332 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly November 



to have occasion to pass that way. His time for appearing 

 was in the " twilight," in the interim between day and night, 

 when the fading light renders vision uncertain, and seems to 

 lend additional charm to any mysterious circumstance. 



The being which dwelt here is described as a "something" 

 of shapeless form, with a certain luminosity, which danced 

 and flickered about among the trees, and gave utterance to 

 occasional crackling noises. 



Such is the slender story of the will-o'-the-wisp, long 

 since ousted from its stronghold, and now non-existent, 

 save in the memory of the older inhabitants. Yet the 

 weird history may perchance be of interest when " story- 

 telling " is the order of the day, and the children's children 

 seek from their grandparents a recital of their younger 

 days. 



It seems unkind to take the romance out of the 

 mystery, but the explanation of the will-o'-the-wisp is 

 probably not far to seek. 



When the evenings came on the atmosphere became 

 cooler, the moisture rising from the damp ground would 

 condense into a white mist, such as can be seen in any 

 damp situation or low-lying piece of ground. It is this 

 that I take to be the will-o'-the-wisp of which I have 

 been told. Its movements of " flickering about " were 

 probably caused by the wind waltzing the mist in clouds 

 among the trees. The noises attributed to it I set 

 down as extant only in the imagination — so far as 

 their connection with the " beinsr " is concerned. 



Kilpeck Parish Church. 



By Rev. P. J. Oliver Minos, Ph.D., M.R.A.S. (Lond.). 



KlLPEC, or Kilpeck, is a small parish and village in Here- 

 fordshire, noted for its ancient church dedicated to St. David 

 (or rather St. Dewi) of Wales. The name Kilpec is a 

 compound of Kil and Pedec, and signifies the cell or 

 retreat of Badoc. Now Badoc is a corruption of the name 

 Badawc or Madawc — a famous British saint ; but the person 



