Bucca is a male sea-spirit in
Cornish folklore
Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. It consists partly of folk traditions developed in Cornwall and partly of traditions developed by Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium, often sh ...
, a
merman
Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...
, that inhabited mines and coastal communities as a
hobgoblin
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nigh ...
during storms. The mythological creature is a type of
water spirit likely related to the
Púca
The púca ( Irish for ''spirit/ghost''; plural púcaí), puca (Old English for ''goblin''; plural pucel) pwca, pooka, phouka, puck is a creature of Celtic, English, and Channel Islands folklore. Considered to be bringers both of good and bad ...
from
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, the
Pwca from
Welsh folklore Welsh folklore is the collective term for the folklore of the Welsh people. It encompasses topics related to Welsh mythology, but also include the nation's folk tales, customs, and oral tradition.
Welsh folklore is related to Irish folklore and Sc ...
, and the female
mari-morgans, a type of
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
from Welsh and
Breton mythology
Breton mythology is the mythology or corpus of explanatory and heroic tales originating in Brittany. The Bretons are the descendants of insular Britons who settled in Brittany from at least the third century. While the Britons were already Chris ...
.
Rev W. S. Lach-Szyrma, one 19th-century writer on Cornish antiquities, suggested the Bucca had originally been an ancient
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
deity of the sea such as Irish
Nechtan or British
Nodens
*''Nodens'' or *''Nodons'' ( reconstructed from the dative ''Nodenti'' or ''Nodonti'') is a Celtic healing god worshipped in Ancient Britain. Although no physical depiction of him has survived, votive plaques found in a shrine at Lydney Park ...
, though his claims are mainly conjecture. Folklore however records
votive
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
food offerings made on the beach similar to those made to the subterranean
Knockers and may represent some form of continuity with early or pre-Christian
Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
belief practices.
Etymology
In 1611, in the Cornish language book the ''Creation of the World'' the Bucca is mentioned and some believe that the word is a borrowing into Cornish from Old English 'puca'.
Use of the term Púka in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, however, may predate the arrival of
Norse settlers and could be an alternative origin of the word with considerable cultural exchange with Ireland occurring in the
Early Christian era.
Of interest, the Welsh name 'Bucca', according to Margaret Murray, derives from an ancient Slavonic word referring to 'a spirit'.
Folklore
In 1890, the Cornish folklorist
William Bottrell
William Bottrell (1816–1881) was born at Rafta, St Levan in Cornwall on 7 March 1816. He contributed greatly to the preservation of Cornish mythology. Both he and Thomas Quiller Couch contributed folk stories of West Cornwall for Robert Hunt's ...
stated that:
:It is uncertain whether Bucka can be regarded as one of the fairy tribe; old people, within my remembrance, spoke of a Bucka Gwidden and a Bucka Dhu - by the former they meant good spirit, and by the latter an evil one, now known as Bucka boo. I have been told, by persons of credit, that within the last forty years it was a usual practice with
Newlyn
Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End''
Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount ...
and
Mousehole
Mousehole (; kw, Porthenys) is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies ab ...
fishermen to leave on the sand at night a portion of their catch for Bucka. Probably from this observance the common nickname of Newlyn Buckas was derived. An old rhyme says:
:'Penzance boys up in a tree,
:Looking as
wisht(i.e. ''haunted'') as wisht can be;
:Newlyn buckas as strong as oak,
:Knocking them down at every poke.'
In keeping with Bottrell's findings, various folkloric investigations around the same time that Bucca seems to have featured in two forms, Bucca Widn (White Bucca) and Bucca Dhu (Black Bucca). Bucca also seems to associated with the wind, in
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
it was customary to refer to storms that emanated from a southwesterly direction as "Bucca calling"; sailors and fishermen also believe that Bucca's voice carried on the wind. Bucca was also sometimes described as a tin-mining spirit, which may indicate a wider fertility origin than that of the sea.
Also in the 19th century, there were reports of fishermen venerating Bucca with offerings. These included food offerings, particularly of fish, given to Bucca on beaches. One such beach used for this purpose was the area of
Newlyn
Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End''
Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount ...
known formerly as Park an Grouse (in
Cornish meaning 'the field of the cross') where a stone cross was allegedly once situated. Similar offerings were recorded on the beaches of
Mousehole
Mousehole (; kw, Porthenys) is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies ab ...
and Newlyn "Town" (the area now known as Newlyn Cliff).
The Tale of the Sea Bucca describes the Bucca inhabiting
Lamorna
Lamorna ( kw, Nansmornow) is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, Lau ...
Cove with the dark brown skin of a
conger eel
''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during ...
and a tangle of seaweed for hair and given to swimming in the waves, lying in the sea caverns or sitting among the rocks with the birds. He was a very lonely creature who had once been a human prince cursed by a witch, but was very fond of children. He assisted the Lamorna fishermen by driving fish into their nets and crabs into their pots, yet was capable of terrible vengeance and so they avoided him leaving a share of their catch on the beach to placate him.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, folklorists generally interpreted the popular beliefs and practices they found as survivals from or relics of Catholicism, equating such 'survivals' with Paganism. Some also saw the continuation of practices from pre-Christian times. This idea has been discredited in recent years by academic folklorists. although this notion persists in the popular imagination. There is little surprise that the Reverend
W. S. Lach-Szyrma
The Reverend Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, M.A., F.R.H.S. (25 December 1841 – 25 June 1915) was a British curate, historian and science fiction writer. He is credited as one of the first science fiction writers to use the word "Martian ...
should have interpreted Bucca as the "storm god of the old Cornish", equating this figure with the Devil.
As a bucca-boo this spirit was also invoked by parents as a
bogeyman
The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...
figure to frighten children into proper behaviour, especially those who wouldn't stop crying.
Boucca was known to the Basque witches as 'Basa-Juan', the equivalent of the French 'Homme de Bouc', 'Goat man'
In the 19th century a new road was built between
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
and
Land's End
Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
and the Tolcarne River (main stream at the outskirts of
Newlyn
Newlyn ( kw, Lulyn: Lu 'fleet', Lynn/Lydn 'pool') is a seaside town and fishing port (the largest fishing port in England) in south-west Cornwall, UK.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End''
Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount ...
) was bridged; this area was called Bucca's pass.
Modern influence
Neopagan
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...
groups, principally the
Witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
coven of Ros An Bucca, have begun to acknowledge the Bucca in their rites.
In New Zealand, Bucca Witchcraft (variant spelling Boucca) began as a tradition in 1988. Founded by an Alexandrian initiate. Boucca Wicca is mentioned in New Truth newspaper in 1995. Jean de Cabalis has developed an entire esoteric corpus structured around the 'Bucca Dhu', the Storm Winds. Which Cabalis calls 'Boucca Wicca'. Cabalis uses an ancient Slovak rendering 'Boucca'.
[ 'God of the Witches' by Marget Murray (1931) ] The magical links between Ireland and Slovakia are known to stretch back to 1000 BC.
In the children's book ''Thomas and the Tinners'' (1995) by
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
, Buccas are presented as
fairies
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...
who work in Cornish
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
mines, granting wishes in exchange for food (see
knockers).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucca (Mythological Creature)
Cornish legendary creatures
Fairies
Mermen
Water spirits