DASG Blog

An Púca

We have an abundance of folklore in Cryptozoology and supernatural animanes and one such supernatural creature has caught my attention that is common in Irish folklore: “An púca.”

There is a debate on where the name “pooka” but it is very clear that the name came from Germanic languages: Púki in Old Icelandic and Faroese; Puke in Norwegian and Old Swedish; Puge in Old Danish; Puck in Old English. They mean a mixture of “devil, evil spirit, sprite, bogie, brat,” etc. The same creature can be found in Brythonic folklore: Pwca in Welsh and Bucca in Cornish. It is very interesting to see that they have the same creature in “des Îles de la Manche”, the Channel Islands. They have what they call a “pouque”, fairies that live in the ancient stones. A “pouquelée” or a “pouquelay(e)” is what they call a cromlech in Jèrriais, Dgèrnésiais, and Sèrcais.

There is more information about it in “The Otherworld”, by the Irish Folklore Commision, p. 137: “...takes different forms, and often takes the forms of a horse. It may carry a human away through the air to the Otherworld. The song [Amhrán an Phúca] describes an occasion when the songmaker met with the ‘púca’ who was an ugly creature.” As you can see the púca is very similar to the each-uisge, or bodaraisean, that would bring people to their deaths by drowning instead of riding with them until their deaths eventually. Perhaps I will make a blog about the “Each-uisge” in the future...

It is said that it's connected with Halloween and harvest time. The remainder of the harvest would be left to the pooka with it being so ripe now, called “Còrr an phúca”. “Lá an Phúca” is said said for the first day of Samhainn (November).

In Hiberno-English the name “pooka” is recognised too. In the book “A Dictionary of Hiberno-English,” d. 207, by Terence Patrick Dolan,  “pooka” is heard for “a sprite; a mischevious and sometimes harmful spirit who can appear in various animal guises (especially a horse) and entice unsuspecting people onto its back...”
The phrase “púca na sméara”, p. 209, can be found in Irish for mould in brambles. It is a sign that pooka was recently there. In “The Lore of Ireland”, p. 270, by Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, people used to believe that pooka would spit on wild fruits, making them inedible to people.

In Foclair.ie, the pooka has influenced new words and idioms in Irish as well: For gossamer or spider's web it's called “téada an phúca”; For “horn of plenty” it is called “troimpéad an phúca”; For people trying to avoid or shift blame the following is said: “tá siad ag iarraidh an púca a chur óna dteach féin,” (“They want to put the pooka from their own house.”)

In Gaelic folklore, far and wide, his impact is strong in Ireland with two songs about it to show for it:

Amhran an Phúca (1)
“Bhí mise ag gabháil Gaillimh is ní bréag atá mé a rá libh,
Ní raibh mórán den lá ann is mé ag fágáil an tí,
Ach gabháil saoir Loch an Iolra is ea a chonaic mé an scáile,
Bhí a leath deiridh in airde is é ar mhullach a chinn.

Ó theann mise isteach leis go ndearcfainn ní b' fhearr é,
Is go deimhin má theannas, ní theannfainn aríst.
Mar thosaigh sé ag corraí is ag lúbadh a chuid cnámha,
Is bhí leithead Chruach Phádraig de chnoc iar a dhroim.

Ba é an beathaíoch ba haote é dhá dtiocfaidh is dá dtháinig,
Bhí leithead dhá chopóig de chluas os a chionn,
Bhí féasó chomh tiubh air is go ndéanfadh sí cábla,
Is gan trácht ar an bhfásach bhí ar mhullach a chinn....”
 
[“I was going to Galway, I tell you no lie,
It was barely daybreak as I left the house,
But going east by Lochaunanilra I saw a shadow
Its end sticking upwards and it on its head.
 
I drew closer to see it better,
And if I did, I wouldn’t do the same again,
Because it started to shake and bend its bones
And it had a lump as big as Croagh Patrick on its head.
 
It was the strangest living thing that could or ever did appear,
And its ears like two dock leaves stood out from its head,
Its beard was so thick it would make a cable,
Not to mention the wild growth on top of its head...”]
 
Amhrán an Phúca (2)
Ó, éireoidh mé ar maidin
In ainm an Domhnaigh
Is rachaidh mé mo chónaí
Ar chnocánín bán
Ó déanfaidh mé teach ann
Ar leataoibh an bhóthair
I bhfogas don chóngar
Abhus agus thall
...
'Sé iomrá na gcailleach
Sna seandaoine críonna
D'fhág mearbhall ar m'intinn
Is néal i mo cheann
A rá go raibh an Púca ann
Ó aimsir na Díleann
Go bhfaca na daoine é,
Ach níl fhios cén t-am

Níorbh é sin a b'ait liomsa
Ag teacht go ráithe an Gheimhridh
Iad a bheith ag déanamh íospart
Istigh ar mo shráid
Go mbíonn sé ina chat
Is na mhada san oíche
Is nár thúsice ina Phúca é
Ná ina sheanghearán bán.

Dhá bhfaighfainnse capall
Chomh maith leis an bPúca
Bheadh m'anamsa lúfar
Ag imeacht is a teacht
Dhá mba thíos i gCeann Gaineamh
A thógfadh sé a ualach
Ó bheadh sé i gceann leathuair
Ag binn Éamainn Uí Bhriain.
 
[“I'll get up in the morning
In the name of Sunday
And I will take up residence
On the little fair hill
Oh I will build a house there
Beside the road
At easy reach
To all places.
...
It is the talk of old women
And wise old folk
That has my mind confused
And my head spinning
Saying that the Pooka was there
Since the time of the Flood
That people saw him,
But no one can tell when
 
It is not that I would want
As winter approaches
To have my front garden
Turned upside down
At night he is
A cat or a dog
And as soon as he is a Pooka
He turns into an old white gelding
 
If I had a horse
As fast as the Pooka
My soul would be fast moving,
Getting there and coming back
If he loaded his cargo
Way down at Ceann Gaineamh
Oh he'd be at Eamonn O'Brien's gable
Within the half-hour...”]
 
There is an abundance to say about the pooka but I will let you carry on in your own research about it. Did you know about the pooka? Do you have any folklore about it? Let us know on facebook, twitter and our website.