?It's possible to establish the terminus a quo, the earliest possible date, at1789 with Lavoisier's discovery of what he described as a "hydruyet ofphosphorus, or phosphuret of hydrogen". The earliest terminus ad quem, thelatest possible date, I've found so far is from 1806:

In Jane Marcet's 1806 Conversations on Chemistry, in which the elements ofthat science are familiarly explained and illustrated by experiments, Mrs. Bexplains to her pupils Emily and Caroline how phosphorated hydrogen gasspontaneously ignites in the atmosphere at any temperature, thereby renderingan optical illusion of dancing specters: "It is thus that are produced thosetransient flames, or flashes of light, called by the vulgar Will-of-the-Wisp,or more properly Ignes-fatui, which are often seen in church-yards, and placeswhere the putrefaction of animal matter exhales phosphorus and hydrogengas."

[...] (15) Mrs. Jane [Haldimand] Mercet, Conversations on Chemistry, inwhich the elements of that science are familiarly explained and illustrated byexperiments (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806) vol. 1, p. 99.

Science Fiction and Techno-Gothic Drama, Marjean D. Purinton

This is a remarkably short period of time after the initial discovery ofphosphine for it to be applied to the ignis fatuus.

Further Reading Online

There aren't a great many sites with good information about theWill-o'-the-wisp online, but Michael Quinion covered it as one of his weirdwords, and Wikipedia has a more than passable article about them. Here are someof the more promising resources:

Comments?

Have you seen some anomalous lights yourself? Do you have some comments onany of the details on this site? If so, please feel free to email me, or send a message using the form. By default all correspondence will be kept in the strictest confidence, but please do givepermission to post feedback to this site if you're willing to.

Sean B. Palmer
o'-the-Wisp - The Lantern Man, Feu Follet, Ignis Fatuus (2025)

References

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