1882.J 
Will-o 1 -the- Wisp : a Confession 
44 7 
II. WILL-O’-THE-WISP: A CONFESSION, 
mMT OT often has “ dry ” Physical Science to deal with the 
onki phenomena which figure in folk-lore. Such an ex- 
ceptional case is afforded by the nocturnal occurrence 
known to the learned as Ignis fatuus , and to the unlearned 
in different countries as Jack-o’-Lantern, Will-o’-the-Wisp, 
Wild- (or rather Wold- ?) fire, Friar’s-Lantern, Feu Follet, 
Heerwisch, &c. The exception deserves the more notice as 
modern chemistry and physics have by no means succeeded 
in finding a satisfactory explanation of the faCts. FaCts 
they undoubtedly are. The ignis fatuus, though by no means 
common, has still from time to time been observed by com- 
petent witnesses, and occasionally by several persons in 
company. Nor is such evidence disputed : let any man of sober 
habits and ordinary truthfulness state that he saw a Will-o’- 
the-Wisp at such and such a time and place, and the most 
sceptical of our orthodox savants will listen with calm inte- 
rest, and, though he may question the narrator closely as to 
the circumstances of the case, he will by no means proclaim 
it a priori impossible, or throw out any insinuations con- 
cerning “ dominant ideas.” 
If we examine and compare the most recent and trust- 
worthy records of this phenomenon, we find it described as 
a light which appears in calm, mild nights, chiefly in sum- 
mer or autumn. It is most commonly observed in swampy 
or marshy places, or where much organic matter is under- 
going decomposition. Dr. Phipson* describes it as most 
common in England, “ in the peaty districts around Port 
Carlisle, in Cumberland,” on the Continent “ in the damp 
valleys between the pretty little university town of Marburg 
and that of Cassel, and more certainly still in the grave- 
yards outside the town of Gibraltar.” The light in question 
is generally single, though sometimes two wisps are said to 
have been seen together. It glides or bounds along at a 
variable speed, sometimes maintaining the same vertical 
level, but at other times rising, falling, and overleaping 
hedges, trees, &c., and may often be tracked to a distance of 
a couple of hundred yards from the spot where it originates, 
* Familiar Letters on the Mysteries of Nature, London: Sampson Low 
and Co, 
